More remodeling . . .

The reason we HAD to finish the bathroom & downstairs is because the upstairs bath was going to need some fixing. A small drip from the tub means plumbing & probably new tile(yea!). There also was a funny bump next to the tub that probably meant new sub floor.

That seems minor but once you get in there it quickly escalates. Here is what it looks like now!


There wasn't a simple solution--it all had to come out & be replaced. It all started with that 70s pink tile that was connected to the off white tile in the shower. One piece fell out & then when we started pulling that off it was connected. All the tile had to go & that meant new dry wall. So if you start replacing all that well that vanity is in BAD shape. And so on and so forth.

Needless to say it was a day of destruction. I really think that Steve likes the destruction.
At least more than he likes putting it all back. He was really tired and is now downstairs in our really nice basement playing Call of Duty with M. Blowing up things is always therapy for guys.
Maybe it will be enough therapy to help him deal with this pile on Saturday.


I just hope that we can break our record from the last project--2 years. Oh and it is still not totally done. So while I traipse downstairs to shower each morning, I will dream of the party I will throw when it is all done.

Tomatoes & Memories?

It is funny what things reminds you of the past. I have been canning tomatoes for the last week or so--just a little at a time. Every time as I start to boil the water & pop these awesome plum red tomatoes from my little garden in to the hot water, I am reminded of the times I have helped my mom & grandma with this task. I hated doing it then. Too much work & what was the point anyway?

Funny these days I see the point. We love chili, vegie soup and other things made with our homemade diced tomatoes. It is so satisfying to spend less than $5 on plants and have quarts & quarts hidden in jars under my sink & in the garage ready to use. It saves us money, it gets me and the kids outside in spring & summer. I am sure that these tomatoes are healthier than any I could buy outside of going organic.

Also, now that my grandma is gone, I understand that it wasn't totally about having the vegies for the winter although that is important. I wish I could spend another afternoon with grandma & my mom. Laughing, sharing and working on something all together.

I know the day is coming where my mom won't be around and that saddens me even more. Two things I need to do tomorrow. Spend time with my daughters--maybe canning tomatoes maybe doing something else. And I need to call my mom.

Labor? Maybe or maybe not

Well it is Labor Day weekend. The decision that we need to make is will we labor or not? It is a holiday weekend, so that means we need to rest from labor right? Such a conflict. There are so many things to do around this house. We started remodeling the basement years ago(two, three, I don't really remember) and it would be nice to finish things up. We had a tiny bathroom with 2 closets in the hallway. We decided to get rid of the closets and expand the space in the bathroom.Here is what it looked like after we did the demolition. That is the fun part. Rip, tear, and take it all out the door. The next part is harder. Get started, make decisions, and use those muscles to labor and create a new space. We had done everything except laying tile before. I am so blessed to have a husband(and now a son) who knows how to put in wire, pipes, drains & toilets. One thing we did that was new was bust up the concrete floor to change where the drain was and to add a drain under the water heater. Talk about messy & loud. But the guys did it.

We have made great strides. There used to be yucky carpet & concrete floor and now there is lovely tile. We also have more light in the hallway(no more dungeon). And that bathroom that was smelly, dark & unused? Well now it is bright & clean and IN USE! Also while we were gone on vacation we had our neighbor install the new carpet. It created some fun as we were trying to leave and pack, but we got it all moved around and ready for installation. It is amazing what new carpet will do for a room. Oh and getting the tools out of the living room helps. The room seemed so BIG!

With a family of 6, it is useful to have two functioning bathrooms. Especially as the girls get closer to teenagehood. Oh that is right, one of them is already there--don't tell her. It took us a few weeks after the bathroom was functional to actually use it. We just kept forgetting. "Oh yeah--we have two bathrooms!" Now everyone remembers & now we just need to finish the hall & stairwell. Unfortunately that means more drywall dust--Yuck my least favorite part!

P.S. Next post will have a picture of the new bathroom. I must have deleted the one I took.

My buggy active boy!

J is our youngest. He is the busiest child in our house. He is always running, leaping, climbing, into everything child. We love it but some days it is tiring!

This week had been a good one. We started out with some sniffles and coughs--why this happens the second week of school I don't know. All the kids have learned that even when you don't feel 100% you can do some work. We use Saxon math & in the 2nd grade you make some fun graphs. J needed to ask people what kind of apples they liked best. Those in our house got to try them out for a snack. We used Gala, Granny Smith, & Yellow Delicious. Since there were only 5 of us at home that didn't make a very big graph. In past years, we would call other friends and relative to do our polls but this year we used Facebook to do our poll. My friends came through and voted. It was a ton of fun to see him have to make tally marks to count the ones that were "off the chart."

Another exciting even that occurred early in the week, J found a toad and brought him in to show me. I, of course, wasn't as impressed as he was. J was able to find a temporary home for Mr. Toad. He lived in a box out in the back yard for a day. That evening we released him to hop off in to the sunset. I think J has a real affinity for animals. He is the one who is always toting around a cat or brushing their fur. Early in the spring, there were some baby snakes that were living under a piece of tin that was in our backyard. J(& the other kids) always wanted to check on the snakes. Then with their dad they were allowed to pick up the snakes. J wanted to do this each day until the snakes moved off into the field to hunt bigger prey than crickets. Right now he is just the one who is ready to pick up any bug or animal.

Summer is Slipping Away

It has happened. The last precious days of summer are here. This week we get to have a few more afternoons of hanging out at the pool. If it doesn't rain--like it is supposed to do.

We can watch movies after breakfast if we want. I can clean out declutter or take a nap. I love summer. This one has been one of the best. I just wish it could go on for a couple more weeks.

I have a feeling we will have a few more of these days because my tomatoes haven't even started to turn red so one of these days we are going to HAVE to can some tomatoes. That isn't going to feel quite the same as being lazy by the pool. Well there are still the weekends. Whoops when does soccer start--oh September 12th. ;)

Pea Green Soup. . . .I think

Do you have a list of thing in your head that you just know need to be done but it seems like you NEVER have time to work on it? Well painting J's room has been on my list all summer. We probably longer than that but I definitely wanted to do it this summer.

Well it looks like this is our last sort of free week before school is in full session. We started doing some things this week to get ready and ease in to a schedule before it was necessary. Steve had this weekend off and he was taking the girls on a father/daughter canoe trip, so it was just me and the boys.

So we planned to use today to paint J's room. It was amazing. I ran to Lowe's early & got the paint. No one was out--quick trip. While I was gone the boys emptied the room & took down all the posters, papers, stickers & such that were on the walls. So we started around 10 and at 10:02 I thought "Oh my this is gross."

J has a camo comforter and wanted to have green walls. Not Christmas green, not bright green, not even forest green(to dark), but muddy yucky green. Well it did match the comforter but when we put it on top of the yellowy faded off white that was there already--things weren't looking too good.

M's said well let's keep going. I said maybe it will dry and look different. So we kept on and finished around 1. Thank you God for my oldest son who can roll paint on faster than I can trim. He saved me so much energy and amazingly once the old color was covered it looked a world different. It matched the comforter and with the color of wood trip we have--it looked AWESOME. Not anything like pea green soup.

School daze

Well it has begun.

M is a senior, E is an 8th grader, M is in 6th grade & J is a big 2nd grader! Wow. I cannot believe that our kids are are this far along.

I love this time of the school year. We are making plans for how much we are going to get done. Making up a daily schedule--fitting in all those fun activities. The daily grind hasn't really started. I am planning & plotting. It all looks great on paper. Soon it will be time to try it out. That is when it gets real & difficult.

We have to balance hard work with sickness, disturbances, attitudes(mine included!), and just life getting in the way of school. We aren't starting really early this year because we won't have our vacation in the fall as we do sometimes. Yellowstone in June allowed us to use the fall a little more for school.

Last year we didn't really have a schedule and that drove me up the wall & made planning anything sort of not happen. This year we are going back to a schedule & I think it will go better. It did make the kids more responsible for planning out their day & I think that is good. In fact M and E will continue that as they are old enough to take that initiative. M and J however need more guidance & it allows me to have individual time with them.

So today we took some tests to see what they retained in Math. We use Saxon and often the first 20 or more lessons are review. This is good as it can remind the kids of things they have learned but it also is not always necessary. We hit the lessons that they need out of those review lessons & move on to new things. The kids like the idea of skipping some lessons at the beginning. Okay I admit it, I like the idea of skipping things too.

This summer has been great for PE. We have bowled, walked & swam. One of my goals is to keep PE in the schedule! We aren't as active in the winter--I need to get creative when it gets cold. Maybe I will put Megan in charge of that as she was creatively doing the Skip It & Bop It at the same time this morning.