Bathroom Remodel - Complete

I don't know if any of you remember the first photos we posted of our upstairs bath - that bathroom a friend here kindly referred to as a wall paper disaster. Well, after many hours of toil, labor, and exasperation (mostly on the part of Weston and Helen) the bathroom is finally done. Here are some before, during, and after photos. We sure did learn a lot in this process and are very happy with the results. I figure, if we can make the rest of the house look this nice, come time to sell, it shouldn't be to difficult - we can all keep our fingers crossed. In the mean time, we are just enjoying our new bathroom.

Here is what is looked like when we moved in. Notice there is no shower.




To begin, Weston had to cut out all the tile covered parts of the walls. You can see this means that he cut out a lot of wall. We found the walls were made of this stuff called rock lath. They were quite thick - much thicker than dry wall, so then he had to shim out the walls to make the new dry wall and the old rock lath wall even.... it was a big and frustrating job. Included in the list of frustrating jobs, was all the plumbing work Weston had to do. Here is a photo him trying to capture these not rare enough moments.


Here is our project instigator. Helen come out for her Spring Break to help us tile. If she hadn't done this, who knows if we would have even started on this project yet. Thanks Helen!!!





The baby and I tried our best to help. Mostly we just worked the peanut gallery.






Here is the shower, pre gout, and Weston finishing the dry wall work. Helen did some good work on that tile job! And Weston, well, I take my hat off to him!





And here is the final product. Drum roll please......








Here is a before and after. We have a hard time believing it is the same place. hmm... now what should be do? Don't worry. Weston has already started on the hall way. One room at a time.

Introducing.....

As we speak, our newest addition is in the kitchen begging me to join him.... so here is your preview. We don't have a name for his yet - just think he is adorable. We are accepting any name contributions you might have.

We got him from a farmer out of Belt. Our pup is pure bred, unpapered Border Collie. He and Eva have hit it off. He and Loca are in a state of mild toleration - well, almost. But he and Mowgli - well, let's just say they haven't been in the same room long enough to even practice toleration. We hope Mowgli comes around soon. The pup sure wants to be friends with both of them! Isn't he a cutie!

I better go rescue him....

Spring Break Anybody?

On April 20th, this is what the Spring brought to us... Weston has rewritten the words to "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree".... use your imagination. Enjoy the warm weather where ever you are! As a side note - you should see the country side here when covered in a fresh blanket of snow. It doesn't matter what season it is - it is always beautiful.

Mowgli still has to explore - it's his nature. He is an arctic panther!


Weston measuring the snow depth. 12" folks!


You've got to be snuggled in weather like this!


You can see what Loca thinks of it all.

Let the Good Times Roll.....

I promised Helen a look see at the baby book I made for Eppi. It's a good thing Weston has gone on a couple of three day alerts, or I may have never gotten it done. It is a journal/photo album. I wrote the first entries while I was still pregnant. Now it is time to let the good times roll and keep it going. Lindsey, I have to tell you, your mother was my inspiration for this book. At your wedding lunch she read from the childhood journal she kept about you. I thought that was a pretty neat thing. I hope Eppi gives me a many wonderful things to write about as you gave your Mom!.... or then again.. do I?... :) The thing I am most proud of about this book is the binding. I'm sure it has been done before by many others, but it was a new idea to me and is the perfect solution to my photo album binding dilemma. I'm going to have to re-make my wedding photo album now!

Thumb Sucking

Since this child was born, I've been saying... "oh, if only she'd find her thumb, maybe then she would learn the wonderful art of self soothe". Well, today it happened. It didn't last long, but she got it in there and she sure did find it good for sucking on. Let us all hope that she will find it a wonderful sleep aid and then,when the appropriate time comes, she'll leave the practice all together. Is that really asking too much? We're ready for you Mr. Sandman.

More than just a pretty face