A New Bathroom

Many years ago my dad removed the two windows out of the north bedroom and had only one installed as he was going to make that room into a bathroom.  I'm glad he didn't because we needed it a lot over the 20 years we've lived here.  

Pat has mentioned it many times over the years that he wanted an upstairs bathroom.  

With Erin getting married and moving out, we moved Tom into the southwest room and began demolition just into the new year.

Lathe and plaster wasn't as bad to remove as we thought it would be.  He had one way to remove it and I had another and my way worked better with less dust.

Once the three walls we removed, Pat framed up some new walls.  The fourth wall was fairly new with sheetrock so we just left it intact.

The water lines for the vanity run up and over the ceiling.

The progress was slow due to it being basketball season.  There were days when nothing happened.

The shower was the first thing to be installed.  It started to look like it might become a bathroom.  We talked about having a shower with a seat as we are both now over the 60 year mark.  I decided against it since if I ever need a chair in my shower I will not be using an upstairs bedroom.

Then the sheetrock.  Guess who got to do all the mudding, sanding and ultimately the fun part, the painting. 

A new window was installed.

The north wall did not come down but had some roughness to it.  I bought some light weight mud and texturized it.  I love how it turned out!  I painted the north wall "pine mist" and the other walls "lemonade".

The false ceiling was the next step.

Finally the new flooring pulled it all together. 

The toilet was installed and then the double sink vanity.

The shower doors went on after I finished my caulking and painting.  

We bought that little wooden "chest" at an FM auction while we served as missionaries in Nauvoo.  It is the perfect size for towels and washclothes.

The last thing was to buy a blind to put inside the window.  It pulls up and pushes down which I really love.  There is now a giant full length mirror next to the window.  

A few more photos printed on canvas will arrive next week and I also have two "Nauvoo" windows that will go up and then it will be finished.  I never knew I would love having a bathroom across the hall from my bedroom.  With doing all the work ourselves, we figured about $5000 for the project.

 

Winter?

Our winter has been very mild.  We only had a few weeks where it was really cold and we had very little snow.  I think the snowmobile trails were open for about two weeks.  

With all of that, I decided to begin my spring clean up in February.

I've never had the sand toys out in February.  This space is usually piled high with snow.

I raked the south lawn which doesn't take very long.  I also raked the lawn by the swingset as well as the lawn in front of the house.  

On this day it was warm enough to wear shorts!

I've gotten the grill out twice already and once we've gotten the lawn chairs out and sat outside until it was too dark.  I love the warm, sunny weather but worry about drought.  We need moisture.

Today is March 21st and we are expecting snow overnight and into tomorrow morning.  A few inches in forcast and we need every bit of it.  Fire danger is extremely high and no burning permits are even being given out.  My dad always said that the robins need to be snowed on three times before the Spring is really here.  I guess we will see.

 

Three Generations of Officials

Patrick enjoys officiating basketball and really enjoys the pay at the end of the game.  He had Erin officiating while she was in college to earn some cash.  Then he recruited Andrew while he was still in high school.  Now he has gotten Cami into the game as well.

All three of them enjoy the paycheck.  It's good as officials are always in short supply.

Cami had an evening where she had no game but the boys had a home game.  He asked Mr. Zobeck if she could work with he and Andrew.  He agreed.

For most of the game she shadowed one or the other of them.  

By the end of the game, Pat was sitting at the scorer's table and allowed Cami to work with Andrew without him.  When all was said and done, he gave his check to her for which she was very grateful.  I've noticed that this young lady is not afraid to work!

 

I’m Having Fun

Since Andrew has been back in school, I have had the opportunity to watch Eddie several days each week.  He is now creeping up on being 4 years old.  He's such a smart boy and we have fun together.  

On Valentine's day we made heart shaped cut-out cookies.  After I sprinkled the flour on the counter, he immediately began making letters.  Who knew that flour was a good way to make letters?

As I worked on the upstairs bathroom I brought him up as well so he could watch TV in our bedroom.  I put the hamper at the end of the bed as a table for his snacks.  That didn't last long.  He told me that this was his house.  

While outside working on cleaning up the yard, he wanted to play in the sandbox.  

This boy loves fruit!  He was wearing wolf ears while wolfing down blueberries.  He ate almost the entire pint on this day.  He also began eliminating them as he ate so many.  

Some days we have pillow fights or hide under blankets and pillows.  He made a hiding spot among the pillows.

Tom had an appointment in Green Bay and Ed came along.  At a thrift shop he told me he needed a new shirt.  I found one with Grogu on it and he told me that it was for Halloween.  He picked out this dino sweatshirt and roared at me.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to provide this service.  I have bonded with this little guy that I could not have done any other way.  I'm so thankful that he doesn't have to go to a daycare.  Whether he is with me or Erin or Sammi, I am assured that he is being loved every day!