Downstairs bathroom #2 progress

Bathroom view before...


After... we had to take out the whole old shower surround, then I tiled a new one, and a new toilet of course, and new flooring...

Sink area before......

After....we added a new light and mirror...

Remodel update.....

Sorry it's been so long since I have updated you all on our home remodel process...But here are some new pics of our finished family area. This will be like a TV room downstairs. Danielle can't wait till she can have a movie night with her friends.

Here is the space as we were removing the wall.....


Here is the space after with furniture. It's really bigger than it looks from this pic.....

Never Again.....

Mortar Stinks. Mortar is high on the top of my list of things to never, ever touch again. My hands look like I have worked in the construction industry for the last 30 years, without gloves. I am not exaggerating. I can't even fold clothes because my skin gets caught on all the flipping shirts. Really irritating. Let me tell ya. I've gone so far as to use a special lotion for cracked, damaged skin. The main ingredient is urea. If you know what this ingredient really is, you will know how desperate I am to be able to touch a soft blanket again in my life.

I really didn't think putting rock around my fireplace would be this bad. What the heck was I thinking???? If you don't mix it to the exact consistency (not the way it says to mix it on the bag...how dumb...) then it won't stick. At all. Well, maybe it will stick for 10 seconds, and then the stone will fall off the wall. So, after about 2 hours of messing with this crap to get it the right consistency, it finally had a bit of "sticky-ness" to it. But it still took me over 9 hours, yes NINE, to get half way on my project. And after hour eight with no food or drink or a potty break, I was in tears. And I'm not done, because I still have to go all the way up to the ceiling with the stones. Who's grand idea was it to go all the way up to the ceiling with stone?? Either I suck it up and finish it, or I will just find a way to make tar paper and metal lath look like it's the new "in" thing to put around fireplaces. I'd be giving Design On A Dime a run for their money, let me tell ya. Do you think I can convince people that it's the new trend???? I didn't think so.....Oh well, I'm off to drink the rest of the wine in our new wine fridge. Oh, and if I don't blog for a couple of days, send someone out to find me. I'll probably be out back chucking the left over rocks off our deck.

Superbowl 2009

We had a few friends over yesterday to watch the Superbowl. Danielle wanted a "theme" to the party, so we chose Mardi Gras. (I don't know if that's how you spell it)

It was alot of fun, even though I think our crowd was definitely rooting for the Cardinals, we still enjoyed the suspense of the game. Here is a pic of Braedyn, Danielle and Andra all decked out in their Mardi Gras attire.

29th Remodeling mistake you never want to make.....

Don't assume you know the metric system just because you passed 2nd grade math.

After measuring, checking and re-measuring, I still ordered Joe to cut my brand new mantle 54 inches. So now I have a 54 inch mantle that is 10 inches too short. Go figure. Next task....go shopping for a new one. Uugh....

Bob the Hermit (and Charlie the Unicorn) Go on a Cruise. BY DANIELLE

One day Bob found some extra money from his book. So he went to the local library. He got on the Internet. He thought about going on a vacation. He thought, "How he would get there?". Would he fly? Buy a car? Will he take the bus? Would he walk? He just remembered he's always wanted to go on a cruise.

So, he went to www.take-a-cruise-to-almost-anywhere-you-want-almost-any-time-you-want.com. He found one that was next week, and in his price range. It went to Mexico. So he went to his box (his house) to pack his and Charlies things. Bob just had a jacket, socks, pants, a shirt and shoes. Charlie had hoof warmers, shampoo, conditioner and horn polish.

The next week the cruise was at the dock, but he forgot his tickets and passports (even though he didn't have any) and Charlie. He went and got charlie. He saw if tickets were in his pockets and BAM!! They were. (Just Kidding). But there was paper, color crayons, and some lint! (yay, except the lint!) So he made a Passport for Charlie and himself. They looked something like this....


He made some tickets like this....


And the lint looked like this....


So he got in line and they got on the ship. They went to look at the ocean and BAM!! The luggage fell overboard. And Charlie said "Yo Diggity Dog". They went to their room and Bob took a nap. Charlie went to the buffet. When he was done eating he went to check on Bob. He was still sleeping. So Charlie went swimming. When they got to Mexico, Bob was still sleeping. He had slept through the whole trip there!!

When they got off the ship there was some guy there to greet them. He said " Aloha". The guy in front of them said, "Don't you mean 'Ola?" "Oh yeah... 'Ola!"

They went and shopped for their mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, etc. When they were done shopping Bob and Charlie remembered that Bob was a hermit and Charlie doesn't have any family. On the way back home they swam, ate, swam and went scuba diving. When they got home they had over 150 pictures. They had a great time on the cruise. Bob said " That was great!" and Charlie said "Hot Diggity Dog!". THE END.

By Danielle

Texas basketball team has 100 to ZERO win.

Wow. I need to vent on this one. I saw this in the newspaper and it made me sick to my stomach. Just to recap a bit.....
A Texas high school GIRLS basketball team beat a rival team 100 to 0. They were up 59 to 0 at halftime. Supposedly, they were still using the full court press up till they hit 100 points. Now the coach of the winning team wants to forfeit the game because he feels bad about the win. WHAT??? Where was he during the game?? It is written that he was on the sidelines cheering his team on and wanting the girls to keep racking up the points. And now he regrets it?? What?? It's a little too late, Mr. Coach. Here is what he had to say about the matter.

"It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened," Kyle Queal, the head of the school, said in a statement, adding the forfeit was requested because "a victory without honor is a great loss."

This is ridiculous. These schools are supposedly Christian private schools. The coach of the losing team showed his beautiful colors by adding....

"Somewhere during that game they (the winning team) got caught up in the moment," Peloza said of the Covenant players, fans and coaches. "Our girls just moved on. That's the happy part of the story."

I don't know if I could have been as polite as the coach of the "losing" team. He is taking this as a learning experience, and focusing on the good.
If you ask me, I don't think the winning team should be given the option of forfeiting the game. They did this. They were participants in this terrible show of "sportsman-ship". They knew what the score was. They wouldn't let up. So why should they be able to erase what they have done after the fact?? I think the score should stick with the "winning" team forever, so that maybe they will think about what is right or wrong in the future, and make better choices.

One last thing I must add, Danielle is playing basketball right now, and I think the age of the girls has alot to do with it, but these girls play hard, and are happy with the outcome of the game whether they win or loose. The parents of both teams cheer for each other, not just the team their child is on. It is a pleasure to watch both teams working hard, and having fun along with it. Don't get me wrong now, I do think that in the future if kids are going to continue on with competitive sports they need to WANT to win, and have a will to win, but it sure is nice to see the girls all playing "together" and having a great time. For now.

January Happenings......

Lot's of change has been going on around me!!! First and fore-most, we have a new President!!! And he just happens to be the first African American president elected here in America!! It has been a long time coming, if you ask me!!! I am hoping that this puts a whole new light on race relations in the whole world!!! Am I being too hopeful???? Well, anyway, it was an awesome "change of power", and I am hoping to see many positive changes in the future. RE: Iraq, foreign relations, health care, economy, employment, blah, blah. But I do want to point out that I believe we have a long road ahead, and I personally don't expect any miracles to come of this, because it's just not gonna happen. There. The only miracle maker out there for me is the good Lord above. Anyway......

Dani has started Hip Hop again. And I am really proud of myself, because as some of you may know, I sometimes have a hard time asserting myself. But NOT THIS TIME!!! As Dani and I were signing up for the class, I realized that we needed to sign up about 2 months earlier to be eligible to be in the recital in June. So as I was reading that in the fine print I nearly passed out. Just the thought of her not being in the recital nearly brought me to tears. So I tromped up to the desk and I asked the receptionist if what I was reading was true. She informed me it was. So that is when I turned on the "schmoozing". Somehow I walked out of there with Danielle signed up, her classes paid for, a confirmation that she could be in the June recital, and her costumes for the recital paid for. And I really don't know how I pulled it of, but that doesn't matter because I did!!! Yeah, Me.

We are making progress on our remodel. I will try to post the pics sometime soon, but it is looking good. No longer are the days that I am embarrassed to open the front door when there is a knock on it, because as far as the eye can see from the door right now, it looks finished. Even if there isn't any furniture. I'll get to that another day.

I applied and took the test to see if I can work for the 2010 Census. I took the test today, and I must say it was a bit intimidating, but I'm crossing my fingers in hopes that I passed. They need employees to start within the next month or so. Remodeling costs money, you know.

Dani is in Basketball!!! She has had a few practices and one game already! She really enjoys it, (ok, everything except the loud cheers coming from somewhere in the stands....) and she actually scored 25% of the final score on last week's game. YEAH!!! She takes after her mom!!! lol ;-)

Half the school year has past. Wow. It truly seems like Danielle just started the 4th grade, in a new school. All is well, and everything is going awesome in the school department. This is the first school we have been to that is "online". I can get on the computer and look at her grades in each class, go over her assignments, etc. It is really cool. It helps me keep a closer eye on her progress. Not that she needs me too!! ;-) She's always been on the honor roll, so we can loosen up the reigns a bit.

Anyway, that is a quick update. Life has been flying by, but it has been good. Take care, Y'all!!!!