Project Updates

 I know you would love for this remodel to happen like it does on TV (in an hour), but unfortunately we're A LOT slower than reality TV.  I like documenting all the steps though, so when we look back we can remember how long each remodel took.  Last week we (meaning Casey, the plumber) got the plumbing done (moved the shower drain, raised the vanity plumbing, plumbed for washer and dryer, dryer vent and gas for dryer). The electrical was also done last week.

 

Luckily our bathroom floor is over the garage and happens to have a pretty big crawl space below.  We were able to open up the floor and run all the piping and vents through this crawl space. Make things a little more convenient.

 The kids thought it was crazy that they could see the garage from the bathroom floor and vice versa.

 Finally we have something that resembles walls.  Our sheetrock is mostly done.  This is the wall in our bedroom.  We got our tile today, cabinets should be in tomorrow and tile this weekend or next week, so hopefully in a couple weeks we can have a before and after party. YEAH!!

 

Shower (left). Closet right.

We finally ripped out the nasty/dead plants in the front planter bed and planted it with some nice plants.  I wrote down the names of all the plants, so I could remember if I ever need to buy them again; however, I can't find the paper. I do remember the bigger light green bushes are sweet pea bushes, which I didn't know existed, and I love them.  Strawberries in the pot.

Speaking of sweet peas (not the bush, but the climbing ones), mine are blooming and beautiful in my garden.

 These bad boys are blooming too.  I sacrificed one of the birds of paradise blooms for a center piece for Enrichment last week.

See that bench in the shower?  When we ripped it out I decided to reuse the boards and make a bench for the playhouse outside. 

 

I took out all the old nails and built this bench.  I had to sand it quite a bit to make the top and corners smooth.  Don't want any slivers in little behinds.  Primed it and painted it orange to match the planter outside the playhouse.  I really liked how it turned out.  After painting a million coats of paint on the ceiling in here I lost my motivation to finish painting the rest of the walls.  Hopefully this summer I can find that motivation and get'r done.   We have added a few touches to it the past couple of weeks.

We took some branches from a tree Adam cut down and made a hat rack. 

Noah decided we needed to add some of those branches to the rafters for a 'nature look'.   We hung one of the our swinging chairs in there.  I finally took down my fish pictures that I've had on my walls in the last three houses, and couldn't quite get myself to throw them away yet.  I put them in the playhouse to create a "looking glass ceiling".  I put the numbers from Noah's old wall clock up there for now.

A couple months ago we had our huge palm tree removed.  It's the kind that drops seeds and junk all the time, so it was making a mess in the pool.  I felt really bad for the tree guy, because it was raining the entire time and it took him all day.  Can you see him at the top?  Crazy how he climbs that tree.

Palm tree gone, and pool slide moved into place. 

 

Adam's been busy pouring concrete under the bases of the slide, so we can screw it in nice and tight.

 

In case you thought we deserted our children.  Here they are, bouncing water balloons on the tramp.