At Laaaaasssssst!

This was our upstairs bathroom when we moved in, two years ago. Then, last summer, we had a sudden burst in a pipe that that affected both bathrooms in our home. (Because one sits directly above the other.) We had to stay in a hotel while a disaster cleanup crew dealt with demo and airing out of both bathrooms. After deciding that we would DIY both bathrooms, we got to work on the downstairs bathroom first because it seemed like a smaller project. (You can see how that turned out here; http://nobodysgrassisgreenerthanours.blogspot.com/2015/11/bathroom-redo.html) 

Once we had a working water closet, we hastily returned from our 10 day hotel stay. The upstairs bathroom just kept getting put off. Lacking funds, time, and plain old motivation, I suppose. But at last it is up and running again!

A few shots documenting the tile install. The wood looking tile was just what we never knew we wanted. Warm and durable and at a pretty great price at Lowe's. I did a happy dance when it lined up almost perfectly with our flooring throughout the upstairs level.

Coming together!

Hooks over towel rods. Every time. We also found these at Lowe's. I painted the walls my trusty Ancient Stone so it flows with the rest of the house. The vanity was still in good shape so that went back in along with our tiny toilet. I do not remember it being so small!

I have a bit of touch up and caulking to do still. I could not wait to share though, so I grabbed some grocery store flowers and snapped the pictures.

Shout out to my Dear Husband for partnering with me to get it done. Living with 5 guys, two bathrooms are a necessity. And since we tackled the bathroom, the dishwasher quit on us. Our family must be too much awesome for one house ;)

SlipnSlime 2016

   My guys had a blast getting real messy with their youth group last week, it was time for the Annual SlipnSlime at Pursuit. This event has been a huge highlight for our family the past few years. The church has a sloped section of their property that they go all out with transforming into four slides. This year there was a slide filled with Orbeez, a slide with chocolate syrup, a slide with green slime, and a bubble slide for younger kids. The first 8 pictures were taken by volunteer church photographers, they got some great shots.

 If you are wondering where my firstborn is, he was playing Frisbee in the parking lot with some other mess-adverse students :)

Pursuit has creating such a wonderful community for my sons. It is a special kind of joy to watch other people love on your kids. 

Fair-ly Fun

 Other titles include: A Fair-y Good Time. Fair Weather Fans, and An Af-Fair to remember.

 The whole family loves the Western Idaho Fair. It's hot, it's expensive, it's a nonstop parade of people watching but we go all in for it anyhow. The kids invited friends to jump in on the day we went but they all had to stay with us for a majority of the time. All the friends were so great, truly. Other kids laugh at my jokes, even if it is out of awkwardness.

 We did a little of everything. The rides, the airbrushed clothing booths, the fried food, even the livestock! (click here if you want to hear about the 3-headed goat of 2014) A good time was had by all.

Refresh

During the last school year while all the children were off at school, I painted most of our home. The house was previously painted white inside with what I think was actually primer. Yikes. After two years living here, it was looking pretty gross.

I chose Ancient Stone by Valspar for the paint color, It is my go to neutral because it looks good with everything and is warm feeling without being brown. I need a neutral in almost every room because I have all of my dad's fantastic art to showcase. It has plenty of color and I want it to be the focus in a room. I also painted the top of our dining table a cream color because it was in such bad shape and because we have so much dark brown in this room. It may get a turquoise makeover, though?

In our dining room, I added some sparkly throw pillows to my favorite Craigslist couch and put some flowers in a mason jar so I could snap some pictures. We live in a split level home from the 1980's. It is a new era of home and new floor plan to figure out for me. So, yay! Progress!

Here is a "before" shot, of sorts. Nothing heinous but what do you think? Are you still loving the all white trend? Painted anything lately? Am I stuck with dirt colored walls while my sons still live at home? 

Obligatory School Pics 2016

First Timer

Collin went on his very first airplane ride to see Aunt Lindsay in Seattle with me. We had a wild time exploring new parts of the city and old favorites. Lindsay is the best, most generous hostess. She had great ideas for kid friendly activities and some solid Sister Trip traditions sprinkled throughout. It was fascinating to hear what Collin remembered from our time living in Seattle and alternatively, watching him experience things for the first time. 

We hit the arcade, plenty of playgrounds, two beaches, Lake Union, the movies (Pete's Dragon made us so sad.), the Woodland Park Zoo, Pike's Market, the Fremont Troll, and Georgetown. Collin even helped Lindsay and I recreate this beach babe moment from 30 years ago!

Every trip, I am so impressed with the ability to get all caught up with my dear sister and feel so spoiled by all her efforts to give me a break from my day to day. She extended the same welcome to her very energetic 9 year old nephew that has no filter. I wish I would have documented all the funny quotes and quips from riding the bus and walking around downtown. Traveling with a special needs child is not for the faint-hearted, that is for another post though.