Bathroom Remodel

I've had the urge to redo our downstairs bathroom for a very long time. Finally, I decided to do it. Brandon was awesome and gave me space to let me do my thing. But, he was right there willing to help when I needed him.

The first thing that needed to be done was removing the mirror from the wall. It was glued on, so it was a nightmare to get off. Lots of pulling (but not too hard) and prying. Finally, we managed to get it off.

It left quite the mess underneath. I was determined to make it look normal again so I primed the drywall paper, put joint compound on it, and sanded. I did those steps on repeat for three days. I wanted to make sure the compound fully dried before I sanded it off. I never got it the way I wanted it, but I feel confident in saying that I did the best that I could. 

Next came the paint job. We painted the ceiling white and the walls (most of them) grey. Peter really wanted to help, so I let him start the project. He was so thrilled and we didn't get too many dribbles. 

My goal was to install ship lap on the wall behind the toilet. I'd never done it before, but I love the look. I was hoping it wouldn't cost too much since we only had a narrow wall to do. Brandon researched different methods of how to do it online, and we finally went to go to Home Depot to buy the wood. We got there and could not find the wood we needed. It was so frustrating. So we bought something we thought might work. When we cut it, it ended up splitting and making a big mess.

So, we ordered the right wood online from Home Depot. That way the employees had to find it and it was ready when I got there to pick it p. The next day we started cutting and painting. Here are the finished slats. If our wall would have been any bigger a table saw would have been essential. But, as it was, we just used a cordless saw and it worked well.

This is the wall freshly painted and almost ready for the nail gun party to begin. The tutorial we were following recommended painting the wall the color of your boards. Important because it would be nearly impossible to do any painting once the boards were installed. 

A nail gun quickly became our best friend during this part of the project. We also used two quarters to determine the space between each board. Thank goodness we had decided take the toilet off. There was no way we could have done this project with it in the way. I LOVED the way this wall looked as soon as the first couple of boards went up. Since the wood we used was very thin we didn't have to use heavy duty nails. Just tiny ones that went in quickly.

After installing the boards, I had to cover nail holes and paint, paint, paint. Although, I had already done a few coats of paint on the boards before, I put another three coats on to cover the nail hole and make everything uniform and smooth. That took a few days to finish (because we still had life to live). 

Then, the fun part came. I got to pick out:

The company I went with ended up sending these super fast. It was nice. We also got a mirror (from At Home), and the light fixture from Overstock (where it was nearly $40 cheaper then Home Depot). Getting all these installed was so much fun. Brandon did this part of the project. 

The last thing I did was paint the vanity using white chalk paint that I had left over from another project. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I knew the ugly color it was wasn't going to work. I'm glad I did it even though I did have to buy new cupboard knobs to match. 

Then, I took the boys over to the Rod Works, and we bought nick knacks. Peter picked a white ceramic pineapple, and Luke picked out a blue glass container. They were so proud to put them in the new bathroom. I picked out the rest of the items. Truthfully, it helps to hide the ugly paint problem we have. Sadly, the caulk that the previous owners used to install the vanity won't absorb paint. It's been a pretty great solution to a very annoying problem. 

Scouts - Fur, Feathers, and Ferns

1. Today I went on a really fun walk. This first picture is me at the start of the trail.

The next picture is all about a dogs footprints. 

The third one is about a birds nest. We either think it's a golden hawk or a eagle.

 This was a plant.

This is dog poop.

 This is a butterfly. It's the brown spot on the rock.

We thought this was a marmot's tracks.

2. We went to the fish hatchery in Springville. The picture below is the eggs from the fishies. The trays hold a lot of eggs. Then, when they hatch, they bring them into these blue tubs. 

Then this is a video of all the fishies when they are bigger.

3. We learned about extinct animals. We saw one at the Bean Museum. It is a snake. It was called Titanoboa. It was 48 feet long. It was amazing! It will be there all day until St. Patrick's Day.

We talked about endangered animals. One of them is the elephant. Some of the things we could do to protect them are: not cut down their homes, not use their water so they can have babies, and we could say No Guns allowed so people don't shoot them.

6. I learned about compost. Compost is banana peels, and dead leaves, and a lot of kitchen veggies. It you put cheese in your compost animals might get to it. Like raccoons. Compost eventually makes dirt for your plants.

Feeding the ducks

Yesterday was such a nice day that I decided to run away from life. We drove down to Salem and fed the ducks at the Salem pond. The boys had such a good time. Whenever I do things like this, I wonder why I don't do it more often. We had so much fun. Peter's giggle in this short clip makes me so happy. The older he gets the less frequently I hear it.

Luke had so much fun too. He decided that the green headed ducks were the kings, the white were queens, and the blacks ones were the servants. It was so funny to watch him. He really like it when a duck would catch the bread in midair. I'm sure the ducks loved having human food because it was still quite snowy down there.

Scouts - A World of Sound

1. Make a mbira

2. Make a sistrum

3. Make a rain stick

V-Day Tradition

Brandon and I unknowingly started a tradition many years ago, when the boys were just babies. For Valentine's Day instead of going somewhere fancy, or making a fancy meal at home, we go to KFC for dinner. They boys look forward to it to much. Here are the top 10 reason's this tradition is fabulous:

1. The pot pie is amazing! I love it every year.
2. Both boys will eat their meal.
3. There is no one there. We had the place to ourselves.
4. It doesn't cost very much money for our meals.
5. Brandon loves their coleslaw.
6. The boys love their cookies.
7. It is only 10 minutes from our house.
8. Shopko is right next store. An after meal stroll is always amazing.
9. Mom doesn't have to do the dishes.
10. Refills on drinks for the boys (Sprite and Lemonade are fabulous).

This year, after our meal we went home and watched the animated film Quest for Camelot. Only Brandon had seen it, but I've been in love with the music for years. It was such a low key way to celebrate that made everyone happy. That is the measure of success in my book.

Scouts - Beat of the Drum

1.I learned about how the Navajo people lived in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado. I also learned that the Navajo people were very very very good for Hunters. The Indian people were driven out of the homes by the rude rude rude Americans and and they went to small land and smaller land and they also had to stay on the really really small land forever.

2. Building our diorama

3. The dream catcher that I made

Scouts - Bear Picnic Basket

1. I made a cookbook. Mom let me go on bettycrocker.com. I found some great things to make.

2. Before making dinner my Mom and I talked about the importance of planning everything out, keeping things clean, and being safe. I told her the best way to be safe is by using hot pads if you have pots or pans that have gotten hot.

3. My first nutritious snack. Cheese and crackers

The second snack was made during den meeting.

4. Planning and then making dinner for my family.

Birthday Boy

Since the beginning of the month, Luke has been counting down to this day. He has been beyond excited to turn 7. Mostly, because of the presents. Since his birthday landed on a Sunday, we had to find something fun to do before his special day.

A few days ago Brandon came home early and we took the boys to the circus at UVU's Event Center. The boys loved it even more then I thought they would. It was a very fun evening. We also let Luke choose where to take us to dinner. He chose Pizza Pie Cafe (a buffet that has loads of pizza) which was no surprise to any of us. He loves pizza.

He was a bit disappointed that his birthday was on a Sunday so we couldn't go out and do shopping/adventures, or play video games. But, Papa made him chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, he got a birthday treat from the Bishop, and we sang to him in Primary. Grandpa and Grandma Thomas came over and gave him his presents and Aunt Amy/Uncle Morgan came over to play with him too.

Papa and I gave him a new scooter (which he hates), Lego Avengers video game, dinosaur book, and mini transformer. Overall, it was a great day for him. Yet, he was especially glad that he won't have another birthday on a Sunday until he is a teenager (yep, Brandon created a spreadsheet to figure it out). 

Scouts - Super Science

Peter's Den completed three of the experiments for this requirement. We finished the last one by doing a color-laying investigation.