Final Product (for now)--Master Bathroom

I put the finishing touches on the master bathroom last week but after all the hard work I was too tired to do the finished photos until today. We have been able to use the shower for about three weeks now and we are loving it. Can you believe it? We actually use our master bathroom.




As part of the project I also tiled the vanity countertop and painted the vanity a chocolate brown. This picture was taken during the sanding process of the vanity and before I put in the sink. I was going to save and reuse the existing sink, but I put in a new one and a new faucet instead. In case anyone thinks that was wasteful, the old faucet was brass and dripped randomly. The pop-up drain also leaked randomly making it hard to put anything under the sink because you weren't sure it would be dry or not. Now that I write about it I wonder "WHAT WAS I THINKING?" Of course it was a good idea to go new.



During the tiling process I used the floor in my bedroom to lay out tiles to see which ones would work together. Mysteriously other playroom creatures would work their way into the room to see what was happening.

Kristen turned out to by our toy arranging friend on this occasion.

I made the front panel of the tub removable by tiling a sheet of DensShield and then propping it into place and securing it with silicone. It seems to be very secure. This way when it comes time to do the floor or when we take out the tub, etc, we will be able to simply cut the silicone and remove the panel for easy access. It is an experiment.

BIG IMPROVEMENT!
Maybe next year we will go for the floor.

Master Bathroom Project

The Before Picture
Our home was built in 1995 and has been owned by several families in that time. Don't ask me why, but in all this time there has never been a shower in the master bathroom. Granted, there has been a lovely jetted tub in the corner, which was fun the two times I have used it since we moved in last August. But neither Dave nor myself are tub people. Obviously the people before us have had to be tub people, but that sends us in an entirely different and disturbing direction I don't want to pursue.

Back on topic. Dave has been gently suggesting I focus my energy on rigging up some kind of shower for our bathroom since we moved in. After a lot of thought in design and cost I finally came to the conclusion that: 1) I would have to do it myself if I wanted to get something half decent in our price range, and 2) I have expensive taste so my version of half decent is probably more intense than someone else's version of half decent, and 3) If you are going to do all the work for half decent you might as well go for awesome.

Result: I plumbed in a new shower head and I am currently tiling a travertine surround. I decided to keep the jetted tub. It still works well and would have been too much work and a huge waste to remove it. I realize it is a little unconventional to have a shower over a jetted tub, but it is also a little unconventional to not have a shower in the master bathroom. Any other options would have cost too much and been to extensive.


STEP 1
First I took out all the drywall that was the only surround on the tub. Our kid's bathroom now has another outlet now due to some questionable electrical I found behind the drywall, but that is another story.

After all the demolition you have to start putting things back together again. This is usually where I start to panic and call Catherine for reassurance.

Sorry Catherine for waking you up on several mornings. Your encouragement is always helpful.

This first picture was taken after the first piece of DensShield went up. (See Step 2)

STEP 2
Though you can't see it, I next teed off the waterlines to the roman fixture and ran hot and cold lines to a shower valve on the left wall. I really enjoy doing PEX. It is quite fulfilling.


STEP 3
Originally I bought cement board to put on the walls in preparation for tiling, but started freaking out when I realized I couldn't even lift one 3x5 sheet of it on my own. That is when I called Dad and he told me about DensShield, a gypsum product coated in fiberglass made for tile and stone. It cuts and hangs almost like sheetrock except you get little fiberglass itchies sometimes. It is more water resistant than cement board, tons easier to work with, and very easy to tile on.

The second picture is after I put up all the DensShield and siliconed all the seams.

STEP 4
I set up shop in the garage since it is still cold and randomly snowy here. A tarp behind the wet-saw has worked just fine.

I just do little batches of thin-set at a time since it would be a shame to be pulled away to watch "Max and Ruby" and have a large batch go to waste.

Note: Anyone who knows my kitchen, the measuring cup that has "Not for food" written all over it is once again really NOT FOR FOOD.

I bought a 1/4" mixing bit for the drill, but was afraid the drill couldn't handle the thickness of the thin-set. I have been pleasantly surprised though. It does just fine on my little batches.

Many thanks to my wonderful husband for letting me take over his parking spot in the garage...again.



STEP 5
The actual tiling.
I have tiled a tub surround before with Catherine when we did her shower in porcelain subway tiles all the way to the ceiling. Compared to that, this has actually gone rather quickly and smoothly. Travertine isn't as scary as it sounds. It may rhyme with Wolverine, but that is where the similarity ends. It is still a ton of work and I currently have a serious case of "man hands" to prove it, but overall, not too hard.

Of course there is always a certain level of mess involved in these things. You probably can't tell, but my face broke out from the grime and the tee-shirt and pants are probably headed to the ragbag soon. Small price to pay for the end product.


STEP 6
Keep tiling. This is where I am at as of 3/20/2010. I am most of the way through two walls. I just need to finish the bottom rows on both and the top row on one. Then I have the valve wall and little pony wall to do. Hopefully it will all be completed this week. Dave and I will love to finally have a shower and not have to use the kid's bathroom down the hall anymore.

Kristen wanted to get into the tub and was mad at me for telling her no. The bottom three tile weren't quite set yet and I didn't want her making a mess. She and Loryn have been such good girls through this process.

The back wall will be done as soon as I finish the bottom row. The decorative rows are made of 4x4 tumbled travertine. I also bought five little flower mosaics to sprinkle into the design.

There is still a lot of work to be done including grouting, sealing, and putting on the fixtures, but we are excited.

Old Accomplishments

I decided to update my list of accomplishments based on what I have done since moving to our new home in August. This means I am removing all the old accomplishments from our last home. Here is a list from newest to oldest all my old accomplishments.

• Tiled Laundry room


• Worked on cleaning out garage


• Got good deal on tile


• Painted master bedroom with Karen and her friend


• Got laundry room somewhat back together


• Put in new door to playroom


• Ripped out laundry room


• Organized food storage


• Made shelves for crawlspace


• Found awesome deal on cabinets


• Removed ugly boarder in bedroom


• Got carpets cleaned


• Made new computer desk


• Cleaned bathrooms


• Got laundry under control


• Helped tile Cath's shower


• Fabulous Friday


• Thanksgiving Dinner


• Decorated Tree


• Rearranged family room


• Painted upstairs bathroom

Bathroom Re-do

I recently added molding and painted the upstairs kids bathroom. Some of these pictures are a little dark but hopefully you will get the idea. It looks a lot better than it did.

BEFORE
Here is a "before" picture of the girl's vanity.

The boy's side of the bathroom "before", complete with dirty laundry on the floor and all.

AFTER

The color isn't very good in this picture because I had to turn off the flash or it glared off the mirror. I put molding about 3/5ths of the way up the wall and painted everything above it a fun bamboo green. Then I painted the molding and wall below it high-gloss, bright white.

The color is a little better in this picture. I put up hooks instead of the towel bar. It is a lot easier for the kids to hang their towels on hooks. But somehow the towels still seem to like the floors of their bedrooms.
I would like to fix the countertop but that is part of a longer term budget. What do you think about blackish countertops? Or how about pain white?

Back from Disneyland

We had the most amazing time in Disneyland last week. I knew the kids would enjoy it, but I had no idea I would have so much fun. In fact I told Dave I want to go back again without the kids. In all we spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at Disneyland and California Adventure Park and then we spent Thursday and Friday at Legoland and the Aquarium next to Legoland. Amazingly no one got lost, and despite a few traumatic moments, I think we will all have fond memories of this trip.

The whole family at Disneyland

Of course you have to get a picture with Mickey Mouse while you are there. Hunter had to give Mickey a kiss as well as a hug.

Hunter with Donald Duck

Allison with Minnie Mouse

Ashton looking very much like a Cheshire Cat with the White Rabbit

Every night there was a great fireworks show over the castle set to music. Most of us enjoyed it, especially Dave, but the twins thought it was too loud and scary. Here they are during the fireworks on our first night in the park. Kristen is covering her ears and Loryn is covering her eyes.

Kristen and Loryn's favorite rides were the carousels. This fish carousel was in California Adventure. Kristen, Loryn, and Hunter went on it over and over again while Dave, Ashton, and Allison went on the California Screaming rollercoaster (the best rollercoaster I have ever been on). There wasn't any line so we could get off and run right back on again.
Here is Kristen on a favorite Sea Lion.
Below is Loryn on her favorite Sea Horse.


Below: Kristen on the Sea Lion from the night before.

Hunter also liked the Carousel a lot. He didn't like the fast roller coasters very much and luckily for him he was too short for several of them. Next time though Hunter. Below: Hunter on his otter.
The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was a favorite of the parents and Ashton and Allison, but the younger three thought it was a bit too scary. Afterward we dressed up for a few minutes in the gift shop to recover from the trauma.

Another traumatic moment was the Matterhorn. They had heard about the Yeti monsters on the ride and Hunter and Allison were terrified. The twins (one with me and one with Dave) were crying when we got off. Below: Hunter before the ride has even started is a little worked up about it. The rest of us thought it was great.

Of course there were other bright moments like meeting Sheriff Woody. Hunter was thrilled.

And the twins were so excited to meet Cinderella. I wish I had a picture of the Dumbo ride too. Loryn is still praying every night that she can go on the "elephant" ride as well as the "horse" ride (the carousel in Disneyland) and the "fish" ride (the carousel in California Adventure). This Cinderella was fantastic by the way. She never broke character even when she was talking to other workers in the park.

The tea cups were also a favorite. We went on them on our second night there after California Adventure closed. Because it was late, very few people were riding the kiddie rides so we were able to go on the tea cups over and over again. Dave and I both got a little sick so we went back to the hotel soon after.

We also went to Legoland. I think we timed it just right going before all the schools got out for Christmas break. Legoland was empty. You could run onto any ride you wanted to. Our longest wait was probably five minutes. There are so many amazing lego sculptures all over the park. Many of them are life size or bigger. It was incredible to see.

While there we went to a 3-D show about Bob the Builder.

Allison poses with the Queen of England.

Ashton and Loryn next Lego San Fransisco

Ashton and Allison at the Sealife Aquarium. Look at all the pretty fish.

Dave and Hunter with a tired, lego-grandpa. We loved all the detail that went into this sculpture: the Hawaiian shirt, shorts with super white legs and dark socks, Tiva sandals, and there is even a hole in one of the socks where you see his toe poking through.

Kristen and Loryn couldn't go on as many rides at Legoland as they could at Disneyland. I don't know why...I guess they don't have as good an insurance policy as Disney. This made them sad on several occasions, but who cares about rides as long as there is a lego dog to play with. They spent a good ten minutes just playing around this dog. It was so funny. (Loryn is the one with her tongue hanging out like she is a dog too. This is not unusual for her. Half the time at home she is either a dog or cat. Who needs pets when you have two year olds who think they are animals.)

Update

Hello out there. Due to popular demand (J/K) I am finally updating this blog. So much has happened over the last year I feel kind of bad for not documenting it. I will try to catch up and be better. For one thing Dave and I went to Hawaii for our tenth anniversary in May, we sold our old house, and we bought another one across the street. Between these events we lived very busy lives.

I love our new house. There is so much potential. I have many projects I want to work on and look forward to making it how I envision. Of course this may take 10-20 years but it will happen eventually.

The Family Christmas Letter I Don't Send

I have never been energized enough to do Christmas Cards, but if I did, this is the letter I would probably put with them.

We are still surviving in Lehi.

I was recently called as the Cub Master and I am hoping they will release me as the Enrichment leader. I am slightly afraid they might just let me keep both. In my spare time I enjoy chasing two one-year-olds up, over, and around the house and watching Maggie and the Ferocious Beast on a daily basis. Periodically I also do mountains of laundry and dishes.

Dave is still the Young Men's president and a few months ago he switched departments at the church office. He is now the Finance Manager of the Perpetual Education Fund. It has been a great experience for him so far and we both have a new respect and testimony of the program. It is truly inspiring to know how the church is helping people around the world and it has made us so much more grateful for what we have. There are so many wonderful members of the church living in very different circumstances and the PEF is helping to give them the opportunities they need to change their lives.

Ashton is in third grade and enjoys math, reading, and playing with all his little friends--usually at our house.

Allison is in first grade and is turning into quite an artist. She also likes to play with her friends (especially playing dress-ups) and is enjoying gymnastics.

Hunter is four years old and my little sweetheart helper at home. He is a great big brother to his little sisters. For the last four months he has been going to the basics class at the literacy center and about two weeks ago he came out claiming to have read a book in class. My distracted mother response was, "That's nice Hunter," but later that evening he floored my by reading five beginner books. Who knew?

Kristen and Loryn are 1.75 years old and dictate a lot of what goes on in our home. They play really well together and it is very fun to see them interact. They seem to communicate well with each other and they hold hands as they walk around the house or give each other hugs. They also like to trash their room together instead of taking their naps. They are starting to talk and it is wonderful that sometimes I understand what they want because they can tell me. Loryn still gets herself mixed-up with Kirsten and will call "Loryn, Loryn" when she is looking for her sister, and Kristen makes the greatest pouty-lip faces when she doesn't get her way. Loryn is our little free-spirit and reminds me of a sweet little elf. Kristen is very enthusiastic and shows all her emotions on her face and through her body language. You never have to guess what Kristen is feeling.

In all we are doing really well and look forward to another year.

Merry Christmas! With Love,
April and Family