Cheers to Peerless!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love companies that have a sense of humor?? Janelle alerted me to this one a while back, and when I actually made this call- I was almost in tears I was laughing so hard.

Today, Matthew got the new faucet out of the box and included with the instruction was a de-installation guide. This little pamphlet was the funniest part of our day! Here are some of the highlights from this little treasure!

"Undo it Yourself"

All instructions for installing new faucets have the same first step: "Remove the old faucet." Well we at Peerless thought that it was about time that someone provided instructions for that, too. Good luck to you, and may your coupling nuts turn freely.


Step 1D Now it's time to disconnect and remove your old faucet's pop-up assembley (that thing that raises and lowers the stoppers in your sink). But first, put a towel or pillow under your back before you lie down. You'll thank us tomorrow morning. --- Unscrew the nut holding the horizontal rod, and you should be able to remove first the horizontal rod, then the stopper in your sink. Ta-Da! Your pop-up is popped out!


Step 1E: Unscrew the mounting nut that's holding the flange and tailpiece onto the sink basin as far down as it will go. Again, this make take an adjustable wrench or pliers (and if you like, a few mild curses).

Step 1F: Remove the coupling nuts. Watch out for falling rust. That stuff is no fun to get in your eyes, and even less fun to get in your mouth.

Step 1G: Spit, and drink a pop. See? We told you it was no fun to get that stuff in your mouth.

Step 1H: Remove the tailpiece mounting nuts--- Again look out for falling nastiness. Have you banged your knuckles on the pipes yet? If so, congratulations. Get out from under the sink, apply a bandage and move on.

Step 1I: Remove the old faucet.--- In a best case scenario, the faucet will come right out. In a could-be-better-case scenario, the faucet will just sort of sit there, snickering at you. If that's the case, move on to step 1J.



Apparently, more information from the writers of this pamphlet can be found here!

And then there was tile!

Yep, that's right folks, there is tile on my wall!! Woo Hoo!! It looks absolutely wonderful too, (if I do say so myself). Matthew has been working on it for a couple of days now, and I cannot believe how perfect it looks. It helps that he is so good at this, (like everything else that he does) By the end of the weekend, I'd dare to say that we'll almost have a bathroom! :) After the tile is all up, I think that he is planning to lay the floor, while we're waiting to grout. I'm getting sooo excited. And he's excited to have the thing done!

Without further ado, here are some photos of the tile going up!

1st tile!

Aaannnd here are some stinky monkey photos- for all of you who love stinky monkeys...

I think that he's forgotten how to smile... These are the faces that he makes when he sees the camera. Little Ham!

And way to go Kelly on this outfit... Seriously, soo cute! Little no-name will look so cute in it next year :) j/k

And have you ever seen two little children happier to be caged than these??

I didn't think so!

Tumbling Threes

Owen started his very first tumbling class this evening. This is what he's doing with his Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa Gessner. It's an 8 week class especially for three year olds, and his best girlfriend, T, is in it with him! They were soo gosh darn cute in there. T's mom and I took lots of photos to include in their wedding slideshow one day!!

They stretched, practiced balance skills, jumped, bounced, and had an excellent time. At the end, they go through a little "obstacle course" to finish off the class. It was a huge hit.

Aaaannnd isn't this the cutest thing that you've ever seen??

They walked right out of that class hand-in-hand... Adorable!

I spy with my little eye

A baby with a sledgehammer!! :)

This little man gets ahold of this rubber mallet any chance that he gets and then carries it all over the house. Literally any time he see's Matthew's bucket of tools, he's in it looking for that mallet! It's really funny. I guess that we have yet another handy man in the making!

In bathroom news, we are on Day 18 of the renovation. It's really coming together now, and I am soo excited. Matthew and I just stood in there and admired it last night because it's looking so great! The cabinets and light fixture have been installed, and now we're getting ready for tile and flooring! I'm just so pleased with how everything is looking.

Ahhhh Heaven!

So guess what... I took a bath in my new, big, deep, wonderful bathtub tonight- and it was GLORIOUS!! No there is no tile on the wall, there are no faucets to turn on and off, there's not even a drain- But by gosh, there was a bath! :) My wonderful husband made it happen. He hooked up a piece of pex that ran into the tub, and we plugged the "drain" with one of Owen's bath toys. Matthew turned the water on from the basement, and we filled that bad boy right on up. He even plugged in the motor (so that the jets would work) using an extension cord. I'm sure that it was pretty funny sight (that fortunately no one saw or ever will see) but it was just so nice and relaxing. I was even able to read about 100 pages of my new book, The Time Traveler's Wife. Probably the most entertaining part was after I got out and let out the "drain". The "drain" is directly over the sump pump, so we just let all of the water run out and into the basement, right into the pump. I ran down the stairs to watch it- it was pretty great!

Matthew finished putting up the concrete board today, and finished the niches that will hold all of our soaps and shower things. He also finished the ceiling where the closet once was. He mimicked the ceiling pattern perfectly! I don't know how he manages to do these things.

Judging by this picture- apparently *some* people like to measure things in the shower... lol

I cleaned and painted the walls, and let me tell you, they look great! Matthew did a wonderful job of finishing that drywall, and the paint looks really nice as a result. The color is perfect- totally soothing and relaxing. It's really starting to look like a room again! Tomorrow, I'll give the walls a second coat of paint, and the cabinets are going in!! It's so exciting to see it all coming together so nicely.

Once this is all done, I am going to have some MAJOR cleaning to do. Pretty much everything else has been left undone while we've been in the midst of all of this. It'll feel great to get the rest of my house back to normal as well.

More Sledding!!

Today we went back out to brave the sledding hill again. This time I was accompanied by two other adults to assist me with the madness! Sara and I met for lunch, then headed over to the park and after lunch, Matthew took a break to meet us there. We had SUCH a fun time!

Check out my super brave three year old coming down this hill!

Everyone was impressed with Owen's sledding skills. He was by far the littlest kid there, and he went flying down that hill all by himself. Even more amazing, he walked all of the way back up!! Last night we went out and bought him some snow boots- and according to Owen, they gave him more "tratchon" (traction) to get up the hill. All of the other adults at the hill marveled at O's determination to get up the hill as well!

Eli was no more thrilled with today's outing than he was yesterday. Unlike yesterday though, he always had someone who could wait at the top with him today. We all took turns sledding with Owen and waiting with Eli. He tolerated this much better than having to be parked sideways halfway down the hill! :)

We're going to pretend that this is how Eli felt about the whole day :)


Owen loved getting to go down the hill with various groupings of people. We wouldn't even be back up the hill before he was already deciding who he wanted to sled with him next. Sara certainly saw her fair share of action today!! Owen LOVES his aunt Sare :)

One of the times that they were going down, I decided that I needed a video of the two of them... Let's just say that I chose the perfect time to video them :)



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We sledded for two hours, and by the last time that Owen had to walk up that hill, he could barely put one foot in front of the other. The child LOVES to sled! We're hoping to take him over to Perfect North to the tubing tracks there. That way, everyone can enjoy the downhill action, and no one has to make the trudge back up the hill!!

Here are some pictures from our super fun day!

Daddy and Owen coming back up the hill

Owen pleased with his day

Gessner Family Sled

MVP Moms 1&2 with Eli :)

Headed back home

We truly had an awesome time sledding, but man am I sore!! Two days in a row are ROUGH!

In bathroom news, the drywall is done, the concrete board is going up, and fun things are about to happen in there!! YAY

Doen't my husband have the cutest helpers ever??

Sledding

Today, I took both of the boys sledding at a nearby park. We don't have very many (public) hills around here, but this one is a good one!! Last year we tried to take O sledding at our neighbor's house, but we didn't have the kind of sled that was good for downhill sledding- it ended up being a lot of work, and not much fun.

This year, Matt bought Owen an intertube style sled- and let me tell you, that thing FLIES!! I helped O get seated on the sled and got him to hang on, and I didn't even push the thing- it just took off! He went flying down the hill all by himself and I got nervous that he was going to be scared, but I could hear his laughter all of the way down. Once he came to a stop, he got off and drug his little sled right back up that big hill! I was so proud of him. Kids a lot older than him were having their moms or dads carry them, or the sled, or both up the hill!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this event. I was by myself with both boys and it was pretty much all that I could do to handle the two of them without worrying about a camera as well.

As much as Owen loved the sledding, Eli hated it. He liked to be pulled around on flat ground in his little infant sled, but if he had to go anywhere near that hill, he was NOT pleased! It was a difficult thing trying to keep him pleased and be able to help Owen. I'm hoping to take them back tomorrow and maybe get some pictures!


I apologize for my lack of wit or writing skills this evening. I am thoroughly worn out from the day of sledding. Probably even more worn out from getting two toddlers into all of the snow gear- GEESH what a job!

Hopefully I'll have fun sledding pictures to share tomorrow.


P.S. I have a faucet and showerhead installed in my bathroom now!! The drywall is all hung, and the second coat of mud is going on as I type! I will probably be painting this weekend- WOO HOO!!!!

Epic Fail

I have been on the search for some fabulous art for bathroom. It needed to have just the right feel. I found some paintings that I *really* liked at Bed, Bath, and Beyond- but in my opinion, they were overpriced for generic art... I sketched out what they looked like with my own flair, and honestly, they weren't half bad. I was kind of proud of myself- because I am usually sooo not artistic.

I took Matthew with me to BBB today to look at the paintings, and he starts telling me how he's sure that I could paint them myself. Still glowing from my quasi-success with the sketching yesterday--- I made Mistake 1, and started to believe him.

We walked over to Michaels, and he helped me pick out all of the items that I needed to complete the painting. I was alarmed by the prices, but I was armed with 3- 40% off coupons- so I thought that the total shouldn't be *too* bad. --Mistake 2!! The total of all of those art supplies ended up being MORE than the generic art that I thought was too expensive!

Matthew assured me that having an original piece of art, and the sense of pride that I'd have for having completed said piece of art would be totally worth the price. --Mistake 3- I believed him again!!

By the time that we got home, I was pretty excited to get started on my beautiful, original piece of art. I put the boys down for naps, and Matthew gave me some pointers to get started. I painted and painted- and eventually completed the background. It looked pretty good, but the colors weren't quite right... I kept telling myself that adding the foreground would make up for the not-right colors, and that it would all be okay.... --Mistake 4!

Adding the foreground did NOT make the painting look better... In fact, it made it look decidedly worse!!! I finished the painting, stood up, looked at it- and I deflated.

Just like that.

All of the build up, all of the excitement, gone. This shouldn't have been a surprise to me- I've always know that art isn't my thing, but somehow I let myself get carried away by this notion that my husband believed in me! I really wanted to make him proud! :(

He of course, still claims that he's really proud of me for trying- and he did his best to try and make me feel better- but I have to admit, I'm still pretty bummed.

I will NOT be sharing a picture of said artwork, but I will tell you what I named it...

"The dark and stormy day that blew weed seeds all over my yard"


The end.

Renovation- Day 11

Soo I was really starting to stress out today because more and more things were going wrong. Today's house made yesterday's house look neat and tidy! I watch T & Q on Wednesdays, so I was really starting to feel the pressure of getting things back to some shade of normal before they arrive tomorrow at 5:30 am!

If I was a bird, I'd be plucking my feathers right now.

Matthew had to replace all of the wiring going to both our stove and oven. Apparently a mouse chewed through the casing covering the wires- and we had exposed wires in our wall!!! Fortunately, we discovered/fixed this while the drywall was out, and no major disasters occured as a result of the little prankster! It was a really big job, and he accomplished in only a few hours! I am soo thankful that my husband has so many skills, and that he's a super efficient person, and that he's so cute... oh wait, I'm getting off the subject ;)

So the moral of this story is that, as of the writing of this blog, not much has been accomplished in the bathroom today. (Don't think for a minute that he's giving up yet though!) He did however fix my oven, stove, and he helped me get the house back in order for me to watch the kiddos tomorrow! I'm SUPER thankful to be married to a Gessner when it comes time to clean up!! (and all of the other days too!)

Today we went from this...

Yep that's my oven sitting on saw horses...

And all of my pots and pans in the bathroom vanity that currently resides in my kitchen!





To THIS!!!

Ta-DA!!!!

I LOVE my husband!!

In other news, today was Owen's first day back to school after the Christmas break. I was worried about it, because I figured that he would have a hard time going back after such a long break, but he did GREAT!! I was so proud of him. He woke up this morning with a good attitude, got out of the Jeep nicely at school, and I received a great report from Mrs. Hughes!! YAY Owen!! I hope that this is a start of him enjoying school more. I have hated that he hasn't been wanting to go.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have great new bathroom pictures to post!! :)

Renovation- Day 10

January 04, 2010

How is it that something that hasn't yet lasted 2 weeks can feel like an eternity? I get this way when my kiddos are sick, or any other major stressor comes along. My house is a total wreck, and I feel like I'm living in a disaster zone! Matthew is back to work now, albeit shorter days- but I know that the progress will be much slower now.

What used to be my living room and kitchen!

*sigh*

Anyway, enough of the woe-is-me talk and on the good stuff. The bathroom really is coming along nicely. We've hit a few speedbumps, one of which has resulted in me no longer having a working stove, another being that I thought that I was going to be arrested in Menards for shoplifting! *rolls eyes* That's a story for another day! Things are going back IN to the bathroom rather than out- so that's a good sign! Another big step is that drywall started going up today! YAY! Matthew had to insulate the entire room before he could start drywalling because there was absolutely NO insulation in ANY of the walls! Nice. I even helped hang the drywall tonight- I used a drill and everything. I'm totally a handywoman extraordinaire! ;) I can say that because we all know that Matthew has all of the talent in this area. He could probably teach Reggie to hang drywall! If not Reggie, then definitely Owen! :)

(My competency level for this kind of thing is somewhere between Reggie and Owen)

The drywalling has come to a screeching halt for the evening because apparently the wiring to my stove has to be replaced before he can put up the final piece of drywall.

Three of the four outlets in the new bathroom!

(One will be inside the vanity for my flat iron and blow dryer)

In exciting news from my end, I have finished painting all of the furniture, trim, and molding that will be going into the room. Matthew tells me that I will be able to paint the actual room in the next few days. Woo Hoo!! My other big news is that I picked out towels, a rug and shower curtain(s)! I LOVE them!! My bathroom is going to be sooo pretty when I am done. Matthew has given my creative spirit free rein to decorate this room, and I can't wait to make it EXACTLY what I've always wanted! I already have big plans for the different "looks" that I'll create using different colored accessories!

Well, that's about it for my update tonight. I'll leave you with two recent pictures- Just for fun!

...Because who doesn't like looking at pictures of a dog sitting on a grill?

It was apparently too cold for him to wait for us to let him in sitting on the concrete. He took matters into his own paws and sat on the grill instead.

Aaaaaand here's Eli thinking he's big stuff sitting at his brother's table!

What a cute little stinker!