Day 2

So, day 2 gave me a helper, which I desperately needed for today's to-do list. Main objective - remove the bathtub. Easier said then done, for sure!

Removing the framing around the tub would have been much easier with a Sawzall, but we had to make do with a crow bar and hammer. It was definitely a challenge that provided a good workout for our arms.

We worked together and finally got the frame up and began to tackle the tub. Once again, not as easy as expected. The faucet pipe must have been built after installation of the tub. The pipe had a washer that could not be removed to allow the pipe to be removed through the hole. It required us to cut the copper pipe. Not a big deal since it has to be moved anyway, but an annoyance nonetheless.

Then, the big obstacle - the tub drain! We had this problem with the kids' bathtub as well. The metal part of the drain screws into the pipe. But, it is so tight and we just don't have the right tool to unscrew it. In the kids' bath, we were able to get it with WD40 and some elbow grease. But, we just could not get ours. Eventually, we took another approach - cut the drain pipe from underneath. An hour later or so, but we finally got the tub detached and out of there.

Whew! Day 2 done. A lot of work getting all the debris off the floors and walls and out to the trash. But, we have a much emptier bathroom! Good results. Overall I'm very happy. Our goal - get the demo 100% done by Wednesday when the cleaning ladies come to clean up the mess we're tracking all over the house! Maybe they'll need a bonus this week.

And, so it begins....

Renovation of our master bath has truly begun! We've had a lot of setbacks already. Contractors don't come as scheduled or never send us a bid. We've struggled to pick out all the pieces we need to complete the bathroom. But, eventually, I decided to be my own general contractor, but we're hiring out plumbing, electrical and tiling.

So, step one is to demo the whole bath. As we have already received our vanity (and it's crowding our bedroom) and the bathtub should be here shortly, I figured it was time to go.

The Before:

Rachel and Alex were excited to help me. We took off the shower head and shower doors. Then, the fun began - smashing the tiles!

But, that wore off quick. This is where they left me for the day. They were tired and their arms were sore. Wimps!

Dave was at work, so I was on my own. But, I managed to clear all the tiles from the shower area and get up the shower pan. Unfortunately, we found a wonderful nest of ants behind the shower. After grossing out Rachel with them and them sucking them up with the ShopVac, I finished with only minor issues. Overall a successful day!

The end of day 1!

Graham Cracker Houses

Every Christmas season, we make a gingerbread house. I usually buy one from Costco, which comes with everything in one box. The problem is the gingerbread is not all that yummy, so it pretty much goes uneaten. Dave wanted to make graham cracker houses instead, just like his mom does. Immediately, Rachel loved the idea because she could do it all the way that she wanted. This, apparently, got Alex's brain moving to figure out how he would do his. He came up with the idea of a football field. So, we were in search of candy that could somehow represent the parts of a football field. Then, Zack needed to do something sports related and settled on a soccer field, just to be slightly different from his older brother. Matthew was just happy to throw some candy on his house and probably in his mouth when I wasn't paying too much attention.

Unfortunately, the first two batches of frosting that I made were not quite right, so I was stuck creating another batch and then helping Rachel fix her 3 story hotel that kept falling down. That's right - Rachel set out to build a 3-story hotel with a hot tub - out of graham crackers! I think a little patience would have done her well, but if you know her at all, you know that she's lacking a little in that. After the boys were long done, and I had delayed dinner by an hour or so, I made the frosting using a different recipe and got the consistency we needed to build Rachel's hotel. We even died some frosting blue to fix the hot tub with water.

Dave, of course, produced his own little house that looked perfect. I think the kids respected the beauty of his simple house, but I don't think any of them regretted their choice of construction - despite the fact that none of them turned out as well as they had envisioned. At least, no one can claim that my children are not creative.

Of course, a couple bites here and there were about all that was eaten. The rest was thrown away, exactly the way the simple gingerbread house in a box has been done every other year. We'll see what the kids ask for next year!

Matthew had no plan. Just throw candy and crackers on a tray.

He did make this cute robot, though. I just discovered this on the table at some point. I was surprised to find out that Matthew had made him.

Zack's soccer field - I can barely even tell what all the parts are because he couldn't edit himself. He has a bench with players on it and a scoreboard as well.

Alex's football field. He came home and printed out a picture of the Atlanta Falcons' field. But, then, he thought it looked too complicated to make the falcon. So, he decided on the Colts. But, he was truly underestimating how difficult it would be to make an accurate field with candy. He only made 1/2 the field because he ran out of space, and I don't think he ever got to decorating the endzone. And, he definitely never made the goalposts that he had planned.

The failed attempt at the hotel. It kept collapsing slowly until it just became one huge pile of rubble. You can see the remains of the hot tub in this one, though.

The hotel #2 - much better.

Dave's simple, yet stylish house.

Halloween

The whole gang!

We had a pretty low-key Halloween. Rachel had a friend over, and the boys trick-or-treated with a kid down the street. This was the first time in many years that I dressed up at all. Rachel had asked me at Target what Daddy and I were going to be. We saw the Ghostbusters costume for Dave, and I couldn't resist buying it. I went for a simple kitty cat. It was kind of fun!

Rachel squared

"Star Wars character with gun", Captain America, and Harry Potter

My Budding Musician

Matthew's new hobby...

The end of an era

It all started nine and a half years ago...Rachel got a present from my mom's cousin, Mary. It was a super-soft, white bear. Immediately, she became attached to that bear and carried it with her everywhere. She simply named him, "Bear." She slept with him for a couple years straight before he was accidentally forgotten. After many tears and a substitute unicorn, she made it through that night, but he was not forgotten again for many years.

Over the past year or so, sleepovers have been arranged on the spur of the moment, and I've been able to talk Rachel out of the obligatory drive over to bring Bear. But, he still had a warm spot in her bed every night here.

Last week, as we were hanging a new shelf in her room, Rachel decided that she was willing to put Bear up there for good. I could tell it was a decision she felt she needed to do because she was growing up but that it was hard to do. So, he now has a prime location on her shelf overlooking her room. I'm happy that she decided to put him up before he was too destroyed. He's no longer white or soft. He's been sewn a few times to fix broken seams. But, he's been such a part of Rachel's childhood that I wanted to keep him as a memento.

It was very much a bittersweet moment for me. I'm happy to be done having to remember that Bear on every trip or search the house high and low to find him to get her to sleep. But, it's a clear sign that she's growing up. My baby girl is no longer a baby and that definitely brings tears to my eyes.

New Responsibilities

I read an article about a lady that was dying of cancer. She wanted to find ways to help her family after she was gone, so one thing she did was to teach each of her kids to make one meal. I think she had 5 kids, so she figured they would at least be able to make these 5 meals. I found this incredibly sad, but I liked the idea of teaching kids to make a specific meal. While the kids have always helped some in the kitchen, I wanted to pick meals for each of them that they would always be responsible for helping me with, so they could learn how to make something from start to finish.

We've just started this, and it is working out very well. Rachel has picked the family favorite of Parmesan Chicken. She even made some (almost on her own) for our neighbor that just had a baby. Matthew helped make spaghetti last night - and only Matthew, which led to some frustrations because everyone wanted to help. But, the beauty of it is that one kid gets that special role at a time.

So, tonight, it was Zack's turn. We had a simple dinner of pancakes and sausage links. Despite the flour all over my newly-cleaned kitchen floor and the egg shells I had to pick out, I let Zack do most of the work. I even let go enough to let him pour the batter on the griddle. It was hard because I'm surprisingly a little bit of a Nervous Nelly. He loved it and did such a great job.

After soccer, we came back to cook the remaining batter for frozen pancakes. Alex and Rachel really wanted to help this time, so I let them take it on themselves. I had to look away a little and let my desires to control the situation go, but once I did, it was like a light bulb went on. They happily cooked pancakes for 30 minutes while I cleaned up, read with Zack, put Matthew to bed. I really saw the beauty

of this new plan. I think we might be having pancakes for breakfast every night!

The new (and improved?) Naked Chef

At least by this point, I had made him put something else on besides his underwear that he was wearing to bed.