treehouse museum

because of the bathroom remodel, we decided it would be best to be out of the house. of course, nothing about this has been convenient for us but two very curious children & a house full of tools don't mix very well.

so we packed up our bags and stayed with danny's parents up in layton. with daylight savings thrown into the mix, it has made for veryyyyy restless/sleepless nights (ave decided that she would rather play out on the swings in the dead of night than sleep...this is how one of our conversations went down at 3:30 am. 

Me: "Ave it's really time to go to sleep..."

Ave: "No!! I want swings!!"

Me: "We need sunshine to play on the swings. Right now it's dark! It's time to be sleeping."

Ave: "I want sunshine!!!!!"

Haha it was actually kind of funny (in a weird, sleep deprived kind of way...) but ohmygoodness I feel like I've got a nursing baby again with all of the scattered sleep i've been getting.

anyways! i'm getting distracted. 

on monday, the kids and i took a trip up to ogden with graunna debbie to the treehouse museum. neither of us had been there before but it did not disappoint!! basically, it was just a whole lot of fun. i'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:

//this fire truck was a big hit! double bonus that they looked absolutely adorable all dressed up! however, max was slightly disappointed that there weren't any boots to wear. (i'm guessing he picked that up from the curious george book that he loves...)

//they loved the rodeo exhibit. could it be that nephi is actually rubbing off on them?!?! ;) who knows, maybe ave will be the rodeo queen someday...

//the medieval area had a sword in the stone. how fitting that we just introduced that movie to max a few days ago!

//the dino exhibit was also a big hit (they all were so well done!) they played with the dinosaurs and then did crayon rubbings of different dino parts. pretty fun. the fish tank (near the dino's) was another big hit with ave especially.

//i thought this rock/water painting was so neat! maybe we should put one up in the playroom! so much less messy than a chalkboard...

//the cutest little indian i ever did see:

//the mongolian hut probably ranked in the top two for their fav. ave couldn't get enough of those little beds!! should a trip to mongolia be in our future? maybe that's where she'll serve a mission! haha or maybe she was just ready for a nap. yeah, that's probably what it was...

//i kept envisioning us on the set of "the sound of music!" with this adorable puppet station. they could see what they were doing on the screen. max was a little more aggressive with the puppets. surprise, surprise :)

//peter rabbit's kitchen was too cute!!

//there are two levels at the museum and in the very center is a giant treehouse that the kids can climb up. max was a little hesitant at first (ave was just a little too short) but after seeing another boy about his age make it up, he quickly followed suite. after that, it was hard to get him away from it!

//ave kept asking me to "please push!" them in the boat. little cutie.

//the hospital/doctor exhibit topped them all for their absolute favorite. the white lab coats, the microscope, and the babies!!! it was all really darling. 

i'd say it was a great way to spend the afternoon! thanks mom for joining us, and treating us to such a fun outing. xo.

there's a light at the end of the bathroom tunnel!

today is the day that our bathroom will (mostly) be finished!! today! can you believe that?? i'm still kind of in shock (probably because i haven't seen it since last thursday) but let me tell you, having someone else do all the dirty work for you feels gooooood.

danny has been monitoring the progress while we've been away and he's taken a few pictures (to keep me happy!)

want to take a peek at the latest??

here is the shower covered with beautiful sheetrock, tape, and mud! the tub will be in the same location, but we added a little cove/shelf/inlet (whatever that's called) for shampoo, soap, etc.

here is a night shot of where our fake window will go (the toilet will go right below that). we decided to go with a simple picture window but that won't be done until this friday. so when i say the bathroom will be "mostly" finished today, that's what i mean. the window will still need to go in...along with primer, paint, trim, etc... (ok, there will still be a lot to do, but the hard part will be done!)

our pedestal sink will fit right in that little area (see the outlet on the ceiling for the hanging light?!?) we didn't want it to feel completely enclosed, so the wall only comes up about 7'. i really like how it turned out. oh, and the area cut out of the wall will hold our recessed medicine cabinet.

forgive me for these absolutely nasty pictures but i think it's pretty amazing! russ was able to completely change out the pipe for the toilet and fit it up right against the wall. when we get around to finishing the basement, all those pipes will be built inside a wall!! woot woot.

look how wide open our staircase is!!!! now if we can just figure out how to drywall that...

and a few more of the bathroom (the next day...i believe these were taken on friday). the green stuff you see surrounding the tub is apparently prep for the tile (which looks amazing!! pictures to come!)

...a better view of the "half" wall between the sink & tub areas:

i am beyond excited. for those of you who have had to live with an absolutely, completely disgusting bathroom for an extended period of time, you know exactly how i feel ;)

i've currently got the camera so danny has no way to take more current, updated pictures, but as soon as i get home, i'll get some up. it's gonna be a beaut!!

we're gainin'

Alright, so I wasn't able to get the mood board up "tomorrow"...but this is better than next week right?? This week has been full of decisions and lots of trips up & down the stairs (our only toilet is down in the dungeon!) but overall it has been great and I am so so incredibly excited about how the plans are unraveling. Our contractor started Monday and is doing great! Today the sheetrock goes in & plumbing will be wrapped up!! Exciting stuff.

Many of you have asked where in the world our toilet is going?? Valid question. My CAD days are lonnnng gone (I took 3 years of drafting in High School and loved it!) but here is a very rough sketch of what we've got up our sleeves as far as the layout is concerned:

I know, it's not the prettiest draw-up you've ever seen. The scale is all out of whack and it looks pretty horrible. But hopefully it'll give you a little idea of what's going on. 

We're closing off the entire area where the toilet used to be, and just so we don't lose out on any precious natural light (I need all I can get!) we're installing a "faux" window. I'm really excited about that. The tub will stay in the same place, besides the fact that it will be brand new!! In fact, it's currently sitting in the bathroom and it is a beaut. In between the tub and the pedestal sink (which actually isn't round, but squareish) Russ built us a wall that goes up about 7'. We didn't want it totally closed off and from what I can tell with the 2x4's, it's going to look great. 

One question you may be asking yourself is...where in the world are we going to store everything?? Well, I've decided that we really don't need or even use 90% of the things we used to have in the bathroom so I'm going to condense and keep it simple. Sometimes I think when I've got too much storage, I keep everything under the sun...and then it never gets touched. We are putting a recessed mirror/medicine cabinet above the sink with a surprisingly large amount of storage. So that, along with the large hall storage I've got right outside the bathroom door, I think we'll be set.

Last but not least, here is a little mood board I came up with (which is now a little outdated; we've added a few more things since then...) I want to keep it sleek with pops of color and I'm so happy with what we've decided on!!

1. I love the curviness of the handles, the higher arch of the faucet, and especially the price tag.

2. I spotted this gem in Better Homes & Gardens and I can't stop thinking about it.

3. I was sold on this sink for a number of reasons. For a pedestal sink, there is quite a bit of space around the perimeter. And, I love how it flares out near the bottom. With so many rigid lines, that feminine touch will be appreciated (if only by me!)

4. Classic subway tile. This will be used as the tub surround. It will match the backsplash in the kitchen (which has been fabulous).

5. You may have seen my dilemma on Instagram about penny tile. I really love penny tile and we were pretty set on it. BUT, after contacting The Tile Shop and realized that the tile we wanted was on backorder (we first spotted the tile on John & Sherry's backsplash)...we came up with an alternative. I think I'm secretly happy that the penny tile didn't work out though...this hex tile makes me happy :)

6. Nothing too fancy here. But just like everything else, we're pretty pumped! Especially since we'll be able to sit on it like normal people.

7. This navy striped shower curtain is a million times better than what we had before. 

8. I'm probably only going to buy one (maybe two) of these adorable hand towels from Anthro. But are they not the cheeriest?!

9. Woodgrain pattern in towels=awesome. 

So there you have it! I.can't.wait!!!

gutted.

If you've checked your Instagram or Facebook feed this weekend, chances are you've noticed that we have been having quite the party in our bathroom. It has been a blast! (Seriously!) Being able to rip out the bathroom that we've disliked for the last 2.5 years was a great weekend activity. Are we weird?? Maybe :)

Some of you have wanted to see before pictures. Apparently I don't show off this room as much as the others...well, this is why:

//awkward placement of everything. We've never been able to sit on our toilet normally. The people who installed it must have been very short!

//the "beautifully" angled countertop has always been a fave. (not!)

//un-recessed, outdated medicine cabinets were begging to go.

//the curvy shower curtain rod was hanging on by a metal thread. Oh, and that shower curtain and plastic white clips (gaggg) were some of the first things to go.

//check out that heavily textured pink ceiling!! And the mold. We can't forget the mold. It was everywhere!!!

//the countertops were held together with tape. Quality, right?!?

//tiny little sink (again, made for short people)

//another medicine cabinet begging to go

//the shower head has seen better days

//short towel racks=small child magnet (the kids love to hang on this!!)

//peeling away "backsplash"

Are we all in agreement that this room needed to go?? I hope so :) Friday night we were able to send the kids to their Nephi grandparents, Nell & Chris for a sleepover. They had a blast and so did we! Win win. We started out by removing all of the easy stuff (medicine cabinets & mirror.)

We discovered this behind the main cabinet, of course! There were a few real tiles along the edge, the main part was painted on. I really want to meet the people who lived in our house once upon a time. It sure would be fun to ask them what they were thinking ;)

//it already looks so much better!

Should I even show this nasty picture?? Probably not...this was below our sink!!! Mold infestation.

//the tile wall is comin' down!

Proof we took safety precautions:

//taking the ceiling out from the attic. Genius idea!!!

 By the end of Friday night (12 am) we were completely tuckered out but Danny decided to finish up one last task before calling it quits. The bathtub!!! It was quite the feat to get our cast iron tub out of there. He smashed it with a hammer (name that movie!) while I worried that our house was going to crumble to the ground (literally all of our walls were shaking!)

Saturday morning we set out to tackle this beauty! The picture below is taken from the top of our staircase. The wall directly in front is where our toilet sat on the opposite side...does that make sense? It's kind of confusing. Anyways, I wanted that wall to go completely, so that I didn't hit my head on the way down the stairs.

//is that creepy or what? ;)

We had a baptism to attend at noon but Danny's parents came to the rescue!! While we were gone, they took out the toilet, cleaned up our staircase, and started removing part of the floor. They are amazing!!!

And that my friends, is where I'll leave you for today! Later on, our contractor (Russ Frame) will be here to get things started!! I cannot wait. Stay tuned this week! Hopefully tomorrow I'll give you a peek at the mood board that I've come up with for the new bathroom :)