Heading Home

I'm up early this morning - perhaps I can't sleep as I'm excited that we're finally heading home to South Carolina today!  I've never been away from home for more than a week or two, so this month-long stay clear across the country has really been tough for me.  Actually it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but nonetheless, it was a challenge.  I think my husband was challenged with it, too, although he may never admit it...he's too tough and likes to think he's pretty flexible, but I know him too well.  We gained two hours when we came to Montana last month, so when we head back this weekend, we'll lose those two hours AND an additional hour with daylight savings....ugh.  Not looking forward to re-adjusting to a 3 hour change in the 'negative' direction.   My husband has joked that he plans to drive straight through...I truly hope he's joking because my butt couldn't handle 32 hours in that little car without stopping for a couple of nights.

So, the double bath renovation is pretty much done (at least our part is) and I really have no final pictures to show you except this one of the shower, which really isn't complete as we hadn't installed the sliding glass doors yet, but it is a pretty shower, doncha think?

I was just too tired and too 'done' with this project to go around and take pictures in tight spaces.  Mike and Gwen promised final pictures once all the clutter is cleared and such.  They still have to paint, so it will be nice to see that finishing touch.

Speaking of final pictures, my mother took some of her new home office space and I want to share them with you because I think she did a wonderful job of settling in and making this a beautiful place for her to do her paperwork and relax.

Sorry for the blurriness on some of them...you know those old folks just can't hold a camera still sometimes!  ☺♥

 

Classic Bean Bag Chairs

This past Christmas, I didn't have time to make anything for my niece and nephew (Ellie and Jared), so once I knew I would be in Montana shortly thereafter, I decided I would take my sewing machine and we would tackle a fun sewing project/gift together.  When I was little my mother made each of us kids a bean bag chair out of the fabric of our choice.  I chose a faux sheepskin, my older brother had one made from cast off jeans and my little brother had one made from green corduroy.  She filled them with styrofoam packing peanuts and we loved those chairs!!  We wore them out and had to refill them several times as the peanuts broke down into tiny little pieces.

I found a similar pattern for a bean bag chair here and decided I would do the adult size for Ellie and Jared so it would be something they could 'grow into' as they got older.

I took the kids to the fabric store and they each chose a nice soft fleece in their favorite design and color.  My husband graphed the pattern onto cardboard and away we went cutting the pieces and assembling the bags.

Once we got started it really didn't take too long.  The kids each took their turn at the sewing machine and that was a lot of fun watching them concentrate and have fun.

Once the lining and outer shell were complete, we sent them to the packing experts to be filled.  

Using a special filling designed just for bean bag chairs (not packing peanuts) they were filled up and zipped up and then immediately plopped down into by two adorable and very thankful kids!

I hope they'll be used and loved for many years to come!

Bathroom Renovation Progress

I think this has been my main goal during this bathroom renovation project!  Oh my wits!!  Where are they when you need them????

I wanted to show you some of the starting pictures of the bathrooms to the demolition and finally to where we are now - heading toward the finish line.

Here are some pictures taken before the project started

Hall bath - overhead view

Master bath - from master bedroom doorway - super small shower to the left

Here you can see the demolition of the shower - we had to take a sledge hammer to it!

The two bathrooms are basically side-by-side as you can tell once we've torn down a few walls along with the old shower

We stole some of the space in the master bedroom (way too large) and expanded both bathrooms into that space, making each a bit larger.

Stood up some walls

The sheetrock is up and we finished laying the ceramic tile yesterday.

I went to take a picture of the ceramic tile progress in the shower and noticed a BIG boo-boo...can you see it down towards the bottom of the picture?

One lonely little pale tile set the previous day.  We had to saw the tile in half diagonally and then pry from the middle to get it out, followed by lots of chipping and scraping to get the hardened mortar off the wall....fun.....BUT, I am glad I found it before we got all finished!

So, I won't bore you with any more construction details, but I will try to post later this week about my sewing adventure with Jared and Ellie.

A Montana Birthday and Dr. Seuss-isms

My brother's wife also has a sister named Jenn so I'm lovingly referred to as "Daddy's Jenn".  
I turned 44 today and had the extreme pleasure of celebrating with my brother's family....his wife, Gwen, and their two children, Ellie (10) and Jared (7).  I think the last time I celebrated my birthday in my hometown was probably in 1992 - the year I left and moved down South.

My nephew, Jared, reminded me that I share a birthday with the famed Dr. Seuss!

Jared:  "Auntie Jenn, do you know who's birthday is coming up?"
Me:  "Who?"
Jared:  "Dr. Seuss!...do you know how many books he has written?"
Me:  "Hmmmm.....24?"
Jared:  "Nope"
Me:  "39?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me: "56?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me:  "74?"
Jared: "Nope"
Me: "OK, so how many?"
Jared:  "Well, I don't know but it's a lot"

I looked it up later - 44 books (for children, that is).  Hey, that's how old I am!

Last night, we all went out to dinner at an Asian grill and it was a really fabulous time!  The kids found some interesting chairs in one of the rooms and we thought they were appropriately Seuss-ical!!

They had a lovely surprise for me when we got home!

Coming and Going...

Oh Hello.....so sorry I've been absent from posting for over a month now, and I know my followers are dropping like flies....ya - what a boring blog!  :)
I never did finish showing you the progress at Mom's house and to be honest, I never did get a final picture of her new office - shame!  One wall of the 'room' was the original outside of the house and it was german siding which we were going to cover up with sheetrock, so I told Mom she should put a secret message there that may one day be discovered by someone else who renovates the house (or tears it down - ha!)...so Mom wrote a special verse there and we 'sealed' it with the sheetrock in a new wall.

Anyway, here are a few more since last month.

new walls built, insulated....you can see the german siding on the left

raised floor built and insulated

sheetrock up, snap-in laminate flooring installed

My husband went back for a few days the week following our initial stay and finished up as we didn't get it all done - painting, trim work, new door installation, etc.  I couldn't go as I had too many clothing orders to complete in addition to getting ready for our big working trip to Montana (that's where I am right now)

She is really pleased with the finished product and it really is a totally different room with a totally different feel - no longer stepping down into a converted porch, but now a fully intact and attached additional room / office.

So, then we made our journey to Montana about a week and a half ago and we are knee-deep in a double bathroom renovation for my brother's family.

somewhere in Wyoming

Sewing withdrawal symptoms are setting in as I miss my sewing room terribly!  I think I miss it even more than my own bed and bathtub!  I did bring my sewing machine with me and got a little sewing time in this past Sunday and perhaps I'll get to do a bit more soon.

I'll do my best to be back to share some pictures of the demolition and then re-structuring of this project, but right now I must don my overalls and report for plumbing duty....sigh.....

Talk to ya later!  :)

Helping Mom - Part Three

...and so it continues...

We're back at Mom's house doing some repairs to make her house more functional and liveable.   You can see where we started this job here and here on earlier posts.  It's been a slow and steady process.  She hasn't had hot water in her bathroom for several months now so she's been showering at the local YMCA.  Her office is actually a renovated porch, closed in to make another room.  It has no heat so we have to raise the floor to put ductwork in below.   The first order of business was to hit Lowe's and fill our carts will all the necessary materials.

We spent the first two days working on the plumbing problem.  We replaced the ENTIRE water supply pipes under the house which required crawling around in the dust, cobwebs and crud.  There's even a cat skeleton down there - poor little kitty got stuck down there and couldn't get out...makes me sad to think of that.   It's a very small crawlspace so at times we were scooting on our bellies and at the end of the day our backs were aching so much from the strain.  In addition, we weren't able to shower until tonight as we didn't have hot water....yuck!  But, that problem is behind us and we're starting on the framing for the office tomorrow.

Mom is cooking three hot meals for us every day (way too much food) but we are enjoying being pampered and I know she is appreciative of the help.  Bill and I both feel it's the least we can do to help her as she has committed her life to serving people in her community.  She doesn't have the luxury of money, but she does have a calling and a desire to help the poor in her neighborhood.

So, that's going to be our week....right now we're settling into some serious 'vegging' in front of the television to watch Glee, New Girl and Raising Hope......ahhh....relaxation feels great after a hard day's work!    :)

Recjoicing and Answers...

Yes - I am announcing it!  Sleep for me, lately, is such a rareity that when it occurs (probably 3 or 4 times per month), I want to shout it to the world, and that's just what I did!  No restless legs, achy back, discomfort or insomnia last night, although I did have to get up to pee at least twice (can't remember if there was a third time) but, hey, that's an improvement!!!  So, I feel good today for a change.

Anyway, I suppose y'all are back to get some answers to those burning questions I left you with....

First of all, on the puzzle, if you said anything about kitties, sewing or quilting, you were right there because those are some of my favorite things!

Speaking of kitties, I have a new favorite website....http://icanhascheezburger.com/  I have a hard time reading some of the cute-sy writing (sorta like a munchkin talking) but I enjoy laughing out loud at the funny pictures and videos of cats and other animals!  I can definitely relate to some of it!

So, as you can see, the finished puzzle has found it's place on the wall and just yesterday I received a new installment in the mail - FOUR new puzzles just waiting for my longing fingers!! 

I found a great new website for puzzles and it was really hard to decide which ones to purchase.  I honestly didn't need 4 puzzles, but since I didn't receive any for Christmas presents this year, I decided to splurge.

OK, onto the next burning question.  Most of you were right, but one of my friends totally made me bust out laughing when she said it looked like a "textured breast implant for a tiny titty or a doll".....HA!!!  Oh, Sheri, you always make me laugh!!

My husband received a bag of Sunkist fruit gems and I asked for the grapefruit flavored ones.  There were only two in the bag!  I ate the first one he gave me and then this other one showed up the next day in it's cute little place!  awwwwwwww......

Now, it's mmmmmmmmmmmm!  Fake boobies taste like grapefruit - perhaps that's why they call them 'grapefruits'.....

P.S.  I feel so good today, I think I'll make some cookies!!!     http://www.ibelieveicanfry.com/2011/12/chewy-chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookies.html