Priorities

We are suppose to be busy finishing a house.  The house we are moving into next weekend.  But things keep getting in the way.  Some of the things cause me to stomp my feet and growl when I talk.  Like the new chicken coop for example:

Remember when the chicken coop use to just be the kid's tree house?  And it looked like this?

Sometimes I may not know when to pick my battles.  And this is not one of those times.  I know you will all agree with me that my bedroom should be completed before the chicken's.  All of you except Jace and the other crazed chicken sympathizers out there.  The saddest thing of all is that 4 year old Ezra thinks Dad built him 2 tree forts now!  Who is going to break the news to him that this newly constructed "fort" is for our feathered friends only?  Not me.

Distraction #2:

Jace gets a little Phil Weston on us every Saturday morning.  He loves to win.

He is the only coach in the league running up and down the field with his players.  Yelling.  It is pretty fun to watch.

And this little guy is so fun to watch.  He has had another great season.  Our Noah never fails to surprise and impress us.  Another reason I love this kid?  Check out his Obi-Wan Kenobi costume below.

All that he needed was a robe.  He wasn't worried.  He told me after the trick or treating that "everybody knew who he was."  Sweet, because his older sister had just a few wardrobe meltdowns.  "Everyone thinks I'm a pirate!"  And I don't even have to point out what the younger sister thought of her piggy costume.  She. Was. Not. Having. It.  And Ironman there in the middle was a repeat of last year.  Love that.

Remember those boring tile pictures I promised?

Enjoy.

Master bath.  I tried to talk Jace into doing the entire bathroom in the white marble.  As you can see he didn't think that was one of my best ideas.

But I don't mind the beige tile he picked.  It's kind of growing on me.

Kid's bath.  Was hoping for dark brown subway tile.  But white will do.  It will do.  

Wanted:

My only full time helpers.

Help.

Extra hands.

Extra hours in the day.

Extra patience.

Less full time jobs.

We are tiling.  Have I told you I hate tile?  I really do.  To me it all looks the same.  Brown, beige, blahness.  Maybe because is reminds me of all the track neighborhoods in Arizona.  Brown stucco houses that sit just a grout line away from the next brown house.  Eh.  I'm over it.  I have picked the tile and now I am going to live with it.  Forever, Jace says.

Pictures of my boring tile coming soon.

Our downtown house deal fell through.  Then we sold it again.  We are still moving in November.  And we are thankful.  Very thankful.

Please refer to the line under the title of this blog.

"Blood, Sweat, and Tears" people.  That is what it says.

It's mostly been tears lately.  Well ok, a few cuss words as well.

This is the worst part.  The final push.

Stick with me.  The cheerful version of this blog is just around the corner.

Nipples or Nostrils

The new hall bath vanity.

Someone once told me that if your marriage can survive building/remodeling a house - it can survive anything.  I don't know if that quote applies to married people who remodeled or built 6 houses in 10 years but I'm going to pray it does.  Jace and I mostly love doing houses together.  We love the whole process.  Jace is so good at his stuff and I love getting to see the house "dreams" in my head come to life.  But home improvement can be exhausting, stressful, and scary and that can turn into weight gain, high blood pressure, empty bank accounts, and bickering spouses.

The above photographed bathroom vanity did indeed cause some tense moments during our lastest house remodel.  Jace doesn't even bat an eye when I come hauling an old broken piece of furniture into the house and request the plumber to convert it into a bathroom vanity.  That he can handle.  

It was the mirror height that had our feathers all rumpled.  Jace is a healthy 6' 3" and I on a good day am 5' 4 1/2".  (Yes, I always throw in the 1/2")  That is a height difference of 10 1/2".  That sweet man hung the mirror all by himself one day and it was somewhere near the bathroom ceiling - I requested a redo - and pointed to the spot where the mirror should be - closer to the sink.

"There?"

"Yep."

"Oh good.  I'll be able to look at my nipples - ONLY - in the mirror when I wash my hands."

"Well, too bad because I'm not going to jump up and down in the bathroom to get a glimpse of my nostrils."

I'm telling you it was tense.  We had ridiculous conversations like that for days.  In the end, the mirror went somewhere in the middle.  We call that a compromise or a "I don't want to talk about it anymore, so I'll hang the mirror where ever I want because I know how to run the power tools better than her."

Hall bath - After renovation and after the mirror was permanently fastened to the wall.

The hall bathroom before?  You should probably see it and then appreciate all our efforts.

Yellow tub.  Yellow toilet. Yellow linoleum floor.

Want to see the master bath?

Before:

Master Bath - Before.  Days after birthing a child - in the hospital, not the bathroom.

After:

  

Have I already told you I know a really good looking plumber?  He's good ain't he?

Stick around.  There's more to see.

And by the way,  I hate the word nipples.  Don't you?