Bathroom Remodel

When we bought our home nearly four years ago, I told JM, the first thing I wanted to do was paint the upstairs bathroom. It had one red wall which I hated. I'm not opposed to a red wall, but the color of red was just off. He was fine with the idea of painting the bathroom but wanted to get some organization to the garage first. I agreed to that.

Four years later, we still haven't painted the bathroom and it grew on me. Not that I ever liked it, but I tolerated it. Plus when the door was open (which it is most of the time) it covers about half of the wall. I sort-of tried to make it into a patriotic theme. I hung the shower curtain that I've had since college (that was a LONG time ago) along with a few other accessories and left it alone. We already had navy towels so it was tolerable.

The towel rod had fallen down a few months ago and we hadn't gotten around to putting it back up. Besides, it had been poorly installed and there was a quarter size hole in the wall. I didn't want to rehang it since the kids tend to hang on it or pull on the towels.

I finally had enough. I decided one day (really all on my own, didn't have input or permission from JM) to do something about the bathroom. I loaded up the girls and hit Target then Home Depot for supplies. I nearly forgot to take before pictures, but managed to snap a few while I was prepping for paint.

I liked how it turned out, but after a few weeks of watching it, I REALLY like it. I love the grey. It's a great neutral and not too dark with all the white accents.

I painted two and a half walls a medium grey. The other wall and a half, I painted white. I also had to re-paint the ceiling white because after I painted trim white, the ceiling looked like a hideous sun-bleached off white.

Instead of putting the towel rod back up I did board and batton on the lower half of the wall and installed three hooks for towels. This also helps with the little hands hanging towels. They couldn't reach the rod, meaning lots of towels on the floor. Now, they can reach!

I'm really kind of proud of this corner. Silly as it may be, it took that extra effort that means I really cared how it turned out.This is the corner where the two mirrors meet and it was a pain to get the grey wall grey and the white all white.

I bought new hooks or the shower curtain. These were on sale for $5, so I couldn't go wrong. Speaking of new shower curtain, I improvised with this one. It is actually a flat bed sheet. I did take a short-cut here. I really should have taken the time to make button holes for the hooks, but I didn't. Mostly because I don't know how to make button holes and didn't want to wait until I learned. So I just cut slits with my rotary cutter in the fabric.

I also had to hem it since it was too long. The nice  thing about hemming it was that I could make it longer than a normal curtain and hang it really high. The width was perfect so I didn't do anything there.

A closer look at the board and batton. Love the hooks!

Here are the side by sides. I'm really love the way it turned out!

 

I really like that because the grey is neutral, it won't be a problem for re-sell value. I was trying to avoid anything too theme-y. What do you think?

Cancer Sucks

For my day job, I work in the Oncology department at a local hospital. I am the Health Educator over several hospitals. I plan patient programs and focus on community outreach. I help plan screening and prevention programs. I also manage a patient education library and help patients find information on their cancer, side effects, etc. All this connection with cancer patients, yet I've never had anyone really close to me with cancer. Until recently.

One of my friends and neighbors was recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Watching her go through surgery and treatment has changed my perspective on cancer. I wanted to do something for her while she is going through Chemotherapy. Since I have access to such great information and am aware of some of the common side effects of Chemotherapy, I decided to put together a Chemo Survival Kit of her. I thought I'd post what I included in the Kit in case it's helpful for anyone else out there.

I bought a simple bag to put it all in. It's a re-uable shopping bag. I made a basic sign for the front.

The contents include lots of things to help ease the symptoms associated with chemotherapy. Each one included a little note to explain what it is and why it's included. Inside the kit is:

•  A funny book that has nothing to do with Chemo. It's actually this book. Hilarious book about parenting.
• A pretty scarf for when she looses her hair.
• Plastic utensils to help with the metallic taste patients often get.
• Educational materials because it's my job and I couldn't not include it.
• Hard candy to help with mouth sores.
• A small pillow (because hospital pillows suck)

• Ginger tea to help with nausea.
• Chapstick for chapped lips
• A trashy magazine to keep up on celebrities and help pass the time.
• Love Notes: This is one of my favorite parts. I asked friends and neighbors to write notes of encouragement and tied them together with a pretty ribbon. I was hopeful that it would help lift her spirits and feel loved during treatment

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My friend really liked it and told me it was helpful. I enjoyed making it and felt like it was something I could do to be helpful during a time when there's not a lot someone else can do to take the burden.

40 Fun Things

This summer has been dubbed the "Summer of Fun". By me. Mostly because when this summer is over I will be working and going to graduate school while trying to balance family life. I don't think we'll be doing a whole lot of extra fun things while I'm in school. Tonight we sat down and made a family list of fun things to do over the summer. I plan on hanging our list on the fridge and crossing things off as we go. In no particular order, here is our list of 40 Fun Things.

1. Family Picnic
2. Play in the Park
3. Go to the Library
4. Go Swimming
5. Take Swim Lessons
6. Blow bubbles
7. Go the to Zoo
8. Play with sidewalk chalk
9. Make cookies
10. Make ice cream (I got an ice cream maker for Mothers Day!! :) )
11. Play with friends
12. Go Camping
13. Go to Yellowstone (already planned)
14. Run through the Sprinklers
15. Home Depot Kids Workshop (free on the first Saturday of the month)
16. Watch a movie
17. Build a blanket fort
18. Go to the Dinosaur Museum
19. Glow sticks in the Bathtub
20. Painting
21. Run a Race
22. Watch Fireworks
23. Play Playdoh
24. Balloon Tennis (with paper plate rackets)
25. Shave with Daddy (With saving cream and Popsicle sticks)
26. Balloon Characters (Draw faces on balloons)
27. Write Letters
28. Act out a story
29. Go to Cabella's to see the fish and animals
30. Weeding
31. Potato Stamps
32. Make Pizza
33. Eat Popsicles
34. Hike Lake Mountain
35. Roast Marshmallows
36. Star Gazing
37. Buy a botanical book to learn about native plants
38. Target Shooting (I'm not thrilled about this one, but BG and JM are excited. It may get vetoed.)
39. Plant flowers
40. Watch a baseball game

A Love Story

Once upon a time, there was a boy.

 

This boy worked very hard with a job and going to school. One of the few things he loved in life was his motorcycle. One day, this boy met a girl.

The boy and the girl fell in love and decided to get married. The boy didn't have much money to pay for a ring and the girl was unflinchingly ridged on what kind of ring she wanted. Since he was a good, hardworking, in-love boy, he decided to sell his beloved motorcycle to buy his girlfriend the ring she wanted. (Pause to allow for "Awwww"s.)

They got married and the years rolled by. All those years, he missed his motorcycle, but continued being the good, hardworking boy to support his growing family, their needs and fun family vacations.

One day the boy decided he needed to be reunited with his first love, the road. Luckily, the girl understood and agreed to let him purchase a motorcycle. It was shiny and fast (yet reasonably priced).

And the boy and his motorcycle lived happily ever after.

The End

Baby Loves Shoes

Blanche loves shoes. She likes to pick out her own every morning and gets pretty upset if I don't put on the correct ones ones. She will even pick out my shoes for me. We have a box of dress up clothes for the girls. It's complete with dresses, accessories, and shoes. The shoes are her favorites. At any chance she gets, she takes off her own shoes, and puts on the dress up heels. I think that she believes they are the most appropriate outerwear for yard work.

May Day

In honor of today being May 1st, I thought I would change my blog background. You know, to something different that Christmas candy. You're welcome.

Kids Run

JM is a runner. He has worked really hard to increase his distance and speed. A few years ago he ran a half marathon and he is hoping to build up to a full marathon by the end of the year. I, however, have never had much interest in running.

A local venue posted details on its half marathon along with a 5K and a kids 1 mile run. JM signed up for the half and we decided to sign up BG for the kids run. She has been really excited and we talked to her about training. We bought her new running shoes and I started training with her. We alternated running and walking around the block and built up to 1 mile. Blanche has even gotten into it and asks to go running. (It must be really fun to go running when you get to sit in a stroller.)

The day of the big race came. BG was so excited. She talked about getting a trophy. We talked about how it's most important to try your best and have fun. In the end, she did a really good job. I ran with her and she ran a good portion of it. During the race, a few times she said "I feel like I want to give up, but I know I have to keep going." I cheered her on and the aid station half way through helped.

She LOVED that she got a metal. She has been wearing it non-stop. We looked up her time online afterward. She ran the mile in 15:08. She was 30th in her division (F ages 0-6) and 187th overall. We were all really proud of her. She had fun and wants to run another.