The Man Bathroom

With the painting/decorating of Annie's bathroom, the men of the house wanted a bathroom that reflected them more.  It took 2 days, but we got it done.  Isn't it pretty?  I mean that in a manly way.  :)

Now we'll just have to see if they keep it clean.  ;)

Pinewood Derby

It's time again for the Pinewood Derby and this year Taylor wanted a light saber car.  He and Grandpa worked hard at cutting it out, sanding it, and getting ready to run.  Taylor did the painting (with a little help form Mom for the fine work) and it turned out really cool.  From the top:

 From the side:

 One happy scouter.  :)

His car didn't do as well as we wanted (the back wheels were dragging due to some "help" from one of the dads there) but the car was a fan favorite.  Taylor with the award for "The Car with the Most Force".

One of his runs...exciting stuff!

 

Even though he didn't win his troop, he had fun, and is already planning his car for next year.  :)

Tyson is 5!!!!!

My baby turns 5 today.  It is bittersweet....on the one hand we don't have to use car seats any longer, but on the other, my baby isn't a baby anymore.  *sniff*

Tyson wanted an R2-D2 cake like I made Taylor.  However, I didn't want to copy, so instead I carved a clone helmet.  At first he wanted to see R2, but when I showed him this, he was VERY excited!  

 We had Grandma and Grandpa over for dinner, then some of the rest of the family came for cake and ice cream.  Tyson surprised me and actually talked a little in this group setting...it's getting easier for him to communicate.  (yay!)

 Our little Pyromaniac couldn't wait for the fire, so he got very excited when Troy started lighting the candles.  He got so excited that he kept blowing them out before we could sing!  Finally, Troy got them all lit.  :)

Getting ready to blow...he held this pose for the whole song....goofy kid.  :)

 FINALLY, he gets to blow out the fire.  He got them all.....yay Tyson!

Mr. Tyson is getting so big.  He is talking better, he likes school (though he doesn't like getting up early), and he loves to play with toys and Legos.  His imagination amazes me and he loves to kiss and cuddle.  There has been more than once that he surprised me in church with a big wet one on the lips.  Video games, moves, and the Clone Wars show are also favorites.  The funniest thing about Tyson is that he has taken some of the personalities that he sees the older kids exhibit and has made them part of his own.  To hear a 5 year old say and do some of the things he does is hilarious and he keeps us laughing.  We love him so much!

Happy Birthday Tyson!!!!!!!

Annie's Bathroom

So, we are learning that one little girl takes a lot of time in the bathroom.  And, we are learning that her 3 brothers are not happy with that.  It causes a bit of friction, so after some debate and a family discussion, we decided to turn the downstairs bathroom into Annie's bathroom.  At first the boys were concerned that they'd have to run upstairs each time they needed to visit the facilities, but after some assurances that each bathroom held certain family member's "stuff", and no bathroom was off limits to anyone, they agreed (plus they get to redo their bathroom "man style").

Annie loves blue and green so to really make the bathroom hers, we decided to completely redo it.  Here is the before:

During...we decided to paint her light fixture to go with the overall theme so we had to use a portable light so we could see.  It's a hot little thing!

The light fixture.  Sadly, we decided to paint it AFTER we had painted the blue, so we had to do touch ups, but since Tyson was helping, we had to do touch ups anyway.  Why not, right?   :)

 Since we were painting the light fixture, we decided that the cabinet also needed some paint.  It took some sanding and a few coats of white, but it came out beautifully.

 Mr. Tyson was a great helper...he dropped paint all over the floor, walked through it making cute little footprints, and brought me a drink of water.  Painting with a four, almost five, year old makes life interesting (and occasionally a lot harder).

 We are getting closer...the cabinet is painted, the faucet installed, the mirror hung, the cabinet assembled and hung....lots of work done, lots left to do.

 The faucet.  I know...a picture of a faucet is weird.  HOWEVER, Annie and I installed this by ourselves (girl power!!!) and we are quite proud of the results.

Prints found at the dollar store.  They turned out cute.

I loved this picture so much that I tried to find another one for my bathroom.  No such luck, but I'll keep looking.

 The "look" of Annie's wall...including a smiling Annie Rose.

 Beautiful new cabinet and rug.

 The finished product.  Annie loves it, and so do I.  It's so pretty!

 My happy girl...and tired...and sore...but happy.  :)

Redecorating is fun, but it is sure tiring.  My knees are so sore from kneeling, and my hands are red and rough from sanding and scrubbing, but to look at her smile, and to look at that beautiful room makes it all worth while.  Now, if I can talk the boys out of their redecorating project for a couple of weeks so I can recover, I'll win all around.  :)