flying

This year, Dad's birthday and Easter were on the same day. We had a fun time up with our inlaw's extended family in Crystal Lake.




After dinner we had some fun flying Adam's toy airplanes outside. It was VERY windy and I think all of them broke in some form or another, but it was very fun and worth it even just to be outside for a bit :)

having fun with collages!

Mom and Dad came for a visit last week! It was mostly to see their grand kids, but fortunately they were able to spend some time with us too!

Last Friday, it was a gorgeous day (a great day to take off from work!!) and we met at a forest preserve near their house. It was fun to walk around and see all the wildlife *spring*ing onto the scene


[click on them to get a better view]

Then we took the train to the Choo Choo [Click here to see our first trip]. This time Dad was able to be there :) The food and milkshakes were as yummy as usual and the entertainment can't be beat!



Thanks for a great visit, Mom and Dad! Come back again soon!

making progress

It's starting to look like a bathroom!!



After installing new insulation in the outer walls, we put up drywall and cement board around the shower.



Then we had to mud/Spackle all the joints. Peter came over and helped us for a while.



And Erica and the kids came to hang out for a quick lunch/guitar hero :)



Thanks again, Hangs, for all your help!!! You guys are the best!



Soooo many decisions to make about colors and tile...



The day we were going to start tiling (Wednesday) we realized we were WAY short on tile, so we had to wait till Friday to get more in. Finally, this past Saturday we started in on tiling. Once we got up about halfway, we realized the accent pieces we picked out did not go at all with the wall tile! So back to home depot we went to pick out more. (The problem was the tile we ordered has some variation in color from what we picked out in the store...)

Here's Adam cutting tile in the snow on Sunday!! It's a wet, yucky, and dangerous job, but he's doing great!



While he measured and cut tile, mixed mortar, and made dozens of trips up and down two flights of stairs, I was upstairs spreading mortar and laying the tile. Here's a sneak peek of it:



The wall tile is almost done, we'll just need to finish the shelf and grout. Then, we move on to the floor tile.



It's coming along slowly but surely! Our goal now is to finish before the warmer weather of spring/summer arrives for good!! (We got snow this past week, so we're doing ok!) ;)