More on Getting Rid of Plaster

This house had a few plaster accents when we moved in. I removed one of the larger accents early on, as you might remember.

The hallway had those large concrete block-looking things - in this picture, you can see the plaster on the left side, and the smooth side on the right where I had started removing them.

The last of these plaster accents was these "bricks" above the stove.

I admit, if they were glazed, they would look cute. But they would be difficult to clean - and behind the stove is not a place where you need additional roadblocks to cleanliness. So, with a spray bottle of water and a putty knife, I scraped them away.

Oh, yes...I also patched two large holes that had been semi-patched before. Here's the thing: even if I had glazed the "bricks", I would still have had to deal with those patched places that were just hanging out there. Much easier to patch them on a solid wall.

With it patched, I'll admit, it doesn't look any better. But it's progress. Now I can sand and paint...without said roadblocks.

Christmas is So Not Happening

At least as far as decorating goes...

The kids (these are Doug's kids, you know) like to take ornaments and play with them. Aka destroy them. In the past, I have held off until close to Christmas to decorate the tree. Some years, it's Christmas Eve. This year it's going to be Christmas Eve.

I have the tree up - it's been up for about a week. The lights have even been strung. Malena is strenuously opposed to waiting for ornaments. In defiance, she "decorated" the tree with whatever she could find...on the floor. There's a stuffed swan as a tree topper, and even socks and shoes. This effort required pictures.

Oh, and the other kids helped...Jack and Malena were the most proud, however.

Once that was cleared off, we had a few days of just lights. As there are no ornaments to destroy, the boys have decided to try a new tactic. They are pulling out the light bulbs. The glass portion, they bring to me. And are very proud of themselves. The plastic bit gets left on the ground.

Can we say, "AAARRRRRGGGHH!?!?!?"

Yesterday I fixed all the light bulbs - they had pulled out about 50 - and put a star on top. The kids were quite pleased that we at least had a star. But that's not the end of the story.

Last night, they put the glasses from a Mr. Potato Head on the star. No kidding. I am very proud of myself - I did not lose it. If it wouldn't have encouraged them, I would have probably taken pictures. They were sternly warned to leave the decorations alone, though...or Christmas is So Not Happening.

But I'm such a wuss, it will probably happen anyway. They're only kids once, right?

Moving the House Inside

Winter is tough for kids. All that energy, but too cold to go outside. Even with snow, you can't stay outside for long...unless you want some serious pain coming back inside as your too-cold nose adjusts to the warmness of a heated house.