Welcome Home, Honey!

The two older girls and I had a lightning trip to CA last week, coming back late last night. The house was relatively clean, the kids were in bed, so all in all, a great return. But here's the big surprise waiting for me in the master bathroom:

Uh...guess I'll find a different bathroom?

Doug decided to fix our toilet. We've spent a few weeks trying to track down the source of a "mystery leak" downstairs. These are the kind of mysteries you never want to have, let me tell you. We thought it was our shower at first, since there are some serious cracks in the grout.

Then came the moment of truth: I was folding laundry and some child flushed the toilet in the master bath. I got to see the leak become a trickle and a small shower. Yuck. Well, mystery solved. Doug wasn't too thrilled, but at least we don't have to wait for rotten floorboards before we figure it out. So while I was gone, he removed the toilet.

And found another surprise. Just as with the rest of the projects "done" on this house, the tile job in the bathroom wasn't quite finished. We figured it was just a few loose tiles and some grouting around the shower. Oh no. They didn't grout under the toilet, making a fabulous place for any loose water droplets to accumulate before spilling over into the downstairs. Again, yuck.

Can you see how much grout that required? All the dark-colored grout is the new stuff that Doug just put in, bless his grouting heart.

There is also now grout in front of the shower. Here's hoping I get a toilet for the new year, but I'm certainly not worried about it today. After all, I'd rather wait for the job to be complete...instead of allowing the not-so-mysterious leak to reinvent itself in the future.

Makin' "Snug and Cozy" Outta "da Trash Heap"

Da Trash Heap: what I affectionately call the girls' "second room." Or not so affectionately, as is most often the case.

My sister came to spend the holidays with us (hooray for family!), and I wanted her to have a snug place to sleep. We have put her up in many ways over the years - pull-out couch, captain's bed, futon...and she has uncomplainingly slept on whatever we have. For Christmas this year, though, I wanted to give her a space to call her own and make her feel welcome (instead of thrown into the mix, which I'm sure she still feels on some level).

I started with the bed. A queen bed was my first choice, obtained through a local classified (KSL is an amazing site for anyone in Utah). The person I was buying it from spent the week dithering, however. Which left me with Sophie's bed, still unused in her room. See? It's hardly in this picture...lower left if you're really looking.

So I figured Sophie wouldn't miss it. It went downstairs. The bookshelf was already there, and still needs to be really cleaned out (admittedly). I found the lamp hiding under Doug's desk...it used to be on our piano. Cute, huh? Love reusing stuff!

Then came the rocking chair, also originally from Sophie's room. It's been in the playroom for a few weeks, but it looks very comfy in here, no?

And finally, a television. Most recently from our room (Doug got a new flat-screen for his birthday - under $200 from Amazon on a Cyber Week deal), it works great with the DVD player sitting next to it. The kids broke the original VHS and DVD player that came attached to the TV. Sigh.

I even added the cute lantern, one of the accents bought for Malena's "garden room" way back when we painted the blue skies and green rolling hills. And to top it off, Malena's dream-catcher still hangs from the heating register.

So why "da Trash Heap"? Because there was little in there but trash...and after two garbage bags emptied in the trash, it was ready for habitation. And even a guest.

Oh, and today I got the mattress for the queen size bed. But the guest room is so sweet the way it is...it may stay that way for a bit. At least this visit. Merry Christmas, sis - may you sleep well!

Moravian Stars, Again

Collin has a weekly eye appointment for eye therapy (can you say, expensive?) and I just sit there for about an hour. Usually, an excellent time for me to catch up on reading or just staring at the wall, trying to recoup some sanity in my day.

Last week, I took my paper strips for Moravian stars. I can read at home - even if it's just walking from room to room with my Kindle held up to my nose - but those stars are hard to keep out of the children's grasping hands. The staff gave me quizzical looks, but generally just left me to fold and fold and...well, fold.

I made three in an hour. Seriously. Not exactly the quickest things to make. There were two others that were almost done. Which meant that there were eight made. Sophia quickly made that seven.

They are now hanging up, though...far, far out of Sophie's reach.

Yes, I still need to paint that wall...

This is our dumb octagonal window...and I agree that the star needs to be bigger, hung lower, etc. But it's a fun picture, all the same.

Here's the best part: they are still there! It is really fun to have a different decoration hanging up, and even more fun to proudly announce that "I did that" when anyone comments. Although only Malena and Doug have commented thus far. Not that I'm counting.

Anyway, does anyone have any "new" decorations this year? Anything outside of the tree-and-garland decor that we all know and see everywhere? No, I'm not knocking it, I love it...but I also love new stuff! How about you?