Finishing the Bathroom Project

I know it's been a while since I promised you a pic of my sweetie's latest project, but he was finally able to finish it last weekend. What with new babies and additional projects heaped upon his capable shoulders, it's amazing he finished it as quickly as he did. Besides, take a look at this pic. This is a totally different bathroom!

First he pulled out our old and dicrepid vanity and the broken toilet was discarded long ago. Only 2 things remain from the original bathroom; the shower and the little cupboard that goes above the toilet. He wanted to put in the pedestal, and that required a patch in the tile that looks like we always wanted it that way.

Then, because he found something beautiful he really liked, he tiled halfway up the walls all the way around. He had to reroute the heat vent so that he could get it to work around the vanitty and he changed out the light fixtures and painted everything that wasn't already in tile. \

It was a long, complicated process and I'm glad it is finally over. I'm still sorting stuff from the kids' rooms, trying to decide what needs to be donated and what they truly care about so we can consider that project over.

I've also been doing something similar in the craftroom since before Christmas, but soon I will have the last boxes sorted and I will be ready to declare victory. I've slowly started discarding things in the office even though it wasn't on our remodel list until 2020.

I'm ready for a more organized and less dramatic life.

Introducing... (drum roll, please)

I finally got the go-ahead from Bossy to share some very exciting news with you! Last week, Cat Woman and Batman had their baby boy and his official blog name is Superman.

He was born via c-section several weeks early because he wasn't growing and Cat Woman had another crazy thing I have never heard of, a calcified placenta. He hadn't gained much in the two weeks before he was born and he came out a tiny 4 lbs 15 oz.

He needed a little help breathing and he swallowed some fluid, so they put him in the NICU and that is where he is right now. There is no specific talk yet as to when he will be home, but we are excited to have a great-grandchild as part of our forever family.

Scouting Adventures in Science

For Christmas, Princess and The Frog gave each of the younger kids a "Science Kit" full of all kinds of strange and interesting pieces with cards to tell them what to do with each of these things. So I decided to use them to teach my scouts a little about science while having fun at the same time.

As it turned out, the Girl Scouts were on the same page, because they have a badge with mostly the same requirements. We started out with Mentos and Coke, turning them into coke fountains. Then we went inside to do several other activities.

The kids loved having the baking soda and the vinegar blow up a balloon, and the lava lamps with orbies were really cool, but I think the two favorites were the rock candy that began to set up immediately, and the silly putty. We had a great time learning all of the scientific explanations provided by Drama Queen. Then it was time to send the girls home.

I don't normally show you the aftermath of one of our scout meetings, but my sweetie told me it was about time I did, so here you go. And the porch and sidewalk outside looked worse...

Looking Forward to Grandparents' Day

Baby Doll is a 2nd grader now and one of our favorite activities of that age is Grandparents' Day. It hasn't always been easy for us. Before Grandpa lived right in our home, it was a huge ordeal to get pictures. I remember when Drama Queen was a 2nd grader and the pics had to be made into slides.

That meant we had to either buy an entire roll of slide film and then waste the whole thing (since we didn't have a slide projector) except the pic we needed or else we had to buy a roll of regular film. Not that either one didn't require a trip across town for developing and then a couple of weeks' time so I couldn't put it off until the last minute like I did this time.

My personal favorite.

Other than the fact that Grandpa was in Iowa for a week, we simply had to pose them in an appropriate spot and snap a pic on my camera. I didn't even have to download it! I sent the one I liked directly to the teacher and the stress is over. Just like that (snaps fingers). Prima Donna showed me how to add stage directions so you know exactly what I mean...

...or I could just make a quick little video of me snapping my fingers...