You really just never know what will inspire a blog posting. Today, it was a trip to get a new toilet seat. Now, first there is a back story to get to why we need a new toilet seat. We have had some crazy plumbing issues in recent weeks. $8000 worth of crazy plumbing issues to be precise. Needless to say, Brian was not happy to find the toilet backed up again yesterday, after we thought we had everything fixed ($8000 worth of "fixed").

Anyway, after his battle with the bowl, he informed me that he had broken the toilet seat. I didn't even want to know how that happened, but I asked anyway. His reply? Sheepishly, "well kicking it probably didn't help." Sometimes, all you can do is laugh. Then you get to pick a new toilet seat. And there are options! While we debated the pros and cons of each seat, I felt a blog coming on and pulled out my cell phone, lol. I bet you're glad!

Option 1: This nice wooden number. Unfortunately, neither of was sure of the color of the wood our sink cabinet is made of, and we could not have a mismatched toilet and sink.
Option 2: I teased Brian about getting a nice squishy seat. He vetoed the "stick to your butt" soft plastic/vinal stuff. But, aren't the embroidered dragon flies lovely?

Option 3: I kind of favored this pretty shell pattern. It would match the shower curtain with a beachy theme. Brian's comment? "When you sit down, can you hear the ocean?"

Not really an option, but seriously, where was this little number when I was potty training the boys? How cook is this? It has a small lid and toddler size seat AND the whole lid lifts for adult use. Genius!

So what did we get? It didn't even warrant a photo, lol. A simple white wooden seat, just like the one that got broke. We are such boring decorators.

So, any of you who have been reading this blog for a while know that it basically starting with our home buying adventure last fall. We bought our home in December and had grand plans for home improvement projects over the summer. This summer was the first that we were all home together... all summer. Brian is a teacher; and as a grad student, there are no classes for me to take during the summer. We had big plans.

Things happen and plans change and, well, we really didn't get anything done this summer. We still have several boxes in the garage that have not even been unpacked yet. We ditched our old bookshelves when we moved, with the intention of buying new ones and "prettying up" our new living room. with no bookshelves, our books still sit in boxes. Until this weekend, that is. We finally got those bookshelves (only to realize they are not as big as we thought and we will probably need another. But hey, you can never have too many bookshelves.)

Yesterday, Brian started assembling the bookshelves. Then came the helpers...

Jacob and my dad working on a bookshelf.

Looks like Brian is now merely supervising.
Nate is not one to be left out of the action.

Nate was so proud of his work. He got to

finish the project by putting in the shelves.

Then there was the TV stand. Nate made sure it was perfect.

The final product. It looks so pretty. Now to bring in some more books!