Kids' Room

Alex's room is just about finished. I did his city skyline out of chalk board paint (a huge hit by the way), got curtains and finally got his bedding yesterday (still waiting on the batman sham which Alex will get for Christmas). When my decorating budget gets replenished I'm going to paint the remaining 3 walls light gray but for now I'm happy with it.
Here's Gabby's room again. Noah was worried that the Wayne's coating shelf he put in didn't show up well in the last picture I posted.

Here's a close up:

P.S.

I've actually kept my blog current this week so scroll down and make sure you're up to date.

Checked Out

Sorry for the absence, but I've been on vacation. My mother-in-law came to visit and played the part of "Mom" while I painted.
Oh my gosh--if you don't have a mother-in-law you should really think about getting one {ahem Zach}. They are awesome!

Pictures of the rooms to come when they're finished (hopefully by the end of the week). In the mean time, please enjoy these instead:

No Time to be Sick

A few hours ago, Gabby posed a question that made me cringe, "Mommy, whys is there so much water in the basement?" "I don't know Gabby, there shouldn't be any water down there."

The sump pump in our new home failed during a serious down pour. So, we bought a new pump which Sick Noah installed and we rented a Rug Doctor which Sick Noah used to soak up all the water in the basement carpet. Sick Noah is my hero.

And then because there was nothing sick Noah wanted to do more, he got to clean the carpets twice because a pipe connected to the new sump pump got loose and sprayed water all
over-- re soaking the carpets! Sick Noah was ecstatic and jubilantly declared words I haven't heard him say since his sailor days. Thank you Noah, I made you three loaves of pumpkin chocolate chip bread AND a loaf of wheat bread that will be hot just after you get home.

Dreaming

If Noah and I were to buy a house, this is the one we would choose:

If we were to truck our belongings to the new house Grapes of Wrath style, this is what it would look like:

Resulting in this:

If Alex were to ride his bike in the cul-de-sac in front of said house, it would look something like this:

If my boys were to sit on the front porch of this house while Gabby played next door with a new friend, it would look like this:

May this particular dream continue. . .

Dear Future Garage

You need this clock:

I Didn't Want that Stupid House Anyway . . .

Today we received word that the buyers of our Utah house fell through (by the way, our Utah house was under contract). Which means that we wont be buying the house we put an offer on yesterday, for now anyway.

So I did what any woman would have done under the circumstances, I went out and got drunk. Okay, not really. I did however do something I haven't done in I don't know how long--I impulse shopped. That's right. I got the kids in the car and went straight to Target where I purchased a shower curtain for the bathroom I won't be decorating ($15).

A Darth Vader bobble Head for Alex's future Star Wars Room ($7) and a puzzle for the craft room I might not get ($6). Kapow!
Pardon me while I go eat an entire batch of cookie dough.

Sigh...

For the record, I have not shed any tears (Noah hasn't either as far as I know) and in all honesty, I don't have anything to complain about. Life is good. We've got a good job out here, good friends, and each other. Who needs a stupid house when you have all that.

Needing Some Color

Noah and I are living in an apartment for the first time in 7 years, which means that it's the first time in 7 years that I've had only white walls in my house. Even Gabby has been a bit confused and asked, "How come none of the walls are painted?" That question made me smile and made me grateful that for most of my marriage, I've been able to use my living space as a color palate.

For the meantime, and until this economy gets a better footing and we're able to sell our house, I'll have to find other ways of bringing color into these ultra white rooms.

I love the idea of hanging origami butterflies from the ceiling in Gabby's room.

Or putting paper fans made out of colorful paper on the walls like the ones Nie Nie did.

I think tomorrow I shall venture into a craft store, assuming my Columbus has one, and purchase some fun origami paper to experiment with.

P.S.

Today Noah discovered that he prefers flying on the company jet over commercial airlines. Apparently you get more leg room 'n stuff.