Rainy, rainy day. What to do with a rambunctious three year old when he can't go outside and ride his beloved bike? Something needs to be done: the cat is beginning to fear for her life.
   Days like today make me wish I had heeded Sarah Ban Breathnach's advice and created a Rainy Day Cabinet, after the manner of Victorian mamas the world over. Lacking a Rainy Day Cabinet, I've turned to Amanda Blake Soule's The Creative Family to see what I can come up with before the cat loses any more whiskers.
   We are recently installed in a new apartment with an abundance of space and naked walls. Let's play.....Art Gallery!
   Mr. Rambunctious has been given free reign with all the art supplies his little heart desires, and I've gone digging through boxes for picture frames. I'll replace the photos with pieces of my kids' artwork, and viola! Naked wall in living room becomes Wall of Pride. And, like every true gallery, we can change the art work out every so often, to keep the display "fresh."
Before.....sad, embarrassed, naked wall!
 
 
                                                   After! Are they not just so talented?? Already the living room looks brighter and more welcoming. I have to admit I'm rather persnickety about decorating. I want my home cozy and welcoming, but pretty, too, and so I try to keep the decorating in each room to a select color and style scheme. Do the kids' pictures really fit with my scarlet Art Deco style couch and the paisley rug (red, robin's egg blue, tan and turquoise)? Nope, not really. But my children are 20, 17, 16, 14 and 3, and childhood is rushing away from our family so fast (or already gone). So I will sacrifice my 'Country Living' living room for the sake of my children's pride, and in the end, make all of us, even persnickety me, a whole lot happier. (Especially the cat, who was able to find a secure hiding place while we arted.)

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