Yes, we got a new puppy about two months ago. Do you see the toys in the background? He would much rather run off with my yarn, take me for a walk or harass the corgi than play with those.

So, I'm pretty busy trying to be a good mommy to the new addition to our family. It's like having a new baby—I craft when he's asleep or someone else is taking care of him. I've been spending time trying to tire him out, so I can sit and knit, read or watch TV. But, it's still a rare occurence to complete a row, chapter or show without getting interrupted. As my husband says, he won't be little for long. (He's already double the size he was when we got him.)

My husband and I had a house built a few years ago. Although we've lived in the house for more than two years, we just painted the first room. We had to wait one year for things to settle, and we could repair cracks, nail pops and what not.

I don't know why we didn't paint the second year. Although I think we're still recovering from a previous choice of paint color. Note: Crab Bisque and Shrimp Toast may be delicious when served in a restaurant, but not so tasty when applied to your walls. We chose various pastels—lots of sage, heather and buttercream—to cover this painting fiasco. We loved the warmth this palette created.

So, I was a little surprised when we both choose Olympic's rich, dark colors for the new house.

We started small to see how well we liked this palette. Now that it's on the walls, all of my fears are assuaged, but, I don't really have a reason to spend that much time in the guest bathroom. Although I veer from paint colors named after food, I like the look of this Sautéed Mushroom.

I really love how the Calvary blue makes my favorite wall hanging pop.

Next up: Painting the kitchen walls in Brick Dust red. Dare we be so bold?

Have you ever stepped out of your comfort zone when it comes to color? What were the results?

Not the movie...that wouldn't be appropriate. I'm talking about the awesome EA game.

Last night I stopped in out local Gamestop to get some info on the upcoming Wii Fit and saw that there was one used copy of Boogie. I'd been wanting it, but I wasn't willing to spend $60 on a new copy. It's very rare that I want a video game and the price is right, so I bought it.

Once we arrived home, my youngest was willing to show me how to use it. I didn't need help, but he insisted that this game is for the family. I jump on anything that interests more than one member in the family, so I accepted his help.

We had a great time creating our characters, dancing to the beat and trying to sing the karaoke. Everything is PG. Game creators even edited the song lyrics when needed. I highly recommend it for all ages. Boogie down!

Robin 

My youngest son has been "booking" for more than a year now. He doesn't set aside time to scrapbook, or have anything in mind when he starts, he just enjoys having supplies around to make something. Most of his pages have consisted of stamps and stickers so far, but he really impressed me this year for Valentine's Day. He decided to create his own cards to give to his classmates. I thought he came up with a very cool, hand-drawn design that encompassed both the theme of Valentine's Day and his personal style.

On the back he wrote: Have a Rockin Valentine's Day!  

He adhered the paper-punched heart to a piece of copy paper, then drew the guitarist around the heart. He then adhered the copy paper to cardstock in pinks and reds.

 Dad helped with the glue.

It was definitely the coolest valentine that I saw from the fifth grade class. Now if he could just decide to do these projects a little earlier than the night before a holiday....