A diamond in the rough...

So we went over to the Old House a few days ago (Zibby & Ben were already in their pj's). It was the first time that the kids had been inside. The house is (almost) empty. Dust bunnies have taken over the place, well, in fact they may be more like dust lions at this point. Aaron and I didn't remember it being covered in so much wallpaper. Imagine with me...it's 1992, Mary Engelbreit ruled the decorating world. Everyone and their mother loved cows, geese, chickens, hearts, and that ever so lovely hue of Perfectly Peach. In the kitchen we have our very own pizza booth, complete with more wallpaper covered in the names of Grandma's favorite flowers...zinnia, pansy,...Aaron just looks at it and says, "Painful." The stairs leading up to the Anne Frank Attic (what the kids call it) have been lovingly stenciled with trailing ivy vines. The whole of it is like stepping back into the past century of decorating trends. Now, not all of it is bad. In fact, the bones of it are beautiful. Truth be told, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Aaron tackled it head on this week. He let the kids pick out their own bedroom colors and set to work on it. Ben picked out an awesome green called, Dinosaur. Zibby did not surprise us by picking out a pink known as, Rose Hips. And AbbySue, our bohemian girl, settled on a turquoise called, Flying Kite. It's funny to me, the kids really don't notice the dirt or the bad decorating. They just see one endless indoor game of hide-n-seek. The haven't found the Wardrobe yet...but it would surprise me if this place doesn't have a secret door that opens to some unknown world.