I painted....gasp...yes...I Know!

My husband was actually off from work for a whole day and a half!!} We were all so happy. The addition we had completed in Oct. of 2008 still had one side of siding to go up. Keeping things on the cheap...we didn't have that included. So even though my dear husband had never sided...he spent his time off siding. Because he was working in the backyard, I knew he could keep an eye on the babes. ( or at least listen for violence ) So I went off to Lowes...and armed with a new nappy roller and Duramax Exterior paint matched from Home depot's river rock color ( it's Ralph Lauren ) ...I set off to paint. I should not paint!!) Actually it wasn't too bad and it made a pretty nice impact. The front of the house will eventually be updated...the aluminum will be replaced with fresher vinyl, the walk out doors will be replaced and the front steps will be ripped out and a wider deck with steps off to the side will be built. But until then, I thought painting the cement block would blend better and look at least fresher. The grass is still torn up from all of the construction trucks. I spread grass seed and peat moss but the water spigot which used to be on the exterior of the home is now located on the interior in the new basement area. One project leads to another! So I'm relying on mother nature to water and it's coming in but sloooowly. The back of our home will eventually get a deck...I do like our cheesy screened in porch for now. The siding is almost done on the back!! I also need to pick out shutters. Color ... type....any ideas? Today we got an estimate for gutters. I hope we can hire this part out...we try to spread as much of this out so financially it's not as hard but with the cabinets coming....I need to count pennies. The cabinets we went with are middle of the road. Kraft Maid from a local kitchen design place. That's were I lost steam on the blog. Believe me ... I spared you all! Maybe another day I'll go there...it's still too painful. Here are some updated pics...