But There Are So Many Colors in the Rainbow: Peach Apricot Fruit Leather

We moved into our house in kind of a hurry, we only had one open weekend to get all the furniture moved and everything else happened on weekdays after work.  Which means, it's still a bit of a work in progress.  I wanted to get a handle on finishing up some of the bigger projects before the baby comes, because goodness knows there's going to be a lot less time after. 

My number 1 must do was a "big boy room" for Thatkid.  For a couple of reasons.  The first is that we're using his current furniture for the nursery, so we need to get him into something else if we want a space for the next one to happen.  The second is, with all the attention that's going to be coming to the new arrival, we wanted to take some time to really heap it on him and make him feel special.  Emphasizing the aspect that he's a big boy and gets big boy things.  And of course, he's outgrowing that little bed of his anyway.

So we've begun the process with the first step - painting his room a new color, one of his choosing.  I wanted him to have some input on his room, since it's his space.  And I remember how cool it was when my parents let me pick the paint color of my rooms.  Our before picture shows the muted brown the room started out with.

When we first started looking for a paint color for the nursery, Thatkid kept picking out colors for his room.  All of which were a deep, dark, purple, which I feared would make his room insanely dark.  And a little goth for a 3 year old.  We brainstormed ways to incorporate dark purple into the room without turning it into a dark lair.

But when we actually went to pick out the paint, Thatkid had his eye on a different color:

Behr Curry Powder.  Thatboy and I affectionately call this color "baby poop."  Thatkid calls it "brown and orange" or "my favorite color."  He was so excited about it, that despite Thatboy and my feelings about the color, we bought a couple gallons and got to work.

We spent most of Sunday (and some of Monday night) transforming Thatkid's room:

So the first step has been accomplished, now it's just a matter of the furniture and decor!  I'll post another update when we've got a finished product!

And honestly I can't be too surprised Thatkid is picking orange/brown colors.  One of our favorite snacks right now are homemade fruit roll-ups, which are a similar color.  We all can't get enough of them, even Thatboy, who isn't the hugest fan of dried fruit. But something about these wins everyone over.  I also really like how easy they are to make, since they consists of only dried fruit and sugar.  It's like the work is already done for you!

Peach Apricot Fruit Leather (From the Fannie Farmer Cookbook)

1 lb dried apricots

1/2 lb dried peaches

1/4 cup sugar

1. Put the apricots and peaches in a food processor.
2. Sprinkle a large cutting board with sugar.
3. Pat and roll out the fruit mixture to 1/8 inch thick and cut into 1 1/4 x 2-inch strips.
4. Roll each strip lengthwise into a tight roll.