HELP!! Decorating for Dummies didn't work for me!

Okay, so I know that a lot of my great friends have a natural flair for decorating, and you all know I'm envious of the great way you can make your homes look. When the book "Decorating for Dummies" doesn't even help me, you know I'm in trouble! I've come to the realization that it's so much better to ask for help from all of you, than to waste the next three years trying to figure out what color curtains I should pick, or what in the world I should put on the walls.

I've sort of tried to start the process, and think I actually have a few colors that I like. Here's the pics of what I've got so far, and I'd LOVE (okay, I need!!) any help/suggestions I can get!

The ceiling fan Chris put in the living room.

The living room.

The entry way with the door to the study off to the left and the hall to the bedrooms off to the right.

The living room again, taken from behind the couch in the first picture.

The view from the living room into the kitchen.

View from the kitchen into the living room.
Dining area/eat in kitchen.

Kitchen.

Close-up of the pieces framing the window in the living room.

Close-up of the clock over the doors to the study.

As you can see, there's a LOT of room for improvement here! I do have to admit that the little entry way is the best arrangement of pics that I've come up with so far.

I have no idea what colors I should use for curtains. In the living room, we have a kelly green color couch and stuffed chair, dark & light brown carpet, and rust red on the shelves and in the accent pieces. We also have a little bit of wrought iron. The kitchen curtains are another question--I have a light green table cloth and tan place mats with dark brown accented in the pinecones and the lazy susan. Do I match the color of the curtains in the living room since you can see straight into the dining area from the front door? Do I get another color? HELP!!

Trick or Treating at Sea World

This year, Chris has to work on Halloween night, so we decided to take Ethan to Sea World for their Hallowscream events. We went fairly early in the evening, before it got too scary. As it was, Ethan was pretty scared when he saw a skeleton in the coffin in the haunted forest.

Ethan and Daddy in the pumpkin patch part of the Haunted Forest.

Ethan waiting anxiously for Elmo to appear on stage.

Ethan was so wrapped up in the "Countdown to Halloween" Sesame Street play! He talked about it for days afterwards!

Ethan loved the penguins that were dressed up in costume!

They had a fun little undersea themed area where kiddos could blow bubbles and interact with people dressed up as clown fish, frogs, flamingoes, and much more.

The trick-or-treating part was obviously his favorite. Our normally very shy little boy transformed into a scary dinosaur and was running up to everyone in sight and growling at them.

"ROOOAARR!!!"

Decorating Pumpkins

All holidays are so much more fun the older Ethan gets. He's really excited about Halloween this year! We went to Michael's the other day for one of their family activities and he got to decorate a craft pumpkin with Chris and I. I'm not sure who had more fun, Ethan or Chris!

Last year he was pretty scared of the Jack-o-Lantern Chris carved--I still remember the nightmares he had, waking up in the middle of the night because of the "pumpkin." This year he's all into the jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins, but terribly afraid of skeletons and ghosts.