ikea, i want to have your babies

Look at my new bed! It was sooo cheap! And the end-tables were only $12 each! I think IKEA is one of the best places, for when you are poor, to save up and buy things. We can sit up in bed now and lean back to prop up our pillows. And they don't fall on the floor between the bed and the wall. But we have to be careful about our toes, we are not used to the sides and footboard. Miles and Miyo have both hurt their shins on it, and Shene ripped off one of her toes (almost). Shene put together the bed while Ben was at work. Even if he was home, she would have done it. For some reason she enjoys hard work. She picked out the blanket and curtains and brought them to me because she found them on clearance. She was sick of the old room being so ugly. She said we needed to paint, I said I didn't want to do the work. She cut in and I rolled-thank goodness she forced me, I love my bedroom now.

Shene helped me hang curtains in the dining room and gave me a bench that she no longer uses to but under it as a seat. I love how comfy the dining room looks now, instead of barren and cold.
I was borrowing curtains from Lisa for the living room, but I gave them back and got several panels from IKEA to hang in the living room. They were cheaper than usual, but still not as cheap as I would have liked for IKEA. The cheaper curtains were all light colors and I needed something dark. I love how you can still see light through them. If it is too sunny, you still have light to see without the heat. And at night they are solid looking and not see through. Again, Shene hung them because she is addicted to physical labor that helps others

look what miles made

You may have to enlarge to really see this picture. Miles made this in art class. I have actually had this in a frame in the entry way for quite a few months now. I love it so much! I don't think my mom or some of my sisters have seen it, so I am posting it now to let you see it.
It is a loose burlap that he sewed yarn through with a big needle. It is a rocket ship and a moon and star in space. He also made a book mark that I hung on the fridge, it's so cool.

my room redo 2

I have 2 pillow shams and two curtain panels that I am not using and are just in the closet. I decided to use them as tablecloths to cover the ugly crap furniture in my room. Not perfect, but it'll do for now.

Nightstand (above/obviously).
Desk (above/again obvious).

master bedroom before and after

Closet Before:

Desk Before:
And After: Closets After:

Desk After:
We painted over the purple and made it a gray called Creek Bend. We took off the closet doors and put up tension rods and curtains. Thanks Shene for all the hard work and making this possible. Tomorrow I will blog about finally hanging my dining room curtains that have been sitting in the mud room closet since we moved in. Next up I am going to get a bed frame and night stands. Hopefully something from IKEA that has it all in one. Ben and I haven't been able to agree on a frame, so we have gone without. We are sick of our pillows falling on the floor between the wall and the bed, so we are going to get a frame finally!

i remembered to capture it in time

Before:

And after:

I took all the yummy crumbly bits and put them on top of my whipped cream. I ran out of heavy whipping cream (because I doubled the recipes this morning). So I used Coffee Mate creamer; french vanilla. I skipped the vanilla and sugar and did one cup of heavy whipping cream and one cup of the flavored creamer and it turned out fine-good, even. Because I doubled the recipe I had trouble figuring out how long to have it in the oven. So the actual pavlova was a little underdone, but still was good. I am obsessed... my family and I are going to gain all kinds of weight because of this mixer! Later I am going to try an oatmeal bread recipe that my sister Kim gave me!

miles discovers the wii

miyo's present