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

our family's 11 year anniversary

This is how we hid the Wii. We had to put balloons on the sensor bar on top of the TV, so Miles wouldn't walk in and know right away.
Here is Miyo's present and a box of Cherry Cordials (Miles' favorite) that we are pretending is his present.

Cookies I found at Kowalski's that are decorated so super cute in lieu of a cake (plus, I am making another pavlova today). The mommy/daddy presents are candy bars, so we would have something to unwrap for the kids (Miyo picked out Ben's). Turns out the kids didn't really care that much if we got anything.

Miles' face when he walked into the living room this morning (he woke up at 7:30 begging to go to the living room). I made him wait till 8am to wake his dad and I up (poor kid).

Miles unwrapping what he thinks is his present.

Miles pretending to not be disappointed with his chocolates, while Miyo's gift is bigger in the wrapping paper.

Miyo eating her butterfly cookie, "Dawissus!"

Miles biting into his dinosaur cookie, he loves it, but wonders why it's standing on "a turd?"

Miles is relieved to find that he is actually the proud new owner of a Wii, "I KNEW IT!"

Murphy is in Hutchinson, I sent along his cookie and Kady is going to tell me how he enjoyed it. His is an Ocotpus with bubbles coming up. I am going to have him unwrap his presents tomorrow. I will blog about Murphy day and have pics of him after he opens them. I'm kind of glad to get it done in two segments, it might be more enjoyable for him not to have to wait a turn, or be stressed by the other kids jumping around while he tries to figure out what the heck we care if he leaves the room.

how do you become sponsered by kitchenaid?

I forgot to take a picture of the pavlova w/o whipped cream on it. I also forgot to take a picture before we had cut into it and eaten half of it. I topped it with bananas because it was the only fresh fruit I had in the house besides apples and I really loved it! There are no bananas on the serving plate, I had to put them on each piece as it was dished up. Otherwise: brown bananas = not appetising. It was so good and so easy, I am making one again tomorrow!

This is my chicken. I am cutting into her in about 15 minutes. And now I am wishing I wouldn't have called her a her. I hate thinking of what "it" used to be.

quite possibly the most beautiful sight

Minus the pacifier, this is my favorite thing in the universe. A sleeping little demon. I "lub" her!

nigella are you there? it's me, kasey

Look at my new baby (I just got her last night), I named her Flour Power:

She made this possible:

Pavlova! This is pre-oven. I will be posting my results later. I cannot wait, I hope it turns out. I want to add that I have never made a meringue (in high school-13 years ago-I did one with 3 other people and a teacher). So I have no idea what I am doing. Thank goodness for the Internet and Nigella Lawson (my personal idol).

And I also did this (without Flour Power's help):

Yes, that is blobs of butter on top. This chicken will also be photographed and blogged about after it has been finished.

I even was smiling as I washed up the dishes afterwards. I cannot wait to whip cream for the pavlova!

pre-spring cleaning

I just cleaned my entire house! Seriously. All of it. The kids' rooms were horrid. They took me 3 1/2 hours. Books, clothes, garbage... I changed the boys' room around, hopefully Murphy doesn't freak out tonight. I think the change will be better, maybe it will be more efficient now. I put alot of toys on the bookshelf I moved from the living room. It will probably be cleaned off 10 minutes after they get home from school.

Miyo's room seems huge when all the clothing and toys are off of the floor. I have made a pact with myself, hopefully I stick to it. I am going to pick up their rooms every night before bed. Let's see how many hours I keep this idea in my head.
And the reason some of this was possible:

the hanson's celebrate a decade plus 1/10th of a decade

Picture from when I was hugely pregnant with Miyo:

I have writer's block. Except that I am no writer so maybe I have blogger's block. Anyway, nothing much going on around here except laundry and dishes and sweeping areas that are really bad, while ignoring the bedrooms that the doors on can't even close they are so full of crap on the floor.

On Saturday Ben and I will have been married for 11 years so we are having a family day. Except Murphy who is going to Hutchinson with my sister Kady for Friday and Saturday nights. He would rather get out and have some fun, I think, then pretend to care about the presents we are wrapping. I struggled with this. Do I let her take him to see family out there (and my parents who are visiting), or do I keep him home and bored, except for food and presents?

I am going to buy, or make, a cake and make a chicken in the crock pot, maybe? I am going to decorate with "Happy Anniversary" and balloons (don't tell Shene, haha). I am getting a KitchenAid Mixer and Ben and Miles are getting a (DO NOT TELL MILES! IT'S A SURPRISE!) Wii. We are going to hook it up on Friday night, and I am thinking of putting wrapping paper on the entertainment center for him (Miles) to rip off. I'm still not sure for Miyo, but I think maybe a Barbie convertible? For Murphy books and animal toys as usual, he knows what he likes. I should use my mixer to make the cake that morning! Just thought of that. Then Ben wants to go out just him and me, without the kids, but we have to try and find a babysitter for that to happen. So I am excited about Saturday.

miles is catching up to his brother in the tooth losing department

Miles lost a top front tooth today at school. Murphy has lost more teeth than Miles and both his top front teeth. Miles was pretty upset about this, but now he is happy. He's the big brother so this is important to him.

I got Miles a $3 checkers/chess/backgammon game today. We played checkers when he got home from school and he kicked my butt. By a lot. I haven't played in years, but, still, he is one smart kid. He has a strategical mind. He is a problem solver. It cannot be that I stink that bad at checkers (ha ha). I am going to try to teach him how to play chess, but I honestly don't know if I have the patience to teach him. I wish I was a Confucian-type person, that could sit and explain Master Oogway-style: "let go of the illusion of control" & "you are too concerned about what was and what will be". That type of stuff.

i am ecstatic

I am so excited. I have found a way to brush Murphy's teeth! This is no small feat. The dentist gave me a stick to pry open his jaw to brush his teeth. I can't do it! I don't want to wrestle with him and torture him while he cries. So: I got him a vibrating toothbrush. He not only lets me brush his teeth, he lets me brush them for as long as I want! We had one when he was younger, and he let me use it a little bit. Maybe we won't have to do any more dental surgeries and silver caps. I can now actually brush them, before I would swipe it in as fast as possible while he clenched his jaw shut. It only took 6 1/2 years to get here. Heaven is that you?

it's official: i have embarrassed myself again

Yesterday after school Miles didn't come home. I started to get nervous, so I got in Shene's truck and went looking through the neighborhood and went to the school playground and looked and called his name. In my drama filled mind there were tumbleweeds blowing by, that's how desolate the streets and school grounds were. No kid in sight. So, I try not to panic and I mentally kick myself for not bringing my cell phone. I start back home (a different way, continuing to look on the streets and in yards). When I get home, Ben is home from work. I don't bother trying to park correctly and run into the house. I crazily ask Ben if Miles is home while running through the entry and mud room looking for signs of coat, boots and backpack. There are no after school Miles messes and Ben says he is not home. Ben yells down the basement stairs and asks Lisa (who has Murphy down there) if Miles is with her. She says no. Shene and I start to get emotional and Ben and I run back out to her truck while she holds Miyo and watches us leave from the dining room window. Ben is driving and I am losing it. I am sobbing and crying and panicking, "Oh God, oh God!"

Ben has his cellphone and we are looking everywhere, in yards, in driveways... Meanwhile Shene is at the house thinking, "every second counts" and "should I call 911?"! Ben drops me off in the school yard and continues driving around looking while I fast walk, crying, while my voice cracks as I scream "MILES!". I make it up to the school and the backdoor is of course locked, but there is some type of staff meeting going on with some teachers in a window next to the door. I can see Mr. Elias (Miles' Science and Health and Social Studies teacher) in there, so I pound on the window crazy-person-style and point for him to come and open the door. Did I forget to mention I am in my pajamas and my hair is crazy and I have a bad head cold along with the sobbing scrunched up no-makeup-face? I was still sick from the day before when I kept Murphy from school and Ben called in and we were all trying not to loose the insides of our stomachs and intestines. But I digress...

So Mr. Elias comes to the door and lets me in and I lose it even more (if you can even imagine). I try to get out the words, "Miles didn't come home from school!" By this time it had been an hour past the time he should have been home (so I know for a fact he has been kidnapped, but still have hope he isn't dead). Shene says at this moment she was imagining the news cameras and detectives storming our front yard. Mr. Elias looks concerned and asks if I called the office. He goes back to the room he was in for something and asks me to wait and says he'll go with me to the office. I can't think straight and start for the office without him. He catches up with me and asks if Miles is in Spanish or any other after school activity. I (still sobbing) say, "No he's not in Spanish. What day is it, he might be in something else, I don't know!" Then he says, "Op! Here he is! In the library!" I say some relief swear words (in an elementary school filled with after school activities and in front of my son's teacher). And Mr. Elias opens the door to the library, where Miles is supposed to be, in the Lego Robotics class I signed him up for and paid money for him to be in on Tuesdays after school. I clutch Miles and tell him, "I thought you were kidnapped or dead." Miles laughs, uncomfotable and embarrassed, and hugs me, limply, back. Mr. Elias tells me he is glad it is a happy ending and hands me the phone to call my husband and tell him him that I am an idiot; our son is fine, he is where he should be. He is where I SHOULD know he is. Good lord, I was still so shook up I was crying with joy and I am sure that whoever was around this was like, "that poor kid". So class is over and Miles' is ready to go. I walk with him to the door and say to Mr. Elias who is walking behind us in the hallway, "Apparently it isn't just Miles who doesn't listen. I guess he gets it from his mother." This was an ode to the fact that at conferences he had told me Miles doesn't focus... I wonder why?

look at this craziness

Ben and I used to be so young and thin!

11 years of ben and kasey

This is Ben driving his way into my life. I think he must have been 19 at the time? If you look in the back seat there is a little boy who is his nephew. Little Chris was like 7 or 8 years old in this photo and now he is like 23 or something. I miss the Acura.

This is one of the reasons I fell in love with Ben, isn't he cute and young in this picture?

I took this picture of Ben without his knowing and had it on my dresser before we were even "officially" dating. His nephew saw it and told him and I wanted to die from embarrassment.


This is Ben and I at a wedding, this is the night we held hands for the first time:

This is Ben and I camping with his family at Interstate park in Wisconsin, I don't remember the year or if we were married or not yet.

Ben and I were dating in the picture below. His sister Lisa took this picture of us. I believe we were engaged at the time.

Ben and I on a road trip up to the Falls with his sister and her friend. I think this was a couple of months before our wedding. We stopped to take pictures of the beautiful fall weather in Minnesota. This is back when Ben would pick me up and carry me around constantly. Now he'd rather not, ha ha.

Ben and his boyz in Colorado, he was gone for like 4 days or something, I missed him so bad, we didn't talk on the phone while he was gone so he could have fun with his friends. I think this was the year before we got engaged.

Our first dance at our wedding. The song was "A Kiss To Build a Dream On" by Louis Armstrong: our song. He played it while he asked me to marry him.
Our second apartment, after our first wedding anniversary. I just had to put this on here because Jim's legs are wrapped around Ben and it makes me smile.

I went to the apple orchard with Kelly. I chose this picture because I am about 4 or 5 months pregnant with Miles at the time. It's the beginning of our family.
Miles and Murphy meet for the first time. Murphy is like 10 hours old. Miles is almost 2 and 1/2. My sweet boys:

Our seven year wedding anniversary. Our little four person family. Two boys and no girls, we thought we were complete and autism didn't exist in our world.

Our complete little family. Two boys and a girl. Now we have it all:

Ben and I recently. I love this picture. We are going to celebrate our 11 year wedding anniversary on the 21st of this month. We are planning a family celebration with gifts for the kids too. I would tell you what I am getting Miles and Ben, but I want Miles to be surprised.