Living/Dining Room

In the process of painting our living room we moved our couch into the dining room.  It has stayed there ever since (umm...maybe 2 weeks since the painting was finished).  We rather enjoy it!  We finish a meal and go hang out on the couch, reading books, snoozing, contemplating what's next...  It is so nice! 

Now, since we like it so much and we like the openness of the living room, we are deciding what we should permanently do.  Currently there is one chair in the living room, and whatever toys land there throughout the day!  Haha.  Do we buy something new for the living room?  Do we just move it back to the way it was?  Do we bring the pew upstairs to put where the couch is in the dining room?  If we did that, do we recover the pew to at least coordinate a little bit with the rest of the place (it's currently red with dark wood)?  Also, we've been looking for used short wall cabinets to put along that wall to put a bench with storage and cushions in that spot...  I also found an oak buffet!  Oh, so nice, but...  a little more expensive than hoped!

What do you think of the arrangement?  Most people who come and try it, say it should stay!  :)  A fifth+ person at the table would make it a bit crowded, but...  Leave your comments! 

*Reminder:  If you leave first names of children in your comment, it will be deleted.  Thanks!

Silly Supper

It had been a long day/weekend/etc. when we made this silly supper.  I decided to do it with some flair.  Crinkle cutting carrots (or anything) is sure to make them disappear faster.  And elephant cut bread, might as well!

Produce Washing

I've seen a lot about washing berries in vinegar and water.  This, I've been told helps them last longer and helps them not to mold and gets all the chemicals off.  It was something like 1 part vinegar, 10 parts water...well, I came across something easier.  Fill your sink with water and add a cup of vinegar, submerge and gently stir all your produce and leave for 10 minutes.  Then take it all out.  It really does make my sink sparkle!  Oh, and cleans all those fruits and veggies. 

(Sorry about the sideways picture) 

New Bed for the Girls

This is the girls before we decided to get them a new bed.  L had possibly become scared of sleeping in her bed alone and so we tried switching the girls.  On the first night Kj said, "My bed is softer!"  But they did well for a few nights in "opposite" beds.  Well, one night Kj woke up crying that she wanted to sleep in her bed.  She was inconsolable and so we made room on the twin bed and put her at the foot of the bed...or the second head.  In the below picture, they had started out the night with heads at either end, and realizing they didn't mind sharing a bed, we decided to try for something bigger.

Here are the girls taking apart their old bed with me.  They were very helpful.  :)  They played in, on, around, under all the parts.  I believe the drawer section was a boat or a bus. 

 

Kevin and I went to IKEA to buy some dressers.  We got the idea from a website called IKEA Hackers.  Very fun site to go through!

  

Here are Kevin and his dad starting the bed frame.  We spent a Saturday afternoon doing the frame and positioning the dressers to make the bed.  The girls were with their Nana.

We got the bed into the bedroom and I wanted to see how spacious the "fort" would be.  

Here the girls are helping with the finishing touches.  We realized we needed to put a spacer in each side of the bed so the rungs wouldn't shift and fall through!

Yeah, yeah, yeah, playing on the bed.  Yeah, we decided rails were necessary...but didn't make plans for them, so the first night (and ever since) we put an old set of crib rails up.  They are removable when changing sheets is the order of the day or big hugs, or quickly getting sick children down from the bed...nice, but hope to think of something soon to do the same thing, but that matches.

 

Steps to the top: stool, dresser, bed.

Sale!

I have a few Blessings Unlimited items that I have decided to sell from my "consultant stash".  I'm hoping someone will want these!  I added links to my friend's website with the original descriptions of the items.  Enjoy!

Grace Pillow:  "God's sweet grace is in this place."  Orig. $44, now $25.

Grateful Hearts Wood Pedestal:  "Home so sweet, blessed by God, gather together with grateful hearts.  Now is the time of God's favor.  II Corinthians 6:2 NIV"  11 3/4" Wx 8" H  Orig. $56, now $30.

Heirloom White Trivet:  Orig. in a set of 3 for $30, now $8.

Vintage Block Set:  (multiple messages) Orig. $42, now $20.

God's Light in Me for girls: Orig. $16, now $8.