EthanJack's Profile

I love to make a dessert soup using those beans. I boil them with water till they are very soft and then I'll take some out and puree it to thicken the soup. To sweeten I use rock sugar found in Asian market or you can use white sugar. I like mine very thick so sometimes I add a slurry of corn starch with water and boil till it thickens.

I have 2 boys (4 1/2 and 21 months old) and I realized sometimes kids need to be kids. Yes, sometimes the chaos gets to me but I realized that there is no such thing as a perfect house. I like to think of my house as lived in. We have a play room for the boys but somehow they love to venture out into the living/dining room with random cars and pillows for their forts. We do try to teach them that there is a space for everything but I also realize that at their age their focus is to have fun and be creative. Do I grumble at having to sweep crumbs a few times a day? yes. As cheesy as this sounds nothing brings a smile to my face seeing the boys being immersed in play and just being happy with their cars and imaginary forts and ramps. And I also love how my sweet boy occasionally reminds me when I get overwhelmed that "it's not the end of the world..."

I love the multiple mirrors in the bathroom. It's something I would have never thought of and seriously considering to do in my own bathroom now :)

Only get what you need especially practical items. I wound up getting caught up in the excitement of scanning stuff and I wound up returning quite a few items. Especially fancy china. The reality was I thought I'd use fancy china and never did. Luckily after 2 years or so unused and still in the original packaging I was able to bring it back for credit. I also registered for a lot of gadgets like blender, coffee maker, and iron. Just be sure you'll use the items on a regular basis and have the room. You can always register for gift cards which comes in handy once you settle down.

I grew up with a house that was pretty much had carpet in all the bedrooms. And when my husband and I purchased and renovated our home we put in hardwood floors in all the bedrooms and I don't regret it at all because it's easier to clean and you can see dust. Carpet tends to attract a lot of dust and over time it gets stretched out and worn looking. In my opinion I say you can't go wrong with hardwood floors and if expense is an issue you can always look into engineered hardwood or bamboo flooring. I'd just make sure you have a nice thick underlayer. And if you still want that soft feeling you can add an area rug.

I have heard that having a tub is good for resale value BUT it depends on how long you're going to be in your house. I was torn between putting in a small tub or do the walk-in shower. We opted for the walk in shower since eventually all of us will be showering. I have a 4 year old and a 16 month old. For the baby all I do is place a baby tub in the shower. What was helpful was installing a double shower meaning one shower head fixed to the wall and another that is a hand held spray shower. I use the handheld shower head to fill the baby tub and rinse the baby down and it makes clean up very easy. Have to say I never regretted it. Another reason why we did it was because we felt like when we get old we might not be able to climb in and out of a tub. We've been living with our new bathroom for a little over a year and the baby tub in the shower method has worked for us. Good luck!

I have a Dyson vaccum that we got on sale and have had it for about 5 years. It is a wonderful product. I do think $400 for a space heater is a lot of money. If it could heat up a whole floor of a home then I'd probably consider it because the lowest gas bill I had was $400. I'm after a few years of being on the market the price will drop. I do love heated fans to help keep the gas bill low in my home. I'll keep using my $70 ceramic heat fan from Target that does and amazing job of warming up the bedroom. But if I do find a dyson heated fan and the price is right I'd probably get one for the kids room.

Has any parents also installed window guards in their bedrooms as well? In my house all of our bedrooms are on the 2nd floor and we purchased guards for the 2 children rooms but none in ours as our kids don't go into our room. But I'm wondering if I should.

I'm too paranoid to pick up most things in fear of bed bugs. I did manage to snag some really great Little Tike toys for my 2 kids. The toys were in great condition and easily washable for outside play (slide, art easel, and basketball hoop). Retail those toys would have cost me $150 brand new. Kids grow up so fast and I find no reason to make such large purchases knowing they'll only be used for a few years. I don't specifically go out "hunting" for stuff but if something catches my eye I ask myself, "do I really need it?" and will it be used. Ratpacking runs in my family and they don't like to get rid of stuff so I'm conscious about what I bring or buy home.