More Sweet Pictures of My Babies

Credits: All papers from "Reverie" kit by Weeds and Wildflowers Design

Credits: Bleached paper (used on dots) from Michelle Coleman's kit "Spring Breeze". All other papers from Miss Mint's "Party Pants" kit.

Design is mine.

Sweet Kids

Just some pages I made recently. My sweet kids having some summer fun a while back. I can't believe how much they have changed in the last 18 months! Credits: Kim B (Kim Broedelet) "Fishing Freebie" kit
Credits: Jessica Sprague "Flower Girl" kit

Design is mine.

Maturity, Crumbs, and Forgiveness

Maturity is knowing the difference between eating a small bowl of dry Apple Jacks on Daddy's side of the bed and sharing a fistful of saltines with your brother on Daddy's side of the bed...

Why We Sold Tanner

This post is to inform you that all of Tanner's mail should be sent to the following address:

"Tanner B.
Wandering Gypsies
Romania"

Hey, Kayla, remember yesterday afternoon when I complained that both of my wild monkeys were climbing all over me and wouldn't leave me in peace for 5 minutes? Well, let this be a lesson to you to be careful what you wish for... There was a stray brown crayon that had rolled under the couch, out of my line of sight, but right smack in Tanner's. He does so love the color brown.

Anyway, we were able to get most of it off the upstairs hallway, with the smooth walls, but the basement walls (and stairwell walls) with the texture are a disaster. We repainted a few spots last night and they look pretty good so far. Justin's face has returned to near normal color this morning after his apoplectic fit last night.

Sweet Faces

Credits: Cardboard "Charming Grunge" kit by Fafbr. All other papers from "Busy Bee" kit by Sarah Jones. Design is mine.

Credits: Papers from Andrea Burns "Sample Kit #2"

Random Morning Pictures

I entered the kitchen to find that Tanner had created for himself a "choo-choo" out of our chairs. Kinley had the bright idea that if she colored in Tanner's old high chair, that he wouldn't be able to reach the crayons, nor would he desire them. Wrong on both counts... Regardless, I can't believe this little waif still fits in a high chair...

Eye Update

My eye has been in a really good place lately. I use ointment at night and drops 1-4 times per day. That is a vast improvement from the darkest of days, when I used ointment 2-3 times per night and drops every 10 minutes around the clock. And I really do mean AROUND the clock. I would get panicked if I slept longer than 30 minutes at a stretch when things were really bad. Those were some pretty depressing and discouraging months, I can tell you that. I was tired. Always.

But I haven't had a relapse in several months (knock on wood) and I'm hopeful that I'll be able to maintain the connection now that the cells have had time to strengthen and adhere. There will always be risk, but this is the healthiest and strongest my cornea has been since January, so I am counting my blessings that we have made it this far.

In celebration, I recently purchased eye make-up!! I just have to give a shout-out to Max Factor for their awesome 2000 Calorie mascara. Natalie has a girlfriend who is a make-up artist; the friend recommended this mascara, so I tested it out. It is the best I've ever owned, and it was one of the cheapest at Walmart! It was only $4.84. Not bad!! Thanks, Max! And Natalie...and Natalie's friend... And, guess what else? This weekend we started playing a very dangerous game again... Yes, I am emotionally healed enough to face my nightmare; CANDYLAND IS BACK!!!! We played it on Saturday with the extra rugrats, and we played it again this morning. Kinley has twice assured me that she will not stick the card through my eye again.

Try to ignore the ginormous booger on Tanner's chin.
"Ok, Mommy. Enough already, let's just play the game."
Tanner didn't exactly play. He held on to his green playing piece, drew cards when it was his turn, and announced what the color was; they were all "pink", incidentally. He moved his person if he wanted, when he wanted, wherever he wanted. We played around him. Nana and Papa, we need to return that little green tractor you see on the table. "Someone" packed it into the suitcase....and hasn't put it down since we unpacked it.

Surprise Moment

I had a few extra kids this weekend during the football game. After lunch, the kids left the table and went into the livingroom. I stayed in the kitchen to finish feeding the baby her lunch and when I turned around, this was what I found. Peaceable activities together, every single child sitting happy and content on one couch. They all stayed like that for more than 20 minutes. It was so cute! And so very unexpected!

Getting Ready for the Cold

Here are the kids getting ready to brave the Idaho wind during our trip up north. Kinley bundled up in quadruple layers for her horse-riding adventure with Papa. Tanner is borrowing a hat that isn't quite the right size :) But, boy oh boy, he sure looks cute in it! Kinley was wearing Tanner's jacket as one of her layers, so we had to get creative with Tanner. We wrapped him up and carried him outside in his Bambi blanket and hat to watch, but that was too confining. He squirmed free and ran all around the property for several minutes with nothing but his shirt on. He was so mad when we finally tackled him and hauled him back inside to the warmth. He didn't want to ride the horse; he thinks that farm animals are much less intimidating in theory than reality.

The Perfect Philly

I made these last night. They turned out better than I had even hoped. I've never thought to mix everything together so completely and it made a huge difference. Philly Beef and Everything

Ingredients
1 and 1/2 pounds shredded beef, cooked in a crock pot in advance. I used thin steaks, but a roast will do. Other people use ground beef, which is supposedly very delicious as well.
1 green pepper
Entire large package of fresh mushrooms (what is that, 8 oz? 16 oz?)
1 cup diced onion
3 tbs butter
1/2 block of cream cheese (I used fat-free)
1 cup mozzarella cheese.
2 tbs worchestershire sauce
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Use the butter to saute green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic together. Add worchestershire sauce, beef, salt, and pepper. Slowly stir in cream cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Serve immediately on toasted deli rolls.

Notes: This made a SURPRISINGLY large amount of food. We had plenty of leftovers for today. I think one of the keys to success is not having too much beef in the mixture. I prefer it heavy on the toppings, lighter on the beef (strange, since I'm generally a rabid carnivore). But it seemed more flavorful that way. It turned out to be a good thing that I didn't have as much beef as I had hoped to work with :)

Inherited Appetites

It is obvious that the children have inherited their parents' constitutions, Kinley taking after Justin, while Tanner has blossomed into mama's little heifer.

Typical examples...

Mommy: Kinley, do you want milk with your Apple Jacks?
Kinley: Yes, please. With milk I can eat it faster and get it over with.

Mommy: Kinley, time to come eat!
Kinley: I'm not hungry, I already ate.
Mommy: That was 6 hours ago.
Kinley: Oh, man...sigh

Mommy: Good morning, Tanner! How are you, my sweetie-love? Did you sleep well? Kiss, kiss kiss!
Tanner: Mommy! Eat!
Mommy: Yes, we'll eat in a minute
Tanner: Mommy! EAT! Eat, Mommy!
Mommy: Yes, I know you're hungry, let's just change your diaper, hold your horses.
Tanner: EAT!!! Sew-ee-oh! (cereal) Oh-meow! (oatmeal) Feesh! (goldfish)
Mommy: Yes, Tanner, we'll eat, we'll have breakfast, hold on. Mommy has to go potty and put in her eye drops.
Tanner: Eat, Mommy! Cookie! Tweat! Kacko! (cracker) Eat! Toast, Mommy TOoooast! EAAAAT!!! Eaaaat! WAaaaaaaaah!
Kinley: Mommy, he wants to eat.
Mommy: Thanks, Kiks. I got that.

Reviews

Last night I had the delightful opportunity to watch the THE Pride and Prejudice movie, all 5+-hours, at a friend's house. While I was faintly delirious with exhaustion by 12:45 in the morning, I couldn't rip myself away. I haven't seen it in years, and it was a special treat. It is our hostess' tradition to watch it the Saturday after Thanksgiving every year. Marvelous tradition I say; I think I'll steal it, if I can remember to :) It made me want to go back to the book, which I haven't read in 6 or 7 years.

Speaking of books, I finished Peace Like a River this morning, by Leif Enger. I definitely enjoy his natural storytelling writing style as well as the unique plot line. I can see why it's been on the national bestseller list. I'll put this on my own personal list of recommendations. It was thought-provoking and I appreciated the religious and moral undertones. It looks like Mr. Enger has written other books and collaborated on still others; I will check into them.

Thanksgiving Trip

We traveled north this year for Thanksgiving, as we do most years. We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner, while I endured the traditional incredulous and faintly nauseated stares from Justin's family as I carefully balanced my heaping Thanksgiving plateful back to my seat. Justin was thoroughly embarassed, but I was able to leave the table with that special Thanksgiving feeling of overindulgence that makes the holiday complete :) It's a lingering Ahroon tradition, not much appreciated by the more moderate Bradshaw family. But oh, it all tasted so very delicious!

It was a quick trip; we returned home yesterday so that Justin could go to the BYU vs Utah football game this afternoon. I'll have nephews and neighbor kids for the day; I have some activities planned and I know naps are anticipated for some of them, so hopefully the 5 hours will just zoom on by, ha ha ha!

I digress; we weren't in Idaho long, but Kinley has been waiting for months to have Papa take her out for a ride on Copper. She wasn't so sure about this choice for the first several minutes. Little panicked, wanted Papa to climb up with her.

Feeling much better about things, secure with Papa.

Dressing Recipe

I love dressing. I love making dressing. I love eating it. I love improving (at least in my own mind) the dressing recipe from year to year. The following was this year's Thanksgiving stuffing.

Ingredients
2 loaves bread (I used Granny's)
4 cups diced celery
2 cups diced onion
½ cup butter
2 cups chicken broth
1 and 1/2 cups evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons rubbed sage
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 ½ cups dried cranberries (craisins, on 12 oz bag)
3 cups peeled, chopped apples

Directions
Break bread into small pieces and allow to dry out, overnight is preferable.

Simmer onions and celery in saucepan with butter and broth until tender. Remove from heat, add evaporated milk, salt, and dried cranberries. Allow to cool. When mixture has cooled (about room temperature or so), beat eggs and add them to mixture. Add apples to mixture.

When bread is dry, add sage and poultry seasoning, toss to mix well in a large bowl. Slowly add wet mixture to bread and mix gently until well moistened.

Pile high in the largest pan you’ve got, cover with foil and bake for APPROXIMATELY 90 minutes on 350. Remove the cover for the final 30 minutes. Serve warm.

If you bake it in two 9 x 13 pans, change cooking time to 60 minutes, removing cover for final 15 minutes.

It turned out great! At least I think so :)

More Trips Down Memory Lane...

Credits: I used the "Spring Breeze" kit from The Shabby Princess

Credits: Zoe Pearn's kit "My Little Sunshine"

Tanner's New "Do"

I tried something new with his hair. What do you think?

Making Stuffing

Kinley helping to make stuffing for Thanksgiving...

Tanner helping to make stuffing for Thanksgiving...

Scrap Scrap Scrap....

I stayed up WAY too late last night scrapping. And let's just say that I didn't make the best use of nap time this afternoon. I'm sure Justin would have preferred that I clean out the kitchen sink or fold some laundry. But I just very recently stumbled upon the realization that I have done almost no scrapbooking for the entire year of 2006. UGH!! Anyway, without further ado... Great. I just realized what Mandee was talking about. The year is wrong on the Layton pix. Sigh....better go change them... Credits: Kit "Boyous" by Heather Roselli; design is mine.

Credits: Kit "Second Spring" by Gina Huff of Weeds and Wildflowers; Design is mine.

Credits: Template from Andrea Gold; Papers from "Color Happy" kit by Michelle Coleman.

Credits: Template from Andrea Gold; Papers from "Color Happy" kit by Michelle Coleman.

Winter Cider

I drank some of this cider at Mindy's house recently. It's probably the very best holiday drink I've ever had the fortune to taste. Either that, or I was very thirsty :)

Hot Apple Cider

Ingredients:
1 apple
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 orange, thinly sliced
2 quarts apple cider
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon allspice
Pinch grated nutmeg
Cinnamon sticks, garnish

Directions:
Stud the apple with the cloves. In a medium pot, combine the studded apple and remaining ingredients. Slowly bring to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for 10 minutes. Discard the apple. Ladle into mugs and garnish each with a cinnamon stick. Serve immediately.

My Sweet Babies

Just over one year ago... Credits: Kit "Chasing Rainbows" by Michelle Coleman; Template by Racketty Scrappety (to be posted later this week!)

Credits: Kit "Lucky Star" by Gina Cabrera

Pre-Blog Pix

Sigh...starting to work backwards since I have a big scrapping gap in my files!! Credits: Template by Andrea Gold; plain brown paper from Fafbr kit "Autumn" sample; All other papers from "Creating Beauty" kit by Gina Marie Huff of Weeds and Wildflowers.

Entire Page Reconstituted

Remember the page I made for Tanner? This page? Because I used a template, that original page only took me 10-15 minutes (which isn't very long at all!)

I took it a step further this afternoon by using the exact same layout AND papers, just swapping out the pictures and text for Kinley. This page took me only 5 minutes. My aim is to get cute scrapping done as quickly as possible so that the memories are recorded and I can get busy making new memories! I can't stand to spend hours and hours making the perfect, most unique page on the planet. Frankly, I just don't have endless creativity in my brain. Using templates and reusing some of my own favorite layouts really saves time and energy.

That's actually why I sometimes make and share templates of my own personal layouts. Other scrappers have shared with me and it's really saved me some effort and brain-block.
Credits: Template and doodle by Andrea Gold; papers from Sande Krieger kit "Mary Mary Quite Contrary"; Hand Stamp Alpha brush from Michelle Coleman

Template Reconstituted

Templates really help speed scrapping along. Even my own :)Credits: Papers from "Beautiful Moments" kit by Jenny's Scrap Place. Template by me.

I Just Love Scrapbooking

I do, I can't deny it :)
Credits: Papers from kit "Boyous" by Heather Roselli; template by Andrea Gold.