Last Minute Details

It sure was a busy Tuesday.  We started by taking Roland to his orthodontics appointment.  It went well and I scheduled his next appointment in September.  He will begin using rubber bands in September and they told him the better he uses them, the sooner the braces will come off.  Hopefully, it will be a good incentive.

We went to SAS to pick up my new shoes to wear while we are in San Diego.  I need to go back before school starts and pick up one or two more pairs of shoes.  I bought a few before over three years ago and the shoe quality just last and they are really comfortable.  We then proceeded to Target and Half Priced Books.  Somehow, we did not remember everything we needed from Target because we went on Wednesday too!

Teacher's Tools was having a storewide special on Tuesday.  The entire store was 20% off and so I went and purchased some items for my classroom.  It was so busy in that store and always even harder to shop when you have kids with you!  We made it okay and found snacks afterwards which helped dramatically.  We were all getting tired and hot by this point in our day.

We were down to two more stops for the day, Staples and Kohl's.  I am glad Roland was with me at Staples because he picked up a book bag which will be free after the Easy Rebate.  They will send me a gift card back to Staples, but I can get other items at that point!  We found the items we needed at Kohl's for the upcoming trip and then headed home!

We went to Christopher and Banks on Wednesday and I picked up some new jeans, a shirt, a pair of capris, and a skirt.  I finally used my $25 gift card I received a long time ago.  They have a 20% savings to all teachers through August 1st.  I sure love when they do percent savings overall, does not make me feel as bad if I pick up a few new items!  Most of the things I purchased are going with us to San Diego.

Menu Planning 07/25-07/31

Since my brother is getting married, we have an off week with visiting with him.  Right around the corner, school starts back up and I am looking forward to having a menu system in place.  We have been using our menu since May 2010.  It sure has been convenient to have an idea what to cook for dinner along with having what you need to cook dinner.  However, most of the credit goes to E-Mealz.  Another teacher recommended it to me, and I LOVE it!  It gives me so many dinner choices right at my fingertips!  I don't cook them in the exact order as they put them, but instead pick and choose the ones that work for us.  It's nice to rotate and have a variety of meat throughout the week.

Seasoned Chicken Strips

Yesterday evening, I made Seasoned Chicken Strips and Oven "Fries". Both were really good and I can always tell if it's worth cooking again if Jakob, my 5 year old, wolfs it down!  He will eat anything we cook, but it is always interesting to see how much he enjoys it and when he does you know it's good!

So you start off this these basic items below.  We currently have some Honey Wheat bread that we purchased from Costco that I used for the breading.  I really have enjoyed making fresh bread crumbs using bread on hand with my food processor.  However, my food processor is a smaller one, so I can only do a little at a time!

Okay, so I put the bread in the food processor until it was nice and fine.  It did not take too long and Jakob did not whine for it being loud after hearing it again for the second time yesterday!

After the bread crumbs are ready, dump into a shallow bowl.  I always use my pie pans for this method.

Add the other dry ingredients to the bread crumb and mix well.  I was not sure how I would like the basil taste, but it turned out pretty good!  My husband did not complain either!  I was honestly a little shocked!

After the dry ingredients are ready, mix the egg, mustard, and garlic in another shallow bowl.  I used honey dijon mustard instead of plain mustard.  Instead of fresh garlic, I used 1/8 tsp of garlic powder in the egg mixture.

Coat the chicken with the egg mixture and then move to the dry ingredients and coat well.

I placed them on a baking sheet with parchment paper and cooked them at 400 degrees F for longer than the time mentioned.  Since I had the fries in the oven too I was accounting for possibly a longer cooking time.  The chicken coating came out really crispy which made me happy!  I probably could have pulled the chicken out a little before my Oven "Fries" were done, but it was all still really good!!

Here's the picture after I baked them in the oven.

Seasoned Chicken Strips
(Recipe originally from E-Mealz, 2010)
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts, cut into tenderloins
1 egg
1 T mustard (I used Honey Dijon)
1 T minced garlic (I used 1/8 tsp garlic powder)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine egg, mustard, & garlic in a shallow bowl.
3. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs and seasoning.
4. Dip chicken into egg mixture and then in crumbs.
5. Bake chicken for 15 minutes (tenderloins).

This post is linked to Foodie Friday.

Oven "Fries"

It has been a long time since I have cooked this recipe and these fries are so good!  They are low calorie and about 3 points per serving.  I figured I had 2 servings tonight, but still less calories than if I had fast food french fries!  These french fries soak in a salt-sugar mixture which helps pull out some of the water in the potatoes so they brown in the oven rather than steam!

The recipe calls for 1 1/4 lbs of baking potatoes.  I did not have a kitchen scale and approximated with 2 baking potatoes.  This might be more officially, but they turned out great overall!  First step is to peel and cut into french fries.  The recipe called for 1/2 inch strips, but I might have ranged between 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Once they have been cut, place into a large enough bowl.  As I re-read the directions it said to only put 1/4 tsp of salt and the sugar into the bowl.  I covered the potatoes in water first before adding the salt and sugar so it did not go directly onto 1-2 french fries.

Let them sit for about 15 minutes.  I set a paper plate on top of them and started working on the chicken we were eating for dinner.

After they have soaked in the salt-sugar mixture, pat them dry with a towel.  In another bowl, (I rinsed the one I was using since I didn't have another larger bowl) toss the potatoes with the oil and paprika.  I slowly added the fries to the bowl and continued to toss to coat the oil and paprika onto them.

Spread the french fries evenly on the baking sheet.  I used parchment paper since we usually use parchment paper instead of a cooking spray.  However, after I looked at the Parchment paper I realized it said safe up to 420 degrees!  I decided to cook the fries at 400 degrees (even though the recipe called for 450) since the chicken I needed to cook was 400 degrees.

Overall, they came out really good.  Next time I cook these I will probably line my pan with non-stick aluminum foil and cook them at 450 degrees F.  They will be even more crispy that way!  However, my 5 year old wolfed these down super fast and they were still more healthy than the fast food version!

Oven "Fries"
(Recipe originally from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, 2006)
1 1/4 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch strips
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
4 tsp oil
1 tsp paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F; spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, 1/4 tsp of the salt, and the sugar with cold water to cover.  Soak 15 minutes; drain and blot dry.
3. In another bowl, toss the potatoes with the oil and paprika.  Place in a single layer on the baking sheet.  Bake, turning the potatoes over as they brown, until cooked through and crisp, about 45 minutes.  Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt.

Nutrition: (1/4 of potatoes): 159 Cal, 5 g Fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 0 mg Chol, 442 mg Sod, 28 g, Carb, 3 g Fib, 2 g Prot, 7 mg Calc.

POINTS value 3.

This post is linked to Foodie Friday.

8 Days Until California Vacation - Brother's Wedding!

We are now down to 8 more days until we leave for my brother's wedding in California!  My to-do list is coming along and I'll have it all done before we leave of course!  While speaking to my mom, she just told me it was 65 degrees at 4:20PM (PST).  I may have to rethink what I was planning to wear out there this summer!

• Southwest Airlines Reservations
• Hotel Reservation
• Rental Car Reservation
• Jakob - Measured for Tux - completed and $20 deposit paid on Wednesday, June 30th.
• Lisa - Need Dress to wear for wedding - Found purple dress at JcPenney's on Monday, July 5th!
• Lisa - Need shoes to wear with dresses - Planning to go to SAS next Tuesday, July 27th!
• Shoes - Need new walking tennis shoes for Jeff, Lisa, Roland, and Jakob - We will look for Jakob's shoes and clothing next Tuesday (maybe sooner).
• Jakob - Needs Coloring book for airplane, down time. - Purchased a Toy Story 3 Color Wonder coloring book.
• Jakob and Roland - Needs nice clothes to wear to wedding (Roland needs slacks)
• Update Garmin with California Destinations

After the wedding, Jeff and I are planning to go to Sea World, San Diego Zoo, and Lego Land.  My parents and grandmother will also go to the San Diego Zoo on Monday.  I just read about San Diego Zoo doing a special "NightTime Zoo" between 3pm-9pm.  It looks like they have some extra events going on between the time period.  I'm always amazed at the discounts you can find online if you look for them!

After doing some searches, I came across a website called, MouseSavers.com.  One of the deals mentioned was 50% off tickets for Airline employees and one additional guest.  This was my first time to view this website, so I called the zoo and sure enough it is true!  The other deals I am finding our about $4 coupon/ticket.  I also found that the Carlsbad Premium Outlets center (not far from LegoLand) is offering one FREE 1-Day pass to the San Diego Zoo when you purchase a Simon Gift Card valued at $100 or more.  After reviewing the policies of the Simon Gift Cards, it mentions they can be used anywhere Visa is accepted!!  I will have to call tomorrow and see if they still have the tickets available.

While looking for discounts for Sea World in San Diego, I found a pretty good discount.  I sure wish Roland could look like he was 11 still, but he is going on 14 and is too tall to look 11!  His ticket could be free too.  On MouseSavers.com, I found a coupon code from McDonalds making adult tickets $59 and kids free with a paying adult.

For our last destination, Lego Land, I received a Free Kids ticket when you purchase an adult ticket from the Lego Store after purchasing a toy for Jakob.  According to MouseSavers.com, Lego Land offers a 20% discount for up to 6 tickets for Airline employees!

Overall, I have calculated about a savings of $214 from these different coupon codes.  If we do the Simon Visa Giftcard, it would be another $37.  I sure love finding great deals!

Oat Waffles & Bacon Breakfast

I have been reading Delightful Country Cookin' online and enjoy reading what she cooks.  I read last night about her Oat Waffles she cooked and they looked really good!  I decided to cook them for breakfast and save the extras for another morning when I do not feel like cooking.  Jakob helped me mix all the ingredients and he wolfed down an entire waffle this morning and said he loved them!

While in the kitchen this morning, I also cooked the bacon from the refrigerator.  It was at the point where it had to be cooked soon!  So I cut it into small pieces and cooked it quickly to use with future meals.  Plus, I ate a few pieces and the craving for bacon was satisfied!

The waffles call for oat flour.  I used my food processor and poured 1 1/4 cup oats into it until it was smooth.  I only had regular oatmeal and the waffles seemed fine.  I might try quick-cooking oats next time when I have them in my cupboard.

Once the oats look like flour, mix the other dry ingredients together in a bowl.  One thing I think would have helped this recipe was a whisk and I do not have one at the moment!  Another thing to add to my list for cooking!  I probably could have used my nice mixer (it has a whisk), but did not want to wash it afterwards!

Once the dry ingredients are ready, mix the wet ingredients together in another bowl.  Jakob helped me mix these ingredients and he loved it!  He is concentrating in this picture to make sure he does not spill any of the ingredients!

Finally mix the wet and dry ingredients together.  Jakob did this too for me and did a pretty good job.  I used my 1/2 cup measuring cup to pour them on my waffle iron.  I have to spray my waffle iron with Pam now.  This recipe claims it will make 8 waffles and it was pretty accurate.  I think I stopped around 6 today!  I love saving waffles in a Ziplock freezer bag for mornings that I do not want to cook!  I tried using my FoodSaver before with pancakes and it takes a little too much air out and is not good!

I got the idea to cook the bacon from Delightful Country Cookin'.  She mentioned it on an earlier post and since I really needed too cook this bacon, it was quick and easy!  All I did was cut it into small pieces.  I cooked it on medium-medium high and just stirred it occasionally while I worked on the dishes!  I put it all in a Ziplock and have it in the refrigerator for later meals.

Oat Waffles
(modified from Taste of Home Light and Tasty Annual Recipes 2002) 
1 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup flour (gluten free works fine)
4 t. baking powder
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
2 T. oil
1 1/2 t. vanilla

Put oats in a blender and process until they become a flour-like texture.  Place in a bowl with flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla.  Combine dry and wet ingredients (don't over stir!).  Cook batter 1/2 cup at a time in a waffle iron.  Makes 8 waffles.

Nutrition: 178 cal, 6g fat, 1g sat fat, 54mg cholesterol, 307mg sodium, 24g carbs, 2g fiber, 7g protein.

Menu Planning 07/18-07/24

I was not here for most of last week and therefore did not create an official menu last week.  I asked Jeff and he said not to worry about it! I left on Wednesday for a math conference in San Antonio and returned on Saturday.  It was a great trip, great food, and a great time with fellow teachers.  However, now it is time to get back on schedule with our food and eating healthy!  My goal is sixteen pounds at the moment and know I will get back on track!


Many of the above recipes are new recipes for our family from E-Mealz.  On some occasions, I take pictures of what I cook and post how they went with the family.  I usually pick a few meals from each week's menu and I flip through to decide what to cook.  I keep each week's menu in a notebook inside a protective sleeve.  Personally, I do not use the shopping list since I tend to use Southern Savers for my shopping list.  Most weeks, I am able to create the meals I choose based on what we have on-hand!  What are your plans this week?


UPDATE 7/23/10: I cooked the Seasoned Chicken Strips and Oven "Fries" and they were delicious!!  I also cooked the Spiced Rubbed Pork, but personally was not a fan of it.  The flavors just did not work or it seemed there was not any flavor to it! :(  I know my menu will change for this Friday and Saturday, but have not decided what to change it too.  I ran out of sour cream since we ate leftovers Tuesday and Wednesday.  I needed the sour cream for the Italian Casserole dish.

SwagBucks - Saving for $50 Southwest Airlines Gift Card

You ought to know by now that there are some things in life that are FREE, unlike the popular saying. Thanks to my using SwagBucks instead of Google to search the internet, I’ve received FREE Amazon.com Giftcards!  However, you can also get Free magazines, Macy’s, Starbucks Gift Cards, Target Giftcards, Lowe's Giftcards, and many others!

I have decided to save for the $50 Southwest Airlines Giftcard at the moment.  I currently have 717 SwagBucks and I figured it's still FREE!

New to SwagBucks?

What in the world is this SwagBucks thing everybody is talking about?

That’s what I kept saying too, now it’s my absolute favorite thing. I had heard about it for months, but kept putting it off. Finally I started looking into it and signed up over a year ago.

Swagbucks is an alternative to Googling, but the results are powered by Google. More importantly, you win Swagbucks by searching. You win Swagbucks just for doing something you already were doing anyway – searching the internet.

They start you off with free Swagbucks and then you WIN Swagbucks when you search online. After only a few searches the first day, I had already accumulated many Swagbucks. After a couple of weeks, I had earned enough to redeem! Yeah. The best part – you can turn them in for gift cards (or other items).

The way I look at it, this is FREE money they are giving me for choosing to “SwagBuck” something instead of “Google”.

A Few of my Favorites:

$5 e-gift card to Amazon.com

$10 e-gift card to Barnes N Noble

$10 gift card to Starbucks

$50 e-gift card to Southwest Airlines

$5 PayPal (yes, cash)

Other gift cards available: Disney.com, Lowe’s, Ticketmaster, and so many more.

Merchandise available- MP3 singles, books, TV series DVD’s, sports memorabilia and more.

They often publish free SwagBucks codes on their blog and other places.  Each Friday is also Mega SwagBuck dayand they are giving away extra large SwagBucks denominations, so do a few random searches for things on Fridays.

To sign up, click on the link below and start earning gift cards for something you already do:

SwagBucks sign up – click here

Weight Loss Goal

Last night, I found an application on my Android phone called WWDiary.  It uses the same concepts from Weight Watchers and is FREE! It calculated my points and keeps track of what you eat using your phone! It even has an option to scan a barcode of a product to pull the name of the food!  It creates a weight log for whenever you enter your current weight.  The program allows you to enter exercise too along with favorite foods.  At the moment, it does not know the point values automatically but it does calculate the points using calories, fat, and the fiber count.  Jeff and I did this last year using a spreadsheet I created, but I like having this on my phone since my phone is normally with me all the time.

My weight loss goal is currently sixteen pounds.  I sure have noticed the change since we moved to our house.  I no longer have to climb three sets of stairs and since it's summer, I am not as active.  So it's time to count points again and lose a few pounds!

Scrap It With a Song's Weekly Challenge - So Happy Together

This was the first time I actually wake boarded while we were at Lake Brownwood with Jeff's parents.  I was so happy since I had tried previous years and was unsuccessful!  I decided to wakeboard before water skiing since I thought I would have more energy and it worked! I was up after a few tries and did pretty good.  No jumps like Daniel or Brett, but hey I did it!

I created the layout based on Sketch #73 from Liz over at The Scrappiest! Each week, I am amazed of her sketches!

I have created many layouts using her sketches! Check them out below on my blog!

• Sketch #72
• Sketch #71
• Sketch #70
• Sketch #65
• Sketch #62
• Sketch #56
• Sketch #51

The title came from a challenge over at Scrap It With a Song.  This week's song is So Happy Together by The Turtles.  While I listened to the song, the words So Happy continued to jump out at me and I knew which pictures to scrap!!

Weekend Scrapbooking

Coordinates Collections Summer Crop Challenges! 

This past weekend, Coordinates Collections hosted a Summer Cyber Crop! Here is what I created over the weekend.

Challenge #3 - Christmas in July
Merry Christmas
I used my Cricut machine with the layout.  I used Beyond Birthdays to cut Merry Christmas and Doodlecharms to cut the Christmas tags to write everyone's name inside.  This layout and pictures are neat to me because we do this picture every Christmas.  The journaling states, "Every Christmas in Ireland, TX, we take a picture behind the fence.  The women tend to always go first, and then the men. It is fun to look at the pictures each year as well as the years past. 12/25/09."

Challenge #6 - Let's Get Sketchy
Coordinates Collections July Card Sketch
Howdy Cards and Blank Card
I created these cards using the remaining pieces of paper from my Coordinates Collections June Jack kit. The flowers and buttons are from my stash.  I used the July card sketch and created three cards with the sketch to qualify for the challenge.

Other Scrapbook Pages and Challenges

Got Sketch? #100

It's a Boy!

Most of the paper is from my Coordinates Collections June Jack kit.  I used my Cricut machine with the layout.  I used Beyond Birthdays to cut It's a Boy! The journaling states, "I have known John since my brother was in middle school.  John and Amy Edwards had their beautiful little boy on December 5, 2008. Welcome Joseph Bryce Edwards!"

21 Days Until California Vacation - Brother's Wedding!

   

We are now down to 21 more days until my brother's wedding in California! Last week, I posted a similar post and we have done a few things on the list!  However, the list continues to grow as we get closer to the event!  I helped my mom yesterday with the rehearsal dinner menu.  They chose Buca de Bippa and since they chose the restaurant, my parents were able to choose the food!  So while Mom looked at the choices, she called me for help in the decisions!  All I can say is we are going to be well fed that evening!  However, since we will be eating later than normal plus we have a two hour time difference, we are going to have to feed the boys (and probably me) before our official dinner!

• Jakob - Measured for Tux - completed and $20 deposit paid on Wednesday, June 30th.
• Lisa - Need Rehearsal dinner dress
• Lisa - Need Dress to wear for wedding - Found purple dress at JcPenney's on Monday, July 5th!
• Lisa - Need shoes to wear with dresses
• Shoes - Need new walking tennis shoes for Jeff, Lisa, Roland, and Jakob
  
• Update Garmin with California Destinations
• Wedding Present
  
• Jakob - Needs Coloring book for airplane, down time. - Purchased a Toy Story 3 Color Wonder coloring book.
• Jakob and Roland - Needs nice clothes to wear to rehearsal and wedding
• Jakob and Roland - New video game for airplane, down time.

• Tickets for San Diego Zoo
• Tickets for Sea World
• Tickets for Lego Land (1 FREE Kid Ticket from the Lego Store)

SwagBucks Survey - I Won 250 SwagBucks!!

You ought to know by now that there are some things in life that are FREE, unlike the popular saying. Thanks to my using SwagBucks instead of Google to search the internet, I’ve received FREE Amazon.com Giftcards!  However, you can also get Free magazines, Macy’s, Starbucks Gift Cards, Target Giftcards, Lowe's Giftcards, and many others!

New to SwagBucks?

What in the world is this SwagBucks thing everybody is talking about?

That’s what I kept saying too, now it’s my absolute favorite thing. I had heard about it for months, but kept putting it off. Finally I started looking into it and signed up over a year ago.

Swagbucks is an alternative to Googling, but the results are powered by Google. More importantly, you win Swagbucks by searching. You win Swagbucks just for doing something you already were doing anyway – searching the internet.

They start you off with free Swagbucks and then you WIN Swagbucks when you search online. After only a few searches the first day, I had already accumulated many Swagbucks. After a couple of weeks, I had earned enough to redeem! Yeah. The best part – you can turn them in for gift cards (or other items).

The way I look at it, this is FREE money they are giving me for choosing to “SwagBuck” something instead of “Google”.

A Few of my Favorites:

$5 e-gift card to Amazon.com

$10 e-gift card to Barnes N Noble

$10 gift card to Starbucks

$50 e-gift card to Southwest Airlines

$5 PayPal (yes, cash)

Other gift cards available: Disney.com, Lowe’s, Ticketmaster, and so many more.

Merchandise available- MP3 singles, books, TV series DVD’s, sports memorabilia and more.

Most of the time I redeem my SwagBucks for amazon gift cards….as amazon has so much, including groceries. I have installed the SwagBucks search, so every time I need to do a search I am using the SwagBucks search engine! Another option available is to go to the SwagBucks homepage.  If you are online often, like me, you’ll earn quickly.

They often publish free SwagBucks codes on their blog and other places.

Each Friday is also Mega SwagBuck dayand they are giving away extra large SwagBucks denominations, so do a few random searches for things on Fridays. Go there and search for fun activities for the weekend, the weather forecast, or even A Frugal Friend.

To sign up, click on the link below and start earning gift cards for something you already do:

SwagBucks sign up – click here

Boys are with Grandparents

This week is sure going fast! Last Thursday, I picked up Roland since Jakob and him were headed to visit with Jeff's parents for the week.  We met Gerry on Friday at Chili's in Fort Worth and had a nice lunch.  Jakob was funny as we were leaving.  I got him buckled in his seat and was saying bye and he was like, "Mom, we're leaving - shut the door!"  Jakob was extremely excited to visit with Jeff's parents and all he could talk about was he was going to the Mimi with the trampoline.  It is also the first thing he told Roland when we picked him up on Thursday!  The boys will return this upcoming Saturday.

On Saturday, Jeff and I went to Olive Garden with Joe and Brenda.  We had a nice dinner and afterwards went to Strikz Entertainment to bowl.  Jeff and I went and saw Toy Story 3 on Monday.  It was a cute movie and afterwards we did some shopping.  I found a dress to wear to my brother's wedding later this month.  I still need to do other things to get ready, but we'll get there!

I spoke to Lana today and she said Jakob was having a blast and said he wasn't ready to come home.  She said he says he misses us, but is obviously enjoying his time with grandparents!  She told me at the lake he jumped off the ten foot dock at Horace and Kay's house!  Once he did it once, she said he swam back to the dock, and did it again and again! At the lake, she said he rode the intertube with his Uncle Brett and with Roland.  He sure loves the water.  After they returned from the lake, they have been doing things around the house.  She mentioned she purchased a Slip'n'Slide and both boys have really enjoyed it!  As mentioned, Jakob was excited about going to their house because of the trampoline.  She said, they have been on it everyday since they got to the house! This afternoon, they are going to watch Toy Story 3.

I have been doing chores and scrapbooking this week.  I had a dentist appointment yesterday and it went well, no cavities.  Since I had no cavities, I treated myself to a pedicure.  I have made four scrapbook layouts since the boys have been with grandparents; three of the layouts are completed and posted on my blog.  (Links below).

• New Home
• Christmas '08
• Bright Day at the Zoo

Scrap It With a Song's Weekly Challenge - America the Beautiful

The challenge song this week over at Scrap It With a Song is America the Beautiful by Lee Greenwood.  

Scrapping the Music's Weekly Challenge - Home

UPDATE 7/7/10: Jeff and I purchased our first new home together in 2009.  These pictures are the first we took as a family on our empty lot.  The empty lot soon changed quickly everyday! I used most of my remaining pages of the June Jack kit from Coordinates Collections.  The layout was inspired by using Liz's current sketch #72 at The Scrappiest.  Her sketches are always fun and motivate me!  The journaling reads, "Jeff and I signed the contract on our new home on 8/11/09. Roland (12) & Jakob (4). Picture Taken on 8/12/09."  My layout is on a video slide at Scrapping the Music's website!

Scrapping the Music's challenge is Home by Daughtry.  I am working on finding pictures and a sketch to complete the challenge.  I'll update this post with my layout when I'm done!  The challenge is due by Tuesday at midnight, so I better get busy!  Stay tuned!!

Katelyn in Kentucky

Katelyn in Kentucky needs some snail mail love.  Her mom posted on her blog about how her daughter fell while at a pool party and hit the concrete a little hard.  Please check out her blog and email her for her address.  As scrapbookers and bloggers, we have to stay connected and help each other out!  

I sure remember how I felt when Jakob fell at our apartment last year.  Think about a time when either your own child could have used a card in the mail and at the same time, how as parents they are nice to receive as well.

Tackle-It-Tuesday

Chores, chores, and more chores! I made a list of things I need to do today and tomorrow.   I need to get done with a reasonable amount before I will let myself scrapbook.  Since I just heard the dryer beep, I guess it means it's time to go switch laundry!

• Call Orkin and schedule service - Technician coming out on Thursday
• Call Cornerstone Dental and reschedule dentist appointment - Rescheduled dentist appointment for Wednesday.
• Update SanDisk cards with more pictures for digital frames
• Clean scrapbook desk
• Clean bathrooms
• Laundry
• Dishes
• Vacuum
• Sew buttons back on Jeff's shorts
• Sort/Purge old paperwork
• Mop kitchen (I really hate to mop!)

UPATE 7/8/10: Well, I didn't get everything done on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I'm continuing to work on the list and figure I'll have it done by Friday!

Christmas '08

I created this Christmas layout using Sketchy Thursday's 7.1 sketch.  These pictures are from Christmas in 2008.  It was a really rough year during Christmas that year.  As the journaling states, Jakob was the first to get sick.  Then, I think I was next following with Jeff and Roland!  I used my Cricut cartridges in the layout.  I used Cursive 101 for the title, Speaking of Winter for the Christmas tree, and Doodlecharms for the stockings.  Most of the paper I used I have received from Coordinates Collections.  It was not one of the regular kits, but a pack of paper from SEI focusing on Christmas colors.  I really liked how the layout turned out.  Since I was sick at Christmas, I did not take many pictures.  I need to finish putting together the videos from our past Christmas visits.