Project LIFE, 3/14-3/20

Back from Trader Joes; I love all the fun, yummy, organic, and cheap food I can get there! And their reusable bags are pretty cute too!

MOPS Tea & Treasures. I have been in MOPS now for almost three years and have met some amazing women there. Today was Tea & Treasures: a fun brunch at our table while some women shared their personal testimonies.

A few weeks ago I wasn't sure if I was going to go back to MOPS this fall. Not that I don't love it! But with Brandon going into kindergarten (and having to be there at 8) & Olivia going to MWF preschool at 9, it was going to be crazy. And it would be nice to have some mommy-Abbie time. But I honestly can't imagine my life without these women. Most of the ladies at my table this year where there with me when I found out I was pregant with Abbie, when I was dealing with Olivia's ears & GI issues, and when I've just needed someone to listen.

Abbie is trying so hard to get the strap buckled on the baby stroller! She was talking to herself as she did this, in her own little language, and just as she couldn't get it buckled I'd hear "no".

Happy St. Patrick's Day! May you find your own little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow :)

Time to fill out the census! We weren't married yet during the 2000 census, so it's exciting to fill it out this time!

Build-a-Bear

The kids *heart* going to Build-A-Bear at Arden Fair. Brandon made Buddy (a buddy for Bear Bear), Olivia made Julie, and Abbie got a new bunny named Blossom.

Opening day for Brandon's baseball team.

I picked this picture because I love how the coaches from the other team are totally helping Brandon run home. It doesn't matter that we're playing against each other. That's what's so great about T-ball: no scoring, no one wins or loses. It's just about baseball & love of the game

Cards from my February kit

I used to make a ton of cards, all hand stamped and personalized. I had a huge stash in a box (that was organized by type of card) so I could grab whatever I needed on a moment's notice.

Then I had baby number three.

I don't know about you, but I could handle two kids. Three threw me for a loop.

My youngest is now 20 months (how did that happen?!), so I'm finally starting to breathe again & get my card stash replenished. I'm doing that by using my leftover bits & pieces of patterened paper, cardstock, letter stickers, and embellishments from my February Kit (and others). I figure this way I can make a few cards pretty quickly each month when I go to scrap.

First, I cut my 12x12 sheet of cardstock into three 4x12 strips. I then trimmed down each to be 4x11 because I wanted to make sure each card would only be 4x5-1/2" when folded so it would fit in a standard envelope.

Then I cute 1x3-1/2" strips of patterned paper from the scraps I had left. I inked all the edges & adhered them to the front of the card. Next I added the pretty rick-rack ribbon & a journaling label. I added some small letter stickers to the label & was not quite done.

I wanted to incorporate one of the straight clips on this card. So I punched out a 3/4" circle of patterened paper & glued it onto the clip. There isn't a circle on here that I covered, but I thought it looked pretty cool there. Then I added some of the glossy accents on top of the paper. It was a bit blah, so I blinged it up. Perfect!

Onto my next card...I played around with a sketch I've used for a few layouts & made it work for a card. That's what I love about sketchs: you can tweak them into anything! This time, using a sketch helped me use a few scraps of patterned paper to make another fun card. I used some more letter stickers on this one, as well as a fun flower punch. Of course I had to add some bling before I could call it done!

Okay, that was fun! It was so awesome being asked to be a guest designer! I love challenging myself to use everything from a kit box together. I know some people separate out everything, but that's not me. I like using it all together like it was meant to be. This kit was so fun! I can't wait to see what's in store for the March kit!

And if they ever need another designer... :)

February Kit, part 2

More fun layouts from my Green Tangerines February kit:

Brandon & Olivia are 14 months apart. Actually 13 months & 3 weeks, but who's counting, right? They've shared a room since the day she came home from the hospital, and because Brandon was so young when she was born, he hasn't ever know her not to be around. I've been wanting to create a layout about this for quite some time, and I finally was inspired to get one done.

I used this layout design about a year ago, when I did a photo a day for January. I really like how I could fit in a ton of photos of the kids together & still fit in bits of patterened paper. And I love how the zig-zag  pattern on the paper makes it look so different in each spot I used it.

I had fun adding some bling to the seam between the two papers.

And my favorite part: cute little handmade flowers! I punched out two circles for each flower, using one sheet of double sided paper. The smaller circle is 3/4" & the larger one is 1-1/4". After I punched them I crinkled them up & put a brad in it. It was so easy! I will totally be using this idea again!

But not on this next layout, LOL, it's of my son :) Being a pirate with my mom's swiffer duster. Oh yeah, he's cool. I know the photo is dark, but I was so thrilled to get it because it is so him right now. Lately, he'll grab his pirate hat & that "sword" & then go around telling my mom & I what to do. We have to say, "yes pirate" or go on time out.

I had so much fun doing this layout. I really had some creative mojo going on!

We all got some plain metal clips in the kit. One of mine was already tricked out by my friend Brenda, who is on the design team at Green Tangerines. She punched a circle out of the patterened paper, glued it to the inner (solid) circle on the clip, and then added some glossy accents to give it that faux epoxy look.

I can be a bit OCD when it comes to my scrapbook layouts, so I had to used three embellishments on this page. I used her clip, plus I made two more. Super easy, and just the right touch. I only wish I had more! On the clip below I also added a "b" letter sticker for Brandon. And I added some of the glossy accents to the letter stickers in the title to puff them up a bit. I need to do that more often.

Lastly, on this layout I added some fun word stickers that were in the kit too. I really like how they're not all the same font & size. It makes it look like I cut them out of a magazine, like a project I used to have to do in elementary school.

Monday...some cards...

Green Tangerines Kit Club & February layouts, part 1

Have you heard about it?

I've been a subscriber for the last few months, and an admirer before that. I love how someone else has done the dirty work & figured out what papers go together (so I don't have to buy a whole line! score!). And then they've added a bunch of other fun goodies to those papers. Even better!

Recently I was asked to be a guest designer for the February kit! I was beyond thrilled! I had so much fun creating a bunch of layouts from this kit.

I *love* these label stickers from October Afternoon! They add such a neat little extra touch for journaling. Honestly, I used to only do journaling on the computer & I've been converted to handwriting because of these cute labels. :)

I am such a sucker for letter stickers! Any color, any size, any shape...I'll use them all :)

I had fun doing this layout. I was so thankful that we had some awesome weather in mid-February! I brought the kids up to the park specifically to take some pictures so I could scrap them :) I added a grunge edge to the photos in photoshop elements before printing them and used a fun sketch I found on Alison Davis's blog.

I used another one of Alison's sketches on this layout. I've been a diehard sketch user for a LONG time!

I inked the outside of each of these circles to give them a little oomph, and to tie them in with the label stickers. I love mixing up prints like this.

And yes, that is real wood there! How awesome! When I found out I was going to use real wood on a layout I thought I'd use it on something more "natural". But then I got these photos back of my kids playing in a cardboard box & knew it would be best here.

A suggestion for using the wood paper: lots of adhesive! It has a natural "curl" to it, which will flatten out, but adhesive will help. I used that sticky tape (yes, I will admit, I have watched a too much Dora the Explorer) that has the red backing on it. I've seen it at Michaels & Stampin' Up.

I have a lot more layouts I did with this kit. I'll share more of those tomorrow...

You can see all of my layouts & those from all the regular designers at the Green Tangerine's Flikr Gallery.

Salmon, Turnips, & Chard...oh my!

Okay, so it doesn’t really sound that inviting I guess! But, wow! Was it good!

I recently signed us up for Farm Fresh Produce, a local organic farm delivery service. You can choose to “opt out” of any of the vegetables or fruit available if it’s something you don’t like. I decided that we’d try everything at least once, except beets. We grew those when I was a kid &I know I don’t like them!

Last Thursday was our first delivery. Our box was chock full of fresh fruits & veggies! Artichokes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, pears, apples, oranges, celery, lettuce, turnips, and red chard. Oh my!

I've never had turnips or chard (well, not that I know of) so I thought, here goes nothing!

So tonight we had the BEST dinner: salmon, turnip au gratin, and spicy swiss chard.

I found this great recipe for Turnip-Parsnip Gratin in Cooking Light last November. I even tore it out, because I knew I wanted to someday try it. I didn't have parsnips, so I used some white potatoes instead. My tip: don't pre-cook the turnips! I think they'd be fine just sliced & baked. I pre-cooked mine & they got a bit mushy. Also, I didn't do individual gratins; just all in the 9x13 together.

We had the gratin last night with london broil, and the leftovers were just as fantastic tonight with the salmon & chard.

On to the chard recipe...I grew up eating beet greens & spinach that my mom would boil & I'd add red wine vinegar too. I know, it sounds so gross! But my mom doesn't like greens & my dad isn't exactly gourmet. So when I got the chard I knew I'd mostly likely like it, but I wanted to try something different. I searched "chard" on the Cooking Light magazine website & found Spicy Swiss Chard with Lemon. Delish! I would totally make this again. Great with the salmon. My two big kids tried it & my husband even ate it!

And lastly, my salmon. No real recipe, just how I cook it:

1) coat your saute pan with olive oil
2) put enough slices of onion in the pan to keep the salmon from touching or it will stick (the salmon)
3) put your salmon on top of the onions
4) sprinkle the fish with kosher salt, black pepper, lemon juice, & garlic
5) cover the pan & cook on medium until the fish flakes, approximately 15 minutes

* I buy half a salmon usually, & cut it skin-side down into 3" wide pieces

Enjoy! Oh, and the cute St. Patrick's placemats were made by my mom :)

blah blah blah NO blah blah blah NO

The oh-so-cute baby talk I overheard while Abbie (now 20 months!) was trying SO hard to close the seatbelt on her baby stroller. Fortunately, the camera was sitting right here so I was able to snap this before she noticed.

It might just end up being my POTD for Project LIFE this week...

Project LIFE, 3/7 - 3/13

I love the creativity that Lego inspires. Brandon has really come up with some awesome stuff!

Our "information center": calendar, baseball info, dance info, chore charts, and preschool snack calendars.

I love the tree in our front yard, especially full of blossoms in the early spring.

Painting Olivia's fingernails.

Our first delivery of Farm Fresh Produce...Gorgeous!

Abbie's first piggy tails! She's been begging me for months to do her hair, and it's finally long enough to gather up a little bit. Too cute!

Olivia & Brooke doing each other's make-up.