Sketch #230 Challenge Layout

Vanessa came over today with Ashlyn and we scrapped all day (between feedings).  I only completed one 2-page layout, but I had a great time.  This layout is based on a Scrapbook Challenges sketch.  The squirrel and beaver were cut with the Camping Out cricut cartridge.  The journaling is cut out of a brochure.

Here is the sketch: 

And here is my LO:

And here are a couple of detailed shots.

Sketch #232 Challenge Layout

I haven't had a change to do a lot of scrappin' the past few weeks, but yesterday I did mange to complete a layout based on a sketch from Scrapbook Challenges.  I also had a photo shoot with my new niece Ashlyn!  Those photos will be posted soon.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my LO:

Here are a couple of detailed shots:

12.26.10 Biscuits and Gravy

I made biscuits and sausage gravy this morning for Juan.  I learned this year's ago from my father, but haven't made it in about 10 years.  I decided Juan needed to taste them.  They turned out very good and Juan couldn't resist adding to my POTD!

12.25.10 Merry Christmas!!!!

First of all,  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday full of joy and blessings.  It is a fabulous time of year, but can also be lonely and stressful for many.  I hope your day and upcoming New Year brings you everything that your heart desires.

On to my POTD (picture of the day).  I can't believe the year is almost over and I have taken a picture a day for the ENTIRE year.  With only a few days left, it looks like I will meet my goal, although the photos are not yet in an album.

Christmas morning my mother came over and Juan made us migas for breakfast.  Adam came over to join us and we hooked up Juan's new XBOX Kinetic....fun, fun, fun!  Then we went to Juan's parents house where everyone meets for tamales and gift exchange.  We gave Sole' a microscope and Aram a Toy Story III, lego kit.  It said ages 7-12 and he is 7, but it had almost 400 tiny pieces.  It took us almost 3 hours to put it all together!  My POTD is of Adam, Sole', Aram and I all dilliegently working on the lego set.

12.24.10 Christmas Eve

Juan and I went to my mom's house on Christmas Eve after church service to celebrate Christmas with her, Vanessa, Jeff, Jakob, and baby Ashlyn.  We had a lot of fun and got a lot of great pictures of the little munchkins. Jakob is at the cutest age and mimics everything, which is quite entertaining while Ashlyn just lays there and sleeps, so we get to pose her for pictures.  My picture of the day is a photo of the whole family, but I had to add a couple others of our favorite present this year!  :)

Mom supplied the box, I made the tag, and Vanessa provided the present!

12.23.10 Christmas with Juan

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are always crazy for us.  We are blessed with lots of family that we visit on these days, so Juan and I exchange presents and have our own Christmas together the day before Christmas Eve.  I must have been a very good girls because Juan gifted me with a beautiful jewelry armoir, pink hangers, a casserole set, cookbooks, and a gorgeous ring from Tiffany's!  I gave Juan an XBox 360 Kinetic.  He was sooooooo excited.  It was not something he was expecting but something that he really wanted.  He is such a little kid at Christmas.

12.22.10 Girl Friends

My friends and I got together for a girls' evening to celebrate Christmas.  Sarah, Abby, Janet and I had dinner at Lefty's in Addison.  The food was just ok, but the company was excellent.  It was so good to see and spend some girl time with my friends.

Sketch #233 Challenge Layout

I completed this layout this morning for our Yosemite trip with a sketch from Scrapbook Challenges.  This was the inn that we stayed at.  I used the Winter Woodland cricut cartridge for the trees and rub-ons by American Traditional Designs.  The title was green from Lil Davis Designs and I painted it red to match my layout.  The journaling was created from Making Memories word fetti stickers and the yo-yo's were made by my dear mother!  Thanks Mom!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

Here is a detailed photo of the journaling and the yo-yo's!

Dinner Exhaustion Layout

This layout is about the dinner we had after our 5-1/2 hour hike up to the top of Vernal Falls in Yosemite.  I used border strips, CTMH paper and the Winter Woodland cricut cartridge for my title.

 This is also the first layout that I have completed in the past month.  I took time off work to get myself together and I thought I would be spending most of that time scrapping, but I've seemed to have a million other things to do.  I used a sketch from Page Maps for this layout.  Here is the sketch:

And here are a few detailed shots:

12.21.10 Ashlyn Arrives

My sister had her 2nd baby today.  Ashlyn Gail arrived at 4:02 pm and was 10.16 lbs, 21" long.  Both mama and baby are doing great.  I got to see Ashlyn come into the world and it was quite amazing.  Her delivery only took 8 minutes... that in itself was amazing.  she is quite beautiful.  I am an aunt again!  Congrats Vanessa and Jeff!!!

12.20.10 Night Lights

Tonight Juan finally took a picture of our house at night.  Isn't it great?

12.19.10 7th Annual Ornament Exchange

This was the 7th year for my annual ornament exchange party.  We had 11 girls this year and lots of stealing!  It was great fun for all.

12.18.10 Decorating Sugar Cookies

Mom, Vanessa and I decorated Christmas sugar cookies today.  Jakob wanted to help, but it quickly turned into him eating everything he could get his hands on.  Mmmmmmm was definitely his word of the day.

12.17.10 Yard of the Month Winner

When we left home this morning, we saw that we had been awarded the yard of the month for our neighborhood!  Yeah!!!  We won a gift certificate to Calloway's Nursery.  Also, our parasailing snowman blew over in the windstorm a couple of days ago.  Juan brought him down off the roof to fix and I fixed his lights!  Yeah for me, now he lights up.  Juan put him back on the roof and he is adorable! 



12.16.10 Jakob visits Santa

Vanessa and Jeff invited me to join them to take Jakob to see Santa and the Trains at Northpark today.  He LOVED the trains and could have easily stayed all day.  Jakob and I marched around the mall and window shopped while his parents stood in line to see Santa.  Jakob did great with Santa and gave his best smile.  It was too cute.

12.15.10 Wayne's Beef Macaroni and Cheese

I made dinner tonight using a recipe my friend, Angie, gave me.  It is Beefy Mac and Cheese and was DELICIOUS!  I only made 1/2 the recipe below and we ate it for 3 days.  We don't usually eat left overs, so that tells you how good it was.  We ate every bite.

Ingredients:
1-pound box elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 pounds lean ground beef
3 cups canned crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon each dried basil, ground cumin, and dried oregano
2 to 3 cups grated Cheddar


Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Cook the macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a skillet; add the peppers, onion, and garlic, and saute until soft. Add the ground beef and saute until browned. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, to taste, and the basil, cumin, and oregano. In a large bowl, combine the macaroni and the beef mixture. Spread this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Top with the cheese and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.


Cook's Note: Ground turkey or chicken can be used in place of beef, if desired.

12.14.10 Grandma Feeds the Giraffes

Grandma has been visiting from Wichita, Kansas and today we went to the Dallas Zoo.  I made her feed the giraffes, since I get such a kick out of it.  It took a few minutes to coax one over to us, but I think Grandma enjoyed it.  We also rode the tram and got some great photos of the lions.  I had a really good time spending the day with my grandma!

And just a couple more to share:

12.13.10 First Fire of the Season

Tonight we lit a fire in the fireplace for the first time this season.  It has not been cold enough until today.  I love when the fireplace is roaring and the Christmas lights are all twinkling.  The holiday season is definately here!

12.12.10 Jakob's 2 Yr Birthday Party

Yesterday was Jakob's birthday, but we celebrated today with a party. Jeff and Vanessa blew up 60 balloons with helium, so Jakob was estastic! He loves, loves, loves balloons.  He also had his first taste of a cookie cake, which he also loved. Juan and I got him a little train set and 2 trains.  He played with those trains all day and it has quickly became one of his most favorite toys. He carries it from room to room and demands that everyone sit on the floor and play with him.  He is sooooo into trains right now.

12.11.10 Christmas Cards Complete

I completed all 100 of my Christmas cards today.  Finally!!!!  Now all I have to do is get them addressed and in the mail.  I thought I was creating a relatively simple card, but they took way longer than anticipated.  I used 2 different punches, Accent Essentials circut cartridge, 4 different CTMH stamp sets, ribbon and stickles.  I used pop dots to lift the Noel embellishment off the card.

Here is an inside shot:

12.10.10 Christmas Cards

I make my Christmas cards every year and since I send out about 100 it is a long, monotonous project.  I've been working for days and they are almost complete.  Each year my friends Angie, Shannon and I all pick a CTMH stamp set for our Christmas cards and then each use the same stamp set for our cards to see how different they all are.  It's a fun tradition that I love!

12.09.10 Jakob's 2 Year Photo Shoot

Vanessa and I took Jakob to the Grapevine Historic Railway today for a photo shoot for his 2 year pictures.  He LOVES trains right now and was very excited to see the trains up close and play on the track.  He was not into smiling for the camera, but I managed to snap a few good ones. Isn't he just adorable?  Maybe I'm the biased aunt, but I don't think so.

12.08.10 Meatloaf

I've been making a huge effort to fix dinners and even breakfast and lunch for Juan while I'm off this month.  My friend, Angie, has been sharing some of her favorite recipes with me. I have had some major set backs with burning and missing ingredients and such, but I am getting better.  My husband has been a really good sport about it and has been supporting my efforts greatly.  Tonight I made meatload , for the first time ever!  I used turkey burger instead of beef.  It turned out ok, but I used italian flavored turger burger and I think it was way to italian.  It sort of tasted like spaghetti without the noodles! HA, but I will try again soon.

12.07.10 China

For my 10 year Anniversary with ccrd I received a $725 gift card to Macy's.  I was excited to add some more wedding china to our collection. They were having great sales, free shipping and 25% friends and family special so I totally scored on how much I got.  Part of it arrived today in the mail and I couldn't resist using this as my picture of the day.

12.06.10 Birthday Tree Decorating

Today was Juan's birthday. We were supposed to go to dinner with his family, but that fell through so I made dinner at home instead and then we decorated the Christmas tree. It is a small tree this year, but fits perfect in our tiny living room. Our Christmas decorations are almost complete!

12.05.10 More Purging

I am still in purging mode. I cleaned out the spare bedroom closet and filled another 9 large garbage bags with suits, clothes, and miscellaneous glass vases from our wedding.  I also decided it was time to get rid of all the VHS movies we own. We had over 150 VHS movies.  Juan even got into the spirit of purging and we cleaned out the hall closet and donated a bunch of coats.

12.04.10 Birthday Mole

Juan's birthday is not until Monday, but as part of his "birthday weekend" he wanted to go to his mother's house and have mole. Mole is a mexican dish of chicken with a sauce.  He was very excited!

12.03.10 Good Will Load

We took the clothes I gathered yesterday to donate them to Good Will.  We filled my entire car with all these bags.