I am constantly amazed...

by the talents of the women in the blogging community. Blogging has become an unbelievable forum for creative hearts to share their projects. Look at this "altered" candy caddy. I can see myself making one of these in the near future...maybe Valentine's Day....it's just so darn cute! This project was made by Jess over at "The Macs".

The beautiful fabric scrapbook above was made by Cari Fennell and shown on her blog, "Me and My Mary Janes".

This fabulous apron made by Donna Downey who scrapbooks, paints and now sews. You can view her blog here. I was lucky enough to meet Donna at a scrapbook convention a few years ago and I was a teaching assistant for one of her classes.

Meet Space Boy and Robot. Camille over at "Simplify" made these for her little boys for Christmas. Aren't they the cutest? Camille is a talented quilter...to say the least. Her home is also beautiful!

homemade christmas projects...

Custom-made teachers' gifts....decoupaged & monogrammed clipboards for each.

Packaging and delivering to school on Monday morning.

I am a messy baker. What can I say?

A double-batch of Chocolate dream cookies waiting for melted chocolate to be drizzled on top with crushed candy canes.

A triple batch of my Mom's cherry balls. Super easy...made with real butter, icing sugar, coconut and cherries...and oh so delicious! I used to eat these "out of the freezer" at Christmastime growing up.

progress on my december daily album...

Hunter's turn to fill out her Christmas wish list.

Documenting my shopping day. What you don't see is my sore feet!

Thursday's happenings...

Our family Christmas letter for 2009 in a little pocket.

The Christmas card we sent out for 2009. I cut it down to fit in the album.

december daily: days 5, 6, and 7.

I am so happy that I am actually keeping up with this ablum! That is an achievement at this busy time of year. This layout for December 5 is after we finished decorating our tree.

The kids opening their 'December 1st' presents from Grammie on December 5th. What can I say...except are weekdays are a little crazy!

December 6 is all about peppermint ice cream. We all enjoyed a bowl of this delicious treat.

Yesterday brought our Christmas card photo shoot.....outside....in -20 weather...just the perfect day for an outdoor photo shoot. It's not Christmas unless my kids are outside freezing their hineys off for mom and her camera!

December daily album...

I am finally doing something that I have wanted to try for the last few years...and that is to make a "december daily" album. The purpose of this creative project is to document the simple joys that make up the month of December. Each day of the month of the album has a page to represent something about that day. I chose a 6"x6" album from a company called "Little Yellow Bicycle" along with coordinating paper, stickers and other pieces. For my December 1st entry, I chose my December 1st blog post on Christmas trivia to represent that day.
December 2nd was spent with my friend Danine wrapping Christmas gifts. Although I forgot the camera that day..I still documented the day with this page. And I happened to have the perfect embellishment.....a little wrapped present.
I had Tyler write his Christmas 'wish list' to Santa on Day 3 and placed the list in this little pocket envelope for the entry for December 3rd.
On Day 4, Ron and I received a Christmas card in the mail from my parents and I used the actual card to become the page for December 4th. I cut the card to 6"x6" it fit into the album. leaving the most important parts of the card to become the background.



I have pictures to be printed for Day 5 and 6, so those pages are not completed yet. I will share when they are ready.



I love the idea of keeping a December Daily. My inspiration for this project comes from Ali Edwards...a well -known scrapbooker, scrapbook author and former editor at Creating Keepsakes Magazine.

December Daily: Christmas Trivia...

1. Best Childhood Memories: My favorite memories of Christmas as I look back is how our family always spent the holidays with our grandparents and extended family. My paternal grandparents hosted dinner for their 3 sons and their families and I have many fond memories of these dinners....the smell of the turkey, my grandmother's mashed carrots, the sounds of my Grandfather carving the turkey with an electric knife and the shouts of "Merry Christmas!" that rang through the house as each family arrived and the stomping of snow off of boots. And after our Christmas dinner with my paternal grandparents, my parents would pack us up for an hour long drive to visit our maternal grandparents where we would spend the night and I would share a bed with my cousin Kelly. My maternal grandparents had 6 children....3 married and with families of their own......to pack into their house over the holidays which meant lots of noisy commotion and laughter. Warm memories and happy times. {as a side note: Don't you LOVE my dad's shirt (he is the man on the right).....it is so vintage 1970's}.

2. Best Childhood gift from Santa: My dolls. I absolutely loved DOLLS as a little girl. My very favorite doll for a long time was Thumbelina. I also remember other dolls received for Christmas that I cherished: Baby Alive, Lazy Daisy and Baby This n That. I was never really a 'barbie girl' although I owned a few.

3. Favorite Christmas Cookie: Hands down: My mother's cut out sugar cookies.....warm from the oven.

4. Icky Christmas Memory: The year that me, my brother and my dad were all sick with pneumonia. I think we were all too sick to eat our turkey dinner and we missed a family sleigh ride....my mother was the only healthy person in the house that year.

5. It's not Christmas without: Our knitted Christmas stockings, homemade eggnog and English Trifle for dessert on Christmas Day.

6. Christmas Pet Peeve: Those who brag about how much they spend/buy for Christmas....as if that has anything to do with the Christmas spirit. We keep Christmas simple in this house: 1 gift from Santa and a stocking.

7. Our Church Service: Is usually the 4pm service. However, in the last few years we have not attended. I would love to attend Midnight Mass now that my family is a little older....if I could manage to stay up that late!

8. My Favorite Christmas CD: I enjoy the classics at Christmas...Bing Crosby is a must. The last few years I have been buying the Starbucks Christmas CD and we so LOVE the music on these cds. For instance, the first song on this year's CD is a duet with Willie Nelson and Norah Jones singing "Baby, it's Cold Outside". A fun combination, don't you think?

9. Real or Fake: Although we did REAL for many years, we have now switched to fake. I do like the fact that there are no sticky needles tracked all over the house with a fake tree. But I still LOVE a fresh tree.



10. I spend Christmas Eve: with my family. We enjoy staying home, having hors 'deuves for dinner, sipping eggnog and putting on our Christmas jammies early. I will usually read a Christmas story or two with the kids and then we leave out cookies and milk for Santa.After everyone has gone to bed....I turn out all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights and have a cup of hot tea and remember beloved family members that have passed on.....and then my thoughts turn to Baby Jesus.



This post was inspired by the lovely & talented Sarah over at Clover Lane.

Menu Plan Monday...

It's Menu Plan Monday again...(except that it's Tuesday already!) and I took a peek through my freezer to see what could become this week's menu. Yesterday I found the package of 5 lbs. of chicken I got on sale for $6.73 at the local grocery store. The price works out to about $1.50 a pound, which is an extremely good price for chicken. I got out my stock pot and made a huge pot of homemade chicken soup. I keep my chicken soup very simple and classic..chicken, fine egg noodles and carrots. We ate soup for dinner last night and then it went into the kids' lunch today.

Monday-Homemade chicken soup with fresh rolls

Tuesday-Homemade waffles and sausages

Wednesday-Meatloaf (from the freezer) mashed tators, corn and carrots.

Thursday-Pork chops, baked potato and sweet potato with green beans.

Friday-My vote is Panago Pizza.

Saturday-Dad cooks. Likely bbq steak, mushrooms and caesar salad.

Sunday-Our leftovers night. Hunter & I have a Christmas party and potluck to attend after skating and we are taking taco soup and homemade chocolate dream cookies.


Kelly at the Party Dress has done it again with this 'feast for your eyes' "Reindeer Game Night". I just love how this party idea looks and what fun!!!
I think I am going to have a girlfriends night soon, except I think I might ask my guests to come in their Christmas jammies.

(Images: Top, myhomeideas.com, bottom, thepartydress.net)

dear molly & rigley...

Please leave the toilet paper alone.

Thank you.

a visit...

We are so lucky to have my parents visit us over the Thanksgiving holidays. They are the only company we receive on a regular basis from the Maritimes. I would be so lonely without their visits. We have so much fun while they are here. My mom is the ultimate in "Grammies". While she is here...she always has a 'project' of some kind planned for the kids...whether it be making cupcakes or pancakes, or taking the dogs for a walk, or walking to Chapters with the kids....browsing at books and getting a hot chocolate before the walk home.

My Dad keeps us busy as well. He is the 'Grandfather' of grandfathers. However, his pursuits are a little different....he takes on the homework questions, plays card, and goes for walks with the grandchildren. He loves to tease us. The kids also know that an endless supply of Grammie's homemade pancakes and bacon follow Grampie wherever he goes. Usually this breakfast gets served up at around 8 am....and little people know to be at the table when Grampie sits down.

Here he is getting yummy kisses from the new little puppies. Ha! Doesn't he look so thrilled?

In my opinion, their visits always go by way too fast. We are always wishing they could stay for 'just a few more days'. But there is always the next visit to look forward to....thankfully.

Menu Plan Monday....

I love 'Menu Plan Monday'. It's an exercise that just makes my week feel so much more oranized. My blog posts for 'MPM' were inpsired by Laura at "I'm am Organizing Junkie". She is a Canadian who writes a fabulous blog on getting your home & life organized. If you would like additional inspiration for 'Menu Plan Monday', please go visit her site to find links to more menu plans than you could ever imagine. Your head will be spinning with ideas...trust me!

(image: myhomeideas.com)

Here are some of the meals that will be served at our house this week:

Monday: Pork Chops, rice, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots & ceasar salad.

Tuesday: Ribs & baked potatas with yellow & green beans and carrots.

Wednesday: Grilled ham & cheese paninis with coleslaw

Thursday: Taco Soup

Friday, Saturday & Sunday...Mom's away....so Dad cooks!

Yes! I am off to a scrapbooking retreat later in the week. Yahoo! I can't wait. Lot's of rest, relaxation and creative 'me' time.

cooking with the pioneer woman....

I spent this Saturday hanging around the house and cooking a nice dinner for my family. My menfolk had gone off to play a hockey game in a town that was one and half hours away. The junior high girl was having a friend over for an afternoon of fun. I decided to try a new recipe from this lovely cookbook, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks". I just received it on Thursday in the mail, and I spent most of the evening devouring the recipes and beautiful pictures inside. The 'Pioneer Woman' writes a blog that is a wonderful blend of photography, life stories, cooking and inspiration. If you dare to read the tale of how she met and married 'Marlboro Man'... you will be mesmorized by the story of a city gal who meets a ranch cowboy and promptly falls in love.The pictures of the working ranch she calls home with 'Marlboro Man' are breathtaking.....it makes you want to plop on a cowboy hat, saddle up old Sally and giddy off into the sunset of blissful ranch happiness.The thing I really love about her cookbook is that it is written by a homecook for homecooks. She gives step-by-step photos for each recipe, along with a healthy dose of interesting rural stories and striking photos of her life with her man and 4 young whippersnappers. (Did I mention the pictures of cowboys in wranglers with chaps?) I tried her meatloaf recipe for tonight's dinner. I followed her recipe exactly with the exception of adding mushrooms and onions into my meat mixture. The top layer of bacon and tomato gravy on the meatloaf is enough to make any cowboy happy. I made 2 loaves and 12 mini loaves in a muffin tin for the freezer. I served it with mashed taters, corn, carrots and gravy. Pure comfort food on a day when morning dawned with a wet layer of snow on the ground.

It was a yummy dinner and one meatloaf is completely gone. And my whippersnappers gave our guest a wonderful performance demonstrating sibling love....."You laugh like a donkey!" said one. "Your face is like a donkey's" shot back the other. Like I said.....I love dinnertime conversation.

a boy and his dogs...

Our little dog Rigley is the most passive little dog. She just lets Tyler carry her around like she is the princess of his castle. Here she is asleep in his arms while he is watching a little TV before bed. I am not really sure who loves who more.

Tyler is having so much fun with the dogs. I can't even begin to tell you how much attention he lavishes on these little girls. He is always playing with them or laying on the floor with them. He decided he should read to them in French so they could be 'bilingual'.

Adopting these 2 little dogs into our family has been a wonderful experience. The kids are learning so much about how to care for and love a pet. Hopefully this adventure in nuturing something purely for love will stay with them as they journey in life.

Menu Plan Monday....

(image:myhomeideas.com)

I find menu planning so useful for keeping me on track with our food storage and food budget. When I plan meals for the week, I often poke through the freezer to see what needs to be eaten and I avoid unnecessary purchases at the grocery store. There are a more than a few mommy bloggers that are writing great stuff on meal planning, cooking for the freezer and how to get the most out of food storage. One mom with a family of 6 to feed keeps her grocery bill to $160 a month! She is extremely frugal AND creative with her grocery budget...still her family eats very well. So my challenge this month is to keep our family grocery budget to $160 from Nov.15 to Dec. 15. So far, I am making bread since we are out of bread and I refuse to pay $2 a loaf at the grocery store. The bonus is that my kids actually prefer homemade bread over anything else.
Our menu plan for the week will include using up all of our fresh fruits and vegetables so nothing goes to waste.

Monday-Pulled pork sandwiches with a veggies tray & dip. Fresh fruits parfaits for dessert.

Tuesday-Lobster stuffed salmon with wild rice, carrots and steamed asparagus.

Wednesday-Chicken & vegetable stir fry with rice.

Thursday-Meatloaf with baked potatoes, carrots and green beans.

Friday-Casserole. Undecided as to which casserole, but it will be made on Thursday to eat on Friday.

Saturday-Dad cooks.

Sunday-Homemade soup with sausages and lentils.


The Party Dress has done it again with a wonderful take on an "Apple-Picking and Fireside Dinner Party". Her photo collages are such a feast for the eyes...doesn't the party below just look divine?

project life...

I have been scrapbooking for 10 years now and I am super excited about this scrapbooking project. It's called 'Project Life' and it's designed by the fantabulous Becky Higgins. This amazing kit contains all the components for a year of scrapbooking: album, page protectors, 12x12 paper, journalling cards and other decorative pieces. Becky designed a similar kit last year for Creating Keepsakes called 'Project 365'... but it sold out in no time. I regretted not purchasing that kit, so I was so happy when she announced that she was designing a new kit for 2010. Have you met Becky Higgins? I first became a fan of hers through her work with Creating Keepsakes Magazine in 1999 when I was a new scrapbooker. Becky was, at first, a page designer, then a columnist, book author and creative editor for Creating Keepsakes. I have always admired her page designs and her inspirational theme album projects. I have watched her grow from a young married woman to a mother of 3 adorable children. And I have had the opportunity to meet her in person 3 times and take a class from her at Creating Keepsakes University in Boston in 2003.


She is lovely....both inside and out.

Becky wrote this book a few years ago and I really love all of the projects revealed inside. Becky has amazing ideas about how to organize your theme albums and her projects are always very beautifully put together with amazing colors, photos and journalling.

She also wrote this book for the scrapbooker who would like to tackle projects from the family historian point of view. Inside you will find interview questions for gaining more information and anecdotal stories from family members and ideas on how to scrapbook this info.

I last saw Becky in 2007 when she came to my city for a convention. I had her autograph both of these books. I really treasure these and the inspirational ideas inside.

november is for....

preparing for Christmas and December is for enjoying Christmas. I read this amazing piece of advice last year on one of my favorite blogs...Restyled Home. That lovely Linda is chock full of great advice and creative energy!

So far I have finished Christmas shopping for the children. Yes...I said finished. I visited the largest local mall two weeks ago (when it was still October) and hit a home run with my list.
I picked up Santa gifts and stocking stuffers and the whole, darn SHE-bang. What a wonderful feeling! This means I can afford killer-shark traffic, over-full parking lots and slow check out lanes when December comes! Yee-ha!

Over the last month, I have picked up new Christmas wrapping paper, new tags, Christmas cards, and carry-out containers for homemade goodies. Tonight I picked up several rolls of scotch tape for a planned 'wrapping day' next week.

I am also having so much fun visiting some of my favorite blogs to see what ideas for Christmas other people are sharing. I love this photo from "The Party Dress" for an idea of a "Cocktail and Cookies" party. Makes you want to invite all your girlfriends over, doesn't it?

Menu Plan Monday....

Here is our meal plan for this week...even though it's Wednesday already!

I love cooking dinner for my family. Often, dinner is the only meal of the day where we all eat together and I really treasure this family time. Some of our best family laughs arrive at the dinner table with the food as we hear about someone's day. A meal plan, which is a simple task, makes each day go so much better....no fretting at 4 pm about what's for dinner. One thing that really helps is if I do all the dinner prep in the morning so that later in the day I am just turning on the stove and/or oven and mixing a salad.


Monday-I had to work a Bingo for the skating club at 5pm and left the house at 4:15 pm. Hunter made pasta for herself and Ron made mini-pizzas for himself & Tyler. I had a cold salad plate at Bingo.

Tuesday- maple balsamic marinated chicken with rice, oven roasted sweet potato and steamed asparagus.

Wednesday-I made homemade waffles with an sliced apple topping for lunch. Ron and Tyler had hockey in the late afternoon and Hunter and I went to the movie....so we had tuna melts as people arrived home.

Thursday- seafood stuffed salmon with rice, green beans and carrots.

Friday-pork loin with baked potatoes, asparagus and carrots.

Saturday-Dad cooks.

Sunday- shrimp and wild rice casserole with an apple pecan salad.


I also have a rule where I try a new recipe for dinner once a week. This keeps us from getting tired of the same meals and lends variety to our eating habits.

‘Nie Nie' shares story of the crash and her recovery

ksl.com - ‘Nie Nie' shares story of the crash and her recovery

Menu Plan Monday...

It's been awhile since I posted a 'Menu Plan Monday' post...but there is nothing like fall and a busy afterschool schedule to inspire meal planning. I find my day just starts so much better if I have supper made in the morning...both the prep and the assembly. That just leaves cooking time for a meal to be on the table.

Sunday~Shrimp & Wild Rice Casserole (Paula Deen recipe). Since we ate this yesterday, I can report that it was a hit with requests for an encore.

Monday~sad to say...but we ate McDonalds. Just trying to keep it real.

Tuesday~Hamburger soup....light on the hamburger and heavy on the vegetables. Served with cornbread from this month's Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Wednesday~Roasted chicken breasts in a maple, bbq sauce with rice and green beens.

Thursday~grilled cubano panini sandwiches from this month's Martha Stewart Everyday Food.

Friday~twice-baked pototoes, basa fish and a green salad.

Saturday~Dad cooks.

Baking projects for this week:
~I have lots of frozen bananas in the freezer, so I am planning to make 2 batches of banana chocolate chip muffins for the kids' lunches.
~trying a new cornbread recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food.