2012-13 Control Journal

Can you believe that summer is almost over and school is gonna start soon? Now, granted that I live in a state in which school starts really early, but still?!?!?! Each year I like to have a family manual of sorts to keep us organized, successful and productive all year long. Usually I use a simple three ring binder, but this year I ran across the big huge SMASH BOOKS and knew that it must be my Control Journal (as Flylady calls it). Here is a glimpse at my Control Journal:

The first page is my "Daily to-do List". I simply took a sheet protector, slipped it in that and attached it to the page. I will use a dry erase marker on it so  I can use it over and over again.

Up next is the year, but starting in August because that is when school starts. The past few years I have relied on my calender in my phone until my phone broke and I lost my agenda! Now, I like to have a hard copy too. See how plain it is? Well, that is because I plan on adding bits and pieces to it as the months go by, thus filling it up AND making it into a memory book when it is all said and done. I am only posting the first page of the calender because the rest are pretty much the same.

 Ah, the chore sheets for the children and I.  I have my chore list color coded. Black is done once a week and blue and pink are done every other week. The kids chores are also located in this section and I added the do (not) to their page because they would totally take me up on it being "Save For Later". Hee-hee :-)

 Up next is the weekly menu and pocket for the list. I plan on menu scheduling every other week and there is a coordinating pocket for the list next to each menu.

 Birthday organizer is up next and with a family of five and all the parties the kids get invited to we need this in a bad way.

 This section will be used for the kids letters to Santa and the receipts will be kept in the envelope in case things need to be returned and such. This is still a pretty open section in that I know I need it in the journal, but just what it will end up with is a mystery. Like I said before this control journal is both functional and a memory book of our year.

 Holiday bake list and recipes will go here! Probably a picture or two of the kiddos and I baking. I am not quite sure what I will be preparing this upcoming holiday season (I mean I am OCD, but not that bad...well that is not true...I do have separate control journal for the holidays that has all my recipes in it).

 The rest of the book I left blank and will fill it up as the year goes by. I would say over half of the journal is just waiting to be filled with our life. Here are a few of the blank pages in the SMASH BOOK. I gotta admit I love all the pockets, envelopes and decorative bags!

 Love this at the bottom of one of the pages

 This might end up being a sketch spot for layout ideas for the scrapbook.

 So, pretty right? AND the pages are super thick so they don't bleed through!

 Last page of the book.

I must confess that I love all SMASH BOOKS, but sometimes finding a use for them when I am a traditional scrapper is hard, so I am very pleased with this! Thanks for stopping by!

Is My Mojo Back?

It has been a long time since I have actually sat down and got lost in my Purple Cave (my craft room). I was able to make the following creations and ended up quite pleased with them all. Once again, I made these all from my stash...well....the first few are from a CTMH special paper pack they were running a month or two ago, but at least I am using it right?

Here is the first one I did and I gotta confess it is not my favorite. Totally tell I was searching for my Mojo with it and almost found it:

Think I found my Mojo on this one:

I then wanted to scrap our Spring break and remembered that I had purchased a "Simple Story" line from my bestie -- Nina a few years back. Sorry for the glare and it being uploaded in the wrong order. Anyways, I thought it worked out really great with all our photos! I did pull a few embellishments from the stash to complete it, but otherwise it was from the line.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!! There it is!!!!! MY MOJO!!!!!!! Love love love love love this page :-) I stole the sketch from Pintrest too.

Here is another page made with that same kit from "Simple Stories". Of course the thickers are years and years old...I am trying to use them up and never buy them again. See, thickers are like rabbits...the multiply and take over my entire craft room. It is hard to resist them...they are so stinkin' cool and fun and cute and........  ;-)

Thanks for looking :-) I hope this post means I am back! Until next time :-D

Stuff I did in June

What happeneded to June? I did manage to get a few things done in regards to scrapbooking. I am happy to report that I finally finished up the Vegas layouts from our trip back in April of 2011. To top it off I used my stash and nothing new -- SCORE! Please excuse the missing L on the first layout....it fell off and I did reattach it after I took the picture.

 The next two layouts are all about Legos. Once again I dipped into the stash to complete them ;-)

 Finally, I found these cute letters ast Hobby Lobby and knew I had to get them for my daughter's room:

 and alter them :-)

Thanks for stopping in :-) Until next time.....

Forever and a Day...

....since I have updated this blog. I have been scrapping, but not as much as I used to. Here are a few of the pages I have completed since April.

Samples of "Gather Around The Table"

Guess what? Guess what? My cookbook is now available on Amazon!

 Woo-hoo!

 Anyways, I thought it would be fun to share a sampling of it :-)

 Here is an introduction to a section of the book AND a recipe.

What can I say? I am feeling generous ;-) Enjoy!

Table Talk

Every night we come together to talk about our day and eat dinner around the table. We have this tradition that was started awhile back. I am actually kind of shocked that we came about this tradition the way that we did. I was watching the news one morning and President (I use that term lightly because...well...never mind) Obama said that in the evening their family would talk about their day by referring to it as a rose. They each would talk about a throne – something that was bad about the day. Then they would talk about a rose – something that was good about their day.

We have turned the Obama idea into our “Good and Bad”. We go around the table and say one bad thing that happened and what we could have done differently and one good thing. The rule is you can only say one of each. Sometimes we have a tendency (Parker more so than anyone) to just focus on the bad stuff, so by limiting it to mentioning only one thing it allows us to process it and deal with it then move on.

Usually what happens at our table (ok...ok...this always happens at the table) is we pray, start eating, and Parker says “It is time for good and bad. Who wants to go first? I will just start.” Parker’s good parts usually revolved around defeating Darth Vader somewhere in the galaxy. Annie’s good parts consist of if being Monday and finally being able to go back to school (in case you have not noticed she totally gets that from me. Hee-hee). Logan’s good parts are usually about a Pokémon battle he and his best friend had that afternoon. Charlie’s good part is about a sign he was able to sell, collect, or finish. My good parts are about how I enjoyed walking the kids to school and the cow that lives on the land across from the school mooed at me...I love cows.

The talk of the day continues. We are able to hash out upcoming events and who is going where and doing what. Annie tells us how much she loves salad, Logan tells me I am the best cook ever, and Parker makes sure to mention how good dinner is. My ego is stroked and all is right in the world!

Meal Four

Vegetable Cheese Soup

If you have been cooking using this book for the last three nights and following the meals......and let’s face it – you are not – but let’s just pretend that you are, shall we? Okay, so you have been cooking the last three nights following these amazing recipes and you realize that you are kind of sick of your oven and your stove top is beginning to feel abandoned. It needs some love. Tonight’s dinner we are gonna fire it up and make Parker’s favorite soup. I like this soup because it has vegetables in it and the kids (especially Parker!) ask for seconds and thirds every time I make it. Not only that, but this is super easy to make and takes little time and prep work.

32 ounces of chicken broth

32 ounces frozen mix of cauliflower and broccoli

24 ounces Velveeta cheese (that stuff that comes in a box that is highly processed, salty, and totally and completely bad for you! Know what I am talking about?)

Open up your frozen veggies and place in a strainer and run warm water over them to thaw slightly. Let them dry out a bit as you do the next few steps. Now, cut up that stuff pretending to be cheese into about 1 inch cubes. Place fake artery clogging cheese in a big pot. Turn your stove on to about low – medium to medium heat and start to melt that yellow gunk that is pretending to be cheese. Now add the broth and stir. As that starts to get warm take veggies and place in the blender with a little bit of the soup mix and blend. You want the veggies to turn to an icee consistency. Once the veggies are sufficiently blended – and what I mean by that is they are unrecognizable by anyone under the age of 7 – add it to the soup on the stove top. Stir and heat. Stir and heat. Stir and heat. Serve with pretzel rods.

As your family eats feel mixed emotions – good about getting them to eat their veggies bad because of the arties you are clogging with that pretend soft orange yellow (depending on how old it is) brick of fake wanna be cheese you disguised the good veggies with!

Gather Around the Table

I wrote this cookbook and it is published! It is super duper good and yummy and funny and I could go on and on and on and on...but  I won't. Anyways, it is available through this site for $9.99 and will be available through Amazon in 5 - 7 days AND 1000 more outlets in 6 - 8 weeks. So, go take a peak and pick one up and start cooking. I promise you will smile at least once while reading it ;-)

https://www.createspace.com/3795322

Counterfiet Kit

I am way late on the Counterfit Kit for this month. Then again since I normally don't do them (I just look at the website and Ooooo and Awwww over it all) I suppose that since I actually got one together is an accomplishment in itself! I really was going to try to stick with the kit, but I ended up just pulling and pulling more stuff from my stash and this is what I came up with:

 Here is the first LO I did with it. I am really mad that I can't flip it :-( Grrrrr....it is such a cool LO! This was actually for a challenge at Scrapfit. I was suppose to drop paint to make a shape or something. I tried to make flowers out of it...

 A close up of one of my flower clusters. I ended up tearing up and sizing down a piece of cardboard. I then sanded it a little and painted it white. I thought it would be a quick process....it wasn't....it took 2.5 hours...sigh.....but I really like the results :-)

Last but not least, the last LO I did this weekend with my kit. I really am digging on it!

I gotta confess that I have really missed doing my own thing in regards to scrap booking. I have been living on sketches, patterns, and CTMH that I think I forgot how I scrapbook. The two layouts I did over the weekend are a reflection of my style. It was nice to have so inspiration to spark off my creativity. I can't believe I am saying this, but I may let CTMH go after I am done with this season's hostess club. I would like to try to live out of my stash for awhile and save some money.

Thanks for stopping in!