What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm loving . . . that my mom was able to stay the night on Tuesday night due to the weather :-) (that's for YOU mom!)  Actually, she came over on Tuesday so I could go scrapbooking - none of us realized that there was a winter storm watch out until she got here!  She was stranded here but it worked out since I had to take Nate to the doctor -she was able to stay home with Josh and the munchkin so I didn't have to take them all!

I'm loving . . . that I have internet back.  Enough Said.

I'm loving . . ..  that I did get to go scrapbooking on Tuesday for the whole day.  I got a lot done and enjoyed a day with friends, fellowship and good food!

I'm loving . . .that my kids love the Christmas decorations as much as I do - they keep pointing to things and saying "More Tissmas, More Tissmas"

I'm loving . ..  this song I heard today on the radio.  It's by a group called " Straight No Chasers" and I have no idea what any of their other music is like but their version (from 1998) of The 12 Days of Christmas is now one of my all time favorites so . . enjoy!

Simplify Update - Scrapbooking Goals

This is the perfect time to post an update because I just spent yesterday at a 12 hour crop!  I had a very specific goal - to complete 6 months digitally in 12 hours.  I even set a timer for 2 hour increments so I could stay focused. Well, lets just say I was over zealous HA!  I only got 2 months done, almost.  So it took about 6 hours to do one month!  Crazy!   You can read my other Simplify updates HERE.

Previous Month Updates
September - I finished 2010 on Saturday, the 19th of November.  I went to an unexpected crop which allowed me to finish up the last few days in December and start January 2011.   I still have to finish updating our Family Album

October - I finished March 2010 on November 28th; I still have to finish updating Josh and Nate's books.

Current Month Update

November 2011

1.      Do April-October 2011 Digitally (12 hour crop plus working evenings) At the crop on Tuesday, I made it through Apil and May.  I'm hopeful that over this coming week/weekend I can continue working and finish up through July by the end of the weekend (high hopes, I know)

2.      Order pages every two weeks I'm not ordering pages - we've decided to earmark some money from our tax return to order as many pages as possible, if not all of them.  This means I need to have all of my digital stuff done before tax time :-)
3.      Red Pet Album Project – pull this project and finish it up with the pictures included. I'll pick up this project as soon as I'm current on the digital pages.  I'm hopeful that I can finish up this little album by year end.
4.      Alive album – Decide what to do with this album – either finish it up or discard it (thinking the second) I'm going to "undo" what little I did in this album.  When I started it, it was a good idea but then I realized that every page would look the same - Darryl playing his guitar with the group HA!  Instead, I just scrapbook the concerts I take photos at in our regular album. 

December's Goals and Plans

December 2011

1.      Do November 2011 traditionally Well, I made a change - I decided to finish up 2011 digitally instead of having a month or two of traditional.  I will start with January 2012 traditional with a few digital pages to keep me current as needed.  So my goal becomes - finish 2011 digitally by year end.  I think that as long as I take time in the evenings (instead of just mindlessly surfing the Internet) that I can finish all of 2011 by December 31st, 2011! 
2.      Order pages every two weeks Same as Novembers goal - will wait for tax time.
3.      Update Christmas Album  through 2010 and do pages for 2011 as the month progresses so it is current by month end I believe I have to do 2010 and then 2011 Christmas pages.  (Possibly 2009 - I can't remember!)  I do want to update the Christmas album by year end so that next year we can enjoy looking back at past years.  I'm thinking about possibly doing Christmas books each year instead of a scrapbook - not sure yet - I'll decide by next year :-)

I have a few other goals by year end - and that is to finish up the Family album and the Boys' albums.  I just want them current and ready to start with 2012. 

I'm really looking forward to one, being current and being able to enjoy our albums now and two, being able to finish up some lose projects that have been "hanging over my head" for years. 

The Internet Returns!

It only took a week, instead of a day, but we finally have Internet service back.  I find it kinda of interesting the the "problem with our line" that could not be figured out since last Wednesday was fixed 15 minutes after they opened today.  I wonder if the fact that they were closed since Wednesday afternoon had anything to do with why they couldn't "figure it out".  So, what important things did I learn this last week without the Internet?

1)  I love the Internet HA!  (You probably thought I'd say that I don't really need it - wrong).  I didn't go into really "withdrawals" until Sunday evening when the boys/hubby where in bed and it was only 7:30.  I almost went to bed at 8:00.  What can I say, I enjoy the Internet - looking up misc. stuff, researching ideas that pop into my head, reading/writing blogs and more.  And all of those ideas on Pinterest! 

2) We were reminded of what our life was like before we had laptops - we used to "become the TV" and we did that again LOL  (Plus, throw in the fact that the kids were gone and it was like the olden days when we just watched TV in a very clean house!) I will say that we did rent a movie on Saturday evening and watched it together - we haven't done that in a long time.

3)  That's all.  :-)  I'm just glad it is back.

So, Tuesday I'm going Scrapbooking all day so and considering the time tonight, I think this  is the only post that will be written before Wednesday.  No "Too Cute not to Toot" nor Pinterest Challenge posts this week.  Wednesday I will get back into the swing of things - I already have my December Blog post calendar written so I'm ready to get it done. 

Enjoy your day!

Non-Self Imposed Cyber Sabbitical

Well, I'm setting in a coffee shop that has Wi-Fi breaking my "Non-Self Imposed Cyber Sabbatical".  You may recall that I mentioned in a post at the beginning of the week that we were making a change with our DSL in order to change money.  Very simply, we were keeping exactly what we had but we canceled our land line.  By doing that, and the fact that we were not under any contract, we could actually save $60.00 a month on our bill BUT we had to have our current line shut down and turned back on again (to be treated like a new customer).  As expected, our Internet service went down on Tuesday afternoon.  On Wednesday morning I called to ask why I didn't have it back yet to which I was informed that having it back on by the 23rd meant by 8:00 PM.  I was PROMISED that it would be on by 8:00 PM.  Yes, promised - the words by the very nice customer service guy were "We say 8:00 so that we can over promise but over deliver - I work to make sure customers have it on well before that promised time".  What?  Seriously?  Liar, person who needs to not make promises. ;-)  I called at 6:00 PM to ask what the status was and was told that my account was being escalated (sure) because there was no reason why it should not be done.  I called at 8:15 and was told "oops its not done and we don't know why" AND guess what?  The department is closed that works on these new accounts until MONDAY!  Frustration!  It isn't so much that we don't have Internet that is the problem it is the fact that we were PROMISED several times that we would have it back on by the 23rd - one day without it.  I will be calling, again, first thing on Monday morning (I did call this morning just to make sure they were really closed) to put the pressure on to get it up and running.  For now, I'm enjoying a few minutes in a coffee shop and, in the evenings, getting a lot of scrapbooking done :-)

I doubt I will post again until after our Internet is back up on running sometime Monday (thinking good thoughts HA!) and even then the first post probably won't go up until Tuesday, is my guess!  Just didn't want you to think I really disappeared!

Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Pinterest Challenge # 7

Well, guess what?  I still have Internet HA!  We aren't sure if they just had to do like a "code" switch so we didn't lose it or if they are behind and we'll lose it tomorrow or something for a day.  Who knows!  The good news for all of my faithful readers is I get to post this today after all!

I have three things to post - two thanksgiving "crafts" and one recipe. 

The first idea I found on Pinterest is a recipe from Kraft Recipes for Pumpkin Pillows.  They are super easy and soooo good!!

Don't those look yummy??  They are!  Here is what mine looked like:

See, they are so easy I even made them look almost like the photo!  And Of course, I will share the recipe!
12 KRAFT Caramels

1 tsp. water

1/2 cupBREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

1 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 Tbsp.brown sugar

1 tsp. flour

1/4 tsp.orange zest

20 won ton wrappers

1 egg white, lightly beaten

2 cups oil

1 Tbsp.powdered sugar

Make It

MICROWAVE caramels and water in medium microwaveable bowl on HIGH 30 sec.; stir until caramels are completely melted. Cool 2 min. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Refrigerate until ready to use.
WHISK cream cheese, pumpkin, brown sugar, flour, zest and remaining cinnamon until well blended. Spoon about 2 tsp. onto center of each won ton wrapper. Moisten edges with egg white; fold diagonally in half. Pinch edges together tightly to seal.
HEAT oil in large saucepan on medium-high heat to 350ºF. Add won tons, in batches; cook 2 to 3 min. or until evenly browned. Drain. Cool slightly or to room temperature. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with caramel sauce

Now, here are my little "lessons learned" - I was a little concerned about the Caramel sauce when I first made it because it did not mix well - the sour cream and caramels separated.  But, after sitting in the fridge for several hours, it mixed up perfectly.  I think the sour cream helped to soften up the caramels more.  Also, these are best served cool.  The pumpkin filling stays HOT for a long time and it really isn't great to eat (not to mention you will burn your mouth, trust me).  I made them in the afternoon and we had them as a snack that night and they were perfect so you could easily make these in the morning and serve them as an afternoon snack.  I plan on making them Thanksgiving morning and serving them as one of our "snacks" late morning/early afternoon. 

The next two items are easy, peasy crafts.

The first idea is for this adorable little Turkey Shirt.  I had wanted to get my kids a Thanksgiving themed shirt but just couldn't justify the money - these were too cute and looked easy.

I managed to do this project for free - each of the boys happened to have a plain shirt that they, honestly, didn't wear because they went to other outfits and didn't really fit with anything they have now.  Then, my mom had loaned me a container of fabric to use for another project so I just went through that stash and found what I needed.  There even happened to be "plain" fabric in there for the turkey body.  Here is my finished product:

I think they are perfect and will be fun for the boys to wear on Thursday.  I'm already thinking of what shirts I can make for Christmas instead of ordering from Etsy - I love Etsy, don't get me wrong, but if I can make both shirts for under $10.00 instead of spending $50.00 . . .well .. . what would you do?

My second craft are Placecards for the table.  Now, there are only 4 adults so it isn't like there will be a big guessing game on who is sitting where nor do I set an elaborate table because, well, my table is hardly big enough for the food, let along decor (unless I get creative before then!) but I still thought these were too cute  to not make.

They were super easy - I just used scrapbook paper I had on hand, kitchen twine, and printed the names on cardstock to cut out for the tags.  The hardest part?  Cutting the fringe because it was time consuming LOL

Aren't they cute??  I think so!

Did you make anything fun for Thanksgiving?  I have one or two other ideas I'm hoping to use on Thursday but I have to wait to see if it actually happens :-)

Enjoy your day!

Too Cute Not Too Toot!

First up is a cute idea I've seen done with candy corn but I wanted to share this tutorial from A Turtle's Life For Me because she DOESN'T use candy corn.  I don't know about you, but I can't seem to find candy corn after Halloween so if I don't stock up on it before then, I end up not being able to make cute things like this cookie idea.  I did actually buy candy corn this year but my kids found it and they LOVE "Tiny Toes" and ate almost all of them!

Wow - this week is a fail, is it not? LOL  I have just not be inspired lately by what I'm seeing out there either because it is the same stuff I saw last year or because there just isn't a lot out there right now.  I think everyone is in the same boat as I am - we are all working on other stuff and not focusing on crafts :-) 

As and FYI - my "normal" Pinterest Challenge post won't go up on Wednesday.  I have a couple of things to wrap up on two projects before taking photos but I won't have internet access on Tuesday to add everything to the post.  We wanted to cut down our phone bill and get rid of our land line, which we did but, because we aren't under contract (after having the service for 8 years HA!) it was cheaper for us to "cancel" and then get the special rate for our same DSL we have now.  BUT, that means they have to turn off our service and then turn it back on and we were told we would not have internet service on the 22nd.  I'm hoping that they under promise and over deliver - meaning that we will have internet sooner then we plan!  We'll see :-)  I really don't spend that much time online during the day but, I do write my posts in the evening most days so . . .this week will be a little out of sorts :-)

That's all :-)  I can't wait to share THREE things from Pinterest with you on Wednesday though!  They are all fun and easy.

Have a great day!

Chore Charts

One of those odd things that intrigued me about Blogs at first was all of the giveaways.  Now, in the just over a year that I've been blogging I've noticed that the number of comments in a lot of giveaways have gone from 100 to 600 or 700 hundred!  The first few months I was entering them, I won several and was shocked but then, well, came the dry spell HA!  I also got tired of jumping through hoops on some blogs to "enter" - meaning you had to do 47 things to even enter a comment OR had to like Facebook Pages, twitter accounts and more.  I just want to say "I like it and I want it" HA!   Well, back in August (yes, I'm just now posting this)  one of my favorite blogs, Oopsey Daisy, hosted a giveaway for a Chore Chart.  I had been thinking about what I wanted to do so I decided to enter.  Needless to say I was amazed to find out that I won!!

The site actually sponsoring the giveaway was Idaho Mom of 2.

Before I show you the chore chart I received, here are a few photos of other items currently up for sale in her shop:

Just really cute stuff!

I absolutely love the chart I received.  JoLynn was wonderful to work with as I figured out exactly what I wanted my chore cards to say and communicated with me when the item was ready to be shipped.  Check this out!

 Is that sign awesome?  You can customize the colors and she does have single name charts and I saw one with three names as well.  I love the little hooks and how sturdy the whole thing is because I know it will get beat up by two little boys!

I was able to pick 12 chores for of the boys (and she does include a wonderful list to chose from or you can make up your own!).  Each card includes a photo and the words for the readers and non-readers to be able to use.  Once the task is complete, just flip the card and they have the Happy Face Star on the back.  I like that this chart can grow with them - as they outgrown the chores I picked, I can return to JoLynn's shop and order some more cards to use. 

Now for reality,  I have not used this yet HA!  Right now, because the boys are so little still, we just have "lets help mom" moments and they do little things.  They are learning HOW to do the things that will be their chores like emptying the dishwasher, feeding the dog, brushing teeth and more. Once they have learned how to do those things, we will start working on daily chores and a small reward system.  I like the Dugger Family idea of paying pennies - especially at this young age but I haven't decided for sure yet.  We are working on our "kid" wall right now and this chart will hang on that wall along with clip board displays and a growth chart.  I can't wait to get everything done and hung!

If you are looking for something like this - check out Idaho Mom of 2!! 

Enjoy your Monday :-)