Poetry Friday - For Erica

 My friend Erica is a wonderful writer and can inspire you with her words. On fridays on her blog - These Three Remain - she does poetry friday.  So in honor of her I have written a poem.

2 things you should know

 1. I do not enjoy writing (but reading is great)

 2. I am not good at writing anything other than non fiction papers.

For Erica 

A seam was sewn

Betwixt the two

Connecting thoughts

Deepening understanding

Encouraging sorority

 I wrote my poem using a form called an ABC poem. basically it is a 5 line poem expressing an idea or image. And every line begins with the next letter alphabetically from the first letter of the first line. You do not have to start with A - but I did :D  this took me a long time to write. I tried hard to choose the right words. Alas it is not very good. 

Free table runner pattern!

Please head on over to the Threads of Conversation blog and get a free pattern for an adorable table runner pattern! Leave her a comment and let her know you would like the pattern.

Handmade Gifts Part 1:

Josephine and I began her gift making today.  She is making snowman pillowcases for her siblings and Mommy and Daddy (yes I realize I am helping make my own gift).  We used a flannel top sheet to cut them from. This way we only need to make the wide hem at the opening on some of them. She did a great Job sewing and even did some of the seams all on her own. We will do the rest of them over the next few weeks.

The finished project and the proud seamstress!

close up of the name tag.  She used staz-on ink and stamped the names on seam tape then zigzagged them on and sewed on a button.  Yeah Jo!

Handmade Ornaments

every year I make ornaments for my Nieces and Nephews and Great Nieces and Nephews. This year that meant 17!  I made 14 stars and 3 birds (for those who got stars last year) scroll down for info on the patterns for them.

Peppermint stars! they are so cute!  I will be wrapping them in white tissue paper and putting little white tags with star mints on them and the recipients name. I got the pattern from the Allsorts blog. You have plenty of time to make some of these cuties while watching Christmas movies!

and I made 3 adorable little birdies.  I am in love with them.  I got the pattern in the book

"Last Minute Patchwork + quilted gifts" by Joelle Hoverson.   Check out the authors blog as well  - The Purl Bee

See Jo Read

I wait

Today I am waiting. Waiting for the foretold snow. For the crisp beauty. I awoke and the light through the window was not quite right, not that glow that comes when the ground has a blanket of white.  I was sad. disappointed.  I am too sad and disappointed right now from other things and I need to have the little joy of this snow.  So I wait for this gift and I try not to cry and I remember - You are good, and what you do is good .... Psalm 119:68a.

This is what I want Christmas to mean!

  I was linked to this video from a blog I read - Christine Smith Digital Designs Blog  and it touched my heart.  

    ADVENT CONSPIRACY VIDEO

  Our family is doing an all homemade Christmas this year for many reasons, but this has challenged me to find ways to give outside our family as well.  I hope it inspires you to do the same.  

Happy Birthday Sammi!

Today we celebrate 10 yrs of life with our sweet girl.  Look how grown up she is!  This is a photo of her today with her new Bitty Twins - she has named them Hanna (the dark haired one and Lia (the blond one)   She is now busy playing dolls with her younger sister.  We will have cupcakes and a special dinner later. Then on Friday her BFF Sarah will come over for a sleepover. 

Falling Snow

See the pretty snowflakes 
Falling from the sky, 
On the wall and housetops 
Soft and thick they lie.

On the window ledges, 
On the branches bare, 
Now how fast they gather, 
Filling all the air.

Look into the garden, 
Where the grass was green; 
Covered by the snowflakes, 
Not a blade is seen.

Now the bare black bushes, 
All look soft and white, 
Every twig is laden - 
What a pretty sight!

-Traditional Irish Poem

         Bread pudding for breakfast!  with Banana slices. find the basic recipe here. I over mixed it a little so there where not many bread chunks left but it was still yummy and warm.

  On the Christmas gift front I found a great book at the library yesterday to make a monster or Alien for my 8 yr old. "Invasion of the Plush Monsters!: Wickedly Weird Creatures You Just Gotta Sew" by Veronica Gunter , You can see it at Amazon HERE .  

 Hope you have a wonder-filled day :D 

Handmade Holiday...

 That is what we will be doing this year.  All of our gifts will be handmade (or programmed).  We talked with The children about this back in Oct. and I had anticipated some resistance to it. But boy I have great kids who all thought it was a super idea!  We have been secretly discussing ideas and plans and making supply lists over the last month.  This is the week to get started making. Jo and I will be hold up Sewing in my room.  The boys have some books on hold at the library to help them with their plans for their sisters.  

 

 I will be checking out the "Sew, Mama, Sew blog" daily this month for all their wonderful ideas on handmade gifts.  Today there was a link to a Yummy pumpkin scone recipe so I made them up and they are YUMMY.  Go here to get the Recipe! If you want to share your Holiday traditions and plans you can share it with others there as well ( click here to see how)

 I will share the projects I can (don't wanna ruin the surprise)  and pass on any fabulous ideas I find.   Todays tip is to head over to www.YouCanMakeThis.com to buy printable patterns for all sorts of wonderful things.  I am loving the felt food (do a search for it)

 If you live in the Salt Lake Valley fm 100.3 is all Christmas music all the time right now!  

Somewhere over the rainbow...

there are cute little kiddies all dressed up!   Sammi, Jo and Seth decided to be Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man for Haloween.  We already had the Dorothy dress but we needed the shoes and the other costumes.  So I got busy!  I think they look very cute.  You can go to the Picasa Zoo Boo album to see more pics and details on the c0stumes.

Have a Happy Halloween.

Pato - for Erica

 Our family loves to have pato for dinner!  I learned how to make this from my older sister when I was about 12.  It is a simple spicy tomato/peppery  stew like dish. I think it is the best made with Pork, but it is good with beef as well - chicken is not so good in it.

Ok first you need El Pato sauce from the Mexican isle of your local grocery store - the yellow is the best. But if you can not find the yellow the green works - it is a little less spicy and you can taste the tomato a little more.

Ingredients: (this is for use with one can of pato, make increases for each can you use)

One 7.5 oz can of El Pato sauce

4-6 potatoes - peeled and cubed (about 1/2 inch cubes)

1/2 - 1 lb pork cut into small cubes (or beef - stew beef works well here)

(optional) Frozen vegetables - I do not like it with them but some people do

water

salt

oil

Mayonnaise

Tortillas 

Cooking:

boil your potatoes in salted water until the are mooshy.

while potatoes boil Cook pork in a little oil in a large skillet or wide sauce pan. Cook until pork is brown and crisp and yummy.

Drain potatoes and add to pork - I like to mush mine up a bit more- but you can also leave them more in cubes.

add one can of pato and one can of water.  ( you can add the veggies here too )Now simmer this stirring often until the sauce is thick.  We like it really thick with very little sauciness left.

To serve place in bowl and add a good dollop or 2 of Mayo - I know sounds weird but it is OH so good. Plus the Pato is really spicy so the Mayo cuts that.  For my kids I add lots of Mayo.

Serve with lots of tortillas and milk to drink. 

We like to tear off pieces of the tortillas and fill them with pato and pop them in our mouth. Dwight prefers to dip his tortillas.

So there you go a fast , hearty, simple meal that our family LOVES.

hmm good to know!

You Could Not Be a Vampire

Sorry, but you're not just cut out for flesh eating, turning into a bat, and living forever. But that's okay. The sight of blood turns your stomach... without even thinking of drinking it. And while you definitely would never be a vampire, you're exactly the type of frail prey Dracula wannabe's crave. Maybe it's time to arm yourself with a cross and some nasty garlic breath! What you would like best about being a vampire: The raw power (though you wouldn't admit it to anyone) What you would like least about being a vampire: The whole killing thing

Could You Be a Vampire?

I was tagged by Angela

Here are the rules:
* If you are tagged, you must firstly post the rules:
* Write 7 strange characteristics about yourself. They interest us all!
* Tag 5 other people at the end of your Post.
* Visit everyone that you have tagged and leave a comment on their blog to let them know that they have been tagged.

So here are my seven strange characteristics:
1. I do not like watermelon - it is icky
2. Driving Miss Daisy is one of my fav movies
3. I read Jane Eyre every year - this is ike my 20th year reading it.
4. I homeschool all 4 of my kids- is that strange?
5. I ADORE the rain only a little less than the snow!
6. I am done with summer- PLEASE bring on the fall
7. I am soo MAD that this is the last season of ER

Here are my five:
Erica

Carrie

Di

Megan

Rachel

What was I like in highschool? 

not like this hehe - but it was a fun quiz. I was really a brainy girl, who was on speech team and in biology club. Read all the time and was in a bible study group on my lunch break. I did have friends of all different types. I was overweight but not really made fun of. I had a few good friends who I hung out with (Hi Jodie!)  and boyfriends on and off.

You Were the All American Kid

Popular but not plastic. Athletic but not a jock. Smart but not a brain. You were well rounded and well liked in high school.

Who Were You In High School?

A Happy Layout!

everything about this layout makes me smile! first the photo of Dwight and Jo is so heartwarming and sweet. I loved how the white space really worked on this layout. And the bright little pops of colors makes it all feel whimsical an girly.

Just a few fun quizes!

It seems I know my Grease lore- do you?

Grease quiz

my results:

You are an expert!

You have correctly answered 13 of 15 questions.

On average, 728 of users who took the quiz gave 11.45 right answers.

 

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland   "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I scrapped a page!

I have not scrapped for a few weeks.  been busy sewing with my friend Erica -so much fun!

I adore this photo of Jo I took in June. the layout uses a new kit - Hitched by Robin Carlton and Kay Miller at SSD.  to get the rest of the credit click on the layout.

 We have been having a very lazy summer but enjoying it. We have gone to the Zoo a few times, gone swimming and to the park. Played with friends. On friday is the Pool party at our townhouses - that will be fun. Next week is Seth's 8th Birthday - Wow how did he get so big? We are going to have a little party at the park for him.  We are starting to get our activities planned for Fall - school in Sept, Youth group will start for Tim then too, Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts for the  2 girls (and Me, the Brownie leader) , not sure what Seth will be doing yet. Tim may be playing soccer and the younger 3 will be doing a science homeschool group with friends.   Busy time of year.  I think I really need to enjoy this last month of summer. 

You Are Classical Music

You are a somewhat serious person who enjoys studying subjects deeply. Art of all kinds interests you, and a good piece of art can really effect you emotionally. You are inspired by human achievement, and you appreciate work that takes years to accomplish. For you, the finer things in life are not about snobbery - they're about quality.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Summer Jobs!

we where challenged to tell about our childhood summer jobs at the sweet shoppe blog.

I only had 2 summer jobs - the first was when I was 14 and I was a part time Nanny for 3 sweet kids that we had known forever - we had such a great time together and enjoyed going to the park, playing in the sprinkler , making cookies. It was a great experience.

My second summer job was actually the summer after graduation and I worked 2 jobs! I worked the night shift fulltime at the canary and then part time during the afternoons at Arby's! after about a month I quite Arby's and continued at the canary. I had alot of fun and worked along side my Best Friend Jodie.

Meet Kirsten!

  "Kirsten Larson must leave all she’s ever known to come with her family to the New World. They settle on the Minnesota frontier, where people don’t speak her language or understand her traditions. Yet in time, Kirsten discovers the richness of her new land—and the true meaning of home."

 I won this adorable American Girl doll for Jo on ebay this week. When she came she only had a little shift to wear. In the image below you can see how she came in the lower left corner.  the top 2 images are how she looks new and the pattern I used to make her new clothes. the lower right pic is a close up the original accessories you can buy from the AG store. I wanted to try to match her original outfit as close as possible with what I had on hand.

 

And here she is After with her new clothes.  I think I did pretty good!  her bonnet is a bit small but Jo likes it and that is what matters!  Notice the little handkerchief in her pocket. I made it out of bleached muslin and hand embroidered the details to match the original.  scroll down for pattern details. Josephine loves her and she even learned to tie a bow in 2 tries using her apron!

Details:
Dress - Butterick 4699 view F
Apron - Modified Butterick 4699 view F
handkerchief - Butterick 4699 and added hand embroidery
bonnet - resized from this tutorial -http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1978-07-01/Make-Your-Own-Sunbonnet-in-Less-Than-Two-Hours.aspx

What Your These Fireworks Say About You

You are jubilant and easily excited. While you aren't very intense or passionate, your happiness is abundant. You can always find cause to celebrate, laugh, or even just smile to yourself. You find that life is full of things to be happy about!

The Fireworks Test

I'm a Sweet and Sassy girl!

  Robin Carlton has asked me to join her CT and I have accepted!  I was so flattered that she asked.  And I am loving her designs! Below is my first official CT layout using her new 2 scoop with Lauren Grier - 5th avenue sunrise.  To celebrate my new position I made a template from my layout to share!  GRAB IT HERE  if you like! 

What does my frig say about me?  

What Your Fridge Says About You

You like to be surrounded by things you love. You aren't exactly greedy, but you can be materialistic at times. You are a very thrifty person. You don't like to waste money... or food. You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily. You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it. You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

Summertime!

It is officially summer!  While this is usually not my favorite time of year because of the heat , this year I am more excited, I have lost weight, the kids are older and we can do more fun things and we have great friends and church family to do things with!  So here is a list of fun things we can do this summer!

1. Lounge around all day in our jammies watching tv

2. Stay up late

3. Swim, Swim , Swim

4. Play with our buddies!

5. Go to the Zoo with our Zoo pass (with the Hales)

6. Do crafts

7. skate outside

8. play in "the pits"

9. eat way too many popsicles!

10. Grow flowers and maybe tomatoes!

11. lie in the grass and readd

12. go to the library alot!

13. Earn a free book by doing the summer reading program

14. Go camping with our church!

15. Praise God for the amazing gift of summer!

and soo much more..........

Coconut Showdown Challenge #1

My gallery is not set up yet at www.coconutscrapbooking.com so I am putting my first challenge up here on my blog.  We had to do this neat new grid technique with stamps and markers.  I used Heidi Swapp circle stamps and Stampin up craft ink on Bazzill cardstock.  This is my oldest son in March (other items: American crafts paper and thickers, AMM rick rac, Heidi Swapp deco tape, MM photo corners, sharpie white marker)

Fabric, yummy, Fabric!

I went to Joann's today and got some fabric for several projects. I also got some fabric and trims I ordered through a coop buy as well.  I have lots of fun things to make!   But the first thing is a SMOCK for me!  Over at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog they had a fabulous smock sew-a-long with videos even!  You should go make one too! I got some great ticking stripe in yellow, cream and hints of red to make mine with - I am binding it with red bias tape.  So excited!  I will post a pic when I am done.  

links if you wanna play along:

Written Smock Directions

1st Video with pattern

2nd videos

3rd videos

So I am a little nerdier than I thought I would be and that sorta makes me happy. Does that make me even more nerdy?

Welcome Martin!

  Isn't that the cutest name?  We welcomed a new nephew into the family last week.  Dwight's brother and his wife added a baby brother for our niece Elisabeth.  He is so sweet looking.  Here is a layout I made with one of the photos they sent.

Dream Vacation!

Dream Vacation!

I would love to go to Alaska!  look at that picture- so beautiful!  to take a cruise through the glaciers and hike in the wilderness.  That would just be amazing to me.  I would even love to go in the winter and see all the snow covered areas and participate in local celebrations. Dwight hates the cold so I am not sure that will happen but I would love to do it sometime!

TIME TO SEW

  I have spent time sewing this past week with my friend Erica and on my own.  We got these wonderful patterns from Parksbird Patterns. They are great instruction based patterns with step by step pics and cutting instructions for several styles of dresses, pants, under things, crafty items even juice box crafts.    Any way I made the pillowcase dress for Jo and  shorter version for SarahAnn. I got the pillowcases for .69 at the thrift store - don't you love the fab retro prints?  I added some little ball fringe to Jo's dress (the yellow one).  I also made a white peasant dress for Jo using a flat sheet with a lace trim. she is wearing it under her pillowcase dress here.  Then I used the parksbird pattern to make SarahAnn a pair of Denim Capris with  floral cuffs made from the extra fabric from the pillowcase I used for her top.   I also made Seth a pair of shorts from 2 pirate bandanas- but have not got a pic yet.  Then finally I made myself a cute little summer top - but have not taken any pics.  I am really enjoying sewing - be on the look out for more projects!

what my color choices say about me

just a few snippets 

Delights in the tasteful, the gracious, and the sensitive, but maintains her attitude of critical appraisal and refuses to be swept off her feet unless genuineness and integrity can be absolutely vouched for. 

Trying to calm down and unwind after a period of over-agitation which has left her listless and devoid of energy. In need of peace and quiet; becomes irritable if this is denied her.

It seemed to think I was stressed out - which in general I am not , but I am today.  LOL

SarahAnn's first digi layout


(credits: Dani's Girls April 08 Template, butterfly and trail - love sprung kit by Dani Modstad and Traci Reed, everything else - Spring Chick kit - Dani Mogstad, shadows - Traci Murphy, Font: DJB Gail)

SarahAnn asked me to teach her to digital scrapbook this week. So today she made this layout using a template. She chose everything on it and the placement I just told her how to use the template and helped her to understand the shadows. She is 9 and I think she did a great job!

Teenage Crushes!

the blog challenge for SSD is to tell about our pre teen / teen celebrity crushes. My first crush that I can remember was Scott Baio - I thought he was the cutest ever and I had pics on my wall from my Tiger Beat Mags - Yes I am that old. look at that baby face - Who couldn't love him?

Then came A-Ha - the lead singer esp. I loved their music and well look how Hot he is! hmm may need to do some itunes searching.


I had more - Jon Bon Jovi, Johnny Depp -yummy still, Kirk Cameron, Ralph Macchio but these are ones that really stand out in my memory.

Have a Happy Friday

It rained today!

I love the rain and it is one of the things I really miss about Oregon. Utah rain is usually pretty pathetic a little drizzle here and there - snow is great here - but rain not so much. But this afternoon it really RAINED. For a few hours even - had a bit of thunder storms as well. It made me pretty happy. It however made Jo angry as she wanted to take her baby dolls out for a walk in their stroller. Tonight I made this layout of SarahAnn on her 9th birthday last November. Isn't she sweet? She got lots and lots of Littlest Petshop toys - they made her happy!
(click on layout to see credits)

What Your Latte Says About You

You are easygoing and pretty simple to please. You don't put up a fuss... ever. You are a very frivolous person. You don't take anything too seriously. Why should you? You have a good deal of energy, but you pace yourself. You never burn out too fast. You're addicted to caffeine. There's no denying it. You are a child at heart, and you don't ever miss the opportunity to do something playful. You are expressive and friendly, but you are never pushy.

What Does Your Latte Say About You?

Yummy yummy Vanilla chilled latte!

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

Hmm I do agree with much of this but not all.

Skate on Dude!


This is how Seth (an Jo and SarahAnn) spend most of their day after school. We got them roller skates for Easter and they have been outside rolling away ever since. It was a bit rocky at first an there was lots of tumbles and falls but pretty quickly they have all seemed to get the hang of it! By the way - why is it so hard to find reular old fashioned skates? you know the white or black leather boot kind? We searched all over but ended up having to get this kind with the plastic rollerblade looking boots. They work fine but I guess I was looking for the nostalgia factor! We have had lovely spring weather the past week with temps in the 60's and 70's. But on the night of April 31st we had a light dusting of SNOW! hello winter is over already! Glad I had not put out any flowers yet. Ok enough blabbing , we have school work to do (only about 6 more weeks till our official summer break!)

Spring is here finally!

At least for a few days. It was over 70 yesterday and suppose to be today. We went to the park and played after church yesterday and it was soo nice. Tim had gone with some of the teens from Church to a park near there and came home with a slight sunburn - better break out the sunscreen! I have not scrapped much the last week. But I was able to do a scraplift challenge and complete this Layout of Jo in her Easter Dress this year, I made her dress from an Ottobre magazine pattern and love how it turned out. To see the layout credits click on the name

Easter Dress

How's your spelling

mine is not quite as good as I thought- hehe
did this for the sweet shoppe from our blog to yours challenge

Your Spelling is Okay

You got 7/10 correct. Your spelling is a bit of a problem. Your instincts on how to spell things aren't horrible, but you often make an embarrassing mistake or two.

How's Your Spelling?

Soda Pop Fizz!

Have you seen the new kits at TTS? I was able to play with one this month and I am soo in love with it! It is a bit freestyle and funky with a fun mix of patterns! The alpha and the epoxy stickers are my favorite part.

You can get the kit HERE

and here are the layouts I made using it!

Here are a few layouts I made using the LOVE IN BLOOM Scrapworks line and Ztampf stamps