Bike Riding -- Yes it is that nice outside!!

Picture version of our day outside.

Scrapbooking

Making things harder than necessary...

This layout is for 2 challenges that I wanted to complete this week.  First was for the ScrapShanty's Order Up challenge by Kim.  It is a recipe type challenge, I had to use white cardstock as my background, bling, and highlight words in my journaling.  It was also this week's color challenge over at Color Combos Galore.

Why does this scan look funny you might ask yourself, well that is the making things harder on myself part of the title.  For some reason I had this great idea that this layout would be wonderful if I traced a sheet of Making Memories scalloped circle paper and use it as my background.  If you think this looks good and want to try it yourself, invest in a large format cutter to do it for you.  It was not fun hand cutting all those little scallops.  Or just buy the Making Memories paper in the right colors!  LOL!!

Color Combos Galore

There is this nifty site that my friend Debbie dared me to try called Color Combos Galore.  It is perfect for me because it only makes me use colors, I can use up all my old papers that I love.  This layout was done for last week's challenge, the colors were very cool and spa-ish.  This is what I came up with.

Used up some old chatterbox pp, some old sassafrass lass pp, and some bazzill.  Used both my QK scallop border dies and my Martha Stewart border punch.  And some sweet little chipboard buttons from ScrapSupply for the 'o's in book.

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!

Whenever I think of Monster Trucks I can't stop thinking SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!  And this Sunday we took the boys to see MONSTER JAM!!  If you haven't ever been to one of these it is so much fun.  It was loud, it was dirty and the boys sat there with their mouth's open for most of it in amazement!!  Here are a couple of shots of the action.  We sat way up in the Alamodome but our seats were still really good and I guess because the trucks are so big it doesn't matter how far away you sit!

Lisa Tagged Me

OK here is the deal, Lisa photo tagged me.  I had to go into my pictures file on my computer and go to the 4th file and then pick the 4th photo and blog about it.  Scary but I don't keep pictures on my computer they are all on my external hard drive so this is what was actually in the 4th file, 4th photo in my pictures file.  Don't laugh, I don't know what it is or what it is from or why I kept it.

Now it is my turn to tag some 4 people and I pick Mel H, Kim, Debbie & Lacey.

Yes my boys eat it!!

This is the brussel sprout recipe that we tried for Christmas dinner because I am a big brussel sprout lover. I tweeked it a bit when I made it today and I think I like it a lot more. I love the color of the brussel sprouts after they have been cooked, so nice and green!!!

Jen's Brussel Sprouts
1 pound of brussel sprouts
1/4 pound of bacon (the original called for pancetta but I prefer bacon for the price)
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste

How to:
1. Clean brussel sprouts and put in a pot of boiling water. Cook for about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and run cool water over them to stop the cooking process. Slice in half and set aside.

2. In a fry pan, fry up the bacon good and crispy. Take bacon out to drain and get rid of all but about 2 Tbsp of the bacon fat.

3. Add 2 cloves of garlic to the bacon fat in the pan. (Darren and I have decided the best tool in the whole wide world is our new Pampered Chef garlic press.) Next over medium heat, add the halved brussel sprouts and crumble bacon over the top of them. Stir and cook until well coated. Season with salt and pepper to taste, because of the bacon you really don't need a lot of salt.

Enjoy!!! And if you want to see the original recipe. It is Jasmine's Brussels Sprouts from allrecipes.com.

Been using up my old supply stash.

One of my new year's resolutions is to use up as much of my old supplies as I can before I go buying new stuff again. I really have enough stuff here for a couple of scrappers to scrap all the pictures that I haven't done yet a couple of times over. Here is what I have done so far...
TV = this was for challenge number 103 at Color Combo Galore
I used up some old Scenic Route paper that I have been hanging onto for a long time. I have a problem with patterned paper. I buy it but I buy it because it is pretty not because I have a layout in mind for it and then I end up not using it because I am saving it for the perfect layout. So Much To Do = this was a lift of my own layout 'A Day In The Park'
I had to have all this Basic Grey Archaic Paper and Embellishments but never could find the right layout to use them on. I am not sure if they are perfect for this one but at least I used them.

Let's Have A Race = This is a scraplift of Historymom's layout from the ScrapShanty.

Again used up some really old Basic Grey papers on this one, used from both Skate Shoppe and Black Tie lines.

Jelly Fish Tank = This one was based on a sketch by Kim at the ScrapShanty.

The blue pp on this one is actually new, I just bought it at the end of last year when I went to check out one of the LSS in town that had moved and I had never been to their new location. Again I didn't know what I wanted to use the paper on but i really liked it. Luckily I used this one quickly, it didn't aquire too much dust!! LOL!!

Fire Man = This was for the Order Up Challenge by Kim at the ScrapShanty. My recipe for my layout was to use yellow cardstock as my base and small embellishments. I think this one turned out great and I again used up another really old sheet of PP, this time from Daisy Ds. I think I have at least 2 sheets of every one from this line because it was little boy stuff and back when I got it there weren't too many things out there for little boys. Too bad I didn't use it when it was in style. The letters for 'Fire Man' were cut out on my Revolution using QK Diesel and vellum. I even pulled out my big Xyron 900 and made them adhesive before cutting them. So used old tools too!!

1st Big Screen Movie = This is totally a lift of Davinie from the Studio Calico DT. Her's is much better than mine but at least I finally used some of the Cosmo Cricket papers I have been collecting. And that chipboard bubbles circle from Magestical Memories is almost as old as Evan.

So there you go, so far for the year 6 layouts all using older supplies. Hopefully by 2010 I will have used up enough to make me feel less guilty about hoarding them.

New Pics of the Boys

Another year another set of pictures.

taken by the Picture People.

My Man

I know I don't talk about him very often and I should because he is awesome. I got the idea of this on my friend Lacey's blog. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him because today is his birthday!!

1. What is his name? Darren
2. Who eats more? we eat about the same although he is allowed more calories each day than me because he works out more
3. Who said I love you first? I think he did but only because I was waiting for him to say it first
4. Who is taller? he is almost a foot taller
5. Who is smarter? Darren is definitely more book smart than I am
6. Who is more sensitive? we are both sensitive, I just show it more often
7. Who does the laundry? depends on who needs clean clothes the most, Darren is great about helping out around the house and does quite a bit more laundry than I do
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do except when he is gone and then I take over the whole bed
9. Who pays the bills? Me, I am the CFO.
10. Who cooks more? I do, but he does his fair share and he does almost all the grilling
11. What meals do you cook together? I don't know of any specific meal but we do work in the kitchen together a lot
12. Who is more stubborn? I think I may be slightly more stubborn than him but only slightly
13. Who is the first to admit they’re wrong? That would have to be him since I am never wrong..... ROFL!!!
14. Who has more siblings? We have the same. He has one younger brother and I have one younger sister
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? I think we share them a lot of the time
16. What do you like to do together? eat, play games, watch tv or movies, shop, would love to start getting the boat out again together
17. Who eats more sweets? that would have to be me
18. His guilty pleasures? computers, star wars, and wood working
19. How did you meet? in college, we were in the same Physical Chemistry class
20. Who asked who out first? He asked me out
21. Who kissed who first? He did on the first date, but he was sweet about it and asked first
22. Who proposed? He did, while he was at Advanced Camp he called in the middle of the night
23. His best features? His smile and his strong arms
24. What is his greatest quality? His calmness

Best Friends

I love this picture. Ian and his best friend Phillip did it themselves at Chuck E Cheese during Evan's birthday party. I am so happy to see Ian when he is with his best friend. They really are perfect for each other.