A New Year

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions per say, but I do like to take this time to look back at the past year, and think about what the new year will bring.  This is a total mess of thoughts, so I apologize now if it's not the easiest thing to follow. :)

SCRAPPING-
I didn't set a page goal for scrapping in 2012, but I did set a goal to finish my 2011 album (big fat fail).  I scrapped 41 pages this year, two less than 2011.  I don't think setting a goal will change how I scrap, so I don't think I'm going to set a goal for that this year.  I love being on Britt's CT, it keeps me scrapping, and that's good enough for me.  I will keep working on 2010, 2011, and my Disneyland albums.  Someday I'll get them finished. 

P365-
I DID IT!! Yay!!  I'm so proud of myself for this one!  I will be getting a blurb book printed shortly, I just need to get the last two months worth of photos off my phone and into the book first. :)
I have to say, I have loved doing this!  Some days it was a pain to have to grab a picture that wasn't great, but I did it, and I have a whole year's worth of memories in photos now.  I love that the book will have the big moments (Disneyland, the Giants sweeping the World Series...) and the everyday stuff as well.
My plan for 2013 is to try a P52, using my real camera instead of my phone (my poor, neglected, really old, Nikon).  I think I'm still going to keep up with the P365 on my phone, but I won't be posting them on my blog.  We'll see, I may not end up doing both, but I'm going to use the phone as a little insurance since I know I can do it. 

FUN STUFF TO COME-
I'm really looking forward to 2013!
BIRTHDAYS- As my SIL just posted on FB, it's going to be a big year for our family!  My baby girl will be hitting double digits in just a few short months (where has time gone?!?).  We also have a 60th birthday (MIL), and 40th (SIL), two 21sts (our oldest niece and her fiancé, who are also getting married in 2013), an 18th (another niece), and two 13ths (niece and nephew). 
VACATIONS- I just found out that I will be able to go with Matthew on a little work trip to Napa next month.  I'm really looking forward to the break and time together, even though it will be a short one.  We also have our family reunion planned for July in Sunriver again.  We will be going for a whole week this year, and I'm so excited about that!!  That's all we have on the calendar so far, but I'm sure there will be lots more fun things added! 

That's about all I have planned so far, hopefully it will be a great year!

Monday Menu

The kids are still off from school, but other than that we're pretty much back to normal around here this week, which means I need to plan a menu and get to the grocery store.  Not much going on this week.  We have no plans for tonight, and I doubt either of us will still be up (willingly, anyway) at midnight.  I do plan to make another post with thoughts from the past year and goals for the next year, but I'll save that for later.  For now, I need to get this menu planned and get some errands done!

Monday- tacos
Tuesday- slow cooker ham & white beans with corn bread
Wednesday- homemade pizza
Thursday- Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos with Quick and Easy Black Beans
Friday- pasta with meat sauce
Saturday- honey lime tilapia with biscuits and roasted broccoli
Sunday-

P365- 365

Leap year, one more day to go!

Took the tree down today, some of my favorite ornaments before they got put away.

P365- 364

Helping Daddy put together a new toy BBQ from Uncle Troy.

P365- 363

Christmas, round 4, and I think we're done!

P365- 362

N getting ready to throw a snowball at Eskimo Hill.

P365- 361

Spoons!

P365- 360

It's snowing! At a rest stop on the way to Redding.

P365- 359

The kids got to be part of the Christmas Eve nativity at church tonight. Mary, Joseph, and a Shepard.

P365- 358

In our PJs and off to look at Christmas lights.

P365- 357

Hard at work making sugar cookies.

P365- 356

We saw Santa and Mrs. Clause tonight. 🎅

Scrap Stuff

Britt has us all stepping outside our comfort zone a little bit to try something new with these new Brave New Shape Templates!  I often feel like I'm totally in a rut with my scrapping and only do one kind of page, so it's nice to get the push to try something I wouldn't normally do sometimes.  I'm really happy with how this one came out, and I can't wait to try the others ones in this pack!

full credits here

P365- 355

Christmas crafts while I made dinner. This makes me happy.

P365- 354

This little guy climbed into my bed and took his PJs off before going to sleep tonight.

P365- 353

Sleet outside today and snow inside tonight.

P365- 352

M's running for student council secretary. Hanging up posters after school with her friend M.

P365- 351

Christmas tonight with some of my side of the family.

P365- 350

Gingerbread houses today!

P365- 349

Doing our advent calendar.

Food for Thought

It's been almost two weeks sense I've been grocery shopping.  I'm trying to really plan my lists today so that I can (maybe) avoid another big trip until after Christmas (between Safeway today and Costco this weekend that is).  I'm sure I'll have to run back towards the end of next week for a few things that I will need fresh, but hopefully I can at least get it all figured out today and not have to sit down and plan it all out later. :)
I haven't done a menu all week, so I'm going to start with today and go through Christmas.

Friday- hot chocolate with fun stirrers, meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Saturday- out
Sunday- Christmas with my family, bring peppermint cheesecake
Monday- homemade pizza
Tuesday- (cookie baking day with mom, guitar), enchiladas (from freezer)
Wednesday- (make Christmas treat/snack with kids),
Thursday- tortellini sausage soup
Friday- honey lime tilapia with biscuits
Saturday- (sugar cookie baking), crock pot pineapple chicken sandwiches
Sunday- leftovers or Costco pizza
Monday- (Christmas Eve) alfredo with chicken and broccoli (Best Bites Guiltless Alfredo Sauce)
Tuesday- strata for breakfast (my own recipe, posted below)
Bring to family dinner: stuffing (2x), cranberries sauce, treat or desert




Christmas Breakfast Strata (my recipe that has evolved over the years)
8-10 slices french bread, cubed with no crust
1 lb sausage, browned
1 lb monterey jack cheese, grated
1/2 lb sharp cheddar, grated
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
8 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
spray large baking pan
cover bottom in bread cubes
layer sausage over bread
layer cheese over sausage
mix eggs, milk, ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper in small bowl
poor over cheese
cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight
bake at 350 for 1 hour
cool for 5-10 minutes before serving

*add 2 granny smith apples, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp cinnamon (kind of like this Sausage Apple version)

P365- 348

Wrapping presents.

P365- 347

Making gingerbread ornaments.

P365- 346

I love the tree at night.

P365- 345

The whole family before the final show.

P365- 344

Final bow of the night. One more show to go!

P365- 343

Waiting for the Truckers Parade to start.

P365- 342

Sound check, opening night for The Grinch!

Scrap Stuff

Britt has a beautiful new kit out today that's prefect for all those winter pictures!  Here's what I scrapped with it.

 full credits here

And now it's off to do Grinch stuff for the rest of the weekend. :)

P365- 341

Little cutie waiting for big brother to get out of school.

P365- 340

Christmas cards going to the mailbox! They were such good helpers this year!

P365- 339

R has the best job in the whole play!

P365- 338

Day 3, a scavenger hunt for little presents.

Start of the Week Stuff

Here we go with the crazy Grinch week.  I'm excited, but I know it's going to get busy! 

To-Do's for the week:
Monday- kid-free morning, errands, small group
Tuesday- dress rehearsal
Wednesday- work in R's class, relax at home (only night this week!)
Thursday- clean house, bake dessert for Grinch, preview night
Friday- family coming into town, opening night (bring dessert)
Saturday- Grinch during the day, trucker's parade at night :)
Sunday- church, lunch with family, Grinch

It doesn't look like a lot when I write it down, but it's big chunks of time.  The kids have to be there 2 hours before showtime, meaning we'll have to leave the house an hour after we get home from school. My days might not be too scheduled, but I have plenty to do to get ready for it all. :) 

Menu for the week:
Monday- pasta with peppers and sausage
Tuesday- leftovers/eat at rehearsal
Wednesday- crock pot chicken quesadillas
Thursday- leftovers/eat at Grinch
Friday- ??/eat at Grinch
Saturday- pizza & hot chocolate parade side :)
Sunday- chicken enchiladas (made ahead and in the freezer already)

P365- 337

How N watched Home Alone today, and this wasn't even at a scary part. ❤

P365- 336

Day 1 of our Advent countdown calendar, write letters to Santa.

P365- 335

Pulled out more of the Christmas stuff today, the kids were thrilled!

P365- 333 & 334

I took these on the right days, just forgot to post them, oops!

333- Target, all by myself!

334- This is what we do with our magnetic snowman.

Advent Activities 2012

1 Sat- (tech rehearsal)  Letters To Santa
2 Sun- (photo shoot, rain permitting) Start Advent guide
3 Mon- Scavenger hunt for little present
4 Tues- (dress rehearsal) Have a Christmas dance party
5 Wed- Address and mail cards
6 Thurs- (preview performance) Elf Yourself
7 Fri- (family here, opening night) Fun Christmas snack (banana & strawberry candy canes or snow pea trees)
8 Sat- (performance) Trucker's parade
9 Sun- (performance) Lunch out with family
10 Mon- (performance) Another scavenger hunt (Christmas socks)
11 Tues- (cast party) Cast Party
12 Wed- Make ornaments
13 Thurs- Help wrap presents
14 Fri- Take silly "photo boot" pictures with fun Christmas props
15 Sat- Gingerbread Houses
16 Sun- Christmas with Piz, Papa, & family
17 Mon- Have hot chocolate with fun stirrers
18 Tues- (guitar?) Make snowflakes
19 Wed- Make a Christmas treat 
20 Thurs- Wrap teacher gifts
21 Fri- (last day of school) Drive around to look at lights
22 Sat-  Visit Santa (check to make sure he'll still be there) 
23 Sun- Bake Christmas cookies
24 Mon- Track Santa
25 Tues- Christmas!

Extras:
Hershey's kiss matching game
Christmas coloring pages
Christmas Madlibs

Past Advent Activities

More for my benefit than anything else.  I'll be posting my list for this year soon! :)

2011:
1 Thurs- Name your elf
2 Fri- Craft fair with Piz & Papa
3 Sat- Get Tree
4 Sun-
5 Mon- Letters To Santa
6 Tues- Help wrap presents
7 Wed- Turn yourselves into elves
8 Thurs- Address and mail cards
9 Fri- Play @ church
10 Sat- Trucker's Parade
11 Sun- Mackenzie's Dance/Christmas with my family
12 Mon- Scavenger hunt
13 Tues- Eureka Inn Tree (after dentist)
14 Wed- Make Christmas Treat
15 Thurs- Put together teacher gifts
16 Fri- Make decorations
17 Sat-  Gingerbread Houses
18 Sun-  Read Luke 2
19 Mon- Scavenger hunt
20 Tues- Make ornaments
21 Wed- Drive around to look at lights
22 Thurs- make Christmas cookies
23 Fri- have hot chocolate with fun stirrers
24 Sat- Track Santa
25 Sun- Christmas!

Elf Yourself
Gingerbread house
Have hot cocoa with candy cane stirrers
Drive around to see lights
Make decorations
Make ornaments
snowman/reindeer project on pinterest
address and mail cards
scavenger hunt (x2)
Make Christmas cookies
Read Luke 2




2010:
1 Wed- Write letters to Santa
2 Thurs- Debbie & Marty's (gift exchange)
3 Fri- Address and mail cards
4 Sat- Christmas Tea for girls, Ryan w/ grandpa
5 Sun- Decorate tree
6 Mon- Make gingerbread house
7 Tues- scavenger hunt (coloring books)
8 Wed- Make decorations
9 Thurs- Elf Yourself
10 Fri- Play night, family here
11 Sat- M's Night Before Christmas dance
12 Sun- Charlie Brown play
13 Mon- Eureka Inn Tree
14 Tues- Have hot cocoa with candy cane stirrers
15 Wed- Read a Christmas book
16 Thurs- make ornaments
17 Fri- scavenger hunt (Grinch DVD)
18 Sat- Make Christmas cookies
19 Sun- Crab feed with Nana & Zack
20 Mon- Read Luke 2
21 Tues- make Crunchy the Snowman
22 Wed-
23 Thurs-
24 Fri- Track Santa
25 Sat- Christmas!


2009:
1 Tues- letters to Santa
2 Wed- small group Christmas party
3 Thurs- address and mail cards
4 Fri- Visit Em and Brooke after school
5 Sat- make gingerbread house
6 Sun- Shopping
7 Mon- Wrap presents
8 Tues- A Charlie Brown Christmas (8pm ABC)
9 Wed- Church...
10 Thurs- Elf Yourself
11 Fri- Craft
12 Sat- Trucker's Parade
13 Sun- Visit Santa
14 Mon- scavenger hunt (Santa's elves came to check up on you and left a present, fallow the clues to find it...)
15 Tues-
16 Wed- M's Christmas program
17 Thurs-
18 Fri- Last day of school
19 Sat- Make Christmas Cookies
20 Sun- Drive around to see Christmas lights
21 Mon- Dinner/Christmas w/ my family
22 Tues-
23 Wed- Nana & Zack here??
24 Thurs- Track Santa
25 Fri- Christmas!


2008:
1 Mon- start decorating house
2 Tues- write letter to Santa
3 Wed- small group
4 Thurs- Debbie & Marty's
5 Fri- address and mail cards
6 Sat- get tree and decorate
7 Sun- finish decorating house
8 Mon- watch A Charlie Brown Christmas (8pm on ABC)
9 Tues- Christmas Craft with Mommy
10 Wed- shop for presents after school (ask Piz if she can come help)
11 Thurs- wrap presents
12 Fri- watch Frosty & Frosty returns (8pm on CBS)
13 Sat- Trucker's Parade
14 Sun- make gingerbread house
15 Mon- watch I want a Dog for Christmas Charlie Brown (8pm on ABC)
16 Tues-
17 Wed- small group
18 Thurs- Ryan's Christmas Program (7pm)
19 Fri- Mackenzie's last day of school (party?)
20 Sat- Watch Polar Express DVD
21 Sun- drive around to see Christmas lights
22 Mon- make Christmas cookies
23 Tues- make cheesecakes & watch the Grinch Cartoon (8pm ABC)
24 Wed- Christmas eve @ Tom & Karin's with Nana & Zack
25 Thurs- CHRISTMAS!!

P365- 332

Hot Cross Buns...

P365- 331

The kids favorite thing about shopping the sales online? Making cars out of the boxes!

Start of the Week Stuff

I had a semi-productive morning with the kids back to school today, but the afternoon is not turning out to be the same.  Oh well, at least I got some stuff done.  

To-Do's:
Monday- get things back in order now that the kids are back in school, start decorating for Christmas
Tuesday- orthodontist for M, guitar for R
Wednesday- work in R's class, Grinch rehearsal
Thursday- nothing :)
Friday- mom's night out
Saturday- tech rehearsal
Sunday- church, Costco, pictures (pray it doesn't rain!)


Menu:
Monday- breakfast
Tuesday- slow cooker ham & white beans with cornbread
Wednesday- homemade pizza
Thursday- oven baked Frito pie
Friday-
Saturday-
Sunday-

P365- 330

Decorating the tree, right before they knocked it over.

P365- 329

Cutting down our Christmas tree.

P365- 328

Helping with some yard work.

P365- 327

Happy Thanksgiving!!

P365- 326

Making cranberry sauce (and apple pie and stuffing). Can't wait to eat it tomorrow!

P365- 325

Matching PJs after watching The Grinch.

P365- 324

Doctor, Doctor at home group tonight.

Start of the Week Stuff

I'm so happy that the kids have this week off!  Not only are they out of school, but they don't have rehearsals either.  Ahh...


To-Do's for the week:
Monday- grocery shopping, post office, home group
Tuesday- guitar for R, Grinch movie with friends
Wednesday- nothing! :) (or Thanksgiving prep...)
Thursday- Thanksgiving here
Friday- stop by band rehearsal for M (not a big deal compared to normal rehearsals)
Saturday- getting our tree! :)
Sunday- church, Costco


Menu:
Monday- hot dogs and sweet potato fries
Tuesday- chicken enchaladas
Wednesday- breakfast
Thursday- turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, biscuits, ect... :)
Friday- leftovers
Saturday- tomato tortellini soup (adding sausage this time)
Sunday- salmon with parmesan mayo crust (I will be using store-bought mayo though) with something else

P365- 323

Watching a video of Beagle puppies. ❤

P365-322

Thanksgiving at Papa Tucker & Grammy Terry's.

P365- 321

My view this morning. Snuggles and our favorite mouse. ❤

P365- 320

N decided he needed to ice his ankle after dinner (and his neck, and face, and tongue...).

P365- 319

Six hours of Grinch stuff tonight. It's going to be so good though!!

P365- 318

We got to watch A today. :)