document life now

Thanksgiving

We went to my parents' house for Thanksgiving week. My dad had back surgery not too long ago and it was just easier for everyone to go to him.

And who am I kidding? My parents house was where everyone wanted to go. 

Wednesday night involved Brady winning a poker game, me trying some new Sangria (my weakness... probably because I feel like I can get some servings of fruit by having sangria) and my sister and I rocking out to Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. Classic.

Grooving to The Carpenters led to us digging out our old albums. My sister made this startling discovery:

That's right, dear readers. I'm raising the next Barry Manilow. 

Oh Mandy. You came and you gave without taking...

Lest ye be concerned, we did eat a big Thanksgiving dinner as well. My mom put the turkey in the oven, did the mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. I did the stuffing, green bean casserole, and carved that turkey. Mykiah did appetizers (not pictured because we ate them about 10:30). 

We didn't engage in any serious Black Friday shopping. I did some online shopping, and we did visit the mall... although our goal was seeing the Muppets. Amazing movie. I'm totally on a Muppets kick right now. You know, just in case you're thinking Christmas gifts...

Family: Defined

One of the things that has always interested me is how families function. How we celebrate, how we grieve, the rituals and things we treasure... it's all different. 

What my family of five enjoys is different from what my sister's family enjoys, even though my sister and I grew up in the same home. My husband's family operates under much different rules than my own family. It's all completely interesting and I enjoy trying to define what it is that makes each family unique.

It was this interest in the elements that make each family unique that led me to create my new self-paced workshop for Big Picture Classes. 

Available for download for the very affordable price of $10, the class not only features a ten "chapter" outline to help you define the components which make your family unique, you'll also get 20 digital templates to help you scrap that definition. Here's a litte sneak peek of two layouts I did for this class:

This is a self-paced class, so there's no deadline for finishing and no penalty for not turning work in on time. Purchasing this class gets you access to the materials, which I've separated into chapters. Each chapter looks at a different facet of culture: symbols, artifacts, celebrations, stories, techonology and rituals. I suggest ways to scrapbook each of these components of culture and when you're done working your way through them, you'll have an album that defines your family right now.

The best part of this class is that you can work your way through the course materials again and again. As you know, my own children are teenagers now and while I love that I have defined our family at this moment in time, I really wish I'd done it back when they were little. The stories, the rituals, and especially the technology... it would have been a different definition of our family. I look forward to doing this again when my son graduates college, when the first grandchild is born, when I retire from teaching. It's a story that can be told again and again because the story changes.

If you're thinking of a new project for the new year, I'd love to have you join me in Family:Defined. Give yourself the gift of a new way to look at your family.

December Daily

We pulled out our holiday decorations this weekend and one of my favorite things to set out is my December Daily albums from the last two years. 

It took me a long time to find that the idea of doing an album every December appealed to me. Mostly, I thought it was a pain in the rear. Seriously... who has time to take a photo every stinking day during the busiest month of the year?

And I'm so glad that two years ago, I decided I should give it a try. I use a combination of Ali Edwards'December Daily and Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas. My previous December albums have been paper albums... one from an upcycled Golden Book and one is an art journal kit. This year, I thought I might like to do it digital.

I've rejected the digital idea in the past because I thought I wouldn't keep up with it. There's something to be said for sitting down with my album every day and journaling every day. This year, I'm going to do that on my computer. Every evening, as I watch TV with my children, I will open photoshop elements and journal for that day. The photos will probably be done weekly (as they were the last two years) and at the end, I'll have a digital book I'll print at Viovio.

For supplies, I used Nettio Designs Holiday Faves Mini Album. I resized the templates to 6x9" from her 5x7' format. After a couple of trial and error attempts, I did my pages using Star On Top, a collab kit by Amy Martin and Peppermint (One Little Bird). The kit really went with the graphic feel I want for this album. 

So here is my unveiling of my 2011 December Daily album. The numbers on the journal pages are just a place holder (and this is just a sampling... I have all 25 ready to go). The font for the dates might go. Again, a place holder until I decide what works. I rather like this font, though. It's just enough not me for me to like it. The font I used for "filler pages" and "journal cards" is definitely going to be my journaling font, though. I love, love, love it.

And now I can't wait to get started. Can't wait to see what December will bring!

Thanksgiving Week and a gift

I'm sitting on my little loveseat with two blankets snugged around me, watching Cars 2 with the family and thinking how grateful I am for the life I have.

My friends Rose and Jason have started a The Thanksgiving Project. It goes like this:

Step 1: Make your list.
.....Write down each person in your life for whom you are thankful. Mother, Father, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandmother, grandfather, best friend, second best friend, backup best friend, mentor, neighbor, and the rest! Watch the list grow!

Step 2: Write the letters.
.....Write each of the people on your list a letter telling them how grateful you are to have them in your life. Long, short, sentimental, or funny, just write sincerely!

Step 3: Mail the letters on November 21, 2011.
.....Fill the post office with Thanksgiving and let your closest friends and family members know exactly how you feel!

Their dedication to being thankful for people and relationships has inspired me to create something that shows my own gratitude. (And, also, I'm not going to get letters written and in the mail by tomorrow.) While I'm watching Finn McMissile and thinking about working on my December Daily foundation pages, I thought I'd make a little piece of subway art that expresses how I'm feeling.

I love subway art, and framed typography prints. It's my favorite. Besides smiling. That's really my favorite.

Anyway, here's your gift:

View this photo

If you click on the link above and then do a save as, you should get the full sized file. It's sized to 8x10 so you can print and frame and hang over your Thanksgiving table this holiday season. I'd be honored. 

I'm thankful for you, blog readers. I'll be back to full time blogging after Thanksgiving. 

I so, so sorry.

I haven't been blogging. It's become a chore lately and not something that brings me pleasure. I felt like I was forcing it. 

So I just stopped. I'll get back to it, but not this week probably. Maybe not next. 

For now, here's a picture of Chesney on the day she took her campaign poster to school. Student council is new at Chesney's school and the counselor talked to each class and laid out some rules. Must have a 3.0 or higher, must make a poster, and must deliver a speech to the class. 

Chesney wanted glitter and pompoms for her campain poster. 

Heck, she probably wanted to use Comic Sans.

Instead, she got this:

It's not perfect, but it's awesomeness, isn't it. By the way, that's the tag line at the bottom.

Vote for Chesney

she's awesome!

She wrote her speech. Instead of promising pizza parties or school dances or getting the music teacher fired, she's promising to listen and represent to the best of her ability.

I hope she wins. And if she doesn't, I hope she's a gracious loser.

Speech and election are Friday. I'll update with results next week. 

making applesauce

Mykiah loves to eat healthy, and it just doesn't get any healthier than applesauce. While at my mom's this weekend, Mykiah got to make her own. Happy girl.

First, Mykiah cut the stems off the apples and cut them into pieces. Didn't peel or core them, just put them in some boiling water. After a few minutes, the apples were put into this contraption:

Mykiah took a big cone shaped pestle and ground those apples into applesauce. And then she took a spoon and declared it perfection.

Didn't add any sugar or anything. Just pure apple. When I was little, my mom would make applesauce and freeze it. Mykiah just ate it...

Halloween quickie

This was probably the last year I'll have a child out trick or treating. Chesney was happy to get dressed and go ask for candy one last time.

Mykiah was her chaperone/escort/bodyguard. She decided to dress to fit the theme...

When Ches got home, it was too warm for the traditional first hot cocoa of winter, so she just had some juice and dug into her candy. She still loves sorting through her candy... and we'll all be a little sad when that doesn't happen any more...

a few recipes

We baked a lot this weekend. Actually, I chose the recipes and Mykiah made them. I helped a little with the snickerdoodles, but mostly it was all Mykiah. 

I've had a few requests for the recipes, so here they are:

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 1 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup canned pumpkin ( not pumpkin pie)
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Cream butter and sugars.
2. Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Combine flour, salt, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg in a separate, large mixing bowl.
4. Stir in creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin.
5. Fold in chocolate chips.
6. Drop by Tbsp onto greased cookie sheets.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

For the cookies:

3¾ cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

 

For the coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground ginger

Dash of allspice

 

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.  Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.  Scoop the dough (about 2½ tablespoons) and roll into a ball.  Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart.  Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in water, then in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly.  Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.  

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Repeat with the remaining dough.  Store in an airtight container.

 

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday. We spent the weekend at my parents' house... baking cookies, eating Mexican and pizza, sharing cake. I was stuffed, and in a good way. Lots of talking about the upcoming holidays.

I just wanted to take the time to say Happy Birthday, Mom. Thanks for being a great grandma to my kids, and a great mom for me.

Happy National Scrapbook Weekend 2011!

I have a few layouts to share using products being released this weekend! I love playing with new stuff!

First, a layout using a new template set from Darcy Baldwin Fontography. 

My girl sure is pretty, isn't she?

Next up is a layout using a new template set from the awesome Nettio Designs. This is a collab project with Traci Reed so it features some of Traci's fun slip ins and stitching in addition to Lynette's always awesome templates. I did this Halloween flashback layout using the Halloween themed template:

Thanksgiving 2010:

and Christmas 2010:

I don't know sale specifics, but I'm sure both products will be on sale this weekend. Have fun shopping, and have a blessed weekend!