Day 6 - It's the Little Things

Except that today, my little thing is a really BIG thing! My littlest man and his WHOLE SCHOOL went to see the Nutcracker today:

It was quite the undertaking! Nine hundred students as well as teachers and parent volunteers boarded 19 buses!!! Unfortunately (at least for me) the performance was quite disappointing. It was shortened quite a bit (for the students' benefit, I'm sure) and a lot of the best parts were left out. On a happy note...we finally have SNOW!!!!

And here it is added to my layout:

Have a GREAT day!

Day 5 - The View From Here

Our photo assignment today was to capture our view. I was REALLY hoping for snow so I could take a pic of my view with the snow falling...but no such luck.

Here's my pic (if you look really close, you can see some Christmas lights):

And here it is added to my Daily December Layout:

Have a GREAT day!

Day 4 - Just a little peace and quiet

Our assignment today was to photograph something that brought us peace at this crazy time of year...for me...that's baking.

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Day 3 - All You Need is Love

Our theme for today is "All you need is love". Many people chose hearts as their image. I chose this:

My Caroline and I had a silly misunderstanding today and we're pretty sure it's because we were BOTH PMS'ing at the SAME TIME! We probably should have written down on a calendar that somehow our cycles have now synced, but I guess it never occurred to us. YIKES!!!

Anyway...feelings were hurt, tears were shed and she bought me some flowers. We both agreed to just pretend like today never happened...good plan!!!

Here's my updated layout:

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Day 2 - Reframe the Holidays

Our assignment for today was to "Reframe the Holidays". Some of the photos in the gallery are GORGEOUS! Lots of photos of the outside through window "frames"...there is even one pic of two little boys holding a frame above their heads - SUPER cute!

I decided to change the image in my Stampin' UP! "frame"...the Simply Adorned Jewelry I wear every day.

Here's my day 2:

I can't wait to see this whole page filled out!

Photo a Day

Each year, for a few years now, I've started off in January with this wonderful intention of capturing a photo a day.

Each year, for a few years now, I never seem to QUITE make it all the way to the end of the year...OK, I never even GET close, but who's keeping track?

This year, I thought I'd try something new and start in December. To that end, I've jumped on board with Big Picture Classes and took a class entitled "Picture the Holidays".

This will be a digital scrapping kind of thing because that way, I don't have to mess around with taking out paper every day and I can just keep it all in one place - YAY!! And, to make my life infinitely easier, I'm using a pre-made template designed by Katie Pertiet at Designer Digitals and you can find it here.

So...here's day 1:

This is a pic of the pyjamas that I bought for my "sister" Caroline and I. My mom started this tradition when my sister Wendy and I were little and we've both continued it with our families. This year, I decided to include my Caroline in the tradition as well. We call each other "sister", but we are only sisters of the heart. We are BFF's and I love her just as much as I do my own sister. We are so much alike, we were destined to be friends!

Why don't you join me and start your own December to remember? Slow down and enjoy the season!

On a scale of 1 to Ottawa...this is worse!!!

Does anyone even read this anymore? Since I switched to my card making blog, I hardly ever post here anymore...it's not that I don't have anything to say...it's just that most of what I DO have to say relates to card making!

However...this has NOTHING to do with card making, so I thought I might as well post it here...as I type...with one eye swelled SHUT!

So yes...on a scale of 1 to Ottawa, this is much, MUCH worse!

Let's go back about 19 years...

The summer before I was married, I was working for a company that decided to implement a Point of Sale system in their stores. If you haven't been around long, I know it's hard to believe that there was a world before scanners and automated everything, but trust me...it existed.

Anyway...I spent the summer travelling and planning our wedding on weekends...that's a WHOLE OTHER STORY for another day...

While I was travelling (and living out of a suitcase - UGH!) I ate out A LOT! One evening, one of the ladies that worked in the store I was training on the new system invited me for dinner. I thought this was just FABULOUS as I wouldn't have to eat another restaurant meal all by myself.

I didn't know it at the time, but she had cats. I'm allergic to cats...VERY allergic to cats...as in get me an inhaler before I have an asthma attack allergic...yeah...not fun.

So, I went to dinner and we chatted and I had a great time with her family...until my eyes started to itch...and my nose started to get stuffed...and my breathing became laboured. And that's when I discovered she had cats. Well...I got the heck outta there in a hurry, went back to my hotel and took some meds. Of course, by then it was TOO LATE!!!

The fluid had started to build up in my eyes and by the next morning (despite the meds!) they were pretty much swollen shut. I had to wear sunglasses for three days straight, around the clock so I wouldn't scare little old ladies and small children. It was THAT bad!

Flash forward to last night...I was out with some girlfriends and had the same reaction. However, there were no cats to be seen. There was a dog, but I've been with this dog before, had him lick my face and snuggled with him...the whole nine yards. And besides, he's a shit-zhu. The friend that owns him is EXTREMELY allergic to both cats and dogs. This dog LIVES with her and she has NO problems. So...it wasn't the dog.

So...by the time I left the party, I had to drive with the one eye almost closed - goodbye depth perception - and just barely made it home, driving MUCH more slowly than I should have been on the highway. In hindsight, I should have taken a side road, but I wasn't exactly thinking clearly.

By this morning (having taken both allergy meds and ibuprofen to help bring down the swelling), I'm working with a left eye that is just barely able to open to about a 1/4". This is NOT COOL!!! I have a class to teach (card making, of course) to some young ladies on Sunday and can't do it looking like this! My hope is to be able to postpone the class...or at the VERY least that the swelling goes down enough for me to be able to function at least with a pair of shades.

So yes...on a scale of 1 to Ottawa? This is much, MUCH WORSE!!

POTD - Over the weekend...

On Friday, I made bread:

This is the recipe I've been using since I got my Cuisinart Stand Mixer from Santa in 2008. I don't know how I ever lived without it! I almost NEVER buy bread anymore, because it's SO much more fun to make it myself...and at least I know what's in it! Six ingredients... that's it...have you EVER read the ingredients list on store bought bread? And you wonder why it keeps so long? UGH!!!

Anyway, the recipe:

• 1 pkg. dry active yeast (if you buy in bulk like I do, that's 2 1/4 tsp.)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 2/3 cup very warm water
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
  
• 1 tsp. salt
• 5 c. flour

Directions:

• Dissolve yeast with sugar and water
• Add vegetable oil
• Add all the flour
• Set mixer to "2" for 4 minutes and then "3" for another 4 minutes
• Remove to oiled bowl, cover and let rise till doubled (about an hour)
• Punch down and form into two loaves
• Transfer to greased loaf pans, cover and let rise till doubled (about an hour)
• Bake at 375F for about 25 minutes
• Remove from pans and tap bottom of loaf - if it sounds hollow, it's done.

The best part is, the Cuisinart does all the work - no kneading!!!

This time around, I snuck in 1 cup of whole wheat flour. If you're going to do this, DON'T buy bread flour. You should look for whole wheat pastry flour as the texture is much smoother.

One loaf was gone the day it was made...yep! It's THAT good!

On Saturday, I made this card:
Just before Christmas, a friend of mine gave birth (7 weeks early) to an ADORABLE little boy! He's still in NICU due to a few setbacks, so I sent her this card to let her know I was thinking about her family.

On Sunday, this was dinner:
This is SUPER simple to make and EVERYONE loves it...well, except for middle DS, who doesn't like stuff with sauce on it, so he gets the sausage and the pasta separately.

I removed the sausage from the casings and browned it up. While that was happening, I cooked the pasta and made a garlic cream sauce (basically a white sauce with some garlic and Frank's Red Hot for a little kick).

Dinner was ready in less than 1/2 an hour...gotta love when that happens!!!

Thanks for visiting! Have a GREAT day!

POTD - CRASH!

So...this is how my day started out:
Stupid people in over priced cars should pay more attention to the world around them!

And, thankfully, this is how it ended:
Thank goodness for good friends who take the stress away! Diana, Karen, Eilis, Michelle and I had a blast at Diana's! She is an AWESOME hostess...and after only visiting a couple of times, we are right at home in her kitchen, helping ourselves to whatever we need to get the job done. YOU ROCK Diana!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

POTD - Banana Bread

This is a HUGE favourite in our house...I swear the kids let the bananas turn brown just so I can make it!

I've been making it for YEARS and I use my mom's recipe. I'm not quite sure where she got it (probably from HER mom), but I do know that it's been around for a while!

Would you like the recipe? Of course you would!

Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup banana

• Cream together butter and sugar. Add banana and then eggs one at a time and blend well.
• Combine dry ingredients and add to banana mixture.
• Pour into greased loaf pan and let stand 20 minutes.
• Bake in a 350F oven for 50 - 55 minutes.

Now, trust me on this, do NOT skimp on the bananas! I usually use at least 3 bananas (I never measure) but 4 is best. If you end up with 6 bananas, just double the recipe and make 2 loaves...it freezes beautifully...that's assuming it makes it to the freezer!

ENJOY!

POTD - Mmmmm...Pasta with Pesto

Here's today's lunch - YUM!!!
I should have saved some basil to garnish the pasta, but I used it all in the pesto - LOL!

Thanks for stopping by!

POTD - Pesto

Can you say YUM??? I was SO thrilled to get fresh Basil in my box of organic goodness from Plan B last week and I knew EXACTLY what to do with it! Make pesto of course!!!

I'm sure there are LOTS of people out there who think making pesto is a difficult undertaking, but it really isn't. There are very few ingredients and it whips up in seconds using your food processor. True...pine nuts can be a little expensive, but they are SO worth it!

Here's the recipe I used:

2 cups fresh basil
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/4 to 1/2 cup of olive oil (depending on how creamy you like it)

Put the first four ingredients into a food processor and pulse to blend.

Start food processor and slowly add oil through feed tube to make a nice paste.
And that's it...you're done. Easy peasy! Now...go make yourself some nice fresh pesto to enjoy on some pasta - YUM!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

POTD - Sound of Music

Have I mentioned how absolutely amazing my hubby is? I'm sure you've heard...

He's the guy that gets the Christmas gift right EVERY SINGLE YEAR without so much as asking me...he always knows just what to get.

Christmas 2009 was no exception! This year, he got me tickets to this:
And I was just thrilled! This has to be one of my all time favourite movies - EVER!!! We had a fabulous time! The little girl who played Gretl (our cast was different from the one in the poster) was just so darn cute that I wanted to scoop her up and take her home!

This movie/stage show brings back SO many fun memories...when I was in Grade 5, we performed this song:


and I can't remember for the life of me what it was we were doing - LOL! I can't remember if it was a talent show, a special performance for parents or what...I know we had a blast doing it and it's still one of my favourite songs! I was humming it all the way home from the play!

So...once again, my hubby goes above and beyond and gets me the PERFECT Christmas gift...did I mention that this was the last day of the play in Toronto? Yep...PERFECT!

POTD - Hanging out at the ROM

As a Sick Kids Ambassador Family, we get invited to quite a few events. This year, for Family Day, in conjunction with Conundrum Adventures, the Sick Kids Foundation will be hosting a sort of cross between a scavenger hunt and the Amazing Race in Toronto's underground PATH.

Today, at the ROM, we took part in sort of a trial run, on a much smaller scale, obviously. We were divided into teams (our family was one team) and had to solve the clues and puzzles that were given to us at the start of the race. We won!!!!

Here's a pic of us taken by the Conundrum host:
We had SO much fun!!!

Here's a little write up taken directly from the Sick Kids Foundation website:

Toronto’s underground walkway, the PATH, will bustle with excitement this Family Day (February 15) for the inaugural Family Day Race for SickKids. Teams of families and friends will explore sections of the 27-kilometre PATH as they race to solve puzzles and brainteasers.

Groups of four to six people will receive a map to navigate through the underground walkway. They will decipher clues and fill in the blanks of a Family Day story related to The Hospital for Sick Children. They will compete to get the most points within a two-hour period by trying to solve as many puzzles as possible, all while raising money for SickKids Foundation.

To truly make this experience about family fun, the Foundation called upon some current and past patients of the Hospital, known as SickKids patient ambassadors, to help create all of the storybook answers for the puzzles.

These patient ambassadors and their families gathered at the Royal Ontario Museum this past weekend to test out some of the brainteasers and to brainstorm creative clues for the Family Day Race. Teams will use their clues during the official Race on Family Day.

The Family Day Race for SickKids is the first signature event of its kind for SickKids Foundation. The event will begin and end at The Design Exchange at 234 Bay Street. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the Race will take place from 10 a.m. to noon with a ceremony for the top-prized teams and individuals to follow.

Register today for this special event. Grab a few of your family members, colleagues or friends, sign up on the Family Day Race for SickKids website, and begin fundraising for your team!

Get started now!

And here are some of the pics that I snapped:

My Honey

Colin

Jonathan

Thanks for stopping by!!!

POTD - A new knife

Oh how I have been wanting one of these!!! Pioneer Woman uses it, Rachael Ray uses it, Bobby Flay uses it, Mario Batalli uses it...and now I use it too!!! I just love, love, LOVE it!!!

Every year, because my parents live quite a distance from us, they send us some Christmas money. This is what I bought with mine:
Thanks Mom and Dad!!!

POTD - Some Cooking Trivia, a recipe and a picture

A little piece of trivia...did you know that most recipes that call for eggs and milk will assume that you will be using large eggs and whole milk?

A recipe:

Lemon Loaf:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
Grated lemon peel from one lemon

Glaze:
Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar

• In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar
• Add eggs, one at a time, beating until creamy
• Blend in milk
• In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and lemon peel
• Pour into liquid and stir to moisten
• Pour into greased 9 X 5 inch loaf pan (I used 4 X 8 and it's fine)
• Bake in 350F oven for 50 to 55 minutes
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes
• Remove to rack and while still hot, with a toothpick poke holes all over the top of the loaf and spoon glaze evenly over top.
• ENJOY!!!

And now, the POTD:
See that slice there? I'm going to enjoy it with a hot cup of tea!

Thanks for stopping by!

POTD - Tins for Friends

These little Altoid tins are the most fun things to alter - EVER! You can put SO many cute little things in them. These have little tiny thank you cards in them, but you can use them for so many other things...band-aids, mini sewing kit...you name it! These will be going to my friend Teresa for the swap she's hosting!

POTD - My Favourite Place to Be

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and I really do love spending time with them, but this place is my haven, where I can go to get away and escape reality...even for just a little while. And besides, my Caroline is here when I'm here. What more could I want?

POTD - Sleeping Beauty

Today was the first day back to school after the Christmas break (can you hear the silence?) and Lauren's first day back since she had open heart surgery on December 15th. As expected, she was pretty tired when she came home.

She came in the door, dropped her bag and her coat, told me (briefly) about her day and went straight to the couch for a nap! You'll have to forgive the blurriness of the photo...I had to shoot without the flash as I didn't want it to wake her up.

Hope everyone is having a GREAT day! Thanks for stopping by!

Embarking on the POTD once more...

Here we go! I'm going to give the Photo a Day challenge another shot this year. Last year I made it to April and completely fizzled out. Not that I stopped taking pictures (hello, scrapbooker!), but I certainly didn't take one a day. I'm sure I took more than 365, but that's not the point, is it?

So far:
Apple Crisp made for my honey. It was DELICIOUS! You can find the recipe here: Mom's Apple Crisp.

This is pouty face:
I think the game he was playing on the computer froze on him before he got a chance to save. We need a new video card. He'll get over it!

And today, LONG after I should have been in bed:
My most wonderful husband drove all over town yesterday and ended up at a Best Buy about 10 km away to find the LAST one to be found just about anywhere in town (I know...we looked far and wide before DD got too tired to hang around the mall anymore).

He brought it home and we tried it out after dinner. I LOVE IT!!! There are SO many activities on it, so you can't really get bored. You could do something different every day for two months because there are over 60 different activities on it. It's FABULOUS!!!

And since 2010 is THE decade, it's going to be my get fit tool. The little Wii board (on the screen) keeps you motivated and congratulates you for all your hard work. Anyway...enough about the Wii Fit Plus...time for dinner!

Thanks for stopping by!