Family Year Books

Before my kids were born I loved to scrapbook. After the kids were born I've found that I just do not have the time to scrapbook like I did before they were born. My last scrapbook stops at the summer of 2010...the same summer I became pregnant with my daughter.

I still take lots of pictures .... actually about a couple hundred more now. Time is going by so quickly that I want to try to capture every moment.

Here is a solution to what to do with all those pictures when you do not have time to scrapbook them....

I've created family year books! Here are my last two I've created thanks to help from Shutterfly. These books will run around $29.99 and up plus shipping. Sometimes if you are lucky you can find code discounts and apply them when they have deals/sales going on. I paid only $13 for one of these books using a code and pairing it with a promotional discount they were having that week!

Here are my family year books from 2012 & 2013....

The front covers:

* I used photographs of big events that happened during that year. 

Inside I included:

*birthday celebrations.... 

* holiday celebrations....

* family trips.....

*the announcement of a pregnancy and the gender reveal....

 *the birth of a new family member....

*and other imporant or family year book worthy pictures...

Don't forget to write on the side of the family year book!

And you can put pictures or writing on the back of the family year books as well!

Now I won't feel bad if I do not get back to scrapbooking for a while and those pictures are not just sitting around on my computer waiting to be printed.

I Spy....10 Giraffe Spots!

Last night before bed I presented this "I Spy" book I've been working on for my kids! Their reactions were priceless! I loved it...they loved it!

Here is the front cover....

Last weekend I gathered up some toy items around the house and took pictures of them in a pile then loaded the pictures on the computer.

Next I pulled up my word document and posted the pictures and then looked for items in the picture for the kids to "spy".  I then made a list of items for them to find....some are easier than others.

Little People toys.... 

Mr. Potato Head parts.... 

Barnyard animals and toys....

I also photographed their bath toys for another page! 

All together there are eleven pages! I laminated the pages so the book can be read over and over again!

Here is the back page...

As the kids get older I'll add some new things for them to "spy". I purposely bound the book this way so I can add more pages in the future!

Nebraska ... Home of Arbor Day!

This past week and weekend we decided to celebrate Arbor Day! It has been a tradition of ours for the past few years to go to Nebraska City for their annual Arbor Day celebration complete with a parade!

What is Arbor Day? Arbor Day  is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. The first American Arbor Day was originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton. On April 10, 1872, an estimated one million trees were planted in Nebraska.

Now that my daughter is three and my son is almost one it made going to the parade even more enjoyable.

 Here they are waiting for the parade to start! 

 Here is my eleven month old son with my husband waiting for the 1pm parade to start!

 Audrey waved at the parade participants as they walked by! It was adorable!

 Picking up candy that was thrown out to the crowd by the parade participants!

This lady handed her a Colorado Blue Spruce seedling to plant at home! 

In years past we have visited local museums, restaurants, the craft fair at the outlet mall, and local flea markets to name a few but this year we had to get back home to take care of a few errands and to do some house work so we didn't get to stick around long. However, we did stop at park near Steinhart Park/Wildwood Golf Course before heading back to Lincoln.  

The Thursday before Arbor Day we bought a tree! We received an advertisement in the mail two weeks ago for an open house event at our local Earl May. We have been planning to replace our tree in our front yard after it cracked/broke in half two years ago and had to be chopped down so we decided to go to the open house to see what we could find. 

They had some yummy treats, drinks and fresh popped popcorn (my daughter's favorite). They were also offering a 10% discount if you purchased items during the open house. We walked around and looked at the trees and decided on a beautiful Red Bud tree. 

 

I can't wait to sit on my front porch and see this beautiful tree bloom every spring and see it grow year after year!

Did you celebrate Arbor Day? What did you do?

That is A Lot of Strawberries!

My kids like strawberries. Actually that is a huge understatement. My kids LOVE strawberries. They can easily eat a whole pound of strawberries...if I'd let them.

One of my daughters nicknames we gave her was strawberry while she was still growing in my tummy. I know strange nickname to have for an unborn child but it will all make sense soon. This picture hangs on her bedroom wall....

The top photograph is an ultrasound of my daughter. When I was pregnant with her my husband and I not yet knowing the gender of our baby got tried of calling her an "it" or hearing family call our child an "it". At the time we were trying to find a name to call "it" I read in my baby book that "it" was about the size of a strawberry. I mentioned that to my husband and the nickname "strawberry" stuck. The bottom photograph is some strawberries in an ice cream bucket my daughter and I picked last year from our very small strawberry patch in the backyard.

So before she was born she was "taught" to like strawberries....after all, that was her nickname! Whenever I find a cute outfit with strawberries on it I can't help but get excited and get it for her.

Last fall I found a cute strawberry dress for her at a consignment sale. I paid only $3 for it and it still had the tags on. Score! Shortly after purchasing the dress Driscoll's had an online contest to win a $1,000 scholarship for taking a photograph with their strawberries.

Here is the picture we submitted!

We made it into the finals and it was used to advertise the contest on their Facebook page but she lost to two cute boys holding up a sign that said "We Love Driscolls".....  smart kids!

So when I saw an eleven pound flat of strawberries on sale in an ad at our grocery store this past weekend I was all over it. We paid $11.88 for 11 pounds of strawberries. That is $1.08 a pound....not bad at all. Especially since the cheapest I've paid lately has been $1.88 a pound.

What did we do with all those eleven pounds of strawberries?

1) We packaged eight pounds of the strawberries in quart size freezer zip-top bags to freeze in our deep freeze and enjoy later in homemade muffins, homemade smoothies, and homemade pancakes and waffles. How did we do it? I had my three-year-old toddler help! It took us about 1 hour to go through them all, cut off the top stems, cut off any spoiled spots (there were not very many!), and cut the strawberries in half. My daughter's job was to find large, then medium, than small strawberries and hand them to me. When I was done cutting the stem off the strawberry she would take it and place it in a large bowl until I cut it in half and then placed it into a zip-top baggie.

Here is my daughter showing off a big juicy strawberry before handing it to me to cut up! 

And here she is taking a strawberry from me and placing it into the bowl.  

 The eight pounds of strawberries fit into nine zip-top baggies! 

2) While we were cutting up the strawberries to freeze we consumed about one pound of it! Between my daughter, son, husband and myself we just couldn't resist! After we finished cutting them up (it was after dinner) we enjoyed a yummy ice cream sundae with fresh strawberries, banana slices, chocolate syrup, and whipped topping. Yum!

3) I left two pounds of the strawberries in the refrigerator to enjoy with our meals and as a healthy snack option during the week.

Note: Go early in the morning during these sales to find the best selection. We went on Friday night (the 1st day of the sale) and the one's they had out looked awful. They looked like people had gone through and only left the small, bruised, and over-ripened ones. My husband went back around 8am on Saturday to correct mistake on the receipt and found they had restocked the strawberries with nice big and juicy strawberries!

Do you have any good strawberry recipes you'd like to share? I may just need one or two!

One of the BEST Appetizers You'll Ever Make!

Alligator Eyes, Pickle Pinwheels, Pickle Things...whatever you choose to call them just know they are very delicious!

I dare you after making these to eat just one!

I've been making these yummy treats for over 15 years now. I've perfected the art of making them. This is the number one food I'm requested to take to family get-togethers and it's the first dish to be gone!

Here is the important part...after so many years of making these I've found the best brands that go well together to make these the best they can be. You can try making them using other brands but once you have them this way you'll never go back!

Ingredients:
* Budding Original pastrami (2 oz package). I usually buy these on sale for around 50-69 cents and freeze them. When I'm needing to make them I pop them out of the freezer and into the refrigerator the night before I make them.
* Claussen Kosher Dill Mini pickles (always chilled - you'll find it in the refrigerator in the pickle section).
* 2 (8 oz) packages of Cream Cheese. This one you can use any brand you want.

Directions:
1. Place pastrami flat on a plate, platter, or cutting board. NOTE: If you previously froze your pastrami you may want to use a paper towel and pat them dry as they get a little slippery while thawing. 
2. Spread cream cheese thinly over the pastrami. NOTE: Keep the cream cheese chilled until using...it "spreads" better when cold!.
3. Arrange a dill pickle on one end of the pastrami and roll it up.
4. Place a 2nd piece of pastrami flat on a plate, platter, or cutting board and repeat steps 2 and 3.
5. Refrigerate in a covered container for 30 minutes or more. NOTE: you can refrigerate these overnight...they will still taste the same! This is how I usually make them!
6. Cut "pickle things" into appetizer size pieces and place on a serving dish (see picture above). NOTE: I cut the ends off and leave them behind at home as a nice treat for myself and my husband as they will be eaten fast at the party....Sometimes I do not even get one at the party so it's nice to have a few when I come home later!
7. Enjoy the deliciousness and enjoy seeing how quickly these are devoured! 

At first it can seem time consuming to make these but once you've perfected making them it will go much faster! Remember they do not have to be perfect! 

A Good Reminder

This is a good reminder why I keep all non-washable and permanent markers up high or locked up in our house.

I stepped away with my infant son to change his diaper for only three minutes. My daughter said she had to go to the bathroom...she has been going to the bathroom for four months now alone so I didn't think anything of it. 

After I finished up with my son, I headed to the kitchen to jot down a quick item on our shopping list. My daughter walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen looking like this...

When I saw her I asked her what happened and her replay was "Nothing!"  but the evidence was written.... or should I say scribbled... all over her face! She then informed me that she "painted" the bathroom too!

This is what I discovered in the bathroom....a nice "painting" on the counter.....

...and the toilet seat... 

....and the toilet paper still on the roll and a towel! Thankfully it was just washable! 

After some baby wipes and a wet washcloth all was good again!

If she ever wants to audition for an upcoming smurf movie I know just the makeup she should use!

Easter 2014

We had a blast celebrating the fun side of Easter this past weekend with lots of Easter Bunnies, lots of family time, and lots of excitement!

I do not believe in paying to see the Easter Bunny when there are so many free places you can go to see the bunny. Two of our outings to spot the Easter bunny were planned....and two were not. Yes that is right we wound up seeing four Easter Bunnies all on Saturday and all for free!

Here is my youngest cuddling up with the first Easter Bunny. This was at Four Star Drug (north of 53rd & Old Cheney Road). An employee handed us a fortune cookie to break open and eat while in the store. Inside was a coupon good for $5 off a purchase of $20 or more. Since our son's birthday is less than one month away I found a cute Melissa and Doug train set (his party is train themed) for $19.99 plus tax....so a super deal with the $5 off! So I knocked out two birds with one stone by visiting the Easter Bunny and getting my son a birthday present at discount!

Here I am holding my three-year-old daughter for the picture. She decided she was scared of the Easter Bunny so would not sit on her lap. Our eleven-month-old son was having a great time! Look at the smile on his face! After we were done getting our pictures taken ..... for free with our own camera... another employee handed each child a small bag of Jelly Belly jellybeans!

Next we headed to SouthPointe Mall to see their Easter Bunny. There was only one other family in front of us. So we only had to wait 2-3 minutes. It was a beautiful 70 degree day so it made it even better. Again this bunny was free we just had to bring our own camera. When the kids were done another lady handed us a treat for each child which included: a plastic cup, a small bag of skittles, a coupon to the Children's Place store, a coupon for a free kids meal at Chili's with an adult entree purchase, and a coupon for a free ice cream at Cold Stone with an adult purchase. Pretty good for free! Next we headed into Barnes and Noble to purchase a book I'd placed on hold at the front desk for Tyler's grandmother's birthday. 

 

After Audrey played for about 15 minutes at the train table in the children's area at Barnes and Noble we headed to the Wilderness Park day camp area (1st & Calvert) for their "Easter Egg Hunt" as advertised online. This is where we saw our 3rd Easter Bunny. This event was a bit of a disappointment....it might get better but this was their first year doing it and they did not plan for such a large turnout.  

Below is Audrey with her new free plant she got at the Wilderness Park event.

As we were headed home I got on Facebook on my phone and discovered that the Penguin Pit Stop (one of our favorite places to visit with the kids) had the Easter Bunny there from 2-4pm and their yummy pineapple whip available. It was 2:20pm at this point so we decided to head there. After a hot past two hours at Wilderness Park (it was now in the 80's) pineapple whip and shaved ice sounded delicious! As we pulled into the parking lot to the Meadowlane Shopping Center we were greeted with a big wave by our 4th Easter Bunny for the day. He gave the kids each an Easter egg which contained a few small pieces of chocolate and a coupon for 75 cents off a shaved ice...Score!! 

Pictured below is my husband and son enjoying some pineapple whip!

Below is my daughter, Audrey, enjoying a large tutti fruitti shaved ice!

 Here is a picture of the kids with the Easter Bunny. 

 

Next it was time to head home and get some house work done. After our housework was semi-done we headed out front for a traditional Easter egg hunt.

That evening before bed was our traditional coloring of the Easter eggs. Using the cups I've saved up every year and the dye tablets I bought for 20 cents after Easter last year.

Here is Audrey putting stickers on her eggs.

Our beautifully colored Easter eggs!

The next morning the kids awoke to find the Easter Bunny had visited and left behind Easter baskets for the kids.

Audrey received four new shirts (I rolled them up) bought on the clearance rack at Target for around $2 each, a princess Pez dispenser (her 1st ever), playdough bought with a coupon making a four pack just around $1, and a purple princess headband tiara bought in the dollar bin at Target.

Hunter received the Croods BlueRay Movie purchased for $7 on Black Friday, playdough, water paint purchased for 7 cents on clearance and with a coupon at Target, Gerber infant/toddler snacks also purchased on sale, and his 1st Pez dispenser.

After the kids opened their Easter baskets we got dressed in our Sunday best and headed to Tyler's sister's home to celebrate with his side of the family. Following the morning and early afternoon celebrating with them we headed to my side of the family's celebration. Below are the cupcakes I made for the celebrations.

Ingredients for the Robin's Egg Cupcakes included:
* 1 box cake mix (use the ingredients labeled on the box and follow the directions on the box for making/baking)
* Cupcake liners (I pick these up all year long in dollar bins or on clearance after a holiday)
* Homemade frosting .... 1/3 cup soft butter, 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp milk. Blend/beat ingredients together until smooth.
* Chocolate ... using a knife or mandolin to shave into pieces
* Robins egg candy 

Ingredients for the M&M Carrot Cupcakes included:
* 1 box cake mix (use the ingredients labeled on the box and follow the directions on the box for making/baking)
* Cupcake liners
* Homemade frosting .... 1/3 cup soft butter, 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp milk. Blead/beat ingredients together until smooth.
* Orange and green M&M's

The cupcake were delicious! If I had more time next time I would pipe on the frosting instead of just spreading it on. But with so much going on I did not have much time.