I have been so busy!  Here’s what’s going on…

• We went on a little vacation last week to Oregon.  Visited two aunts, went to the Enchanted Forest, Prehistoric Gardens and Gold Beach.  Had a great time.

• Andrew performed a magic show for Katie’s birthday party and the kids loved it!

• I took the Joann’s sewing class and made this pillowcase… then I finally made the dress for Katie.  Let me know what you think!

• Katie finished her swim classes and will be starting gymnastics at the end of this month.
• Grant is trying so hard to talk… a few words he’s yelling at me: BABY, HERE! and MAAAAAAA!
• Baby is getting big (3 months already)
• We are all sick.

I am so done with scrapbooking & stamping!  I’ve been doing it for over ten years and have SO MUCH STUFF!  Over the last two years I’ve been paring down my collection and still have a lot.  I just gave some away to my mom and a friend, and will get more out on Ebay or Craigslist. 

My new hobby?? Sewing!  Last time I used a sewing machine was in 7th grade home ec, so I am looking forward to learning something new.  My mom has an old (80s) machine that she is going to give me this week.  I also signed up for some classes at Joann’s for next month.  Yesterday, while running errands, I stopped by there and spent two whole hours (I only had the baby with me, so I was virtually uninterrupted) just looking at the materials.  FUN!  My first class project will be a pillowcase.  I found some cute fabric and will make this for Katie.  I’ll post a picture when I complete the project. 

I’m looking forward to making things for the kids, and also for my husband’s magic endeavors.  I downloaded this darling pattern off of etsy to make dresses for the girls.  What do you think??

Here is my 2008 book list.  I favored Nicholas Sparks, Anne Tyler and the Left Behind series.  I’ve already started the 2009 list.  We’ll see how I do this year with three kids.

Kingsolver – The Poisonwood Bible – 1/08

Giordano – I Love You Like a Tomato – 1/08 (Apparently first in a series of three.)

Binchy – London Transports – 1/08

Tyler – Patchwork Planet – 2/08

Tyler – Back When We Were Grownups – 2/08

Pezzelli – Every Sunday – 2/08

Kay – Half Price Living – 2/08

Fowler – The Jane Austen Book Club – 3/08

Tyler – Breathing Lessons – 3/08

Rice – The Edge of Winter – 3/08

Hegi – Floating in My Mother’s Palm – 3/08

Hoffman – The Ice Queen – 3/08

Lockwood – Dixieland Sushi – 3/08 (SO funny!)

Oates – We Were the Mulvanneys – 4/08

Mason – In Country – 4/08

Kingsbury – A Time to Dance – 5/08 ( I loved this… Christian Lit is growing on me!)

Harris – Five Quarters of the Orange – 5/08

The Color Purple – 5/08

Dessen – This Lullaby – 5/08

Rubio – Icy Sparks – 6/08

Keyes – Sushi for Beginners – 6/08

Green – Babyville – 6/08

Binchy – This Year It Will Be Different – 6/08

Morrison – The Bluest Eye – 07/08

Frank – Sullivan’s Island -07/08

Patchett – Bel Canto – 08/08

Empire Falls – 08/08

Allison – Bastard Out of Carolina – 8/08

Wiggs – Snowfall at Willow Lake – 8/08

Karon – Mitford Series #5

Arnold – Pieces of my Sister’s Life – 9/08

Tyler – Ladder of Years – 9/08

Sparks – The Rescue – 9/08

Sleeping Arrangements – Started reading, but quit halfway through. Didn’t like it at all.

Sparks – The Guardian – 9/08

Sparks – Nights in Rodanthe – 09/08

Sparks – The Wedding – 09/08

Sparks – True Believer-09/08

LaHaye/Jenkins – Left Behind Series (1-9) – 10/08

Rice – What Matters Most – 10/08

Binchy – Firefly Summer – 11/08

HA… not many books in Nov/Dec… we got digital TV!

I’m seriously starting on this project now… my Great Aunt sent me tons of pictures and I began scanning them last night. 

When I originally was going to start this, I had scanned in some of the photos, but there was a problem and they weren’t right for the size I needed for the book.  Now I have a better software program, and after doing a few test scans, I have the method down pat.  Unfortunately, each scan takes over 3 minutes to do, and that doesn’t include any touch up time!

I have a deadline to scan them in by the end of January (so I can return them to my patient aunt), and from there, I can retouch, type in the actual story, and format the book. 

Very exciting!

My niece is due in 9 days.  Not that I’m counting down or anything!  Our family is outnumbered by boys… so far, the score is Boys:6, Girls:2.  This will bring us up to 3 girls.  Hopefully my next one will be a girl too!

This is a picture of the Diaper Cupcakes I gave to my SIL for her shower.  I think it turned out pretty cute!  They are nestled together on a tiered cupcake holder.

Diaper Cupcakes!

Today’s Loot: $16.50

• 45 Children’s Video Cassettes $5
• 10 Hardback Hans Christian Anderson books & 10 Left Behind books $3
• Wig, Tutu, Butterfly Wings (New) $3
• Dora Scooter $3
• …and the find of the day:  Double Stroller $2.50

Not bad, eh?

I came up with my own crock pot concoction yesterday and it was GREAT! 

I had some stew meat which I browned with some onion salt, then threw in the CP.  Then I chopped up a few carrots, celery and potatoes and added them in with a can of beef broth and a can of tomato sauce, some oregano, thyme and pepper.  After it cooked for a few hours, I boiled some barley and added that in as well.  It ended up being REALLY thick after the barley sucked up most of the juice, so I added one more can of beef broth.  Since we went out to eat with the family last night, we didn’t get a chance to eat it, but I had some for breakfast alright, and it was SO tasty!  Even Andrew approved when he had some for lunch.  I guess I’d call it Beef Barley Stew, as it was still pretty thick and not soupy at all.  I could probably have added another can of tomato sauce or beef broth, but the final product was too good to mess with.  I can’t wait to make it again.  It was about $6.00 for all of the ingredients.

If I remember, I’ll take a picture before it’s eaten up, and post the actual recipe so it’s easier to read.

Remember this post?  Well, I got through Grandma’s life story and boy, is she a hoot.  I’ve decided to type it up myself and make a book through Blurb.  I have asked my Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle to send me any photos they had growing up with GGR.  I have received some already and scanned them in, but still want more for my book.  There were some great shots like this one:

Curly wrote about this awesome site where you can be creative and make some collages.  Here is my creation.  My old 90210 collage from high school has nothing on this!

I just read this book and it made me laugh!  The main character (a Jenn like me!) was born in 1974 (like me!) and throughout the book has flashbacks to her 4th-8th grade days in the 80’s.  I am not the best book reviewer, but I will say that if you were born during that time, you will laugh at this book to her references to plastic shoes, The Karate Kid, roller-skating birthday parties, friendship bracelets, etc.

Not to mention Jen grew up in Arkansas and was the daughter of Bubba (white guy) and Vivien (Japanese) – hence the title.  Loved it!

Dixieland Sushi by Cara Lockwood.  Picked it up at the Salvation Army for $1.  Go me.