menu plan: grinch kabobs!

these were so cute and easy that i made them twice.  once for the cub scout christmas party and then again for g's party at school.  they were a big hit on both occasions.  of course, they are from pinterest.  i love my holiday foods pin board.  i believe they are visually very self explanatory.  i would advise you to buy big grapes, big bananas, and small strawberries and let you know that each grinch requires two toothpicks.  oh!  also, i ended up cutting the grape a sliver at the top just to make his hat sit on nicely.  :)

i've had no menu plan the last couple weeks.  i made too much tortilla soup and then too much pot roast.  holy moly.  i had to eat each thing five times just to make it all go away.  sigh.

i do have a somewhat non-traditional christmas menu mapped out, thanks again to pinterest.

christmas dinner:
cranberry pork loin
deviled eggs
crash hot potatoes
olive oil and sea salt baked green beans
corn on the cob with lime and sea salt
cheesy pull apart rolls
key lime pie

i've had key lime pie on my weekly menu plan so many times and it just never happens.  i've finally realized that this is because mrs. edwards makes it much better than i ever will and more cheaply with no time investment required from me.  it's a win, win, win that i can't argue with.

major whew! on my part.  school the last two weeks has been tiring to say the least.  last week was finals week.  on friday alone, i helped with ten finals in six different subjects in a three hour window of time.  i was fairly fried after that one.  the week before was state testing.  i had four read alouds that week and my schedule was a nightmare for four of the five days (thank goodness for that bonus "snow" day on tuesday!).  needless to say, i have been crafty decompressing since friday at 3:00.  my mantel is almost done, the house is almsot clean, and i am almost ready for christmas.  just in the nick of time!  (pun intended).

i will have a few very merry christmas crafties to share with you soon!  stay tuned!

and a very merry christmas to you all!  :)

project life: december daily

hello friends!  we had our first snowbird sighting this past tuesday and i took the opportunity offered by a day off from school to get started on my december daily.  i have decided to document december this year in my regular project life 2013 album(s).  i just knew it was the only option that i'd have any hope of keeping up with this year, especially considering the long list of other things i'm wanting to do.  at first, after surfing the net way too much and seeing way too many cute adorable dd albums, i was a bit depressed about my "get'er done" method.  once i got started, though, i was delightfully pleased with my results.  i think this is going to work AND be fun!

i was initially struggling with figuring out how to fit each day in the appropriate chronological order.  in my regular pl pages, i'm not overly concerned by this, but for the daily part of december daily, my ocd kicked in and i wanted the days in exact order.  the problem was mostly occurring because the photos from the first few days of december were all horizontal.  well, duh.  let's use a page protector with all horizontal pockets!  i made the executive decision to use only the particular style of page protectors seen here.  i'm also trying to stick with the concept of one thought per day and using two slots per day to record it; one for the photo and one for the journaling.

so far, i am remembering to photographing something each day that i can talk about and for those days when there is more than one important event, i can house one in the jyc album i have started.

here are a couple detail shots of my favorite two pockets so far.  i'm trying to make it obvious which two pockets go together.  mostly i'm doing this with color scheme and border type elements like the german foil above and the washi tape below.

on this spread, the top row was made mostly with the december jbs mercantile historian, the middle row with the artisan, and the bottom row with the mini-album kit (my fave this month!  so much inspiring german foil!)

and seeing as how i like to mix holidays with my pjs (i am forever wearing combinations like fourth of july tops with christmas bottoms and st. patrick's day mary jane socks), here is a bonus holiday spread.  hallah for halloween week!  i love how this one turned out.  it has a nice flow to it.  the top row is all "me" stuff.  the middle row is red ribbon week at g's school.  then the bottom row is trick-or-treating.

the bits and pieces here are mostly from the october jbs mercantile kits.  those cute tiny chipboard glasses are from jenni's 2013 limited edition halloween photo decor kit.

how's your holiday crafting going?  i've got some cute projects in the works.  i just need to finish up some of them!  i actually have too many going, so it's hard to focus!  oops!

menu plan: great grandma's peanut butter cookies

happy snow day!  snowbird flew last night and we're enjoying a day home from school today!  hooray!  i had great grandma's peanut butter cookies for breakfast.  mmmmmmmm!  they are definitely my favorite.  my grandma used to make them from time to time when i was a kid and they are sheer perfection.  i'm thinking they're not a secret recipe though.  i'm pretty sure they are from that red and white gingham cookbook that every self-respecting housewife owned back in the day.  but still.  i made this batch with the red and green sprinkles to send my dad for christmas.  i seriously need to get them in the mail today before i eat them all!  they are just so good!  doh!

great grandma's peanut butter cookie recipe:
1 cup shortening (crisco)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
sprinkles (optional)

mix first 5 ingredients together.  then mix in the peanut butter.  sift the last 3 ingredients together then slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture.  roll the mixture into approximately one inch balls.  (the mix can seem a little dry.  i have to squish my small portion a few times and then roll into a ball.  this helps with cracking).  flatten slightly, then criss cross the top with a fork.  festive sprinkles optional. (if i don't use sprinkles, i put a tiny bit of granulated sugar on top).  bake at 350 degrees for 10 mintues.  put on cooling rack.  enjoy! 

this week's menu plan:
sunday - tortilla's con quesillo
monday - esl christmas party
tuesday - tortilla soup
wednesday - dinner at church
thursday - roast/beef stew
friday - open/leftovers
saturday - bacon carbonara/scrambled eggs

good blog reads

well, friends.  we are celebrating tonight our first "snow" day of the season.  a two hour early dismissal due to the "threat" of inclement weather.  i've said it before and i'll say it again.  i do so love being a southerner living in the south.  as soon as we left school, we went to pick up g's sleepover playdate, made a quick pit stop at the dollar general for supplies, and then rushed home to hole up for the night.  i quickly forgot all about elise's #mileaday challenge.  meh.  i'm sure all the walking in the freezing cold that i'll be doing tomorrow during the christmas parade will more than make up for it.  i've been merrily printing photos all eveningfor this year's december daily that i have yet to start in between supervising g's baking extravaganza.  now i'm ready to hit the sack and remembered i have yet to blog.  in an effort to keep at least one of my daily activities afloat, i am throwing down a quickie post.  just a very few good blog reads that i had in que.  enjoy!  and now i'm off to snuggle under the quilts with a good book and bejeweled blitz.  :)

this one is a sweet college student in england who dabbles in writing, crafting, and digital project lifing.  i'm enjoying getting to know her.  http://www.creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.com/

really really lovely nature photography.  it relaxes me.  http://photographybykarina.blogspot.co.uk/

neat nature collages with a bit of yarnwork thrown in.  http://tradgardenpahojden.blogspot.se/

this one appears to be a photography blog that showcases a variety of photographers.  i read a couple really good posts on natural lighting there.  http://beyondthewanderlust.com/

b&w stories: nada sander baxter circa 1941

this is my aunt nada.  my dad's sister.  the one who practically raised him.  the only girl amongst five boys.  i think i only met her once when i was very small and we went on our epic family vacation to new york state.  listening to dad's stories, i know she was one amazing woman and i wish she was still here so i could get to know her . . .

dad "imagines" she was born in 1925.  she was about 16 when this photo was taken.  uncle bob, dad's oldest brother, carried the photo with him through world war 2 and told all his buddies that she was his girlfriend.  ten years later, when my dad was in california getting ready to ship out to korea, nada happened to be living there and came to visit him.  when she pulled up for him in her cadillac, of course, he told everyone that she was his girlfriend.

during the time this photo was taken, she used to ride her bike to the airport to wash piper cubs in exchange for flying lessons.  while learning to fly she met her husband, kelvin "barney" baxter.  kelvin began his flying career barnstorming around the country, landing in fields to give people a ride is his airplane for $1.00.  in october of 1939, he and buddy robert mcdaniels set an endurance record, by staying aloft in "miss sun tan," a piper cub, for over three weeks.  food and fuel was sent up via buckets, cables, and poles affixed to a truck pacing below them on the ground.  this was groundbreaking enough to warrant a photo op with eleanor roosevelt.  then he was a civilian contract pilot during world war 2.  he was part of the "forgotten battle," flying soldiers and supplies into attu and kiska in the aleutian islands of alaska.  a small japanese force occupied those islands for a little over a year during the war and this was the only time u.s. soil has ever been taken.

kelvin and nada settled in new york for a time where he flew 747's to tokyo and back.  nada, true to her country heritage, became an expert skeet shooter, winning the new york state title three years running.  dad says she finally quit shooting against other women because they were just no competition.  what a woman.

nature in the home: charlie brown christmas tree

i feel so relieved today.  all my jobs seemed to coalesce this past weekend and i have struggled to keep my head above water ever since.  needless to say, december snuck in the back door for me.  but today at 1:30 my observation at school was finished and that was the last burden that i needed to unload.  now i feel caught up, at least for a while, and ready to deck the halls.  i'm thankful to lou at little green shed for the gentle nudge to go ahead and get started today.  this is a sweet native pine bough that i brought home from the cub scout meeting sunday.  the idea is from those i am hoarding on my holiday crafts pinboard.  such simple loveliness.  it makes me smile.  g must really like it too as he's commented on it several times and is fondly referring to it as his charlie brown christmas tree.  it is a start.  i have several other ideas for this mantel.  all in good time.  i refuse to be caught up in the christmas rush.  i'd rather ease into the season in my own slower pace.

journal your christmas: an ongoing project

i love this book.  it's a lovely mixture of christmases past, present, and yet to come.  the photos are from my own childhood, my young adult years, g's baby years, more recent years.  i say years to come as i doubt i'll finish it this year.  it seems to take me three to five years to finish one of these.  that's okay though, right?  sure it is.  relax and enjoy the season.  :)

you can read about my thoughts on the assembly HERE.  and you can sign up for shimelle's class HERE (it's a very good investment in the holiday spirit).