Bloggers Abound

So, on Sunday night as I was redesigning  the header from this blog Miss Brooklyn declares that she really wants a blog too. Alright then - "Let's do it." (like what mom in their right mind wouldn't encourage a place for their kids to write more - no brainer)

Helping come up with a name for said blog - REALLY HARD! Some of the early contenders were

1.) Her Whole Name - Uh, no thank you. Obvious reasons.
2.) Sporty Spice - dad's original suggestion, but Brooke thought that would mean it was more of a sports blog - so, no.

3.) I Made a Castle - from a family story of when she was little - "let's see, but what else can you come up with first."

4.)Schmutt - what her sisters used to call her as a baby - for people not in the the know, this looks a lot like smut, don't you think? Suffice it to say that her dad thought that for sure & this was instantly "off the list"

In the end the winner was "Happy Llama, Sad Llama" from the little sing-along poem/song that girls that age sing together. We set it up, made her a new header, and a video of her doing the poem/song (or whatever it should be called). Easy Peasy, except emailing that video to myself from my phone took two days. Two days of being asked every 15 minutes, "Did you get it yet?" That girl was determined. I don't claim to be an expert in this area. But why would it take two days?

Anyway, the blog is up - I'll link to it here for her,  Do any of your kids have blogs too?

http://happyllamasadllama.blogspot.com/

edited to add:  And then last night, Taylor called about starting a blog too. Big blogging business here on Picnic Hill.

Tween Bedroom Redo

One of the biggest projects we've tackled this summer on Picnic Hill is the re-do of Brooke's room. As usual, in my rush to start, no before pictures were taken. She was ready to let go of what she called "little girl, fancys" - I on the other hand wish she would actually stay little a bit longer. So it goes, we now have a "tween" in the house.

Although no before pictures were taken I do have an old layout I made of it.

She wanted to do something with less pink. I wanted to keep pink, in the end she agreed to include some pink for me if I let her pick the other colors. Done!

We decided to go neutral beige for most the walls with one very colorful accent wall.  We're still looking for new pillows and a channel quilted tan quilt (I am currently thinking about asking a local quilter about it) She moved up to a queen size bed and added a comfy chair for reading - I really love that she is a reader!

This one is DURING 

And these are both AFTER:

Still lots of little stuff to add for her, but now that it's done ... we both love it. That probably means a new scrapbook page.

Project Life - Week 31

I am busily working to get this blog back on track ... and along with it this year's Project Life. Luckily, I've taken pictures all along and keep a journal specifically for it. I know that without the journal I'd have to give up on PL, but with it I've got it covered. :) 

Without further ado - may I present Week 31

Thanks for stopping by

Changes

I knew it had been a long time since I had been to this blog - but more than TWO YEARS! I had no idea. Time is remarkable fast, this I know. I have made the decision to give this a go again because of new creative outlets - YAY. When Two Peas decided to turn it's back on digital I was pretty mad. I had turned down creative team gigs etc. simply because I felt obligated to them. Only to find out after so many years that the primary creative force there had no interest in digital what so ever (other than as a means to promote paper scrapbooking). I had hoped that I could care enough for both of us, but I was wrong. Of course, it is her company & she gets to choose where the road leads with it. But still, I was mad.

So, after doing some pretty serious introspection as to whether I was even going to continue with this hobby at all. The answer is yes. I love sitting down at the laptop and going through my pictures to tell stories - so it had to be yes.

Through it, I have continued to design for the wonderful Gina Cabrera. Her digital products were really my first loves in digital scrapbooking. I have felt blessed to work with her. I also was touched and happy to have joined Leah Riordan's (Mommyish) CT after the closing of Two Peas. I'd been in love with her designs for a while - and as an extra bonus she is the kind of sassy gal that makes me laugh.

And the reason for breathing life into my blog again is that this week I joined the creative team at Pixels & Company. Lots of my scrappy friends now "live there" too and it feels like a place I can be happy. I am beyond thrilled to start sharing again. And hope you'll give this little blog of mine ONE MORE SHOT!

The first page I made at P&Co since joining the CT was actually as part of a speed scrap on Saturday night. What fun - because they have a live chat room it reminded me a little of when I used to paper scrap and would attend a crop at a local scrapbook store. She does one every month - essentially, Kat (the host) gives a layout recipe to follow. The funnest thing for me was anticipating and sharing what everyone else got for a page with the same directions. Mine is below.

Menu Plan Monday 4/11/2011

Confused that today is Wenesday? We had no (or at least very little) internet access over that past couple of days. As you can imagine ALL of my energy has gone into fixing that issue rather than blogging, scrapping, or even cleaning. (the cleaning part I haven't really minded so much) So ... this week Menu Plan Monday is brought to you on Wednesday. :)

MONDAY: Grilled Chicken, Foil Packet Potatoes, Greeen Peas

This didn't happen though, I nixed all meal preparation when the internet went down and kitchen sink began leaking. I am only putting this in to remind anyone who might read this that having a meal plan doesn't mean that things don't ever change. Life happens. We ended up with "fend for yourself night" combined with "don't talk to Mom, she'll bite your head off night." Oh well. we'll try for a better day the rest of the week.

TUESDAY: Beef Stroganoff

WEDNESAY: Greek Chicken Pitas

This will be a new dinner for us - the recipe uses a deli rotisserie chicken, but I am currently slow baking some chicken breasts I had in the freezer instead.

THURSDAY: Green Bean Potato Casserole, Whole Wheat Cresent Rolls

A favorite from my childhood - ground beef, diced potatoes, & green beans all mixed with cream of mushroom soup and baked at a pretty high temp (I like the crispy browned stuff along the edges if I cook it on high). I plan to addd some sliced up carrots in to it as well.

FRIDAY: Grilled Brats, Potato Salad, Tomato Salad

This will be our first grilled brats of the season - if you are not from Wisconsin, you should know that these are fresh Bratwursts rather than pre-cooked. There is no comparison. The tomato salad is one that I saw Jamie Oliver make on the Food Network and I am excited to try.

LAST WEEK"S NEW RECIPE REVIEWS:

Rachael Ray's Cobb Pasta Toss - it was good, but I will not make it again. It made a lot of dirty dishes, and involved a lot of steps. Making it felt like making breakfast, with so many things going on at once. And I never make breakfast for that reason. Anyway, it was good - not great.

Taste of Home's Slow Cooker Steak Burritos - this was good and easy. I can see myself making this again at some point.

Have a good week - talk to you later.

Project 365 Week 5

January 30th - Thankful Thought no. 5: The last whole day of vacation - always a bit sad. Today we went back to the magic kingdom and then late to Hollywood Studios for the night show. I am thankful for vacation and a husband that really understands how important they are.

January 31st - Time to go home, enough said. Just one last picture showing Jamaica at The Caribbean Beach Resort (home for the last week).

February 1st - Back to Wisconsin and yet another snow storm. Grrrr.

February 2nd - I am done with the vaction laundry. Two days must be a record! Oh, and Jimmy the Groundhog did not see his shadow today. EARLY SPRING! We can only hope.

February 3rd - Scott bought the NFC Champions hat at the airport the morning after the game last week. But when we got home he dug out his NFC Champion hat from 1996. There’s a fan.

February 4th - At the beginning of January I selected “OPEN” as my word of the year 2011 and had not featured it yet. That is my motto this year, open to possibilities, change, whatever.

February 5th - Taylor was back for the weekend. She and Stella joined us in bed Saturday morning for some chat & snuggle time.

AND LASTLY, WEEK 5 LAYOUT

Project 365 Week 4

January 23rd - Thankful Thought no. 4: Funny that this week’s thankful thought is the Packers - but today they won the NFC championship against the Bears. That means that when we get home from Florida we’ll get to watch the Packers in the SUPERBOWL! And so, today, all of Wisconsin is thankful.     

GO PACK GO!

January 24th - We got to Orlando in time to go over to Epcot on Day 1. Awesome. last time we were in Orlando one of my favorite moments was Brooklyn meeting Stitch. So it was quite ironic that he was the first character we met this time.

January 25th - There are no words to describe how awesome, amazing and downright unbelievable today was. At Animal kingdom we were asked to be IN the daily parade. Yes, I said IN. We rode our very own float, the Tiger Float through the entire park - waving at spectators. This is one of my favorite memories EVER!!!

January 26th - Today was Magic Kingdom day - and magic is always a good word to describe it there. It was a big character day for us - Mickey & Minnie, the princesses, the faeries and more.    

January 27th - Hollywood Studios in the morning - where Brooklyn got to be in the “Disney Channel Rocks” show. You know she loved that! And then to Downtown Disney in the afternoon, where Brooklyn went to Bippity Boppity Boo. I think Mom loved that the most.

January 28th - Today we went to Universal. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was the coolest thing - it was like we were really there!!! No kidding!  And Mom has a new favorite ride ever ... through Hogwarts with Harry!

January 29th - Early morning at Hollywood Studios just Mom & Brooke. We were able to ride Rockin” Roller Coaster SIX times in an hour and Tower of Terror THREE. Early morning was fabulous! And then we met Dad at Epcot where Brooke learned to belly dance over lunch in “Morrocco”, rode Soarin’ a couple more times (YAY) and met some hard to find characters, like Jasmine & Alladin and The Beast (with Belle, of course). Disney is the best.

AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK'S BOOK PAGE --

 

Thanks for visiting.