and the tree comes down

I hope that ya'll had a blessed Christmas day. Hubby and the kids are taking the tree down. We still had our bookshelves and books in storage. The big bookshelh goes where the tree is. We are ready to finish unpacking and get settled.

I have some cookbook reviews and later in the week some movie reviews.

So my newest cookbooks:

Tyler Florance/ stirring the pot and dinner at my place. Yep I bought both of his new ones after watching him on the food network. LOVE both of these. I have made several things from both books and they are already favorites.

Barefoot Contessa/back to basics ok I will admit to not liking her show. She comes across as snooty to me. When I first looked through the cookbook I didn't find but a couple of recipes to try. If you like and eat alot of fish she has a bunch of recipes for fish. But we don't so I was not impressed. Until I came to the dessert and breakfast section. Homemade granola, granola bars, gingerbread. All look delish. I already made a tomato soup from this book and it was yummy. A nice thick soup. Not a cream based.

Giada/ Giada's kitchen There are a couple that sound good but the ones she says are kid friendly,not for my kids. and they are on the skimpy side of how many they feed.

My favorite new ones are by far the Tyler Florence ones. Too many recipes that I want to try to mark :)

I leave you with a picture of our 12 foot tree. This is on Christmas day and we bought it the day after Thanksgiving. It still looks good after a month. Not my best picture. Used a soft action and a light action on it to try to make it look better :)

On the 9th day of Christmas...

I can't believe it is almost Christmas. I love this time of year. I love the tree, the lights, the decorations. What are your favorite traditions? I love making a birthday cake for baby Jesus. I love reading to the children about the birth of Christ first thing Christmas morning.


I have such good intentions of keeping my blog updated but I really have very little free time. My new baby keeps me hopping. :)

Yesterday was 76 degrees out so I took Eleanor outside in her poofy skirt and took some pictures. They are not the greatest but pretty cute.





Here a some projects I did for www.3scrappyboys.com





If you head on over to www.3scrappyboys.com we are showing a project a day for the 12 days of Christmas. So fun to see what everyone comes up with.

My parents arrive tomorrow to celebrate with us. So excited. I haven't seen my dad in a long time.

If I don't have a chance to pop back on between now and Thurday, I want to wish very a Merry Christmas"

Can you say high speed?

So happy to finally have high peed internet and cable tv again. I will try to do better about updating. But our little miss is a fussy girl. So I don't have much (any!) free time. She is napping right now. If she is not eating or sleeping she is usually crying. I am hoping she will outgrow this fussiness soon. But for all that we are enjoying her so much. There is nothing like a newborn to cuddle and hold. It's funny. Our oldest daughter was a VERY fussy baby. It was so hard to deal with. While Eleanor is not as fussy as Katie it is so much easier to deal with as an older more experienced mom. I guess some things do come with age.

We just in the last month had 4 birthdays and a birth. It has sure been a busy time. The last of the 2 birthday's were this past weekend. We now have another teenager with jacob turning 13 and a 2 year old Luke :) I will share pictures of their days later in the week after I upload then. But here are a couple to tide you over

Luke at the park just 2 days before baby Eleanor made her apperance (we thought that my chasing kids at the park might bring on labor. It didn't but we all had fun anyway!)




And a new one of Eleanor. I took the kids to the park last Thursday. Not the best picture because of the lighting but a new one at least :)



I have some cards and layouts to post this week too. Have a great day.

finally!

I have a reason for being absent. Well I guess I have a couple of reasons. LOL. One is in my arms. But the other reason? We moved! You heard correctly. We moved on Monday. Moving with a 6 day old was not something I would plan to do. But it all worked out. We are slowly getting settled in and unpacked. I am planning on working on getting my scrap area set up this week. My hubby decided that my scrap area needed to be made to feel like home for me. So he picked up some paint and finished my room in one evening! We just need to get some shelves and hang them. I will get as much set up as I can without them.

The only thing we really need? Comcast! The other tenants have not canceled service so we can not get ours set up yet. So we are still using our very slow att wireless thing.

I promise to post some new pictures this week!

she's here!

Eleanor Jayne was born on the 11th at 11:00 am. After 2 hours 25 minutes of very easy contractions my water broke and out she came. Hubby barely made it into the room to catch :) My midwife had just finished setting up. So Ellie had great timing. She was 8 lbs 6 oz. 21 inches long. Chubby cheeks and nursing nonstop. Have to run because she is crying but here are a couple of pictures.

ackkkkkkkkkkkk

I really do mean to update more often. But I am using one of those ATT internet devices and the connection is so slow that I am not on the internet very often.

House update, we are still in the mobile home. Another judge gave them until the 7th of November. Which happens to be my due date. So we will most likely be moving with a 3 or 4 day old. But that means I won't have to lift a finger LOL. Just cuddle with our new baby.

Yep, just a week left until my due date. So excited to meet our little one.

I need to go figure out what my 22 month old is up to but I will leave you with 2 cards I made using the October stamps from www.3scrappyboys.com

Mississippi or bust.........

We made it! You won’t believe how crazy the past several weeks have been. So glad most of it is over. Let’s see. Hubby ended up working the WHOLE week before the move and even went out of town. We found out a week before we were leaving that the tenants in the house had found another judge to extend their stay by another 3 weeks. We had already paid for the moving van. So hubby’s boss had a mobile home in the country empty. So we will be moving twice. Not exactly fun right before having a baby. But I know God will be with us. We madeit safe and sound. The kids were all really good. The only trouble we had? The darn cat! But we are here. Starting to settle in. Most of our stuff is in storage. And we still have a bit to unpack. Hard to be motivated when we will be moving again in hopefully a week and a half. That is a big prayer request for us. That we will be able to move on the 24 or 25th. We will then have a week before the baby is due to get settled into the other house. My mom is planning on coming to unpack for me. And of course be here for when the baby is born.


We met the midwife last week. She was very nice. Baby girl is good and is head down. Ordered my homebirth kit. It will be here this week.

Even managed to find the mall and shopping :) went to Gymboree the redeem my gymbucks. Bought these cute things: (plus some boy stuff ;))







Found the local scrapbook store. Small but she did have new stuff already and more coming in. There is a crop at the end of the month and I hope to go so I can hopefully meet new scrapbooking friends.

So now that you are all caught up I am off to give the baby a bath :)

Stone Mountain Park and ants the killer bug

With this super weather we are having here in Georgia we wanted to do something outside over the weekend. Our last "real" weekend before the packing frenzy. We decided to head over to Stone Mountain Park. It has been recommended numeriuos times by friends. We had a really nice time. If we weren't moving we would probably buy season passes but we are moving so one time was good and fun. Hubby took some of the kids on the tram to go up the mountain while I stayed down with the other kids that did not want to go. While they were up I took some pictures. I am trying to get portraits of each child to have printed out for my in-laws for Christmas. I now only have 2 left to do :)





The rest of the weekend was nice too. We did some house cleaning and yardyard and ate dinner outside. It is so nice to have some cooler weather where we can enjoy the outdoors.

I didn't know that I would come to miss the ants in California. But yep, I do. Yes they got in your space. They were irratating. But at least they were not evil biting machines. Yep. east coast ants are plain mean. I have bites on both feet, both arms and one got in my undergarment and bit me in some place it should not have been! They itch and sting for DAYS too. Mean little things!!!

I have gained 26 pounds this pregnancy. Not bad. I weighed myself this morning expecting it to be a lot more considering how big I am feeling. I have a midwife appointment all set up for the week we move. AND she is coming to our house. So yippeee. I do not have to figure out how to get to her office an hour away and take 9 children with me!

the aquarium

The aquarium here in Atlanta is fantastic. We made time to go a couple of weeks ago. Everyone had such a great time. We also walked over to the olympic park. We let the kids play in the fountains and they were soaking wet. A chance to run around after viewing fish all day :) Very expensive $235.00 for our family but worth it for this one chance.

Good scrappy news!!!

In the last couple of weeks I have had 5 layouts requested for publication. 2 for Scrapbook Trends, 1 for a new Memory Maker idea book and 2 for Scrapbooks ECT...

I am very excited!!!

I am waiting on some new goodies to arrive in the mail. Can't wait to play with them. I have never thought about getting a die cut machine. Until I looked at Robyn's blog and saw the fun stuff she was doing with the sizzix big shot and the exclusive Stampin' Up dies. I am just waiting on the dies. Everything else came in a earlier shipment.

Have a great day!

some new favorite pictures

I have been really playing with my camera lately. Taking all my pictures in manual. Thanks to the online class I took through www.scrapinstyletv.com I was a short class, 2 weeks. But I really took the time to get to know my camera. It is starting to pay off. Here are a bunch of new favorites I have taken since the class.

longing for fall

I so love fall. The crisp mornings, warm days and cool evenings. I can't wait. In fact I have already been to Yankee Candle and bought some new fall scents. I am really liking the pomagrante cider and the orchard pear. and of course my old stand by buttercream. We hope to take one last trip while we are still in Georgia. Back to Ashville, North Carolina. We went apple picking there with my cousin and her children the first year we were here. We had the best time. And why not. Look at this place!

I did this layout 2 years ago!



What is nice is that this week, we have had some cooler weather. I have no idea how long it will last but I will enjoy every minute of it!

I'm trying

To post at least once a week. I know family and friends want to stay updated as far as our move. It went to court last week and the judge gave them an extra 30 days to move out. Great for them, not so great for us. That puts us moving 4 weeks before the baby is due. So instead of waiting until we move to get ready for Eleanor, I will be gathering what we need to buy and wash before hand. Just in case. So I will need to make doctors appointments for here for before we go and appointments in Mississippi for when we get there. With 3 diabetic children we need to make sure we have medications covered.

Lance was playing around with his camera today so I made him take pictures of my belly. This one is my favorite.



You know you are big when the ladies at Yankee Candle ask how long until the baby and you tell them 9 weeks and they ask if you are sure :)

so frustrated

With maternity pants. They don't seem to be made for women that have had more than one child. Today I put on a pair of jeans that I have had for 9 years. and they fit fine everywhere but the tummy. By the time I was done shopping they were pinching. So I ran into Gap, the only store near by that carries maternity (other than Target, which I had already tried) I tried on every style of pants and jeans they had. None fit. but I did find a pair of maternity sweatpants there. I wore them home. I think I will wear them every day until delivery. So comfy!

move update

Looks like we will begin the process of moving next week. Crazy I tell ya. I guess this means we need to pack :) But I am actually not stressed about this. I know that what needs to get done will get done. So no use worrying about timing.

I haven't been scrapbooking this week. I have been reading instead with my free time. I hope to go crop with some friends on Saturday. I love the chance to sit and visit, talk and eat. Plus it will be the last time I get to crop with them. Hopefully I will find some scrappy friends in Mississippi.

It has been raining all week. We needed it for sure but I haven't taken my camera out because of how dark it is. I need to take some of my girls. They are getting so big. I was talking to a friend in california last night and she was telling me how tall her son was now and I just kept thinking but he and my son just the other day were dressing up in my girls dress up clothes. It seems like it was yesterday but it is amazing how fast 10 years can go by. I take so many pictures of my little ones, mostly because they still love having pictures taken. But I really need to get some of my pretty girls.

Here are some of them playing that I took a couple of weeks ago

still no news about the house

We should know something by the end of next week. Crazy days I tell you.

I am almost 29 weeks! I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going. Very excited to meet and hold our new baby. She is pretty well set for clothes :) Can't resist the girlie duds. But as soon as we move we need to pick up a few items that have worn out. Can't imagine how that happened!

I have actually been scrapbooking lately. Feels good to just play with my goodies.

We have been doing some siteseeing lately. The past 2 years we really have done nothing here in Georgia. So we are trying to get to see some things before we move. Mayfield dairy tour, free. Very short. Good to do once.
Fernbank museum: pretty expensive. $136.00 for our family. Kids had fun and we were there for almost 5 hours.
Yellow River Game Reserve: about $75.00 for our family. We really enjoyed ourselves! Deer come eat right out of your hands.

We will be hitting a couple more spots this week or next. Here are some pictures.

not much going on

I really hate not keeping up with the blog. But really not much is happening. We are supposed to be getting ready to move but we don't have an exact date yet. So it is so hard to get motivated. It will be in the next 14 to 20 days though. So we had better get going. We could use prayers. The tenents in the house we are going to be renting do not want to leave. So there will a court date. But with a new baby due and school to get started we really need to get there and get settled. There is a plan "b". but it involves moving twice in a months time. Not a great plan with the baby due in 12 weeks! I am trying so hard to rest in the Lord. But I am really struggling this week. Neither house is "perfect" but plan "b" is really small. and I was already worried about how naps would be accomplished. See I am stressing just writing this! Ack..... So I will move on.

I have to give props to teaching textbooks, My Father's World, Rainbow Resource, and Notgrass History. They all shipped so quickly. We are just waiting on Abeka, which should be here Friday. Then we are all set for school! I have had a hard time keeping the children from openning the boxes. BUt I don't want anything to get misplaced before the move. SO I am keeping them sealed.

I had a layout picked up for the December issue of Scrapbook Trends. Very excited. They have shown me some love this year.

and since I don't like to blog without a picture: a picture of the cheesecake I made for 2 of my girls birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was yummy!

misc..........

I wanted to mention that I have now tried about 6 recipes from the You've got it made cookbook, including the pot pie. The recipe's have all been very easy to follow. Only one thing was not liked but that is a preference thing :)

Right now I am reading this series




It is alot of fun. Takes place during the 30's. I love mysteries.

Here is a picture of my oldest. It is so hard to get a good picture of him! He doesn't pose like the little ones will. So I was very excited to get this shot the other night!

money money money must be funny in a rich man's world

Ok so I have Abba on my brain today. No I haven't seen Mama Mia yet. But my girls have been playing dancing queen over and over and over for the past couple of days. We seem to have a very eclectic love of music. When I went to get 3 of my little boys up yesterday, they were singing a Queen song. and today? Rudolph the red nosed reindeer. We love music. SOmeone always has music going. We love all types jazz, showtunes, old rock, contempary christian, pop, country. Some favorites: Rosemary Clooney, Michael Buble, Kenny Chesney, Third Day, Mercy Me, Phillips Craig and Dean, Lifehouse, the Saraha soundtrack, Queen, Faith Hill, Martina McBride. Yes very eclectic indeed.

So that brings me to my singing the money song :) I ordered all our school curriculum last night. Our move has again been pushed back until the end of the month. We were supposed to move on the 2nd. Which is why I had not ordered yet. When we had the money finally I did not think it would all get here before we left. But when we do move I will have 10 weeks to find a midwife, unpack, make it homey, get ready for baby and get into a routine with schooling. So I wanted to have all our books ready. SO last night I went internet shopping! So my my 10th grader: Abeka for spainish, spelling, science and health. Teaching textbooks for math and Notgrass History for history, bible, literature, poetry,and english. For the rest: My Father's World for everything but math. I am using Scott Foresman for the 12 and 11 y/o. and Horizons for the 9 and 7 y/o. and Handwriting Without Tears for everyone but the high schooler. Even my preschoolers :) As soon as we unpack I will pull out all of our draw right now's too. I love that. Even I can draw using that program :D So hopefully I did not forget anything.This is the first time I have really mixed up what we are using. I tend to like to order everything from one place. and I thought about breaking out the Kono's (which I LOVE) but didn't want to put so much on my plate right now. I am trying not to stress. I was doing fine until the date was pushed to the end of the month and I realized how little time I had to get ready for the baby and start school. Plus all the little things that moving intails, such as finding new doctors, transfering prescriptions ect... But I know it will all work out.

cookbooks

I had planned on listing some of my favorite cookbooks when I brought up my lack of cooking skills when we were first married.

Rachel Ray 30 minute meals: Everything I have made we have all enjoyed. The only comment I would have in the negative is that her cooking times for chicken are rather on the low side. Her pans and stovetop must cook faster than mine.

Super suppers: Recipes are easy and everything I have made has been yummy! It is supposed to be a make and freeze cookbook but I have never used this cookbook that way. But I use this book at least once a week.

Dream Dinners: Again, everything I have made has been fabulous. I do use this one to make 2 meals at a time, one for the freezer. I lists the ingredients for one meal or for 3. With our family size I do the 3 meal portion and split it into 2 meals :)

You've got it made: I just received this one from amazon this week. I have yet to make anything from it. But I have marked over 80% of the recipes to try. It is also a make and freeze book but it does not double the recipes for you. Most of the recipes are to feed 6 adults with a large number of them feeding 8 to 10 adults. But in my experience, feeding sizes are for one serving per person, so if you have say a 15 y/o boy that will eat 3 servings of something. Count that child as 3 people ;) I can't wait to try her chicken pot pie recipe and her fruit turnovers.

I do need to mention that I am a great cook now :) Good thing with a big family to feed. Hubby and I both enjoy cooking and we love to try new recipes on the weekends that we make together.

Another terrific resource is the foodnetwork. We especially enjoy Bobby Flay, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee, Rachel Ray, Robin Miller, Tyler Florence and Guy Fiero's recipes.

new pictures

I took a couple of really cute pictures of the baby this week.

He was looking very intently at my camera. I wonder what he was thinking?


This one cracks me up. He decided to grin and laugh like a maniac :)


I used a couple of actions I bought. The good news is they are available for PSE users. I can do all this myself, I have been doing it for a couple of years. But I just love the time saving I am doing by using an action. Mindy's actions don't flatten when you use them so you can tweak them. I tweaked the black and white image to be less contrasty.

cooking

When I got married I didn't know how to cook. Well except for pancakes and tacos. In high school, I was known for my tacos. At parties when everyone got hungry, someone would run to the store and I would make dozens and dozens of tacos. I am not even sure how I learned how to make them. Sure you brown the meat, add the seasoning packet. But I would fry up corn tortillas. I don't know how I learned that part. My mom was a healthy cook even then. So she didn't fry much. But anyway, I did know how to cook those two things.

My mom is a great cook. But she did not like to have me in the kitchen with her. So I did not learn how until I was married. Poor hubby. Looking back I did get more food right than wrong. But still, he loved me so would eat it regardless. I did know how to bake. I taught myself. My mom did not and does not bake. So she would let me in the kitchen (by myself) to bake. I still love to bake.

I find myself struggling with kids in the kitchen too. Probably take after my mom. I am a tidy cook. Kids are messy. :) But I am really trying to change. I want all of my children to be able to run a household. For one thing I don't want things to fall apart when I am sick or having a baby. Plus I want them to be able to care for their families when they get married. I plan on starting by teaching 3 of the older children one meal. My oldest daughter is mentally retarded so she will help in other ways. and my 9 y/o is not ready so I will teach her how to put together a salad and other simple items like that. My 11 y/o daughter is already pretty handy in the kitchen. She has had an interest in cooking for several years so I have slowly taught her things and she is great with a cake mix :)

On that same note, for dinner we are having

lasagna

garlic bread

and a big green salad.

rain rain keep coming :)

As I type, the rain is just pouring down. I love to sit and listen to the rain. and boy do we need it! Severe drought. So hopefully it lasts for a while. Our poor grass is dying.

Still so excited to be having a girl. Bought some cute clothes for next summer. All the summer clothes seem to be on clearance.

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. We did :) Very relaxed day on the 4th. Took the kids swimming. On the 6th was our block party. Had lots of fun with friends and neighbors.

Here are a bunch of pictures. One of each child :)