Who forgot to got to the grocery store???

Ok, I have to admit...I used to love the grocery store, now...not so much!! Maybe it is the constant wrestling with the "Wild Octopus" that regularly shops with me! But, why do I bring up such a sore subject you wonder??? Well, because the other day when I went to make dinner - I had one of those "Oh, OK, what can we make with what is on the shelf.....". And, let me tell you it tasted YUMMMY!!!! It was a dreary day and I threw the following list of ingredients in the crock pot and at dinner time it was all warm & yummy!! I had to come up with a equally cozy name for it too...."Chicken Pot Pie ~ Soup" It was yummy and even provided enough to freeze for a second "uh-oh" moment!

So, here is how it went.....

Chicken Breast - skinless, boneless, of course if you had left over chicken that would work great!!!

Couple of fresh carrots

Few stalks of fresh celery

Potatoes - 1 or 2...whatever you have on hand...lol

Onion - chopped

Frozen peas - just a handful

Can of Cream Corn - who eats it unless you camouflage it anyway???

Can of Cream of Mushroom soup

2 Cans of Chicken Broth

Herbs de Provence

Bag of Egg Noodles

I cut and sauteed the chicken in a little oil, just until browned on either side

Peeled and chopped the Potatoes, Carrots, Celery and Onions, laid them in the crock pot

Popped the Chicken pieces on top

Added the cream of corn, soup and stock

Stirred it up, added the spices

Put it on High for an hour, switched it to low and let it simmer for a few hours - like 4.

Just before dinner I cooked the package of egg noodles, served their bowls with the egg noodles under the soup!

It was so YUMMY!!!!! It was also carb friendly because it was mostly veggies and only one can of cream soup! You could skip the noodles and make it a skinny soup all the way!!!

Ok...that is all for me tonight! Off to bed!!!

Did you miss me????

No, I didn't run away or go on vacation....Nothing that fun!! I just got buried in life and my craft studio...I enjoyed the craft studio part better!! Made a few cute little outfits for a girlfriend...a cute Easter shirt...and started on some bows, worked on invitations.

I did discover a few things (besides dust bunnies and a wealth of scrapbooking supplies I forgot about) these past couple of days....I have pretty great kids who are "caring" and "care" about other people. I see them take their ability to "make something with their own two hands" and give it to someone else to make a difference. Even something as simple as a birthday card can make a difference for someone!

My daughter did something completely beautiful ~ sweet ~ selfless ~ and totally caring for someone else today. Someone she has never met, and will never know. It makes me a little emotional to really "think" about it. So your asking what did she do??? Well.....let me preface this by saying that she knows that I am participating in a huge auction/effort to donate $$ to the surviving family of a woman who was killed with four of her children by a drunk driver on New Years Eve. Today she wasn't feeling well so she stayed home from school and while she was upstairs she decided - on her own -to make a necklace to add to the auction efforts. She brought it down to me and asked if I would auction it off for the family. It is a beautiful necklace and was carefully made by her, to the best of her crafting ability. I am so proud of her, she is a beautiful girl inside and out!!!

Search Ebay from now through the 20th, with the search terms "Beth & Angels". Ebay prohibits us to tell you that the money from the auctions will be donated to the families of the surviving victims - but all money is being donated, some sellers are taking out their fees but donating everything else!

Ok, the second thing I figured out this weekend....I found that I let myself get buried in life and didn't take time to "capture" the moments that were burying me!! I barely took any pictures this past year!!!! I have 4 digital cameras. one always within reach, and barley took any pictures!! What is wrong with me!!! I am feeling very "reflective" right now because my "baby" is turning TWO on Friday!!! TWO ~ where did two years go???? And then on Monday, one of my other "babies" is turning 10....how do these things happen!?!?!?

So part of my FOCUS is to Focus on keeping track of all those little details....each and every one!!! More photographs...More pages to scrapbook....More cards to make...yeah! My ADD just kicked in.....ahhhhh

Quickie Project...

Looking for a Quick and Easy little project???

Journal

A little while back I talked about a quick little project my daughter and I completed in my "newly re-organized" Craft Studio.....do you like the fancy wording for my "craft room"??? It sounds so much prettier..."Craft Studio"....OK, focusing!!

This was a very simple project and I am sure that I am not the first one to do it! But, what a great way to use up some scraps and leftovers. I can think of a bazillion options for these!! And what cute little teacher gifts...if you have any cute little teachers to give them to....:)

I started out with your basic Composition book, and my daughter used a small spiral bound notebook.

Some scrapbook papers/cardstock

Adhesive, Scissors, Stamps & Stamp pads(optional), Ribbon or embellishments, Scissors, craft knife, etc.

(OK...so my picture is not complete with ribbons, stamps, etc...sorry!!!)

*I simply measured and cut the carstock to the size of the comp. book (front and back). Glued the daylights out of it, adhered it and then cut around the edges with a craft knife to make sure tehy were flush.

*For the binding side, I used a wide piece of ribbon (1.5") and glued it down. I found that the ribbon worked better than cardstock....cardstock was too stiff.

Then I added some ebellishments to the front and back. The finished project looked like this:

My daughter did the smaller spiral bound notebook. Isn't it cute!!! We had a really good time doing it together....a little Mommy&Daughter time!

Also, if you want you can use these nifty little tabs to divide up your comp. book. If your like me you have a million projects/lists going at one time and this way you can keep them all together!!

Think of all the possibilites on this one. I loved the size my daughter made for quick little notes/reminders..great size to throw in your purse or diaper bag!

REWIND.....

Rewind for a minute!! I forgot to tell you about my trip to this great fabric store last weekend and the very cool lady I met there....a celebrity if you will!! I got to spend 5 hours - yes 5 fabulous hours with no kiddo's!! I love my kids, just not in the fabric store...it takes concentration....and I am so easily distracted by the "MOM.....blah, blah, blah....." every two minutes, they don't like to be in the fabric store for 20 minutes much less 5 hours! This place is HUGE and it has sooooo many fabrics to look at and choose from....and for legal purposes I can't tell you how much $$ was spent....would NOT want the hubby to have full disclosure on that one! LOL ~ I picked up so many great new fabrics, my brain is in overdrive thinking about all the cute little outfits I want to put together for my little girl!! I have got some great ideas for a few new "unique creations" - I might even share a few with the world!

OK..focusing on what I wanted to tell you!!!! It still makes me pretty excited just think about it! ....I met this really cool lady in the "Machine" section of the store....I got my very first Bernina for Christmas from my Mommy!!! She loves me....OK, focusing again
!! I met a Craft Celebrity ~ she has been on the Martha Stewart show and she just had a book published! So Awesome!!! Anyway, I am getting all excited talking about it now! She makes the cutest things from felted wool - super cool!!! Her name is Betz White, and she was so nice! She gave me some great pointers on what I should do with some of my items. You have to check it out!!! They are so cute! You can buy her book on her site and also on etsy. I can't wait to try some of her projects. My mom and I were just recently talking about how we should take some of the our old sweaters and shrink them down to make mittens. I bought some cute mittens at a craft fair this winter and they seemed super simple to make!! Because that is EXACTLY what I need to do....add another project to the mix!!! LOL!

So, What Crafty stuff is going on in Crazyville??? Well, I took on a painting project this week....we (my mother and I) are painting one daughters bedroom and it is taking just a bit longer than I thought!! My "free" project, has started to take a terrible turn..lol! My great oops paint ran a little short, and because it was an oops paint how easy do you think it was to replace??? Exactly!!! Then, I had paint left over from a different painting project, so I thought... I forgot I gave away the full gallon to a girlfriend for one of her painting projects! And to make it all even better....my mother who is otherwise a pretty good painter gave new meaning to the term "oops paint" because every two minutes I heard....."oops, I can get that cleaned right up....oops, where is my wet rag??"....nothing like aqua drip dots all over the tan carpet!!

What is with all this craziness???? I need to get off the computer and get to bed...that was part of my New Years Resolution...to get to bed by 11:30 every night. I really should go to bed even earlier....but it is already 1Am. Good Night Ladies!!

My word for the Year.."FOCUS"

I was reading the Ali Edwards challenge of choosing a word for yourself for 2008...so my word for 2008 is FOCUS. It should be easy to remember because I say it to myself about 200 times a day!! I constantly have to remind myself to focus on finishing up this or that before I move on to that or that....know what I mean??? I want to focus on several things.....spoken like the ADD queen that I am! For Starters:

• hitting my goal weight
• getting back into "my life"
• getting organized AGAIN ****This is the TOP of my "FOCUS" goal!!!******
• regrouping
• patience
• finishing tasks
• balance between life and "work"
• getting business together
• getting "it" all done to spend time creating
• declutter
• focus on things that make me happy
• focus on spending more time with the kids doing "some thing" meaningful to them

OK, that is the abbreviated list. I know that it is hard to "focus" on one task at a time when you are a mom, wife, woman, person...etc. But, it is something that we need to do.

Getting organized as you know is a BIG GOAL right now, and I am going to FOCUS on it first!! LOL. Many of us have the same goal of getting "organized" this year, since every shoe doesn't fit every woman the same, I have decided that instead of trying to "reorganize" and "regroup" for you, I think it is best for you to decide the order that works best for you and I will work in the order that works best for me. We can do it together, but in the order that we need.

With that being said if we equip ourselves with the proper tools, it will be easier - now, I am also "focused" on saving money this year...so look for the "girl on a budget" post coming soon - lets use resources that we have on hand to help us get organized!

First step...Make a list! ~ Tools required: Paper/pencil

What goes on your list??? Whatever you WANT to do...purge your mind! Get it all out and on paper...your brain will feel lighter!! I divided my list into two sides....Right Now, Near Future.

After you have "Your" list, you can decide how you want to break down your projects. I would start with the one that is nagging you most! If I close my eyes right now, the thing that comes out like a green monster is the garage! It drives me crazy, I can't find anything in there right now....why?? Because we let our systems in the garage fall by the wayside, so everything is out of order and out of its place! It is driving me crazy...especially since there are Christmas decorations that need to be put away! Now...the garage is not on the top of my "Right Now" side of my list, but it is on the top of my "Near Future" list. As much as the garage is driving me crazy, I need to "shut the door" - literally - until I finish what is on the "right now" side. You might have an area that you need to do this for...go for it...it will still be there when you finish what needs to be done "right now".

So, "RIGHT NOW" I need to make Birthday invitations, finish two projects for a friend, meet a few deadlines and get pictures back on my website! I will be checking them off my list as I go :)

Good luck, get started!! Check back soon, I have a cute idea for you to use to keep yourself and your lists organized!!

Heather

Life, In the New Year

Are you fully back to normal in the New Year yet?? I wrote 2008 for the first time today....no I am not living under a rock...just trying to get the house back in order after all the Holiday festivities, and the one time I really left the house to go anywhere worthwhile this week turned into the story of "Barfing Baby in the Fabric Store"....not a good combination, AT ALL!!!!

I am on a "Organizational" challenge right now to pull it all back together! I have "teamed" up with some other internet buddies to take 8 weeks and get everything organized, so look for some great tips and strategies. I was once a very organized person....it wasn't the four kids that made me unorganized. I just let my systems fall out of place. I NEED to be organized again! With a business to run, four kids, one with health issues that require us to travel out of state frequently for appointments, school, sports.....and then of course there is the husband and house that want some attention!! I am in the "PURGE" mode right now....not part of the challenge, but part of my new year goal simplify...I took 4 big bags to the consingment and 8, yes 8 bags to donation! I told the kids to not sit still too long or they might end up there too....lol!!

It has been a few days since I last posted anything and I have a oodles of things I want to post.....I have some projects to show you...I have a few menu ideas to share....and the list goes on!! But the almost two year old that is kicking me right now is cutting this one short...
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Check back soon!!!