What are you excited about doing in the new year?

I'm excited to share two things I am doing this year.

First of all, a 52 week home decluttering plan.  

Check out the weekly printable checklist below:

http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/support-files/52-week-organized-home-list-2015.pdf

and follow the below link to the website that breaks it all down for you!

 http://www.home-storage-solutions-101.com/organized-home.html

and next, the Project Life (52 version)

so....I ordered the small 6x8 album and pocket page protectors from Stampin' Up for this.

Follow the link to my demonstrator's page:

http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/ItemList.aspx?categoryid=1800

I intend to use 52 page protectors, one for each week of the year, and include a little run-down or re-cap for each week of the highlights or special things I'd like to include.  This seemed much more manageable than having to take a picture or journal for every day of the year.  Some weeks may just be "fluff" pages filled with pretty stuff and quotes, but it will at least be meaningful to me in some way when I look back on it.  Also, I plan to use my own stash of cardstock and patterned paper (may buy some of the Project Life stuff at Micheal's with coupons to add some flair and pizazz). 

What are you excited about doing in the new year?

She's Back!

I cannot believe I haven't uploaded a picture or made a post since May 12th-YIKES!!!! I have been taking pictures, but the month of May kicked my butt and there has not been any extra time to make blog posts. I know I don't have a huge following that this effects, but I have missed it terribly. I am not going to go back and upload that many photos but you will have the opportunity to see them in my finished Project Life pages when I have the chance to catch up on all that. As for now, I happily welcome the month of June and all the bliss of summer break. We'll start with my photo from Memorial Day, my children's last day of school.

Tue. POD

Happy Anniversary, baby! Tuesday we celebrated our 14th anniversary! I don't teach in the afternoons so we planned a little date night. It was perfect! We went to see Date Night at 4:55 in the afternoon and had the entire theater to ourselves-it was a really cute movie, especially for an anniversary date. Next, we headed over to Outback (one of Jim's favorite restaurants that we rarely go to-he always chooses places for me so I picked this for him!). We were there before 7:00 and home around 8:15. Perfect for a school night and still some time with the kids...

Sun POD

The Jabali African Acrobats performing on the Lakeside stage on Mother's Day. Read more about LEAF in schools and what LEAF International is all about...

Fri POD

Pictures of my kids with their friends who went to LEAF with us. These are at the campsite once we got settled in about 3:00 in the afternoon...

Forced blooms

This is a photo of some cherry branches I forced into bloom. This was the first time I have tried this. It is so simple to do and I am sure I will forever be making this a part of early spring ritual. Unfortunately, during a recent wind storm, a large branch from a neighboring tree fell into this cherry and broke it's tender branches. Rather than throw them into the compost heap, I gently trimmed it and a few more branches to even it out. I wrapped the ends of the branches in a wet paper towel and left them overnight. The next morning, I bashed the ends with a hammer and then put them in a vase filled with warm water. Within a few days, the branches were budding. These were left inside a darker cabinet shelf away from direct sunlight. They have been sitting out in the open for about 6 days and are still quite lovely.

Now, I must get something off my chest, sort of free-therapy if you will. Tonight during dinner, my son began choking on a piece of steak. My husband and I both acting so quickly practically had a tug of war with the poor boy to save him. It was not pretty! We were all over-reacting, yelling, pounding his back, pushing his stomach, trying to dislodge the meat from his mouth. My poor daughter was watching from the sidelines and luckily it turned out okay. The scariest moment I can recall in forever! Absolutely, a bad time to panic, but sometimes that is just what you do. I know that our method was NOT the best way to handle it, but that is just what happened and thankfully he is fine. My husband and I were both so shaken afterward! Please review the proper methods of helping a choking victim and remind yourself and your older children what to do in case they are alone when this happens!

Friendship

I have been basking in the love of friends all day. The group effort of pulling the party together. The fact that three of my oldest friends drove 6 hours to come to the party. This photo is of a bracelet I received from 3 of my closest friends. We began this tradition when Angela turned 40 four years ago, next came Kim in 2007, then Becky in 2008, and now me. I will wear it proudly! The front of the heart has my initials and the back says "Love, KBA".

Hump Day

Saw a pair of these pileated woodpeckers at the suet feeders this morning.

I took the time to go to Target to look for cute pj's since my somewhat of a surprise b-day party has a pj's dress code. I found some, actually bought two sets. This is the one I'll wear for the party...

Today was also report card day. My daughter who is always on A-B honor roll got a C and she beat herself up about it more than we did. My son, got one A in PE, mostly C's, a D, and an F in Latin! We just don't know what else to do to help him. The good news on that subject is that his echocardiogram came back great-there were no abnormalities and no enlargement of the right ventricle as was once thought-so this means we are "safe" to proceed with the Focalin prescription. Tripp actually seems excited about the possibility so I will have that filled tomorrow and start him out on it right away hoping for an improvement by the last report card. We are on the home stretch of school now.

Janitzio's Lunch

As I've mentioned once before in another post, the middle school classes compete every two weeks to see who can accumulate the most points. The class with the most gets to eat out at Janitzio's. Today, it was my daughter's turn with the 7th grade class.

We went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid this afternoon-really cute and we had the theatre almost entirely to ourselves...FUN! Afterwards, I took Tripp shoe shopping and then we met Jimmy and Libby at Ianucci's Italian restaurant. This evening, I enjoyed getting my Project Life pictures from last week into the album.

TGIF!

Ahhh, Friday and spring is in the air! It got up to 68 here today! I had almost the entire day off to enjoy being at home. It was wonderful-the doors were open and I had such fun piddling around the yard planning the garden and flower bed work I need to hop on.

I don't drink wine nightly, but this evening it just seemed like the perfect accompaniment. I felt kind of silly walking around the house taking pictures of a wine bottle and glass, but the lighting was just so pretty-that is actually what prompted me to open the bottle in the first place. I enjoyed a glass of one of my favorite Pinot Noir's from Five Rivers Winery.


I've enjoyed an evening of watching TLC with my daughter. I'm looking forward to a weekend of spring cleaning and organization! Maybe even a little shopping...I'm in the mood for some colorful flats and new lipstick.

Luck o' the Irish to you!

Here is a cute, very simplistic banner my daughter and I made. We did one to hang as a valance above the cafe curtains in the kitchen and the one pictured above is tied through the drawer pulls on the buffet in the dining room. We used an assortment of cardstock and patterned papers, free-hand drew the clover, cut them out and then used a stapler to attach them to ribbon. Easy as pie and so much cuter than anything store-bought if you ask me! While we are on the subject of decorating-check out this adorable sign-I must make it for next year!

Today started off with a follow up appointment for my son after he had an EKG come back showing a mild abnormality on his right ventricle. My pediatrician reassured me that this was nothing to lose sleep over but before we can safely try an ADHD medication, further testing with the pediatric cardioligist was necessary. So he had an echocardiagram today. This procedure was painless but did require patience as it takes about 30 minutes to perform. It is much like an ultrasound when you are pregnant. A little stressful for me as I don't like seeing my kids in hospital gowns! We should have results in a few days. The longer I wait, the more I doubt the choice to try the meds.

I didn't cook a large meal to celebrate St. Paddy's since I did it on Sunday. I didn't even drink a Guiness! I had planned to make an Irish stew, but when it came down to it...I just didn't! I did finish reading my book club book for the month, Little Bee, by Chris Cleave. I also took my daughter to Michael's to get some jewelry making supplies, while Tripp was home playing with his friend who is sleeping over since they are on break. I also worked today, so it's not like I didn't do anything. I just didn't cook!

I'm rambling, I know. I'll leave you with an old Irish blessing:


May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

First sign of Spring

My children are on a spring break this week since they are on a year-round school schedule. Earlier today my daughter was out doing some yard work to earn some money. She excitedly came in to tell me that what I have been looking for-signs of spring-has arrived. The crocus blossoms are up! They were not there Saturday, I did look. I also noticed some daffodil shoots popping up a little further down our road, although no flowers yet... I'm sure it won't be much longer. After a long, cold winter it is always such a joy to see these first signs of what is to come. It was also such a nice treat to arrive home from work and have it still be light outside. Spring forward!

St. Patrick's Day celebration

Tonight we had a dinner party to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and our friend, Jock's birthday (which is tomorrow). I made corn beef and cabbage using a new recipe for the corn beef. I cooked 3 briskets- a total of about 15 pounds worth! It was yummy as always, but I am not sure I thought it was as good as my usual New England boiled dinner with the potatoes, cabbage, rutabagas, turnips, and carrots all thrown in the pot of salted water the corn beef was cooked in. This year I cooked the corn beef in the oven, wrapped in foil. The glaze was the same as what I do with the boiled dinner, just a mixture of brown sugar, cloves, and honey mustard that you brush on and then stick under the broiler to carmelize. I also made a couple of appetizers-bangers in pastry with chow-chow, and cheese tarts with mango chutney. These were modifications to the recipes listed in the link above. The bangers were breakfast sausages (similar to L'il Smokies) that were wrapped in cut up pieces of croissant dough. I put a small spoonful of chow-chow into each piece of dough before wrapping and cooking. I purchased pre-made phyllo dough tarts and then filled them with a mixture of ricotta, parmesan and goat cheese. After they cooked, I put a small dollop of mango chutney on top. I really liked these and they seemed so fancy, but were super easy to make! I served Guiness, Ginger ale, and Irish Breakfast tea, also. For dessert, I made black bean brownies and I must say they were pretty yummy for a flour-free dessert. I would like to try these using Stevia instead of sugar sometime. Our friends also brought side dishes to share, which always makes dinner parties so much more fun! They contributed potatoes, carrots, turnips au' gratin, and soda bread with Irish butter.
We had a lovely evening celebrating one of my favorite holidays with our friends and their families-a special night!

A Gray Day

I woke up to sunshine, blue skies and feeling motivated to do some housework in preparation for a St. Paddy's day dinner party we are having tomorrow evening. My hubby woke up early, too so we decided to finish watching a tv series that we had rented before jumping into the chores. Alas, by the time the show was over and we had done a little yard work, the weather had turned and it was starting to rain. I managed to unload and re-load the dishwasher but that is about all I have accomplished today-serious case of the blah's. I have just allowed myself to go with it and laid around on the couch finishing a book my son asked me to read (Flawed Dogs) and watching last night's episode of What Not to Wear.
The photo of the day shows you the view from our living room window-you can see how gray and cloudy it is. No wonder I have the blahs! The temperature has dropped to about 41 and there is a fire going in the fireplace. I think that I will attempt to clean the kitchen, living room and dining room since this is basically all one common area and the place where everyone will be tomorrow night and then call it a day. I'll need to be up and off to the grocery store at the crack of dawn, so cleaning a little bit tonight will give me a head start on what I'll have left to do.

Game Night-Fri. POD

After a long week of make-up classes at work, meetings at school, and rainy days I was ready for girlz game night! There were not many of us who could make it, but we still had a fun time laughing and carrying on. The game of the night was Scattergories...

D. A. R.-POD 3/11/10

Yesterday, my daughter, was presented an award by the Daughters of the American Revolution Kuykendal Chapter in Flat Rock, NC. She won an essay contest about the Transcontinental Railroad for all of the 7th grade students in our district. Her essay was from the perspective of one of the Chinese laborers. She had to go to their meeting and read her essay to the members. This was a pretty exciting and nerve-wracking experience for her but she did a great job answering questions and "schmoozing" with the little ladies who were at the meeting.

Flat Rock Playhouse

Today, I went on a field trip with the Middle School to the Flat Rock Playhouse. We are so fortunate to have this wonderful theatre company in our backyard! The Youtheatre group performed School House Rock Live and it was so very entertaining. Several of my old students were in it so of course, it's more fun to see people you know perform.

Sunshine Day

The wonderful thing about this "sunshine day" is that it was actually warm enough to open up the front door and allow some fresh air to come in! It got up to 60 degrees here today-WONDERFUL. The snow is melting out of the yard but I didn't find any crocus shoots just yet. The Farmer's Almanac is still calling for another big snow this month so I am going to enjoy this warmth and sunshine while it lasts...

Super Sunday

What a fun day! Libby and I went to Asheville to visit a bead shop we had been wanting to go to and we had lunch at Doc Chey's. Next, we went to Pier One to get a gift card for a friend's housewarming party, and while in the shopping center decided to run in the shoe store because Libby needed some new athletic shoes. Her feet are finally growing! On our way back to town and to the party, we received a phone call from hubby to meet he and Tripp at the Biltmore Grande cinema for Alice in Wonderland. We got there a little after 4:00 and ended up having to purchase tickets for the 5:05 showing, so we did that and were then corralled into another line to wait for them to begin seating about 4:35. The movie was wonderful! Apparently, it is having a record weekend. I loved the costuming in this film, so fantastical.

Sun-POD

I cannot believe that it is February 28th! Here I am with a few of the girls who spent the night at Nancy's mom's. We had a great time!!! Lynn prepared Beef Bourguignon for all of us. There were snacks and wine galore! I brought some Foie Gras from Paris to share with our meal-yummy, yum, yum! Then we had birthday cake and de-caf coffee. We cranked the music up and danced in our jammies and talked until we couldn't complete our sentences then went to bed. We woke up this morning and had coffee and coffee cake and talked some more....

I got home around 1:00 to discover that my son, Tripp, had been throwing up all night-poor little fella'. He is resting now and I am catching up on the computer and blogging stuff since I haven't been around to do it all weekend.

So is March roaring in like a lion in your neck of the woods? We are supposed to get more snow on Tuesday of this week. March is also the countdown to my 40th birthday!!!