Snow? But it's spring? & A Treat!!

First, before I forget (because we all know that would happen)....I received a 10% off code to share for SCAL!

If you want to buy SCAL (a program to allow your cricut to cut fonts from your computer), it's a great chance to save a few bucks. There is a link on the right --------> click the red shapey thing that says "Want SCAL?" then use the code. It's the best price around........(and no, you don't need to buy it on cd, buy the download, then back the program up like you do all your other documents. You can reinstall it if you ever need to. I've done this before).

Here's the code: 8774959 It's an excellent deal, the total is 53.95 a savings of $21. Valid through 4/12

Well, in honor of our wonderful (*cough*) meteorolgist who has said we would have snow the last three days, I'm sharing a little snow. Yeah, we keep waking up to dirt. Nothing white and pretty. But, I'm not too concerned.

So here's a little snow in honor of Spring!


The little girl who was terrified of snow, finally decided it wasn't so bad. It only took her 3 1/2 years to do so. LOL!

(I cut the "snow" out on my cricut with SCAL).

A Happy Accident & WINNERS!!!!

Because a post is not complete without a picture I'm staring with one :D!

We were at a park just outside Yakima, the weather was beautiful, and there was a suspension bridge painted a great teal color. Made an awesome backdrop for some photos.

Only problem.........I left my camera set on AV priority from some wild flower shots I was taking.......so the pictures came out extremely overexposed. After about 5 minutes of editing, I was able to salvage it to about this. After converting it to black & white, I decided I liked it. Has a very artistic edge to it, but kinda neat.

(and that is the reason I don't use my manual settings often because I can't even tell you how many times I've ruined a great composed shot because I had left the settings set for the previous shot with completely different lighting/action.....urgh...... - I need a camera with a "ditz alert" on it)

Alright, as promised (I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. I think we caught a bit of a bug while we were gone because we are all feeling like we're fighting something. But enough of the excuses.......)

Sat.............GLOANN

Mon...........Jamie

Tues..........Christie

Wed...........Steff

Thur..........Mamato2joys

If you all could e-mail me your addresses to amandasherman@hughes.net I'll get those out shortly!

Congrats! And thanks to everyone for entering & visiting me :D

On the road....

I wanted to share a couple other pictures from our trip. We didn't spend the whole time at Great Wolf (how I wished we could have :)). We weren't sure how long it would take to get there, so we drove half in one day and stayed in Yakima. Yeah, that was the long way, but we didn't want to travel the interstate the whole trip, so that's what we did.

Cody drew a map to get to the hotel.

We stopped at a park just outside Yakima and the kids thought the pine cones were grand. I dont' know why they were so amused by them, we have them in the groves of trees near our home.

Yeah, she digs the shades. Someone tell her she's only 3?? Stylin' in Tinkerbell shades. Watch out Hollywood ;)

Good Pictures Take Risk - More Great Wolf

First, I wanted to say I blew it a couple days ago and forgot to say where I got an idea from. Oops. I saw a banner Joscie did and lifted the idea, but didn't give credit to her. Well, I am now. I'm sorry for that, it was my intention to, but I was a space case.

Now, onto pictures!

Well, I've only spend about 3 hours this morning editing pictures from our trip. But it was very worth it. I won't share them all here, because there is over 175 pictures, but I'm uploading them all to facebook if you want to see them all.

Great Wolf was awesome! It is an absolutely family friendly place for families of all ages. If you plan to go, just remember everything costs a little more. It would not have surprised me if the prices were higher, but they were still higher than average. The food was excellent and a great variety as well as some healthy options also. That was very nice.

I have lots of pics to come, it's a picture heavy post. But I just wanted to share two thoughts if you plan to go. First, if your children are under 6, bring your own life jackets. The lodge provides lifejackets that are fabulous, but all the children wear them. It was very nice to have my two kids in their own bright colored jackets. They were so much easier to spot in the crowds an chaos (even though they were just a few feet away) than the kids who were with us who had the lodge jackets on.

Secondly, please please please put your children in lifejackets. I don't even know how many times I saw parents with young ones (under 30 months) have panic moments when their kids got pushed under the water w/o life jackets on. One mom was even yelling at her other child and other children because they kept dunking her probably 18 month old girl. But watching the kids with lifejackets on, they didn't have nearly the problems being pushed underwater as the ones without.

The rule in our house, is if there is more than 6" of water, you MUST wear a lifejacket. Please use them if you have little children.

Okay, off my soap box now, here you are!

I just loved the candid expressions when they were going down the slides.

Family picture (not a good one, but one nonetheless).

Now for the risky stuff.......I was trying to get some good splash pictures, so I was sitting in the water at the base of the slide. The camera only got soaked once! I figure, what good is a good camera if I don't use it right? I'm sure Robert thought I was crazy and very mad at me. But it lived :D Besides, he can't get too mad. He dropped it a few months ago and broke the lens I was using in two pieces.

Our rooms had an awesome kid area/bunk built in. It was wonderful :D

And because I know I'm going to be asked, the lifejackets the kids wore were by Stearns. Cody's was just a general use one. But Aly's is the Stearns Swim 'N Float suit. I ordered it from Target.com. It is a little bit pricier, but worth every penny. We had one for Cody that he used the last two years and loved it. We'd tried some less expensive suits, but this was heads and shoulders above in quality and safety. They are certified by the Coast Guard as general use life jackets. They help the kids swim, gain confidence and comfort in the water and have great bouyancy.

I'll post the link to my facebook album when they are done uploading! And also, winners from all the giveaways will be announced either tomorrow or Monday!

Great Day, Great Friends, Great Wolf

We just got home from a fanstastic three day "mini vacation". Some friends (a friend from HS Robert played basketball with and his family) invited us and graciously treated us to the incredible Great Wolf Lodge. It was INCREDIBLE!!! We had SO much fun. I'm only going to share a few pics tonight, because I'm wiped (and my computer is moving super slow).

So here's a tease until tomorrow when I can edit and share more pics. The kids all had so much fun playing together since they're all really close in age.

Check back later for more pictures - and I'll have the giveaway winners from last week probably Monday as I said earlier!

Enjoy your weekend :)

A few more baby shower details....

I found these adorable faux diaper pins. They were at my scrapbook store, made by Making Memories. Not sure I'd really use them in an album because they are so thick, but they sure made cute decorations!

I also made this banner, using my cricut, SCAL, some paper and ribbon. (Patterned paper was by October Afternoon "Ducks in a Row" line).



Here's a link to the cut files for the banner.

If you are interested in knowing more about SCAL, ask away! I use it and LOVE it. If I couldn't use it, I'd gladly give my cricut up. I love the control and versatility it gives me. There is a link on my side bar --> if you're interested.

**ETA - please forgive me for being a total ditz previously and forgetting to share the inspiration. I was inspired for this idea by the incredibly talented Joscie.


Alright.....here it is.....the last giveaway.......and it will be something shiny!! Leave your name and an e-mail and I'll announce the winner on Monday with the rest of the winners :D

Who doesn't love chocolate???

Yummy yummy! Nothing beats chocolate cupcakes & chocolate frosting from scratch!

Wish I could really share them, but at least this way you get the calorie free version!

Chocolate Cake (or cupcakes)

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour

3/4 cups Dutched cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round pans. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. (batter will be thin). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cupcakes: bake about 15 minutes.

Now unfortunately, I can't share a recipe for frosting, I make mine by adding a little of this and a little of that until it's right. One trick I'll share though, I added a drop of almond extract and it came out so yummy. And another trick I used to skip, be sure to add a pinch or two of salt. Really makes a difference. Takes frosting from just sweet to yummy!

Alright - time for giveaway number 4........leave a comment & e-mail. I'll announce the winner on Monday. And just like these cupcakes, it's something sticky............

Outside the box camera strap

I've been wanting to make a new camera strap for a while now. I tried once and it didn't work like what I wanted.

Let me explain why.....you see, anytime we go anywhere as a family, I always take my big camera (my SLR). But it's pretty bulky and sometimes, like when we go to the rodeo or street fairs, I don't like to tote both my camera and purse. But my camera is always on my body. So I wanted a strap with a little pocket in it for my id and some cashola.

Well, after using a *little more patience* (not always my best strength), I was finally able to make one that was both functional and pretty! Here's the result!


And the secret pocket:



Only bad part is, silly me, I put it on the camera before I took the pictures. Oops! Made it a little hard to get a good quality photo! Oh, well, you'll just have to live with it :)

So, for another giveaway........today.......someone will win a camera strap with a little money pocket on it!

You know the drill, leave a comment with your name & e-mail or MB name and I'll announce the winner on Monday!

Diaper Cake & Another Giveaway

I know this idea is nothing original, but I wanted to share my version of the diaper cake I made for the baby shower. The only thing original on it I think is the way I constructed it. I received some comments about it being a lot smaller than other ones done. Yup, that's because I didn't want to spend $20 on diapers for a decoration. So I cheated. The base was started with a roll of toilet paper. I lined the rolled diapers around that. The next level was a 5 oz can of tomato paste. Then diapers around that. Last layer was 4 diapers. Super easy.

The paper is October Afternoon "Ducks in a Row" line. Don't remember the exact sheet name. October Afternoon is one of my favorite paper companies. I designed the buggy and cut it from SCAL on my cricut. (a freebie link is below).

This diaper pen is from Making Memories, their new baby line.

As a little freebie, here is a link to download the carriage if you'd like to use it! Baby Carriage SCAL file

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

And, another giveaway today! Haven't decided what yet (I have a few ideas in my head, so I will pick one of them). Leave a comment, including your name and either an e-mail or your MB name if I can contact you that way! Thanks!!

Oh, and an edit to last nights giveaway - I'm going to announce all the winners NEXT Monday. Yup, I changed it because I won't be able to get packages out everyday this week, so I'm going to send them all out at once. Sorry for that change, but I hope this will make it go smoother for everyone ;)

Punch Recipe & Giveaway

Well, the kids are tucked in bed from a busy day, the house is cleaned up and the baby shower is over! But it was successful in my book! :D

I have pictures of the decorations I'll share later, but for tonight, I just quickly wanted to share my punch recipe. Then get to the good stuff ;)

Super easy, affordable and yummy!

I don't like sweet punches, so I've made my own recipe that I really like. Simple, three (okay, 5 ingredients)


For 10 ladies, I used one pink lemonade frozen concentrate, one cranberry frozen concentrate and one bottle club soda (be sure to use club soda, tonic water and gingerale both have sugars and syrups added).

Mix the lemonade and cranberry juice with 2 1/3 cans of water (just like you do when you make the juice)
Add the bottle of club soda.
Add ice and for a pretty garnish, float frozen strawberries (I prefer raspberries if they are on sale) on top.

Looks very pretty and is very yummy!! If you really like your punches sweet, you could use 7-up or sprite instead, but I'd rather save my calories for a piece of chocolate ;)

Oh, and since I don't have a punch bowl, I used my parfait dish. It only held half the recipe, but it was much more than I thought it would hold.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Now, for the fun part!

As promised last week or so, in honor of 20,000 blog hits, 2 years & almost 400 posts -

A giveaway for you :)

Today, I have a page kit of My Minds Eye products (with some extra embellishments like ribbon and flowers). So leave a comment here and I'll draw winner on Monday!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Also - to celebrate, I'm doing half price shipping on the MemoryWorks Simple Stories kit! (shipping is normally $8.45, but until 3/23, it will only be $4.20. That applies to the kit, the page protectors and the matching cardstock. (if you would like to order additional items, please let me know, I can include anything but albums and tools in the half price sale).

Here is the post with catalog information.

The fine print: because this will be a group order, the shipping time may be delayed by two or three days. Please e-mail me if you would like to order anything, I accept paypal. You cannot order directly online, it must be through me. Also, this sale is only applicable through me.

Please May I Can I.....

We've been working on manners in our house. We've been working on them for a long time, and we still have to work on them ;'(.

But it always makes me laugh because I try to encourage the kids to say "May I?" instead of "Can I?" It always makes me smile though because it ends up coming out "Please may I can I have......." Silly kids.

Well tonight, the kids didn't like what I fixed for dinner. Kids, don't know whats good for them. It was beef style coq au vin (yeah, some fancy french word that I really don't know what it means). A roast cooked slow and low with lots of onions, wine and other stuff. Baked potatos to the side and veggies. Really? What kid wouldn't like this???

Mine. That's who. Mine really, don't like much of anything except peanut butter sandwiches, yogurt and their fruits and raw veggies. Guess I can't complain that they pass on the gourmet food and opt for a plain old banana.

Anyway, they only ate toast for dinner. So, of course a little while later, the curly haired little girl was hungry. But, that should be no surprise. When is she not hungry???

So I hear in her little voice "Please may I can I have some green orange cereal with regular milk?"

Anyone need a translation? Well, green orange cereal is Corn Chex. Orange Cereal is wheat chex (which she loves as well) and Blue Orange Cereal is rice chex. And of course the regular milk is because I didn't have any soy milk as I sometimes do (because I don't like regular milk).

I fixed her her little bowl to which I promptly hear "tank you" and my ♥ does a little smile as I walk away.

Keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't spill it all over the house...........LOL

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

I'm only going to share one page with you tonight. A page about the curly haired little girl since I just told on her...heeee heee......

Good night everyone! I'm off to relax after a busy day getting the house all ready for a baby shower tomorrow (have I ever said I ♥ being a hostess? and this time I got off easy too because all I had to do was get the house ready, no cooking involved :D).

To top that off we had 20 tons of hay to buck tonight as well, so it was a crazy day and we are all wiped! (have to say though, I didn't have to do anything there but stay out of the way. I can handle one or two ton, but 20, that's too much for wimpy me ;) )

Enjoying my coffee and peacefully quiet house tonight. Sweet dreams everyone.

Just a quick minute....

....is all I have, but I've had these LOs ready to go up for a few days now. Life has been super crazy around our house. And to top it off, I am hosting a baby shower on Saturday for two mommies at our church, so I've got a mile long list of stuff I have to get done!



But I just wanted to take a second and share a couple pages with you. I'll have more to come later (oh, and I'll have my baby shower decorations to share as well as a freebie :D)

*use of memorabilia

"I can't race, I'm clothing challenged." Journaling reads: We always joke that you are clothing challenged. I don't think it's so much as you can't get yourself dressed as you just don't want to. But today when Daddy said, "lets race to see who can get their jammas on first," you yelled back, "I can't clothing race. I'm CLOTHING CHALLENGED!"

Love ya kid! :D

*diy Thickers with cuttlebug

Scrap Day News!!

It's here -- the official information! If you are in the Omak area, please plan to come, we'd love to see you! ♥

Registration is open immediately & I can accept either a check or a payment via paypal.

I will have all my tools available at the event, as well as products for purchase from MemoryWorks.

Any paid guests received by April 1 will receive free shipping on their next MemoryWorks purchase (must be purchased through me). Registration received after April 25 is $30, so please register promptly.

Have a friend who might be interested? After you have both registered, you will both receive a $5 product credit at the event. (must not have received original e-mail)

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at amandasherman@hughes.net.

(Unfortunately, as this event is planned to be a girls day, please make arrangements for childcare).

Looking forward to some scrapping & chatting!

I haven't forgotten - I promise!

I haven't forgotten what I promised last week. I have something special coming. I just have had a slight problem in one detail, so I'm still waiting on that.....but it WILL come!

Until then, I wanted to let you know that the new MemoryWorks catalog is available for online viewing! (I won't have a hard copy until at least late next week). It is full of yummy new stuff!!






Here are the links:

Simple Stories Catalog Section
MemoryWorks Catalog 1
MemoryWorks Catalog 2
MemoryWorks Basic Essentials

(You cannot order online, but I'm happy to place an order for you :D)


I will be doing a show on Thursday, so if you are in the Omak area, I would gladly order then. If you need your item shipped, I'd still gladly help you place the order, but timing doesn't matter :)

Happy Memories!

Thank you, All of you

I just wanted to thank you all. My blogiversary was last month (somehow I overlooked it LOL). But it got me thinking....

Thank you for 20,000 hits
Thank you for reading 380 posts
Thank you for sticking with me for 2 year
Thank you to my followers

Thank you!!!

And I said I'd have a surprise. I'm working out the details so I can't announce it right now, but I am working on another giveaway and other stuff.

So check back in the next day or two and I hope to be able to have a celebration surprise posted :D

Who doesn't love a little sweet treat?

Just for fun, I embellished this little baggie of carmel wafers I found (and unfortunately, the decoration was the best part of this treat, yeah, I don't give these a raving review for taste/texture :( ).


Supplies: Pink Paislee (paper), Fiskars (punch), misc (flowers, button, twine)

BTW - keep watch over the next few days....something exciting is coming :-D

It's been a long time....

since I've share a recipe I realized today. So here is one for you.

Usually at least once a month I make up a pot of chili from scratch. Yum-O! It's a good one in our house. Unforunately, I don't have a recipe for the chili (it's a little of this a little of that until it tastes right, and is not usually the same twice). BUT, I have come close to perfecting a corn bread recipe. It's slightly sweet, and light and fluffy (not heavy like really corny ones (no pun intended LOL).

Heat oven to 450 degrees.

Beat together 1 egg & 1 cup milk. Then add 1 Tbsp honey & 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup (double the honey for really sweet bread, if you don't have REAL syrup, then use 2 Tbsp honey) & 3 Tbsp olive oil. Beat again.

In another bowl, whisk together 1 1/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup corn meal, 3 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sea salt. When mixed, gradually stir into wet mixture. Stir until just moistened.

Pour into 9x9 pan and bake approximately 20 minutes (or until pick inserted in middle comes clean, may need longer). Check after 15 minutes, but may need up to 25 minutes.

Let cool slightly, cut and serve with butter and drizzled honey.

I'll take a second helping thank you! :D

And keep watching this week, because I'll have something special happening later this week!

Three Nails Woodworking Cabinets

These are the cabinets we finished for a job in December. I always am amazed at the beauty of Roberts work when it is sitting in the shop, but seeing the individual cabinets is like looking at a half finished puzzle. Beautiful yes, but you still have to use your imagination to see the whole picture.

When we went back to photograph this job, I was blown away at how beautiful they were when the puzzle is complete. Simply stunning. These were for an incredible family. Very wonderful people in every aspect. It was a pleasure to work with them.

The kitchen:

Bathroom:

Den/Office:

Living area:

Hallway:

Master Suite:

Thanks for looking. We don't often get back to the customers homes after installation, so my portfolio of completed jobs is very small. But I'm so happy to be able to share these and brag on my husband a little (okay a *lot*). His work is simply amazing. A true craftsman. Everything done by hand with comparatively low-tech machines. It shows his true skill as a craftsman and talent in design as well.