December Daily- We are Ready to Rock

Over the last few weeks I have been working on setting up my December Daily Album for this year. I've already shown you my Foundation pages, and the first Draft of my cover. Now it's time to dig into the fun stuff I have put inside! I've also got some pictures of the supplies I have gathered to use throughout the month, and a fun idea for getting the whole Family involved in December Daily.

I apologize in advance for the less than stellar pictures. I am still trying to figure out the best settings on the camera I own, and my computer with my editing software is being buggy today, so these are SOOC (or Straight out of camera for you folks who don't deal with camera terminology).

Let's start off with my updated cover. I added a glue rub-on tree which I then glittered. I added some rhinestones for ornaments, and a chipboard star for the top. I also altered the back a little, just extended the washi tape to cover the entire spine on the back. I failed to get a picture of it though. My boys are loving looking through it already and are super excited to get started this weekend!

I gathered a bunch of supplies together to make the recording and embellishing more easy. These are going to be set on my kitchen counter near the table so I can quickly get some recording done without pulling out any additional supplies. The red utensil container has a few ink pads, a couple smash stamps, 9 rolls of washi tape, several adhesives, rhinestones, glitter, a rub-on applicator, and various pens.

I also gathered together stickers, journaling cards, die-cuts, rub-ons, envelopes, extra page protectors, etc. These I put in a cute tin I found at Ikea, I put little cards in that separate each catagorey for easy access.I also have a small paper cutter and a 3-hole punch that I have adjusted to punch holes that fit in the album.

Now on to some of the things I have already added. I love adding in all kinds of memorabilia from throughout the month, but some things come from earlier and fit with what I want in my album, so I include those too!

I took one of our Christmas Cards and cut it in half (removed the back) I then punched it with my hole punch and insrted it into the album. On the other side of it there was a big blank space so I added a little die cut that says 'Seasons Greetings" and a handwritten note that says "Our Christmas Card". Looking back I wish I had picked a Christmas card that was horizontal rather than vertical so it would have looked better in the album. Oh well, there is always next year!

The other thing I have put in is Ryan's "Letter to Santa" He drew a picture of what he says is "Lego guys", because that is what he wants for Christmas. if only I had known that BEFORE I finished my Christmas shopping for him. Jack had one as well, but he spilt milk on it, so I am going to have him do another one later this month.

 Now on to the fun stuff!! This is mostly just for looking at, so I won't talk to much about them. If you have a question leave it in the comments and I will try to answer it. These first pictures are all of dividers I made for throughout the album.

And then there are some fun little inserts. There are more of these, but I only photographed a few. Many of them are on the backs of envelopes, so there will be little pockets to put things in throughout the album.

I also have a little notebook that my Mother-in-law sent me a few months back that I am going to keep with me while we are out and about throughout December so I can jot down anything that I want to remember to put in the album.

You'll notice I didn't put any numbers on my pages. I want t be able to move the little inserts around wherever they fit best. The foundation pages I have each have the date, and i have some numbers I have cut to add if I feel like it.

So there you have it, all the basic elements of my December Daily Album for 2012! I think this is the most on the ball with this I have been in a while! So proud I have gotten this far with it!

To make this project more of a family affair I have made a fun list of random things to take pictures of throughout December. It's about 100 items long, so there are some pretty obscure things in there! Every day each family member has to take a picture of at least one thing on the list. I purchased a cheap digital camera for my boys to use (It was free! Just had to pay $2 for shipping! Score!). I imported the list into my "Cozi" App on my new smartphone so that we can check things off the list wherever we may be. Not all the pictures will make it int the album, but some will, and it will be a fun was to get the whole family involved in the project!

One Little Word: What Will You Focus on in 2013?

It's about that time of year that I start thinking about my "One Little Word". This is a word that gives me a focus for the upcoming year, something to work on, think about, develop, etc. I got the idea from, you guessed it, Ali Edwards (have I mentioned how much she inspires me in everything she does?), and it has been interesting.
My word last year I believe was "Create". I don't remember exactly. I lost track of what I wanted to focus on this year at some point, as I focused on meeting the needs of everyone else. I think I created, but I didn't really focus on creating myself. I meant to create in many different meanings of the word, and it all got lost because I put myself last. I wanted to create an organized home, I wanted to create traditions, I wanted to create memories, and mostly I ended up creating stress.
This last little part of the year I am going to try to focus on creating more, and one of the things I want to create while I do that is something visual I can put up in my house to remind me of the word I choose for 2013.

That leaves me the task of deciding on a word. In the past this has been a hard fought battle. I probably over-think it, but it always seems like such a big thing to me. I think about it a lot. I even pray about it. I ponder the year ahead and what I know I will be facing. I think about other goals I have set, and how I might incorporate them into my one little word. I think of it as an affirmation, or a resolution. It defines me, and focuses me, and feels like something that should be given great thought and consideration.

Some that are in consideration for this next year: Create (again, so I can do it right this time), Memories, Me, Achieve, Be, Challenge, Cultivate (that was on my list of maybe's last year), Focus, Record, Lift, Moment, Restore, Venture, Wonder... and the list goes on. It's going to be hard to choose one.

So, if you could choose one word that represents what you want for the coming year, what would it be? What one little word will define you this coming year? Think about it, and post your answer below. Perhaps you will inspire me... ooooo Inspire is a good word too....

Menu Monday- Week One

Sometimes it is easy to get stuck in a food rut around our house, making the same things over and over again. We have our favorites around here, and often we fail to branch out from them.
In an effort to get a more varied menu going in our house I am going to start sharing 5 recipes every Monday that we are trying at our house this week! Hopefully it will help you branch out too and try new things!
So without further ado let's start off this week's Menu Monday round-up!



Roasted Red Pepper Soup With Roasted Chickpeas
This recipe hails from the blog Edible Perspective. It caught my eye with it's lovely red-ish orange color. Just looks divine! Fall is a time for soup in my opinion, so I like to have at least one soup recipe planned a week (despite my husband pretty much hating soup... silly husband!) We will probably serve it with some bread maker bread. Yum yum! Or maybe a Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Now that sounds good!




Stir-Fried Tofu with Scallions, Garlic, Ginger, and Soy Sauce
A week's menu at our house would not be complete without a Tofu recipe. I know, you must be thinking "How the heck does she get her children to eat tofu?!". The answer is, my children beg for tofu, it is their favorite food. Yes, you heard right. My 5 year old and three year old both love tofu. This recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen looked amazing today, so on the menu it goes!




Gina's Creamy Mushroom Lasagna
Another much loved ingredient that hardly a week goes by without it ending up in our food is Mushrooms. When I saw mushrooms mixed with another favorite around here, lasagna, I knew this had to be on this weeks menu. Crazy me even plans to make her own ricotta for it! Have I ever mentioned I make some of my own cheese? I've got Paneer and Fresh Mozzarella under my belt already, so Ricotta should be a breeze, right? This lovely recipe comes from AllRecipes.com

Slow Cooker Black Bean, Corn and Spinach Enchiladas

This amazing looking concoction comes from Sweet Happy Life. The reason it landed on my menu this week? It's a crockpot recipe, which can be a lifesaver on a day when I have a lot to do. This may end up being a Friday recipe, so I can make my Husband do it before he goes to work (Yes, I make my husband cook occasionally, mostly on weekends). I love that it uses mostly stuff I have on hand, but I will be skipping the homemade sauce just for convenience.



 Roasted Veggie and Black Bean Burritos
These are a favorite around here, despite my husband professing he doesn't like sweet potatoes. I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, which has become one of my favorite places to find recipes. In an average week we usually find two recipes from that site on our list. These are quite delicious, and pretty easy. They give me that sweet and savory combo that I am a sucker for.




Well there you have it folks! That's what is on the table at our house this week! They will be supplemented with a dinner out (Rumbi's is giving away free meals this week if you bring in two cans of food for the food bank! Good for the community, and good for your wallet!), and a quick prepare recipe. All of these recipes are vegetarian, and the top two are vegan. If you try any of these recipes let me know, and leave a review on the websites they came from! I'd love to see what you think!

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like.... Christmas?

It's not even Halloween yet and I am already planning out the Christmas festivities!

I know, I am such a nerd. I still have two months! But my head is in Christmas already and I can't seem to get it to switch back to Halloween. Which is a bit of a problem, since I haven't yet finished our Halloween Costumes. I finished the party, that's good enough, right?At least the boys have their costumes. Our little Captain America and Iron Man are adorable! The hubby and I are going to be Hawkeye and Black Widow, that is if I can get my head in the game again.

So, back to Christmas! I really want to host a Christmas cookie exchange this year! I'm thinking either as a Girl's Night, or as a play date type thing with the kiddos. Leaning more to the Girl's night, as I could really use a night off from the boys! I know for sure there will be packaging supplies to wrap up the exchanged goodies, a hot chocolate bar, and I want to make little cookie recipe books with everyone's recipes as a take home favor.

I am in love with this invite (Right) from Lara at Announced Design. If you don't know already I am OBSESSED with Polka Dots. Also, I love the color turquoise. This just speaks to me! Thinking I might use this as inspiration for the party colors. I have been wanting to redo my kitchen decor in these colors anyway, so I would be able to make items do double duty as party decor and then keep some of them up year round! Win win, right? I think so!

The idea for the hot chocolate bar came from a fabulous shower featured on Hostess with the Mostess.  If you have never heard of that blog, you are certainly missing out! It is a fantastic resource for party planning! Go check it out, NOW! you will not be disappointed in the least! It's the Holy Grail of party planning, and if I ever have a party make it on her blog I think I would die.

So, that's all I have for now. I am working on writing up some past parties and crafts I have done so I can get some content on here. Also working on a blog design, but that is much slower coming. When it comes to design I tend to obsess and have to get it perfect. You can be 100% certain that it will include polka dots though. :)