Overnight Fig Cakes ~ Deployment Project #9

This is another project from the Egyptians and Their Neighbor's book. They cakes actually turned out pretty good, Jacob wasn't a fan. Because they used Barley flour they had a beer taste to them.

mixing the dough by hand, it used both whole wheat and barley flour.

next we split the dough into three and rolled them into long logs.

Rolling the dough up like an Elephant Ear, as Jacob put it and placing on a plate to rise over night.

The finished product, the dough was sticky, so we used a lot of flour, which I think definately affected the final taste.

Patriotic Wreath 1 - Deployment Project # 8

My mom mentioned wanting to get some seasonal wreaths for their door, so when I went to get Jacob's needed project supplies I picked up some stuff to make a wreath for them too. They already had the flag that I used in the middle and the glue gun I used to keep it all secure. Look at that Patriotic boy (and another good picture, not sure what over came him!! but I love it).

Egyptian Sailboat Deployment Project # 7

Another history project from the Egyptians and Their neighbors book was an Egyptain Sail Boat, I can't believe he smiled twice and isn't hiding behind the boat for the pictures!!

Wash Like An Egyptian - deployment project #6

So, I am counting school projects as a part of my 100 days, well because most are crafts, and I enjoy them just as much, if not more than Jacob. this one is from Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide by Marian Broida. The next few are actually from this book :)

filling the first bucket with cold hose water (not sure why my pictures are side by side, having way too many issues with blogspot to try and fix it.)

Putting the dirty clothes into the hose water.

mixing together the laundry ingredients. We had to make our own washing soda, because it could not be found in CO!! So we cooked some baking soda, which I guess ups the alkaline in it.

adding VERY hot watter to bucket two.

Pouring the laundry mix into the bucket of VERY hot water

transferring the clothes to the soapy water.

stirring the clothes in the water, puts a new spin on spin cycle ;-)

he had to do this for a little while, so decided to do it sitting.

dumping the dirty wash water.

beating out the soapy water on the over turned bucket that had water in it before with a wooden spoon.

the clothes out to dry. Though the grape juice did not come out from washing the clothes this way, once put in the regular wash it totally came out, so this is a good prewash :)

camera cords, wreaths, scrap challanges

So, this was going to talk about my camera and my wreaths, and my goals, but with 6 double layouts, I think this post will be long enough just talking about those!! So, deployment project number 13 (in progress, I don't think each page should count as a project!! may go by year, since next months scrap project is a bigger time span, not sure). I absolutely love Apron String Designs scrap kits. They make scrapping so much quicker, and well the owner Lori rocks and it is based out of CO, so it perfect :) Anyway, over on her blog, apronstringsdesigns.blogspot.com, for the month of July, she is having an out with the old, in with the new scrap challange, which fits perfectly with my personal scrap challange for myself this month. To scrap any pictures that are left from when I met my husband to the birth of our oldest child. 2001 is done, so it is really only a year and half worth of pictures (next month is from that child to our next, they are almost 6 years apart, and only about 2 or 3 years (if even) are done!! Here are the first 6 challanges :)
the first challange was to use my oldest summer kit with my newest metalic embelishments. The way I store my scrapbook stuff, I have no clue what is newer and what is older. So, I just combined a summery kit, with some metalic embelishments :)

The right side of the Catholic Cadet Chapel.

The second challange was to scrap using red, white, and blue, since it was posted on Monday the 4th of July :) Being that I had a bunch of pictures of my new Cadet boyfriend and his classmates I already had a layout pulled with those colors in mind :)

and the right side, you see that hot cadet, there is that squadren, near the middle, no that one, haha, no clue where he is out there!! I may have known which group when taking it, maybe he can remember 12 years later :)

The third challange was to mix two kits. Since I had already pulled pictures and kits, I had one double page that was actually two single layouts, with two different, but it so happens, coordinating kits, so there we go, challange done :) These are my first photos of my handsome husband 12 years ago, 11 years married today (July 10, 2011, day I am editing this post, not sure what date blogspot will give it when done :) ).

The second kit. that is my little brother dressed like an alien batboy :)

The fourth challange was to take a non-summery kit and use it with "newer" photos. This kit, when I pulled it, I just thought old fashioned, not summer, this why I put it with Mt Vernon photos. When using the coordinating sides it does look more summery. These photos are "newe" in relation to my birth. I am determined to complete all the photos from the time I met Alex until our oldest was born, so "newer" is relative. BUt the main goal of the entire challange is to use up our stash :) This layout had a very simpl sketch, I did add the flowers and chip board to give it a little more.

And the right side of a very simple layout...

The fifth challange was to mix up kits or scrap supplies. NOne of my kits worked for this layout, which does not happen often since I have quite the stash. But I did have the elements that would, what can I say, I love baseball. The cardstock was from Apron Strings, the pattern paper is from when Scenic Route was closing up shop. No clue about the ribbon, prob and Apron String left over (there is two kits ;-). And the baseball stickers were in my stash. Being a mom I tend to get away from things I love, even with a baseball loving son, but scrapping this page really made me smile. That is twice this year I have been reminded of my love for this game :)

The right side :)

The sixth challange was to use an older kit with five elements in it, cardstock, patterned paper, buttons, ribbon, and chip board, and to add two other elements. None of my pulled kits had chipboard, so the cork circles were the closes thing. I used some Close to My Heart Ribbon and a green paper flower I had in a left over stash from a different kit.

This is the right side of the layout. You can't really see the title, but it says Jewish and Protestant Cadet Chapels. this is what happens when you don't put stuff away right, you can't find the best for the job and with a dead line for a challange I had to go with what I did have easy access to.

Got to craft will post pictures later - Deployment projects #6 and #7

Jacob and I did some crafting together and i did a project on my own. He and I made a model of an old Egyptian boat for his history work. It turned out real cute.

When I went to get the items that were missing for his boat, I also picked up some stuff to make a patriotic wreath for my parents. It is similar to my spring one, but is red, white, and blue Daisy's with an American Flag in the center.

Can't wait to get home, cuddle with my kitty, enjoy my milk, eggs, and produce created as God intended and craft :) Go home tomorrow :)

Found mypatriotic wreath idea!!

I saw it on etsy!! It is similar to my St Patrick's Day one, you would think that I would have already decided this. But up until today I didn't want another rag wreath. Then I was just looking at AF things on Etsy and saw a rag wreath made of ABU (uniform) material. I LOVED!!!! it!!!!!! But knowing I can make it I am not willing to pay $45. I am going to make it with BDU fabric instead since my husband still wears all his abu uniforms and I did get some blue AF fabric, and red with gold stars to embelish it. I also got a Freedon sign like my Irish sign. I can't wait to get home on Sun (maybe Mon, we have a late flight) and make it to have up just in time for the 4th. I had actually wanted a wreath for Memorial Day, but amglad I waited. this one will be up through Patriat Day (9-11) or longer, depending on when I get my Halloween one done...

T-shirt reuses

I know there are a bunch more ideas, but the following are ones that I would like to do and we have quite the stack at my house. Am actually bummed I already cut some down way too small for these ideas!! Any ideas for others would be greatly appreciated.

My first is a t-shirt quilt, that is what I had originally planned to do with them all!! I know I will make one of my oldest's gymnastics shirts when we move as a memory quilt and may make a USAFA one for my hubby if we have enough.

I have also seen cloth diaper patterns
reuseable grocery bags
and shirt skirts

Would love other ideas oh and you should see the stack of jeans, have made jean purses and plan a quilt there too, but not sure what else...

Some sneak peaks

Since I am in CO and can't work on any of my crafts I am going to post some sneak peaks of items I plan to finish or start (and finsh, need ritallin for craft ADD). Some the links are at home, so just going to list :)

Master
felt heart wreath in a light blue
billy book case from IKEA
curtains in either white or cream (would love your input, trim is cream, but I love the look of white)

Patrick' and Robert's room
A Mickey Mouse wreath
Finally finish their bedding and curtains

Jacob's room
His entire sports bedding
Hang his gymnastics hooks for his medals
Organize better in there.

Living Room
recover two dining room table chairs (http://www.tonicliving.com/productsDetails.asp? for some reason it won't let me highlight the last line)
curtains, again in white or cream http://www.tonicliving.com/productsDetails.asp?categoryid=94&productid=525&currentpage=1&onsale=0 (going with an Irish theme, room is dark green, so leaning towards white, because I prefer how it looks and that is the color in the Irish flag, but again, the trim is cream.)

Misc
thank you gifts for all the friends that have helped me out so far
boys' baby books, trying to decide do I get them all caught up to robert's age, and then the older two to Patrick's age and then work on Jacob's until it is caught up or just work on one kid at a time (mom guilt prob won't let that happen). Also need to just scrap some family albums :)
Am also in search of a wreath idea that really captures me for a patriotic wreath, I had wanted to have it done for Memorial Day and now I am not even sure if I will have one for Independance Day!! I do plan for it to stay up until at least 9-11

Deployment Challenge

I saw a link to a blog that has inspired me and I am hoping to also make the last 9 months of my hubbies deployment easier to handle!! Paige over at Faith's Page set a challange to do 100 projects during her husband's 14 month deloyment. Her hubby will be home soon :) Well, we are only 1/4 of the way through with ours. I did craft and organize/decorate a lot when he first left. But now I am just trying to tread water with keeping the house semi clean. I am so overwhelmed by it that I feel guilty doing anything else!! Even if it is something for the house of my boys, and I know that the process of doing those crafty things will help my mood and my sanity. So, thanks to Paige, I am challanging myself to get 100 projects done too. Starting back with my St Pat's wreath, that I completed the day he left. I will renumber those projects and post some others I have recently done and try and do better at posting the ones I am going to do. My goals include, organizing/cleaning, decorating, gifts, and scrapbooking :)

My son verified why I chose this blog name...

Last name after my son's baseball game I asked him to put his uniform in the wash. I made sure to get the clothes in the drier tonight so that he would have a dry uniform for tomorrow morning's game...

Well, when I went to rotate all I saw was the socks that I put in there!!!

I went and looked in his room and his belt was on the floor and his pants crumpled in his drawer. No shirt to be found.

As I went to change out the popcorn I am making for snacks I saw it on the family room floor, inside out and because it did not make the wash it has pizza sauce on it.

Ugh, I feel the only way to keep that child clean is if I clean up after him. And he made the comment that if he shared his room with his brother that his brother would make a mess. HA (and he is 9, the older one!!)

Goals for when I get home

As I said a couple days ago, I have about 100 times as much stuff as my brother and his family. But my sister-in-law has inspired me with two new daily things that I have know I need to do, just haven't. That is dishes in the morning and pick up toys in the evening. I could do both in the evening, but not sure I will be up for putting toys away, let alone doing dishes too. We will see how it all works out when I get home. I can say that I am inspired to clean about and take care of the house after a week of minimal cleaning...

Real Food

So, I have been toying with the whole all natural diet for a few years now, and a lot of things have led me to really try and eat better. Our body is our temple that God has given us one of, and we need to treat it with respect, and other than nursing my babies, I need to make sure we put things inside them that God intended for us to eat.

So, I am going to try and get rid of all processed foods. I am sure it will be hard and slow, because I am cheap, and well, good, all natural food is not cheap, but then again, we don't buy a cheap car, so why should I buy cheap, unhealthy food. This is another big change for me, but I am ready lots of benefits from this.

We have already begun ordering raw milk. I only ordered one gallon at a time because it is just under twice as much as our standard "cheap" milk. But my boys loved it, and well it has good bacteria that is removed from the store stuff. On my order waiting for me at home, I also ordered some farm fresh eggs. I am hoping to join a fruit/veggie co-op, hit up our farmers market, and local farms more. Make homemade popsicles and treats, and just feed my kids better.

Wish me luck, because this will be a tough one too.

Simple Life

I am constanly trying to get my house under control. And well, it is a battle I am always losing...I am currently at my brother's house, where his wife keeps things very minimal. Yes, the boys still make messes here, but they are easier to clean, and she is more on top of dishes and what not each day.

I am not at the point where I can part with a lot of my things, and I do part with stuff, but seem to add to what we have just as fast, if not faster. I am a collector. I collect things, each of my rooms seems to revolve around this theme. Plus I get attached to things. For example my oldest son's toys. I can't get rid of them, I want his brothers to play with them, and I want to keep them for his kids. That would be fine and dandy if I wasn't so hung up on making sure his brothers each get new toys that were not played with the other siblings first. A part of me says I just need to store them, but the boys do play with them all!! Granted it means more stuff out and needing to be dealt with and picked up.

How do you deal with kid's toys and just stuff in general?

Another new blog

Ok, so I had 4 blogs, but came up with this name and really wanted to use it and really like it. I don't want 5 seperate blogs though, so I am goin to import my old blogs and try and keep up with this one better. Unlike my other blogs it isn't just for crafts, or family, but my everyday ramblings of my life.

Spring Wreath - Deployment project #5

I am going to have to look up the link for this one and edit the post later, but I saw this pretty cherry blossom wreath idea, and this is my take on it. I love how simple and pretty it is...

Painting with a Twist - Deplyment Project #4

I got to have a mommy night!! My friend and I went to a place called Painting with a Twist. It was a little stressful, but still fun and the end result was worth it, come to find out our first was prob one of the harder ones. And it looked to be an easier one... We started with a blank canvas. They had our paint all ready for us, they did let me get a different background color so that it would match the boys' monkey bathroom (more of that to come...) First we were told to draw a straight line to seperate the canvas, like how straight my line was ;-)

then step by step they took us through the drawing, there were so many lines and grey spots from errasing, they promised us that it would look bad before it got better :) I forgot to take pictures from there, but here is the end result and you can kind of see their painting in the back ground :)

Oh, I will be linking up all the posts after I get the boys to bed ;-) And that is a pic of my boys above ;-)

Lent Eggs - Deplyment project #3

I saw this Easter countdown idea over at Eighteen25, and thought I would have it pertain more to the real reason for the season...I also painted the egg carton so that we weren't staring at egglands best all season ;-) Inside the carton is a little bit of Easter grass and some old plastic eggs with numbers on them...I found a Lenton countdown and printed off the sheets and then typed the prayers included...Inside each egg is the prayer, that we are supposed to recite throughout the day. I put the strips on the refridgerator so we can see them and the eggs and binder with the sheet on top. We are actually behind. I need to get black ink so we can get caught up, which seems to be the story of my life... More completed craft posts to come :)

sick little man

Well, we were supposed to have a busy day, but my youngest woke with a fever of 100.3. Though the Motrin has kicked in, we are still staying home most of the day. So, I figured I should post all my crafts I have completed. So get ready for a few posts :) I have new furniture, a new door wreath, some decorations for my room, and some scrap pages. Am currently working on a wreath for the babies' room, and also some art stuff for their room with pictures and posters, those will be posted when complete and their shelf is up too :)

Keep a look out...

Fleece doughnuts - Deployment project # 2

a little while back someone asked about fabric food patterns on a facebook group I am on. Thus the watermelon I rencently made. Well, as I was looking at the archives to tatertots and jello, she posted about an etsy shop that had had some real fun felt food. I decided I wanted to make more for my boys, especially my middle child. I posted the blog post on fb and a friend sent me a bunch of links. The first link started with doughnuts, so I decided to do the same. In that blog, she had picked up a dunkin doughnuts bag to put them in. Well, we don't have a DD, but do have a KK (Krispy Kreme). So I decided the boys and I HAD to go buy a dozen so I wouldn't feel like a dork asking for a clean box. Because I use fleece a lot for costumes for my boys, I use my huge stash of fleece scraps.



The doughnut's tutorial was linked at the original blog to Skip to my Lou.



Since my middle child picked the St Patrick's Day doughnuts, at first I was going to go with 12 holiday themed doughnuts, but decided to do colors instead. He just turned 3, and does not have his colors straight, so figured I would do a double wammy and make them educational too :)



though, I have adorable crochet eggs, I plan to make more, and include some fleece ones too, just cause I can :)

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Irish Wreath - Deployment project #1

So, I should be cleaning or feeding my kids, but instead am surfing tatertots and jello. I did decide to multi task and upload my project I finished yesterday. i saw the idea on one of her check this out blogs. It is a fabric wreath.



This is the wreath as it was completed yesterday morning. It looked too plain for my liking so I ran back to Hobby Lobby, not sure if it being so close is a good thing!! But I took it with me and went to their St Patrick's Day area. There were so many different signs to choose from. In this style they had Lucky and Irish, I love Irish :) It was a perfect fit too. I then went and grabbed a roll of ribbon to hang it. Did not like the hanger showing. Am so proud of this one :)