Family

My reason for not posting these days. Our precious little boy has arrived:

Matthew David

August 18, 2010

8lbs. 2 oz.

20.5 inches long

♥

Slowly mending....

This flu has knocked us over. Being 9months pregnant AND having the flu is not something I want to do again! I'm not sure what I would have done without my Mom!!

We're slowly mending, although we still have one on the couch. Blek.

Looks like our little boy will be arriving very shortly. We have an induction planned on Thursday - I was so hoping not to be induced, but being late, and what looks to be like a very large baby, it's time!

We're so excited to meet him!

Grandma has been busy teaching the girls sewing projects and crocheting and they've been having a grand time! These are a couple cards I made - one will be for a birthday and one is for Great Grandma who is in the hospital. Hopefully it'll brighten her day.

It's hard to believe that summer is drawing to a close and the "back to school" talk has begun. Where does the time go?

OK, back to sipping the Raspberry Leaf tea - trying to get this baby to come on his own!! :)

.j.

Thank you Rub On

We've had the flu bug in our house :( Joshua is sitting up a bit more today so hopefully that is a good sign he is on the mend. He's sucking back the freezies and they're staying down so this is good news! Now we are hoping & praying no one else comes down to it. I'm feeling a bit nauseous so hopefully it's just the woos of being 9 months pregnant!

Going to continue to rest up as we prepare for this delivery!

We're also doing a bit of crochet (Grandma has arrived!!) - hope to have something to share with you soon...

Until then.... here's a very simple card. I simply took a rub on and a sentiment. :)

Can't get simpler than that!

Enjoy your sunday!

☀

Feel like a winner?

Wondering what this stack of delicious paper is all about?? WELL.... it could be yours! There's an amazing blog giveaway going on.... Check it out HERE for your chance to win!

WOOOHOOOO!!!

Good luck everyone!

.j.

More Baby Thanks.

Yesterday was my original due date. Not that I cling to a due date as I'm "always" late. Between my regular doctor, my OB and myself, we have 3 different due dates! HA. My doctor said the 12th (which has now come and gone), my OB says the 18th (we'll see) and I say the 20th... and then factor in my lateness... and we're looking around the 25th. I only hope I AM wrong!! :) My Mom arrives in the wee hours tonight so once she's here I'm hoping my body realizes all the stars have aligned and baby can join our crew! I picked up some Raspberry Leaf tea today, so I will start the drinking tomorrow - LOL.

The kids have had a full week at VBS and then school in the afternoon - I'm exhausted. Then my son started getting sick late this afternoon and I'm hoping his tummy will settle so we can all get some sleep tonight. Poor boy! Being sick is NO fun at all.

Thought I'd share another baby card with you :) Nearly done my announcements now. A few more to do and then all that will be missing is the photo and the deets! :) I'll show you those once baby has arrived & they're mailed out. WOW I still can't believe this is all happening. :)

We're all so very excited.

Hope you've had a fantastic week and your weekend is delightful!

.j.

Spring Vegetable and Bean Soup

OK, I know what you're thinking... SOUP?! Seriously Jen in the summer, SOUP?? Every so often there's a cloudy day, right? Even if there isn't, this soup is THAT good!

Enjoy.

Spring Vegetable Soup

from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

2 medium onions

2 cloves of garlic

1-3/4 quarts of chicken/veggie broth ( I used 8 cups)

olive oil

1 x 15oz. can of Cannellini beans (we use red kidney beans)

2 cups cauliflower

2 cups broccoli

7 cups spinach leaves

2 large ripe tomatoes

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Peel and roughly slice the carrots; slice the celery. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel and slice the garlic.
2. Put the broth in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Put a large saucepan on medium heat and add 2 TBL of olive oil. Add all your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon. Cook for around 12 minutes, with the lid askew, until the carrots have softened but are still holding their shape, and the onion is lightly golden.
3. Meanwhile, drain your beans. Break up the cauliflower and broccoli into small florets. Roughly chop the spinach. Quarter the tomatoes, removing any stalks.
4. Add the boiling broth to the vegetables in the pan. Add your cannellini beans, cauliflower, broccoli and quartered tomatoes. Give the soup a good stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or slightly more.

To Serve Your Soup:

1. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for a further 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat. If you like your soup a little less chunky, you can take out half of it, blend it (using our favorite tool, the immersion blender) then stir it back into the pan. (If using an immersion blender, there’s no need to take out the soup for blending and returning to the pot.)
2. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Serves 6 to 8

Hedgehog birthday

Well, I think I've gotten all my "main" cards done for the year. Whew! Feels good to have them completed and filed away for birthday deliveries. I still have to make some children birthday cards as there's always parties going on and it's so nice to have a stash for the kids to choose from and not be scrambling to make something.

This card is for one of my nieces. In our move I rediscovered many single stamps I had boxed up. I found as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator many of these stamps got pushed aside as I focused on my business and tried to be strictly SU. Admittedly it's nice to have the freedom to play again and so all these packaged stamps have been brought out again! :)

I went through a "hedgehog" phase many years ago. Just fell in love with their cuteness!

This is a pretty simple card. Coloring was done with Copic markers, and I added stickles to each flower (hard to tell in the photo) so they all shimmer :) What little girl doesn't like a little shimmer! I ran the paper (PTI) through my cuttlebug and because it's white on the other side I was able to sand it and reveal white bumps :) I thought that was fantastic (and something new for me!) A simple mat and bow to complete it.

The hot water tank is getting replaced today -- started leaking last week. UGH. Thankfully it was able to get replaced before baby's arrival. Tomorrow is the original DUE DATE, but I think the doctor has changed it to the 20th now. Nothing like hitting that nine month mark only to have another week and a half added to it! HA.

My Mom arrives Saturday and she said her suitcase is full of fabrics and projects... so that will keep us busily sewing until baby decides to make his entrance! I will post some of the projects we make along the way... and hopefully soon news about our little boy's arrival.

♥

Sweet Treats!

We had a great weekend with Daddy home!! I even got down to the stamp room yesterday afternoon to stamp up a dozen Baby Thanks cards to have on hand. Starting to feel like we're finally getting things organized & nearly ready for this baby to arrive. Only a couple more weeks to go (well, that's my prediction). :)

I'm trying to faithfully get out some paper hugs & blessings in these next couple weeks while I'm still able to. Even though it's been 9 years, I remember all too well the exhaustion that comes with a new little one!!

This was a little something I made for my nieces and nephews. We don't live near any family, so I knew this summer I wouldn't be able to take them out for an ice cream treat, so I thought I'd send one in the mail (well... the gift card variety! LOL)

This set, Sweet Treats, is from Stampin' Up! I thought it would work perfectly for our little surprise. The strawberry paper is from Basic Grey and the ribbon was recycled off a package I received awhile back. The red stripes reminded me of an ice cream parlor :) I added some sparkle to the cherry on top too!

YUM!

Thinking of You.

Here I think I'm faithfully updating my blog and when I sign on, I see it's nearly been a week - time is going by so quickly... before I realize it these 9 months will be all done!

♥

I was still on the theme "simplicity" with this card. No layers, and pretty simple stamping. I did stamp and cut out a couple tree tops and popped them up with stampin' dimensionals. I also punched out a heart and stitched it on with a little button. Simple, but with a couple touches *smile*. I had fun playing with this set by Stampin' Up!, Trendy Trees.

Doctor says baby could arrive any day now. I've never been early before, but I am feeling pretty uncomfortable these days.

The final stretch has arrived....

Hope you're having a great week!

I got a few paper hugs off in the mail today, what about you?

.j.

Simplicity.

Sunday.

I love Sundays. The quiet afternoons, games, walks, crafting time....

This week will be a bit busier with my in-laws visiting for a few days (they're hoping baby decides to come early) and hubby will have a few days off too (yahoooooo!)

A good week if I do say so myself.

☺

This was a quick card. I'm still working on birthday/special occasion cards for the remainder of the year as I know my arms will be full soon and I wanted to have that all in order. I'm almost there, just a couple more to go. In order to get there though I had to go with the "less is more" motto for a few. I find that concept easier for masculine cards.

I used a PTI stamp set and my go-to Stampin' Up! set "Family Phrases" for this card. I stamped and cut out the frame and 'lifted' it with stampin' dimensionals (double-sided foam tape). I stamped the sentiment and used SU's window punch to place inside, a punched star and a stitched on button...

Super simple, but I liked how it turned out.

Less is more, don't you think?

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Fresh new week starts tomorrow...

.j.