iPod Valentine

Another cute idea, taken from Family Fun. This is a Sweethearts box with peanut butter cup "earbuds". There are some very creative people in this world!!


I think Ellie really loves this idea for her friends, and it matches her since she is so into music. Easy to make and the website has the template for the screen and wheel :)

Photo Valentines

Want a cheap, easy and unique idea for Valentine's cards? Well...take a gander:



This is very, very simple.

-Take a photo of your child with their fist outstretched.
-Do a little photoshop by adding text on the photo.
-get your photos printed
-once you get the pics, cut a small slit at the top and bottom of the fist and slide in a lollipop
-a little tape on the back and VOILA!

A little creativity+photo paper+sweetness= 23 cents per Valentine.



inspired by 7/24/365

Valentine's Mantel

My Valentine mantel is up for this year!

-Fabric scrap wreath, instructions from last year here
-I glittered an X and O, I mounted them on small wood plaques to stay put
-red candle holders, 49 cents and 99cents at Bed Bath and Beyond
-made the LOVED banner today from my scrap stash, added feathers, fabric and flowers.

Repurposed Old Chairs

This is a pretty easy project to do. I bought the bench but it was super cheap otherwise I would have made one.

It's basically 2 old chairs, tops taken off, placed side by side, and a wood top screwed in to the top of the chairs to create a bench. The lady that made this also had benches with 3 seats. Super cute!

I have painted this a couple of times, and today I painted it red for my entryway. It's Colonial Red matte spray paint. I also added on the barn stars to jazz it up a bit!

Growing up

He looks so grown up *sigh*.

Regular

One thing I really miss about living in Japan is that when I went to my favorite places, I was treated extra special, as a regular. And it never took me long to become a regular because I stood out. Basically, by the second time there, I was officially a regular. My favorite places where I knew the staff were mostly restaurants. A bakery where I would get my morning pastry, 2 restaurants owned by the same person: Okoge and Spice Ya, and the local Japanese style pub named Murasaki (Purple).

I used to joke with Dama that he became famous in our small town and became a regular because he was dating me :) Now he tries to reverse that and say that we are regulars at some places here because of him :) Not so!

Here are a couple places I/we are regulars and get treated extra nice:

1) my local Jamba Juice: I probably get one once a week. The gal behind the counter and I always have a nice chat and she'll offer me samples.

2) Peking Restaurant: We have been coming here for years. Dama used to bring Lucas here when he was an only child and I was off scrapbooking. Then he added Ellie. Now we all go and the ladies there love the kids.

3) Best Teriyaki: our local Teriyaki shop. The owner is THE nicest guy ever and he and I have great conversations about Asian culture. He too loves the kids and gives them lollipops when we go in.

It's harder to get to know people up here. We had a lot of places we were regulars at when we lived in Renton and in Japan. It's much smaller there. It just seems like there are more places to go around here and more people. I really miss that.

KFC coleslaw knockoff and simple ribs

I have a couple of recipes to share which I made last week.

Do you love KFC Coleslaw as much as I do? Well, I found a knockoff recipe for it and it was just like it. You can find it here.

I paired that up with some easy ribs. This is really just my own recipe that I learned years ago (don't even remember where?).

All you need is:

Pork ribs of your choice. You can use boneless or bone in for this recipe.
1 tbs salt
1/2 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tbs ground pepper
1 bottle of bbq sauce (reserve a small bowl for extra sauce after cooking)

I cut the rack of ribs into quarters.
Boil a large pot of water with salt, garlic and pepper.
Add ribs to the seasoned water and simmer for about 45 mins.
Transfer the ribs to a glass pan (or aluminum for quick clean up) and por bbq sauce over top.
Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 325 degrees for about 90 mins.

As I said, you can then quick grill them on the bbq for that extra flavor but they are also really good as is out of the oven.

Rough Start 2011

My New Year did not start out smoothly. For 5 days, I was knocked out with some kind of bug. It wasn't the "flu", but probably a stomach flu or virus. I don't think I've ever had it stick around that long.

Being in bed for 5 days was pretty surreal. It's not something I ever remember having to do. Thankfully my husband was off for 4 of those days and took care of everything. The house, me, the kids. There were times where I just lay in bed and listened to the conversation in the living room about what they were going to have for dinner, or what they would do that day. It was pretty strange to be out of the loop for so long! We also had houseguests during this time! Our friends stayed overnight one night and Dama did the airport pickup and drop off too.

Baxter held vigil on my bed. He definitely knew something was wrong. He stayed close and would bark when someone entered the room. Love the little guy!

The kids were so sweet. They did everything they could to help. They did many things to cheer me up. I missed them a lot!

I tell you, we really have nothing if we don't have our health. Everything else can be worked on. But being healthy is something we often take for granted. I am really so grateful that we all are healthy on a regular basis (knock on wood).

So I feel like my New Year is just starting! Happy New Year to you all!