We Are

We are looking at rain/snow for graduation this Friday and I'm not too thrilled about that!  I'm fairly certain when Girlie graduated it rained as well.

We've got Baccalaureate tonight, awards tomorrow and then The Day of Friday, followed by food and people later in the evening.

• At the end of three AP tests and regular finals 
• The 16 y.o.'s latest creation in Foods has made him a fan
• Not shown. . .the phone that's turned off so you can call for your ride.
• Excited to be at the recording of an album
• Was she drinking or biting at the water?
• No matter how much you wish they stayed small, somehow this day comes along anyway
• The 18 y.o. was working in Breckenridge when they saw this lady was resting on the grounds
• I told him I'd put his Mother's Day Gift on my desk
• Everything had to be just so, including Uranus being on its side

Happy Wednesday,

Food for Thought

So I found this draft waiting to be finished.  I think it was from back when I had a huge post and broke it up.  I haven't been cooking much, but most especially not from Pinterest.  This week I planned from my Taste of Home magazines. so I thought I'd toss out these Pinterest finds instead.  I will go thru my menu and pull out items from TOH that I haven't shared previously, and put those in another post.

I love a good Monte Christo sandwich, but when I've tried a couple times to replicate it,  I haven't had great luck making them at home.  When I found these Monte Christo Sliders I knew I had to make them.  I wasn't sure how the family would take it, but they (and I) LOVED them.  They were everything great about a Monte Christo - gooey cheese, lots of meat, and that sweet touch of jam.  I didn't have any raspberry jam, but I did have this Kodiak Berry Syrup from Costco - it was perfect, right down to the dusting of powdered sugar on top!  They were probably better for me not having been dipped and fried.  And I didn't miss that.

I whipped Cheesy Corn Chowder as a meat free dish during Lent - though I was loathe to leave out the bacon, it was still quite good.  Warm and creamy and that nice sweet touch of corn and the crunch from the rest of the veggies.

I needed dessert for in-law dinner night, but I wanted something for lunches the rest of the week.  These Banana Split Cookies were quick and easy.  Every one loved the combination and soft texture.  I enjoyed them as well.  My only issue is totally personal in my lack of liking artificial banana-flavored anything - from pudding to Popsicles.  Like I said, everyone love them and I would make them again.

I made these Smoky Roasted Sweet Potatoes to go with the soup.  Besides being a good boost in nutrition to the meal, they were a great side and super easy to pull together.  These would be great with grilled items later this summer.

Happy Friday,

We Are

We are on the verge - last two days of high school for my Senior.  Girlie finished up her finals Tuesday.  One AP test for the Sophomore, followed by one week of school and then finals.  And three weeks of school for the third grader.  Why does the end of the school year feel like they didn't cover enough and now they're jamming it all in during the last weeks of school?

• I'm not sure she could write under any other circumstances
• As long as the final three pages aren't due in six minutes, she's good
• When Mustangs are your favorite car, and while at the dealership you discover you can actually sit in one. . .life is at its best.
• May Crowning - carrier of the crown
• Our boy
• Confirmation Teen Leader and a mini St. Anne's reunion during 2017 Confirmation.
• Spending the day with your Crew.
• We'll just add it to the list of names that aren't yours, but you're called by.
• When you want what you've been told you can't have
• Finals...

Happy Thursday,

The Website

First, I must apologize to those of you who have tried to shop on the website to find the latest deals and discounts, only to find it pretty broken.  To those of you who alerted me to the problem, thank you!

As of last night, we still have no idea what is going on.  The menus don't work, but if you have a direct link (like from the email) you can get to those pages.  The pages, though, have been "scrubbed"; the pricing is gone and the links to the images appear to be broken.  However, on the Admin side, those images are actually still there - though the counts and amounts are ALL gone.   It's all very strange and nobody seems able to either offer an explanation or help.

We are working on a work-around to bring the site up and make it usable.  Once we have it working, I will need to re-enter all the missing numbers and figure out how to re-connect the images to the items.  When we are finally ready to roll, I'll send out an email.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I thank you for your patience.

Make It Your Own

With the supply of Scrapbooking Kits and TV Dinners dwindling (which are also newlydiscounted to 40% off ), you can still grab the things you enjoy about Apron Strings kits - time saving coordination.  This time, you'll do the customizing to either what you're working on, or what you enjoy.  

You can do this because it's super simple.  Here are some tips - Start by grabbing Second Helpings of Paper as your base (newly discounted with savings up to 50%.)  Choose what you're working on - like I'm working on Christmases Past.  But you could grab Spring-themes, Halloween (I could never resist anything Halloween), Kid-style papers for either gender, or just a smorgasbord of your favorite lines (mine would include a lot of Jillibean, Doodlebug and October Afternoon.) 

Next, snap up some Journaling Cards, Envelopes or Tags.  These items are great if you work in pocket-style pages, too.  Trying to decide what to grab - look for a color or two that run through a large number of the paper lines you've selected.  Grab a sheet of specific themes, like Christmas Cards.  Look at neutrals of black, white and kraft, too.

Finally, all those bit and baubles - embellishments.  Embellishments were always some of my favorite things to pick, they added that extra touch to your story.  If you're working with Spring-themes look for basics like:  vellum, brads that coordinate with a large swath of the papers in your cart, pastel frames, there are several varieties of words and icon sticker sheets, any number of rhinestones or pearls, or a bag of buttons that work with the papers.  Then there are those more specialty pieces:  pinwheels, flamingos, sunglasses brads, flower buttons, flair metal pieces that color coordinate, clips, etc.  I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

NOTE - if you're more visual, add all the paper to your cart first.  With your cart full of paper leave it open so that you can see all the colors and themes together.  Open Apron Strings' web-store in a separate window/tab in your browser and you can easily go back and forth and see the papers all together as you pick embellishments.  I did this all the time in ordering, and it made it so much easier.  Also, when you're looking at something with a limited color palette (like three or four colors) - don't discount it, because you may be able to use one color with one or two sets of paper, and another color with another set of paper and so on.

Now, if you've made it down this far, LOL, TODAY and TOMORROW ONLY, you get to save on your order - an additional 10% to the store-wide savings, which are up to (down to?) 50% or more.  Enter code:  SAVE10 when you check out.  Coupon expires 5/10/17 and is good for one use only.  Coupon must be present at the time of check out as refunds cannot be given.

Go.  Shop.

We Are

We are creeping closer and closer to the end of school.  My college Sophomore will take her finals next week.  She has meetings with advisers to determine where her next move will be - where she will attending nursing school.  Here in town, or back up to Northern Colorado?

My high school Senior is taking the first of three AP tests today - not all the tests are today; next week are his finals.  Then it's graduation.  The plans he had been counting on didn't happen, so now it's a scramble to come up with a plan for the fall without missing the opportunities all his hard work could bring.    

My high school Sophomore has an AP test this week, but he and third grader still have two weeks of school beyond their siblings.

Then it's on to summer plans.  Are we going anywhere?  Wha are we doing?  Everyone needs jobs - or additional hours at their current job.  The college Sophomore has taken some time since leaving her last job to give some thought to "what's next."  The high school Senior needs a job, whether his plans take him out of state, or he stays nearby.  The high school Sophomore is the only one currently working, but is taking a trip to Spain next year, so needs more hours (or an additional job) to make his payments for that.  The third grader will have chores, getting his math tables down and staying up on reading - of which I'm sure he'll love every minute and won't complain at all.  They need a sarcasm emoji to insert here.

• Annual Race for Education - the biggest fundraiser at the school
• He posted 16 laps, or four miles, during his hour long run.  Note:  It was highly important that he have eye black
• They say in less than eight hours this blue sky will produce snow
• Bring your money. . .we're ready
• Sure enough. . .this time they were right
• The couple.  The snow.  The Prom.
• How often can you say you had a snowball fight on Prom night?
• The snow, a good two or three inches when it finally started sticking, was a big topic
• When your doesn't-take-photos Senior goes to school to pick up is NHS cording for graduation, and you tell him to take a picture.  #awkwardonpurpose  #thanksnot

Happy Wednesday,

Don't Forget to Use Your Words

Scrapbooking is about saving memories.  While a pictures may be worth a thousand words, sometimes words are necessary.  I have often wished there were photos from my grandparents and their everyday lives; some of the minutiae of the things we take photos of.  I have seen photos from my grandparents' lives, but unless  my parents recall, or someone wrote on the backs, the who's and what's are gone with my grandparents.  Their thoughts and additional details would be amazing.

As I continue to close out, those pieces that help capture the details of our stories - tags, journaling cards and alphabets - are 50% off.  Pick up one of the remaining, and newly discounted ,TV Dinners, or Second Helpings of Paper to go with your cards and tags. 

Go.  Shop.