Vintage/Heritage Scrapbook

I was very inspired for this post today, and before I share some scrapbooking I need to share this story. It's a bit deep and even kind of spiritual and I think just really cool.

My Grandma died a few years ago. The one that I was especially close to and named my daughter for her. Ever since then I sometimes feel I get little "signs" from her. Ways to maybe say hello. When I pray I often talk to her in my mind too and share with her that way. Sometimes even ask her for help with something if I need it.

Well this morning I was watering my flowers and thinking about the fact that I hadn't seen hummingbirds at all yet. For the past several years I would see hummingbirds visit my flowers almost daily in the summer. And hummingbirds happened to be my Gram's favorite bird and she always had feeders for them and had sun catchers of them in her windows and even often wore shirts or jewelry with hummingbirds. 

So I was watering the flowers thinking about the fact that summer feels nearly over (August around here is really pre-Fall) and I haven't seen one hummingbird yet. So it got me all philosophical and I had thoughts that maybe my Gram was more "moved on" and wasn't going to be sending me signs like that anymore. And I literally just got done thinking that and a hummingbird flew up and hovered in front of me - didn't even go to my flowers - and then flew up past the trees. I have goose bumps just writing this. I think that's pretty cool. And it inspired this post about a scrapbook I made for my Gram because she is really on my mind today.

My Gram was about as sweet and wonderful as they come. She was a mother of 9 children and a grandmother and great grandmother. She also was a gardener, seamstress, great cook, volunteer, avid church goer and all around terrific role model. When she was in her 80's I made this scrapbook for her about all of the different roles in her life. I'll share part of it here and part of it in another post in the future.

I started with daughter. She was 1 of 8 children. She was 3rd from the youngest.

This is the layout I did for "daughter". I love doing  a heritage or vintage album because it's so fun looking through all of the old photos. The clothing and hair styles are especially fun to look back upon.

Isn't she adorable? 

Next I used all the wonderful photos of her as a young Lady and when she went off to take her first job.

The other thing I love about heritage scrapbooking is finding all kinds of fun vintage looking papers. I love this floral one that looks like old wallpaper.

I think this one of her being shy on the dock is so sweet.

Such a pretty young Lady. And wouldn't she be right in style today with those braids!

Then I did kind of her dating years. I shared the story of how her and my Grandpa met and when she became "Steve's Girl".

I just love the colors I used in this layout and the neat "love of my life" kind of embellishments.

And I especially love all the sweet different photos of them together. What a great looking couple!

And then of course she became Anne the Bride. 

This is probably one of my favorite layouts in the album. I just love these photos!! Love the bible and church stickers too.

I just love this photo of her with her in-law's. This is my Grandpa's parents and if you can believe it he was 1 of 17 kids!!! Good Polish Catholic stock. Lol

And I'll end this post with this beautiful bride photo of my Gram. There are some other lovely things I want to share about heritage scrapbooking and more layouts from this album that I will do in a future post. This album and how much it touched my Gram,  and all of my family, when I showed it to them is another reason I love scrapbooking so much. 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello and Happy Monday! Sorry I was kind of MIA for a few days. My dearest "bestie" from way back (since we were 2 years old) was here for a visit over the past week. She now lives in California and I hadn't seen her for 2 years and so we really needed to play catch up! She came with her 2 beautiful kiddos and we had some wonderful quality time all together. We even finally got our new pontoon boat and had fun night all out on that with some other friends too! I thought I would maybe still get more blogging time in, but it just didn't happen. She heads back today so I'm back on track in blogging world. Hope you all had a wonderful well rested weekend too! 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

It's so beautiful today! It's in the low 70's and sunny and nice breeze! So pleasant and lovely (and it's actually not raining on a Monday! - Lol) It's supposed to hit 76* today - pure summer bliss!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

I was not awake when I picked up my MIL and since I hadn't had fast food in a couple of weeks I thought McD's breakfast was in order. So for me it was an egg mcmuffin and vanilla iced coffee.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

I'm actually not looking out from my window, I'm outside as I type this! My MIL and I are sitting out on the deck enjoying this beautiful fresh air and listening to the birds sing. I wasn't sure my computer signal would cooperate this well (it doesn't always) but today it is - so yay!! My MIL loves to keep commenting on my "beautiful flowers".  The lilies are up everywhere and the yard was all newly mowed - so it's darn pretty back here this AM.

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Chatting with my MIL, listening to soft pandora enya music (my MIL likes that) and birds singing. Sometimes we take a turn throwing the tennis ball for Ruby and watch her chase it down the hill.  Annie is playing with her friend and the teenager is.....you guessed it SLEEPING!

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

I know the dishes are waiting for me in there - have them soaking in the sink.  I desperately need to throw my son's hockey stuff in the wash!! He had a hockey tourney over the weekend and it's smelling, well lets say...ripe. 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

I need to make up some dinner for the in-law's to take them dinner when I drop off my MIL later. Annie has piano lessons later and when we drop her off going to run some quick errands too. In the mean time I'll get some house chores done and feed us all lunch later and maybe go for a lovely walk.  May have my MIL do some more coloring and she was really able to focus on that project last week.

CURRENTLY READING:

Still catching up on magazines and I have such a wonderful stack of books piling up and I need to find time in my day to get reading!! 

ON THE TV TODAY:

Cedar Cove is back and I did catch up on that late last night. I have some cooking shows taped and we may have an America's Got Talent to catch up on too. We like to watch that one as a family.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

I made some yummy eats this weekend for my friend's visit. I made some munchie mix, some homemade guacamole and chips, a nice cheese, sausage and cracker platter, fruit, s'mores bars (I'll share the recipe later this week), and I made my blog friend Billie Jo's mixed berry pie. I made it with organic berries and topped the pie crust with a milk wash and a sprinkle of cinnamon/sugar. Then topped it while it was warm with natural vanilla bean ice cream. I'm telling you it was summer heaven on a plate!! I think I'm going to make tacos for the in-law's tonight (my FIL requesting it) and not sure about later in the week. I have an Aunt and some cousins coming for a visit this coming weekend and I have a few dishes planned for that too. I think I may make some tortilla roll-ups and maybe Billie Jo's pie again (it was so good!). Also, a really yummy banana split dessert that I'll share recipe for probably next week. 

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

Still addicted to my coloring - aahhh!!! Need to get more caught up on scrapping though. I think I'm going to pre-organize a bunch of pages soon so I can have a fast scrapbook session in the future and knock out a bunch of pages. 

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Nothing new in mind for this week, but may add something to the grocery list so stay tuned!  

TIP OF THE WEEK:

It's probably a pretty common sense tip - but I find when I'm taking the cooler for a picnic in the park or on the pontoon it works well to freeze some little bottles of water and use them as part of the "ice" that keeps the stuff in the cooler nice and cold. If you're out for a length of time it will melt and be nice and cold to drink too!

FROM THE CAMERA:

the new pontoon!

One of my besties in the whole wide world!

beautiful sky while we were out on the pontoon

fading sunset at the end of the ride

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

and they are such a blessing to me!!

Now I need to get to work and give my MIL some more attention. I will try get around and catch up with everyone over next couple of days as I wasn't able to fully last week either. I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for happy homemaker monday.

Roasted Rosemary Chicken and Red Potatoes

Several nights ago I made a really easy rosemary chicken and red potatoes. It was so good and really easy because I cooked it all together on a foil lined rimmed cookie sheet pan - so extra easy for clean up. But I completely forgot to take photos. I did find this stock photo that is sort of similar to how it looked:

However, I used skinless boneless chicken breasts. I took about 6 of them (I'd say you could use 6-8 of them) and cut them in half. Then I took about 2 pounds of red potatoes and scrubbed them well and quartered them. 

Then in a large bowl I put some of my yummy lemon olive oil and added some herbs and seasonings, and threw the chicken pieces and potatoes in there too and tossed it all together. Then I poured it all out onto the cookie sheet and baked it at 425* for about 35-40 minutes. May need longer depending on your oven and on how thick you make your chicken pieces.

Here's the recipe I have saved in my computer from a while back so I don't remember where I copied it from so unfortunately I can't reference that. 

Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potatoes 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut in half2 pounds redskin potatoes, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

 Mix oil with seasonings in large bowl.  Add chicken and potatoes and toss to coat.Arrange in single layer on foil lined 15x10x1 baking pan.Roast in preheated 425 degree oven for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender, turning potatoes occasionally.

I also used some fresh parsley from my herb pot. I used dried rosemary as that is what I had on hand - but I bet it'd be really yummy with fresh. I also think if you don't have lemon olive oil I'd add a little fresh lemon juice as that lemon flavor is so nice with these herbs. The chicken was still nice and moist and the potatoes were cooked perfectly with that little bit of crispy to them.

Again, I loved this as other than the mixing bowl, it was all in one pan and easy clean up. It was full of flavor and I added some green beans and fresh bread sticks and it was a great dinner! 

Wednesday Wonder

LILY LOVE

I love how the people that lived here before us planted all orange day lilies along the path and down by the water, and they planted different colors all along our deck...but no orange. Most of the lilies along the deck are these yellow ones with a purple middle, but when they all bloom there are some red and peach lilies as well. Loving these flowery days of summer!

Coloring my World

OK folks - I have a confession to make. This is difficult, I'm even ashamed to admit it the fact that I have an addiction. It's been consuming me for weeks now. ::sigh:: I don't know how to say this so I'll just come right out with it. 

I HAVE A COLORING ADDICTION!!! Please send help now! 

I only half joke as it's true that I've been enjoying my adult coloring books much more than I should be. I have meaningful projects to get done like my kiddos' scrapbooks. And wonderful summer reading piling up in my ipad. But I'm obsessed with coloring the next mandala or flower scene I can get my hands on. Here's an idea of what I've been doing:

Colored pencils have been my tools of choice. I like being able to blend colors a bit and they're so good for that, plus they're easier for coloring in the little tight spaces. Especially on mandalas.

Love the fallish colors on this one - but no I'm not thinking Fall thoughts yet!!

These were both done with color crayons. The sun mandala was actually done with a bit of both (crayons and pencil). I've actually done a lot more mandalas too, but these are just some quick photos I've taken recently. I've done many more pages (again I'm sort of embarrassed to say). Lol

These are the culprits! Some reasonably priced adult coloring books from Barnes & Noble. There is just something so relaxing, though, about putting on some music or listening to a podcast and playing with color. I just love it! What is also nice is if I try to do some crafting or drawing with my MIL, she's just not capable of focusing or doing much. But if I hand her some colors and a page she focuses much longer and does very well with coloring something in. Here's one of her pages in progress:

 

The other nice thing that makes me feel better is that I have my Mom completely addicted too! hee hee  I think she's colored even more pages than I have yet! We trade pages at times too. We both just love flipping through and looking at our completed work and how we played with colors in different ways. I like leaving some white and almost "negative space". My daughter has colored a few and she's into an explosion of color and colors EVERYTHING. I love it all!! 

So do any of you color in adult coloring books and joined the latest craze? Do you have other fun "craft" addictions? Please tell me I'm not alone!!!

Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello, happy Monday and hope you had a wonderful weekend! It was a nice relaxing one here. We're going to have a lot of busy weekends coming up - packing in sports tourneys, family reunions, and house projects...so it was nice to have one of those agenda free weekends. We had one night we went out as a family and went for a nice dinner. We then went golfing out at a course in a little town out in the country from where we live. After golf we got some ice cream and then went down to a little beach for the sunset. One of those perfect summer evenings. My extraction site from my tooth is finally feeling better too. Thanks for all the kind support and prayers too! So I am feeling refreshed and ready to start a new week.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Warm and muggy. I swear, we've been on a trend here where it rains every Monday! It has not been helpful for golf league as Monday's are the nights we're supposed to golf. It's kind of overcast and cloudy right now. Sun peeks out at moments. It stormed and poured like crazy late last night so everything is all wet.  Power even still out in many areas around us. Thankfully we're good! We're supposed to have potential for another storm to maybe pass through again today (sigh). Fingers crossed for dry weather tonight!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

Some toast, coffee and cantaloupe with my MIL this AM.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

Watching it get cloudier and cloudier (maybe not a real word? Lol). It truly was lovely all weekend so my flowers and lawn look great! My little veggie trug garden has been growing really well. My sugar snap peas are taking over!! We've eaten many already and more just keep coming. We've also harvested and eaten our lettuce and another one starting to grow already. No peppers yet and cucumber not looking too great but we'll see. I think I may have talked the hubby into letting me have a larger true garden next year!! My trug is adorable but just too little. I'm totally bitten by the gardening bug and I want to do MORE!!! I'm now dreaming on some berry plants too!!

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Doing our usual Monday routine. Watching morning news with my MIL and visiting. Ruby loves to just sprawl out on her lap - she can never get enough "Grandma" love! My MIL loves it too. Annie is playing a game on the ipad and the teenager is sleeping in as usual. Lol 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

A little clutter here and there to clean up. I'm still addicted to my adult coloring books (mandalas and nature/flower one) and I've left them out and my colored pencils in the dining room. I just love taking a spare moment here and there to relax and color! I highly recommend it if you're looking for some relaxation therapy. Put on some soothing music and color away. 

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

We need to bring back the library books. We're also going to run some errands and go out and grab some lunch. So we'll go out and about for a while and if it rains later when we come back here and do some crafts....maybe even some COLORING! Lol

CURRENTLY READING:

Catching up on magazines before the new month ones show up soon. 

ON THE TV TODAY:

I have some movies taped to watch yet. I'm looking forward to the Cedar Cove series on hallmark starting up again this weekend! Love that show - based on the Debbie Macomber books.  

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

I made some yummy rosemary chicken and red potatoes last night for us and the in-law's too.  I also made these banana split cookies and love them! It's golf night tonight (if weather cooperates) so won't be making something officially tonight. I think tomorrow I'm going to do sweet and sour meatballs in the slow cooker with rice and egg rolls. Need to get groceries by later this week and make a plan yet for that. I have a best friend I grew up with visiting from California and I will be planning time with her so need to be flexible. I'm so excited to have her home for a while and get some time with her and her family!!

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

I've been a slacker in this department! I've been doing too much coloring. Lol  I love to put on the Outlander podcasts (missing that show) in my headphones and color away each night. 

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

Nothing new in mind for this week, but may add something to the grocery list so stay tuned!

TIP OF THE WEEK:

I thought I would share Annie's DIY tip. She made a speaker for her iphone out of a paper towel roll and some plastic cups. It actually works quite well too. 

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Ice cream and beach time after golf this weekend. Kiddos were just going to wade in the water a bit as we didn't bring swimsuits, but then this happened.... (see video below).

Yep, they both jumped in - one out at the raft and the other swimming in the shallow


PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:


seems appropriate for today

I'm linking with Sandra from Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Five on Friday: Spa Time

Aaahhh...is there anything better than time at the spa and a little pampering? 

I picked firecracker red for the upcoming July 4th festivities at the time

I recently treated my sweet Mom and myself with a spa pedicure. I think it's my favorite thing on the planet - even better than a massage. There's something so relaxing about soaking your feet in that hot soothing water and then having someone clean up your toes and exfoliate everything it feels so good! They then massage your feet and calves and do a hot wax treatment that makes your feet SO soft! And all while sitting in a heated massage chair and sipping your beverage of choice. And top it off with painting up your toes so pretty for the summer. What's not to love? It's become our annual tradition and at least one small way to thank my Mom for all that she does for me and just to celebrate that she's such an awesome person and I love her so much!

So for my five things this week I thought I'd head back to my pinterest for some spa-like inspiration and share a few fun pins with you.

ONE

A coffee scrub. Something easy to make with ingredients you probably already have at home.

TWO

This recipe for some simple ingredients you can put together to make an amazing lotion!

THREE

A great DIY foot soak recipe.

FOUR

A recipe to make these adorable watermelon scented soaps. Wouldn't these be super cute to give someone in a summer themed gift? There are so many wonderful DIY soap making pins on pinterest!

FIVE

And this is something that just seems spa-like to me. It's an idea for freezing roses and other flowers in ice to then use to chill your drinks. How pretty would this be for a bridal or baby shower? Or especially for a spa party to keep bottles of water cold, or a drink dispenser filled with spa-like water with cucumber or lemons.

Hopefully just a few fun ideas to help inspire you to go and pamper yourself a little this weekend! These are all pins off of my "good ideas" board on pinterest and you can click on the link here.  Happy weekend!!

I'm linking with Amy from Love Made my Home for Five on Friday.