Starting to BENTO!

What is Bento?

Bento (written 弁当), or obento (お弁当) to use the honorific term, is the Japanese word for a meal served in a box. Beyond that basic definition though, just about anything goes as to what kind of box or container is used, as well as what is put inside that box (justbento.com)

My inspiration comes from Shannon in Texas!  I stumbled onto her blog about a year ago and was so amazed at how cute her lunches were for her children, I had to stick them away in my favorites.  Well, starting Monday, My first daughter will require a packed lunch each day for the next 2 months.  After that, July will begin the kindergarten process.  Now knowing I am going to have 4 children in school, I am not getting any of them hooked on the school lunches.  

1. Way too Expensive! When you compound the fact that I will eventually be paying for 4 lunches each day, it would be equivalent to the amount I spend for our entire dinner, if not more.

2. Nutrition!  Now I know that the state or federal government mandate a nutritional level for all meals.  BUT! not all school districts are the same.  The county next to us, where my MIL works in the cafeteria, they make every meal from scratch ingredients. In our county, every meal option is a prepared frozen food, manufactured some where else.  Also, lunch at school is not like when I was a kid.  In my time, You had one option and you took or brought your own.  Now it is pizza or hamburger or a la cart all the way.  So there is no control or definite that your child is eating what you really want them to be eating.

 

THE CHALLENGE!

The next problem is I do not want my children envying the other children for there onsite bought meal.  The need is to have those hot lunch kids goggling at the packed lunch your kid has.   This is where I think Bento pays off.  It will take a bit of effort, but after a while it should become second nature.  I hope.  Let me show you a few of Miss Shannon’s lunches for her kindergartener.

Now doesn’t that look cute!  Shannon’s blog is at :http://bentolunch.blogspot.com/

Monday will be my first attempt at a bento.  I truly hope she enjoys it.  I will try and post our lunches at least once a week.

Free Digital Scrapbooking!

I am not sure what I love most, being able to scrapbook as I flip pancakes, thanks to digital scrapbooking or getting free content for it.   I just learned the exciting part of the Story Book creator!  I can take my favorite non-Creative Memory paper that I have been hording away for year, for fear of ruining it, and scan it into my digital content.

 

So here is a page I made using my scanned paper.

Not only can you add to you content by scanning in your personal stock of paper, you can even download it from Creative Memories.  Now, this is not in the shopping section of the website, this is special!  I just happened to stumble on it.  Look how cool some of the embellishments are:

Now you can just copy and save as from this picture and add it into your content OR you can hit this site and go through each posting to get a lot of nice and FREE embellishments.

http://projectcenter.creativememories.com/digital/digital-freebies/

I must say!  I am lovin’ it! I am having a Cricut swarm Weekend!  So I did go digital there and did spend some of my time scanning paper, but hey, why not.  I got another book done and did a great page for my neighbor.  I am happy!  I just wish we had internet connection there.  Well another day of digital!

Digital Before.

I just wanted to give you a glance at the power of the Storybook Creator.  This is my before page of my birthday to me page.  You can see I did use the principal layout, but I made minor adjustments, major additions and then turned the color picks completely different. 

So of course, I am loving the digital for another day.  I was able to put that last page together as I prepared dinner and did not have to go looking for my stamps, ink, paper, paper cutter and such.  And of course, no tiny pieces of paper to clean up and glitter all over me.  Nicely done, all creating and no clean up.

Happy Birthday to me!

Here is my little gift to me!

Check out how cool digital is!  Alright in the pictures is the computer sleeve I made for my new computer.  I got a tutorial from sew mama sew, http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=816, to make the computer sleeve.  It took me all of 4-5 hours.  I had to make it pink and black to match a new bag  I got for a birthday present.  Most of my motivation was the new laptop that my husband got me for my christmas, valentine’s, birthday present.  I also made a make up bag to hold my glucose testing  STUFF for now.  I will get into the joys of the gestational diabetes later.

So, of course, I had to use my new digital story book to make my pictures awesome! I hope you enjoy my bling to my page!  I am still learning!  I used the Delight Fashion Diva Power Pallette Addition  and the Delight Shopper Diva Power Pallete Addition.  I did use a predesigned page from another Power Pallette as my starting point, but I doubt you would recognize it.  I am going to have to start showing before and after of a pre designed page.

I hope you enjoy my sewing and my digital scrapping I did to celebrate my birthday!  Have a great night!

Birthday cake

I try to go all out for making a birthday cake for my kids.  In the past I have made a castle, a train, a fish, and of course I have bought a few.  The ones that are remembered are the ones I make.  So the party I had for my 2 year old was on Friday at 6 pm and Friday about 5 am was when I figured out how to make it interesting.  Nothing like the last minute.  I was feeding 30 people, so I needed to boxes of mix and 2 frostings.  No clever design in the shape, but volia!

 

This is the best picture that I have.  You have got to love my belly in the way.  I must obviously be in my third trimester with it that round.  So I took 2 confetti cake mixes and dyed on neon green and the other pink.  layered them alternating with neon blue frosting.  Then did the outside  in purple frosting.  I found glitter gel stuff at wal-mart and did the number on the top.  Cake fed 30 people for about $10.

 

Here is the fish I did for my daughters birthday, this last fall.  I did 4 round cakes cut one up to form the fins.  I iced it chocolate and used m&ms.  There was some bickering between my honey and me, since I made him sort the m&ms by color.  And yes, again I was finishing as guest arrived.  Hey, being a mom of 3, soon 4 is rough on the schedule.

Getting Digital into the morning.

I wanted to give you a play by play of going digital.  First off, I love it!  It has been on my computer now for 3 days.  And I have been on it everyday.  I think I might just start traveling with computer in tow.  So Friday, I got the software on with all the bells and whistles.  I loaded the Creative Memories Storybook creator 3.0, I spent the money and got the bigger package that they offer.  It is truly a deal, I got a lot of great packages and a coupon for printing.  Took me about 2 hours, because we couldn’t stop running our mouths.  I did not use it again.

Saturday, I bought more packages online for the creator.  Alright, this was when I got really excited.  I was able to point and click and add power pallettes for about $10.  Now my big shocker is that I loved the CM paper but I didn’t like the cost and once I used it, it was gone.  Well, now I am spending less and I can use it over again.  So cropped from 10am to 6pm.  I did almost an entire book of 22 pages on my first go around.  I was in the zone.

Well, that night I called my BFF consultant and asked some specific how tos and can I’s and she then pointed me to a webinar online.  So after church today, I watched 2 webinars.  Then I was a-ha on laying things out and changing things.  So I decided at 7:30 to start the book over.  I am not obsessed, noooo.  I just want it awesome.  I do want to show you one page from it.  I am doing a weekend at the lake from last summer.  I am so excited to keep learning about this program.

Do you love all the doodles on it?  I found out that you can take any embellishment and turn it into a stamp and change its color.  In fact this is a predesigned page, free from the free downloads, that I replaced the other images and paper to reflect my book.  The original page was from the FOR HER pallette.  The very top of the page is stamped leaves? that I filled with a paper background.

So far, into my almost 12 hours of experience I am finding I like to have all my pictures sorted by time and have only the best of what I want to work with downloaded into the project.  From there, I use a blank page and throw the pictures into each page as I want them with the picture file set to “show only pictures not used”  this way I don’t have repeaters and I do not miss any.  Once I have all the pics put into my pages, then I am going page by page changing the layouts and setting the pages.  This page maybe took me 15-20 minutes.  I am still learning my inventory.

I just wanted to share this with you!

Cricuting my paper away!

I made the decision just last week that it is time to go digital with my scrapbooking.  This came to me as I realized that my scrapbooking supplies took up 4-5 times the room of my own wardrobe (ah ah – confirms that you are the reason for the clutter, signed your husband).  Not that, that was the most pressing reason, but having so much of it in different  locations through out the house made putting a page together difficult.  I could never make it to a crop with the pictures, paper, cricut, embellishments, and stamps.  Oh, not to forget ink  for distressing.  Well, then, 7-8 bags later for a 4 hour event, hmm, can we say I spent more time packing and unpacking.  At this rate, I will never catch up to all my pictures, unless I took the next 4 years off from taking pictures.  Not very reasonable.

There are several options for a digital program.  I am loading the Creative Memories Storybook Creator.  They have free downloads each quarter and great add on backgrounds and embellishments.  Plus they have specials on printing through out the year.  I am patient enough.  Hopefully, I will be able to progress through our memories and have all the prettiness to go with it. 

So I have all this stuff, what ever shall I do?  Well, my girls will soon begin their own creations in their 4H club.  Also, with the first just starting school, there is also helping the teachers with my super awesome cricut.  So I have been scratching my head and thought that was that.  BUT THEN I SAW THIS!

Check out her blog: http://bugjunkie.blogspot.com/

So I am all excited about making these albums.  She has a ton of different books that will knock your socks off.  So I started on my first book this morning about 6:30 am.  Nothing like an early start.  Alright, I am not excited to wake up before needed, I had to do a glucose test for the third trimester kick off.  So to avoid dragging the kids to an hour long event, I high tailed it out to let my honey enjoy the morning round up. (He flunked, late and ill dressed, must make him practice more often.)  So having an hour to kill, I took my gypsy.  Learned a few new techniques and was wanting more cartridges.

It was like the big green cricut knew my desire! I just found a set of cartridges they are going to release, I am in love!

The first that I REALLY want:

Cricut® Once Upon a Princess Cartridge

I am going to have 3 girls.  I think this would be a necessity, right? Ohhh, the tea party!  The paper dolls and the dress up possibility.  The crowns and wands.  The castle.  I even think there is a purse. I just love it.

Next is!

Cricut® Preserves Cartridge

I love it, because well I am a fruit basket and I have no shame.  I keep thinking of a recipe book with these.  Better yet, fabric appliqués.  Making a set of dish towels.  Love it. 

So the truth moves on, after acquiring the relatively inexpensive pieces of scrapbooking, I want to move on to more expensive toys.  The initial expense of digital software, although you can use the “digital paper” over and over.  Can’t do that with a paper pack!  Then there is always the love of  new cartridges.  And of course to make an awesome book like the Bug Junkie, I need a deep blade, while I am at it a new mat.  But hey, They do take up less space and eventually I will be having less of it.

Pregnancy Update – week 28/29

I am so sorry not have shared more with you on this pregnancy. So half a pregnancy later here is how it is going!

I am counting the days down to be finished.  I have had multiple sinus infections and ended up with a tooth infection that kept me miserable and in tears for almost 2 weeks.  It is exhausting and the positive thinking is out the door and is not invited back.  I feel like a wore out thirty something chasing 3 small children as I huff and puff because I can’t catch my breathe.  If I am breathing hard, it probably means that I repositioned myself in my seat.

I can easily say this is the most wearing of all pregnancies.  I  just don’t have it, to do this every day.  I have never been in my third trimester and had the defiance of a 2 year old to physically challenge me at every corner.  I thought I could take them to the park until I realized I couldn’t catch them.  Thank the Lord for another mother to grab #3 from being hit  by someone on a swing, I was waddling as fast as I could.

To my amazement, I am relatively small being my 4th go around.  It seems like she, yes another girl, is hoisted in my lungs and bouncing on my bladder.  So everything, more than a pregnancy typically is, makes me pee.  Her being in my lungs makes an movement breathtaking.  I have already gained about 25 pounds.  I will blame this on my love  to crop.  The last bulk gain came after a 3 day swarm where I sat for 3 straight days and fed every 2 hours. Hmm.

I do have one advantage over those new to be moms.  I may be dragging my purse on the ground as I am screaming for my kids, but they have the unchallenged arms of motherhood.  My 3 children give me my effortless sculpted arms that make most woman burn with envy, even when I am carrying an extra 25 pounds.  Yah, you new moms, you don’t have children wearing you down, and wore out saggy boobs from breast feed, not one to chase and change and feed and put earplugs in to keep your sanity, but I have great looking arms to your flabby ones. I don’t lift weights or go to the gym, No MAMM!  I got kids and lots of ‘em!  Alright I am out of breathe getting on my soap box.  I will probably update you when I am complaining in the last few weeks that I just can’t take it anymore.

Good Day Shopping!

If you haven’t done so, please check out  www.southernsavers.com.  You will see the link on the left hand side.  Thanks to the fabulous work done by this woman, I am able to get great deals without any searching and time.  I was doing all the couponing  earlier, but I spent a ton of time and energy searching and traveling.  So I gave up for a while. Well having dinner with an old friend, reignited my couponing thanks to her reminder of  www.southernsavers.com.

I know use southern savers to buy at Publix and Winn Dixie only.  I do not have it to go to CVS and Walgreens and Target to name a few.  I am also not picking up every Sunday Paper .  So I pick up a Sunday Paper here and there and I cruise southern savers before I go shopping.  I love that she  links the printable coupons and that you can build your shopping list directly from her sight.

So here are my deals:

Publix

Item	Sale	Coupon	Quantity	Total Price Spent
Pillsbury ready to bake cookies	$3.09 BOGO	$1/2	8	$8.72
Bob Evans Hash browns	$2.59 BOGO	$0.50/1	2	$1.59
Betty Crocker Cake Mix	$1.85 BOGO	-	8	$7.40

Total Spent $17.35, Saved $27.35

Winn-Dixie

Item	Sale	Coupon	Quantity	Total Price Spent
Sara Lee Cheesecake	$4.99 BOGO	$1/1	2	$2.99
Birds Eye 1# frozen Vegetables	10/$10		13	$13.00
Betty Crocker Frosting	$1.99 BOGO	$ 0.50/1	2	$0.99
Oscar Myers Bologna	$2.89 BOGO	$1/1	2	$0.89
Kraft Coleslaw Sauce	$3.79		1	$3.79
Beef Round Roast	$4.99/lb BOGO		5 lbs	$11.89

Total Spent $33.55, saved $ 37.78

 

Now I still have shopping at Wal-Mart and Sam’s, which are my typical shopping adventures for the week. The items I got above was just $50 on stocking up on some luxury goods for our home, minus the veggies.  I typically do not buy ready to bake cookies or cheese cake.  I do buy cake mixes when I can get a great deal on them.  Now the coleslaw dressing is out of pure laziness.  Being in my 7th month of pregnancy and having a birthday party this weekend, I do not have energy to spare.  To take some of the burden I just bought the dressing.  I know a cheapo like me probably has the ingredients to whip it together in less than 15 minutes, but I might not get that 15 minutes, so why chance it. 

Talk about a party!  I am going cheaply!  I am making Pulled BBQ Turkey Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Baked Beans with Sweet Tea and Lemon Aid.  Cupcakes and ice cream.  The turkey just got finished cooking, in the morning I will pull it off the bone and shred it.  Then I will put it in a crock pot with BBQ sauce the day of: total expenses $8.50 14# turkey (frozen since thanksgiving sale) and $4.67 Bulk Sonny’s BBQ Sauce from Sam’s, Buns about $4 from Sam’s. BBQ turkey equals $17 to feed 20-30 people this party and the same number in April for the next party, it freezes great.  Next up, Coleslaw.  The coleslaw is $3 for a huge bag at Sam’s and the $3.79 dressing and about $4 for #10 can of baked beans.  Dinner’s total is $$28.  I have everything to make the tea and lemon aid.  I got a girlfriend that brings the cupcakes as the gift.  The ice cream is on hand.  Taa da!  See why I don’t mind the splurge on the coleslaw dressing.  I even picked up the plates at Wal-Mart for $0.75 a pack in the Valentine isle.

I shouldn’t gloat like this, it is just not pretty.  eww, have you noticed that I am posting more regularly?  Well, I just got a free Microsoft program loaded that is  Windows Live Writer that allows me to compose my postings with all the tools like I am writing in Word and then post it directly to my blog.  This makes it a whole lot easier to post tid bits of my world to you.  Enjoy!

Simplicity Patterns on Sale!

So maybe I went a little crazy at JoAnn’s this weekend.  I am at least thankful that I did not need any more patterns, BUT I just couldn’t help myself.  I think its an obsession.  She who has the most patterns, WINS?  The top pattern to the right is one I am working on for both girls.  I did buy fabric, because I need more fabric like a hole in my head.  I just bought enough to do this outfit and I will have a nice fat quarter left for the pile.
I am actually sewing these in order to learn a new machine.  My ol’ New Home Embroidery machine is slowly blacking out.  It is one of the first embroidery machines for the home that came out about 16 years ago.  Ohh, it was sooo super cool!   It had a touch screen LED and had all these embroidery cards.  Well now, in 15 years of use the screen is getting darker and darker.  Well, with 4 pregnancies and each year my eyes get worst.   So I started looking for new machines, but the dollars are just not here yet.  So being the loved cheapo I am, I am hijacking one of my mom’s machines.  Thankfully she has an extra.

Isn’t it pretty!  As I have been working with this wonderful machine, I realize that I was so romanced with the ol’ New Home.  The New Home  Machine was so luxurious compared to my old chainsaw singer I got for my 13th birthday.  I could not imagine a machine being any smoother than that New Home.  Well, well, well.  Let me tell you this little Brothers Machine is the cat’s meow!  I can not believe how smooth and quiet and easy to control.  The features are amazing.  I am loving the thread cutter, how did I live without it.
You may have noticed the space is not cluttered and cramped around the machine, that is because I am not home.  I am finding some solitude in hiding in my mom’s craft room with the playroom next door for the kids.  I am claiming it is the pregnancy, since I am in my third trimester, but I really believe it is the combination of children getting bigger in a small home, well there is work to do at my house, and I do not have to be constrained in order to sew.  So lets see how long it takes me to wear out my welcome.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a little love for my kiddos this morning.  Took me a few tries to get it right.