New Teeth!

It's no wonder Isaiah's been especially crabby lately. He cut TWO new teeth over the weekend and he has another one on deck to cut within a few days or so! So far, that brings the grand total to five teeth, soon to be six! I'm on a mission to try to get a photo of the chompers, but so far no luck.

Bath time and Badgers

I'm a bit behind on my layouts right now and this one literally took me a week to finish because I just didn't have the time to work on it, but I did finally get it done tonight. I got to use a couple of the new embellishments I got from Scrapbook.com and I think it's a fun layout. Gotta love baby bath photos!

Edited on Saturday, Sept 27

On another topic, I figured I had better write something in this post about the Badger game so the heckling, I mean....comments Maribeth has been making wouldn't be so out of the blue. My poor, poor Badgers....completely blew it. They had Michigan against the wall, up 19-0 at halftime only to completely shut down in the second have and end up losing by two stinking points. I could have slapped Allan Everidge. Dude SUCKED today!!

Happy Family

I can't say I'm thrilled with how this one turned out, but I think the colors work really well together and I love the family photo on this layout. Plus, I got to use those two super-cute photos of Isaiah from the Taste of Madison! The journaling on the tag underneath the photo of Isaiah in the shades reads:

August 30, 2008. We met up with Aunt Ashley and a couple of her friends at the Taste of Madison. Always the charmer, Isaiah was turning heads left and right, but nothing thrilled us more than when he stood up on his own for at least 45 seconds!

Isaiah's Birthday Party

Welcome to your one-stop-resource for everything you need to know for Isaiah's upcoming birthday party! The invitations point guests here for additional details, directions, gift ideas, etc. I am happy to oblige!

Details
Date - November 8, 2008
Time - 2:00 pm
Location - Leystra's Venture Restaurant (click here for a map)

If you would like to volunteer to bring a dish to pass, please let me know via email or leave a comment and I will keep a running list below of who is bringing what so everyone can see what is already covered and what is not!

• Sandwiches, Soda, Pie - Leystra's Venture


• Birthday Cake, balloons, plates, cups, etc. - Evan and Sarah


• Pasta salad - Serena


• Party Mix - Sandy


• Fruit pizza - Grandma Joyce


• Veggie/Cheese/Sausage Platter - Dorothy

Again, just let me know if you would like to add your name to the list above.

Gift Ideas

Here is a list with a wide variety for you, but I want to stress this - DO NOT FEEL OBLIGATED TO BRING A GIFT!!!!! I am just a list-making, plan ahead freak, so I make lists like this so when people ask me, I have something concrete to show them. Please come and celebrate with us, gift or no gift. Click here for the gift list!

Clapping!

Isaiah was being super-cute while eating his lunch yesterday and so I busted out the video camera. I was lucky enough to catch on video the first time he clapped his hands! We haven't been able to get him to do it since, but at least I have proof that he CAN do it.

Closing up Shop

I have some news to announce...though it won't really come as much of a shock to many of you. I'm at the point where it has been 11 months since my last order as a Mary Kay consultant. So, I can either place a new order to renew my consultant status, or just let it expire and "quit" in a manner of speaking. Since I can't really afford to spend money on new product right now and I'm not actively working my business, I've decided to let my consultant status expire. I do still have quite a bit of product on hand that I do need to try to move, so I'll probably be trying to sell on Craigslist or something. The only problem is that I can't even really get at any of it right now since it's still strewn about in the garage after the flooding in the basement. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know!

Leaving Comments

It has come to my attention that there are some loyal followers of this blog that would love to be leaving comments, but didnt' know how. I did a little poking around and I found out that it was MY fault! I had the settings for the comments set up so that you had to be a registered user to be able to make comments. I've fixed that. From now on, you can choose to leave a comment even if you aren't registered by choosing the Name/URL option under the comment box. Just enter your name so I know who is leaving the comment and voila! Oh, and be sure to remember to type in the letter verification code it shows you so that your comment gets published. Hope this helps!

Chow Time

Mealtimes with Isaiah are always an adventure, especially so since he started wanting to feed himself everything. So, it was about time that I did a scrapbook layout featuring our messy little boy. Here's the latest one I did for my class!

Back to Work

It's official...I'm back to work! Yesterday was my first day back at school as a substitute teacher and Isaiah's first day at daycare. It was certainly tough for me, but we made it through that first day. I was the sub for the Physics teacher (with my infinite wisdom of math and science) and I had a really great first day back. My former students that I saw were happy to see me (most of them anyway) and it felt really great to be in school again. I had a real feeling like I truly belonged. At least I know that once all the kids we end up having are at school themselves, I can return to the career I love and know that it is the career I'm supposed to have. In the meantime, I'm going to continue to sub on Wed thru Friday until about mid December. Around that time, my former cooperation teacher will be going on maternity leave, so we're planning on me taking over her 7th grade English class until she comes back after Spring Break. I am really looking forward to that!!! We're warming Isaiah up to the idea of daycare with only the three days a week right now so that when it's time to go full time it isn't such a shock to him. Plus, I think I still need my Mondays and Tuesdays with him. Oh, and for those of you playing along at home, yes....I am still working my four shifts a week at the restaurant. Three jobs. I rock.

Isaiah's 9 Month Photos

The photos from Isaiah's 9 month shoot with Emily Jane Photography are now online. To view them, go to http://emilyjanephotography.smugmug.com/ and then click on "Photography." Follow the links to the children's photos and you'll find Isaiah's 9 month gallery. Let me know which are your favorites. It's going to be hard to choose!

Little Explorer

I'm a bit behind on my "homework" for my online class, but here's my latest new layout. I'm going to need a new scrapbook soon to hold all these new pages! Eventually I will make one that isn't entirely of Isaiah, I suppose.

Isaiah Sandwich

Here you go, Sandy! As per your request, I give you.....






...The Isaiah Sandwich!!!

Scrapbooking Class Update

One week done of my online scrapbooking class and I just love it! Here are two (well, technically three) that I have done for my "homework."

The 4th of July



9 Months (Sweet Pea)


Want to join the class with me? There's still room!!
http://valeriesalmon.typepad.com/gotsketch102/

Little Slugger

I tell you what...I'm not so sure I can ship Isaiah off to hang out with this family any more. Oh no, it must be said! I won't hold my tongue when I see evidence captured on film (ok, so more like a digital media card) of my child being encouraged to.....PLAY BASEBALL!!! Come on people, work with me here. Evan and I hardly want to screw around with paying for college for this boy, so the sooner we get a football in his hands, the better. It's all about the scholarship, baby.


Just kidding around. This was pretty darn cute. I'm so glad to hear that he was in a good mood and put on a show for the folks at Judah and Mariana's wedding!

Go Bucky!

What a fun game!! We had the PERFECT weather for the Badger game today and, despite a very slow start in the first quarter where we were down 14-0, the Badgers came back to trounce Marshall by a score of 51-14!!! Never expected it to be a blowout after a very ugly first quarter, but it certainly was a good time. They can't expect to spot Big Ten teams 14 points and end up winning though. There's no way they can do that against Fresno State either or they will soon see themselves in trouble. It was so neat to be back in Camp Randall after a 5 year absence. So many things had changed, including the stadium itself, but the things that made me love going to football games as a student were still there: football, Jump Around, Varsity, football, Bucky, football, and football! I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for that Bucky though. He must have done something like 250 pushups before the day was out!

Badger Game!!

Oh my goodness....I actually get to go to the Badger football game tomorrow!!! I haven't been to a game since my sophomore year of college and I have had to watch Evan go to many, many games without me. I am so flipping excited!!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

I can't help but give myself a pat on the back for this one. I got a new cookbook for my birthday about how to sneak vegetables into "normal" foods and I tried my very first recipe from it tonight - Choc-ful Cupcakes. They were DELICIOUS!!! Hard to believe that they had, get this, blueberries, wheat germ, and SPINACH in them! Evan liked them too, so I'd call that a success! Any chance I can get to put more veggies and whole grains into our diets is a good thing.


Recipe - from The Sneaky Chef by Missy Chase Lapine

Purple Puree:

• 3 cups raw baby spinach leaves
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (no syrup or sugar added)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 3-4 tablespoons water

Bring spinach to a boil in a medium pot. Turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. If using frozen blueberries, quickly rinse them under cold water to thaw a little, and then drain. Fill the blow of your food processor with the blueberries and cooled spinach, along with the lemon jice and 2 tablespoons of water and puree on high until as smooth as possible.

Choc-ful Cupcakes: (Nutrition highlights - whole grains, fruit and vegetables, rich in vitamins A, C, E and K....potassium, manganese, folate, iron, fiber, antioxidants)

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Purple Puree
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup Flour Blend (equal parts unbleached white flour, whole wheat flour, and wheat germ)
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Incredibly Improved Icing (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a double boiler or a metal bowl over simmering water (or in the microwave, checking every 15 seconds). Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool a bit. Meanwhile, in another bowl, stir together the egg, vanilla, Purple Puree, and sugar. Combine this purple egg mixture with the cooled chocolate mixture. In a mixing bowl, stir together the Flour Blend, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Add this to the chocolate mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour into donut molds or fill lined muffin tins almost to the top. Bake 23 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick insterted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting with Incredibly Improved Icing...and add the sprinkles for some extra flair!

Incredibly Improved Icing:

• 1 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix dry milk and powdered sugar in a bowl, then add the boiling water and vanilla. Mix very well. Allow to cool before applying to cupcakes.

Got Sketch 102

The scrapbooking bug has bitten me really hard I guess! I've enrolled in an online scrapbooking class for the month of September, and I'm really excited about it. My biggest hurdle always seems to be coming up with ideas for a page and this will really help with that. It's always nice to get a little inspiration for a layout so I don't end up staring at a blank sheet of paper for 3 hours. I'm pumped to get to work on new pages!



Here's my first challenge - from Got Sketch #68

Here is my page based on this sketch: