I'm still here!

You know how life has distinctive patterns?  A time when you have time to work, time to play and time to relax.  Another time when you're going 90 mph with your hair on fire just to keep up with your family's schedule and you barely have time to take a breath?  That's the time I'm going through right now!  So sorry I haven't posted anything lately.  Things are leveling out a bit for me this week and I hope to have new artwork to post for you in the next couple of days.  In the meantime, here's one of the projects I've been working on this past week.

These were some tissue paper topiaries I made for an event for the mom's group I'm a part of at church.  We used them as centerpieces during our first general session last week to reflect a game we were playing.   The verse in the middle was part of the favor box we used as a table goodie for each attendee.  Between making these, keeping up with football schedules (my son's and my husband's), processing hundreds of tomatoes from our garden into salsa and tomato sauce, and teaching 5+ dance classes each week at the dance studio, my head is spinning.  I can't wait to sit down this week and get creating on some scrapbooking and card-making projects.  Check back soon for new artwork pics!  Hope your autumn season is off to a great start!

Here's a couple of photos of what we've been up to this season so far:

Ava eating her rice krispie treat "world" she made at preschool as a part of her "God created the world" lesson.  She loved it!

Alex ready to play at his first flag football game.

Pirate Party Thank You Notes & Pics

It's been an extremely busy March for our family!  The pirate party was a huge success - lots of fun was had by all, especially the birthday boy.  Here's a photo of the thank you cards I made up for him to send out to all of his generous friends and family.  It was really fun stamping and creating pirate themed items.  I still have to do his scrapbook pages for the party pics.  I'll post those when they're finished as well!  For this card, I used the Ahoy Matey stamp set (retired), along with Sunflower, Cranberry, Black, Colonial White and Desert Sand carstocks and inks.   I also used the Thank you stamp set and some Black bigger brads.  Simple and cute, does the job I think!

Here's a photo of the pirate cake I made:

The ABC's of me

I got this great idea from Karen Pedersen's blog.  She is a fellow CTMH consultant who inspires me all the time!

A - Age: 34
B - Bed size: queen
C - Chore you hate: dishes
D - Dog's name: no pets for me! 
E - Essential start your day item: my daily devotional reading from Insight for Living
F - Favorite color: navy blue
G - Gold or Silver: used to be gold, now I like silver better
H - Height: 5' 9.5"
I - Instruments you play(ed): violin and flute
J - Job title: Close To My Heart Consultant, Dance Instructor
K - Kid(s): Alex (5), Ava (3)
L - Laughs at:  the funny songs my kids and husband make up and sing together
M - Mom's name: Sue
N - Nicknames: Alli
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: only my 2 c-sections
P - Pet Peeve: disorder - I need to have things organized or I get so distracted and tense!
Q - Quote from a movie:  many quotes from James Bond movies, they're my favorites!  Especially the old ones - Goldfinger and Dr. No.
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: Karen
T - Time you wake up: 6:30-7
U- Underwear: 100% cotton
V - Vegetable you dislike: cooked carrots - I am fine with the raw ones, cooked - no way!
W - Ways you drink your coffee: I love a good Grande Decaf Mocha from Starbucks, I also adore a very good cup of French Roast, black with a yummy and rich dessert - back from my days at Boyds.
X-rays you've had: only my teeth at the dentist, boring!
Y - Yummy food you make: I love to try new things - lately it's been Butternut Squash Ravioli with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce and making Pork Schnitzel together with my husband Tony.
Z - Zoo favorite : Giraffes

A Big Thank You

My son Alex started kindergarten this fall, and his school had a jog-a-thon last Friday.  I made up these thank you notes for him to send to family who donated to support him in the jog-a-thon.  I used Family Ties - Children, Everyday Celebration and Thank You stamp sets.  The color combination is White Daisy, Key Lime and Moonstruck and I used the Blending Pen to color in the boy stamp.

Here are a few photos of Alex during the jog-a-thon - he completed 7 laps in 10 minutes!

Banana Cake

So, I tried a new cake recipe this week for a special dinner the night before my grandfather left - he is 89 and was here visiting from Santa Rosa, California. I've always loved banana cake and I thought I'd try a recipe I found in the Kraft Kitchens magazine awhile back. Well, it turned out fabulous, I must say. It got rave reviews from everyone, and my husband Tony said multiple times, "this is the best cake I've ever eaten in my life" - wow, the ultimate compliment! It was pretty easy as well. The sour cream makes it super moist.

Banana Sour Cream Cake - recipe from Kraft Kitchens Magazine
1 pkg (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
3 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup oil
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
4 oz powdered sugar (It originally called for 16 oz, I used less for a more cream cheese flavor)
1 cup walnuts or pecans finely chopped

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cake mix, eggs, bananas, sour cream and oil with mixer on low until moistened, scraping bottom of bowl often. Beat on medium 2 minutes.
2. Pour into greased and floured 13x9 inch pan. Bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely on wire rack.
3. Beat cream cheese and butter with mixer on medium until blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition.
4. Remove cake from pan. Carefully cut cake crosswise in half using serrated knife.
5. Place 1 cake half, top-side down, on plate; spread top with frosting. Top with remaining cake half, top-side up. Frost top and sides.
6. Press nuts onto sides. Sprinkle top with additional chopped nuts if desired.

I'm off to finish the last piece of leftover cake now!

MIA - Again!

Wow, today is July 15th and my first post of the month! I should know better than to make promises on how frequently I would be posting on here! My reasons are many - but mainly I just need to make it more of a priority! Summer has been in full swing for our family - camping trip to Ft. Stevens, beach trip to Lincoln City, visit from my grandfather up here from California, swimming lessons for Alex and potty training for Ava. I've also been taking a few dance classes myself this summer, which I've been very thoroughly enjoying! It has been nice to be together as a family and have some relaxation time as well!

Thanks for checking my blog and to those of you who comment - I love to hear your thoughts on my posts, keep it up!

Artwork, photos, recipes, info all to come soon - and, a new CTMH catalog in the not so distant future!

Allison :)

Busy Family!

I know, it's been WAY too long since I've posted anything on my blog. I have had lots of reasons why we've been SO busy these last few weeks - here are photos from two of those. The first is Alex's tap recital, which was last Sunday. His class did such a fabulous job with their cute routine to "Shari". This is Alex's second year taking tap classes, and he just loves performing on stage and moving to the beat of the music!

Another event that took up lots of our family's time was the McNary baseball team's run to the state championship! My husband Tony coaches JV baseball at McNary High School, where he also teaches Social Studies. The varsity team's run through the state playoffs ended last Saturday night when they won the Oregon 6A baseball state championship! It was such an amazing experience for Tony to be a part of that coaching staff, and at the championship game, Alex got to be bat boy for the Celts - what an experience. As you can imagine, I got TONS of photos of this fabulous game, but I had to choose just a few to post here.

So, we've been much busier than usual in our family, but now, things are settling down a bit and I promise, I'll be posting much more often. In fact, keep checking back - I'm hoping to post at least 4-5 times per week for the majority of the summer.