Just Because I Don't Want to Forget the Moment...

There's a lot going on in my life right now. I've been so busy with cleaning the house, with trying so come up with something to do to make extra money, with lots of different unfinished projects, laundry, visa paperwork and so on. In the midst of it all, I had forgotten to notice the big differences in my children. Not that I don't take care of them or don't pay much attention to them, but I just didn't notice how fast they were growing up. I guess it's just the Mommy in me that just want to keep thinking of them as my babies no matter how big they are getting.

Yesterday when I picked up Shawn from school I found him kneeling on the ground helping his friend to tie his shoe laces for him. This is his friend who is probably at least 4-5 inches taller than him but apparently can't tie his own shoe laces. As Shawn finished tying the shoelaces carefully (just the way Daddy taught him) , his friend said "thank you" and Shawn said "you're welcome". Seeing this little gesture made me so proud of my son because he was not ashamed to drop down on the ground to help his friend tie his shoe laces. When I was little, I thought tying shoe laces was so hard and when I learned to do it, I was so proud of myself. Seeing Shawn do it for a friend, made me realize how grown up he's getting. My baby is now turning out to be a really smart, polite and helpful little boy. I've always had people compliment me because of how well behaved my kids are but that little moment I witnessed was special to me and I wanted to write about it just so I don't ever forget...

Green Tangerines Garage Sale and other shopping finds!

Okay, I think I enjoy shopping way too much and this week, well, I shopped a lot. Mostly it's scrapbook related things.

An LSS 30 minutes away from my house called Green Tangerines had their very first garage sale this weekend in celebration of their first year anniversary. Well, I brought over some of my stuff to sell but I also went there on Saturday morning to shop. When I brought my stuff over last week, I saw a paper organizer/rack that was going to be sold for only $25 and I wanted that really badly since I have been trying to re-organize my space and needed something for my ever growing paper collection. They said I can't purchase it until the sale on Saturday so I tried to be there early. The store opened at 9:00a.m and I was there at 9:05 thinking it was early enough. Boy was I wrong! When I got there, there was already a lot of people browsing through 2 rooms full of scrapbook stuff. So, of course what I really came there for wasn't there anymore but I still managed to get quite a bit of stuff.

I got this Scrap-O-Dex for only $8.00. This is like a bigger version of a Rolodex. I've been wanting one but couldn't get myself to pay the retail price of about $24.99 (I think).

I got this set of 20 Stampin' UP cardstock with a matching stamp pad for only $3.00.

I got this Brand New Doodlebug acrylic stamp set for $3.00.

I got the MM Rub-ons for $1.00 and the Karen Russell Narratives clear tag set also for $1.00.

Also got these CTMH stamps for $1.00 each. The set of faces was still brand new. I thought they would be cute to have with the Paper Dolls Dress UP cartridge I bought last week for my Cricut Expressions.

I got all these really pretty Karen Russell Narratives Line overlays for only $1.00 each too. I got 6 pieces. I thought the playing cards one would be cute to cut up and use on my 7 Gypsies ATC Holder.



The best find that day was this ziplock bag full of embellishments for only $2.00. Just for the Bazzill with an Edge alone retails for $2.99. The Cloud9 Designs Epoxy Paper Clips retails for about $4.99. Then there's a KI Memories Gel Candy and Icicles Ice Candy and a whole lot more other stuff. I didn't really like the stickers that was included but oh well, I didn't care.

Also, when I dropped off the stuff I was selling, they had just gotten their shipment of the new Heidi Swapp papers and of course I had to get some. I was scared that if I waited till I get my credit from the garage sale that the ones I want will be gone so I bought it that day. They even let me take the papers straight from the plastic wrapping since they weren't on the floor yet.




Here are a couple pictures of the stuff I bought that day. I also bought some MME journaling tags and a KaiserKraft wooden Floral Hanging Keepsake. I have been wanting these papers since I saw a preview of them from CHA. I was so happy to be able to finally get them.



Another happy purchase was this Becky Fleck Sketch Book that I got at Beverly's Crafts. I was able to get it with my 50% off coupon so I only paid $12.50 for it. I was never really a sketch book person and when it comes to books, I always want to see them in person first before I buy them just so I know if it's really something that I would want. I have heard and read a lot of great things about this book and so when I saw it, I just knew I had to get it and looking through it the other day, I just know it will be something I'll use often. I really like it. It comes with little flash cards with sketches on it and a layout she made using the sketch on the back of the card and it also comes with a little box to put the cards in. If you like sketches, this is the book to get. I think I like it more than the Becky Higgins Sketch book.




Oh, and how could I forget my new shoes!!! I'm loving the color of these. It's my favorite color, PINK. I actually got this from the kids section at Mervyns. I'm usually a size 7 on womens but this is a size 5 from the kids department and they fit pretty good. Price tag : $12.99. Not too bad, huh?

Well, that's all folks! This has been such a looooong post. I'm just so happy with these cute stuff I found. Don't know if getting them at a great deal was what makes me happier. I just love shopping and getting stuff at bargain prices is just great!

Antique Store Find

I went to an antique store last weekend with my husband. I wanted to look for some buttons because I heard that antique stores are a good place to find really nice ones. Anyway, they had a bin full of buttons in little ziplock baggies. I bought 3 for $.50 each.

My favorite baggie is the ones that had these really cute buttons:



And my favorite button out of all of them is this cute little Snoopy button. Isn't he cute?

Recent Favorite Pictures

Haven't been updating my blog lately so I thought I should post some of my most recent favorite pictures from last week.

My camera was broken for a little while and I had to get it fixed through Best Buy. I am so thankful we got the warranty for it. I got it back last week and used it again last weekend and took a whole bunch of pictures. We had an Easter Egg Hunt in our community and the kids had lots of fun. Here are my favorite ones...


It's so hard to actually have a nice family picture with all of us smiling so I really like this one.

My husband finally took a great picture of me and my kids that i like.

Loving these pictures with each of my babies....

Me and my hubby...


Loving these pictures of Shawn. The sky was so blue, it was such a nice background. He looks so grown up though. I'm still getting used to the fact that he is now 7 years old.

She kept posing like this and saying "Cute Girl"...

My Little Princess

Just a quick blog update with some pictures of my little Princess. She just finished taking a bath and when her Daddy asks her what she wants to wear, she picked her Belle Princess Dress that my aunt gave her last year. It was supposed to be her Halloween costume but it was still too big on her at the time so she wore it for half the day posing like a princess most of the time.

I WAS SUPER SPOILED TODAY!!!

Oh my gosh, today was such a great day for me. I am totally amazed at how much love I've been receiving lately. I am so not used to all this attention being showered on me because I'm usually the one spoiling everyone around me!

So, with all that said, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

First off, I had been looking for the Martha Stewart Scallop Heart Punch and couldn't find it around me so when Aleida, from Studio Calico message board put out a "HELP" post about the punch and someone found it for her, I thought maybe I could ask too. Well, I did and sure enough, Michelle found one for me and she sent it to me without even waiting to get paid. That was really awesome! I got the package yesterday but just finally opened it today.

Here is a picture of me with my punch from Michelle! Do you see that smile??


Here's another one with an even bigger smile!

And here's one with my really excited smile just like one of my daughter's pictures!

As if that wasn't enough, I also received the package that Dawn, also from Studio Calico had sent me with the autographed business card of Donna Downey. She had a class with Donna last weekend and I had posted that I love Donna Downey so she had asked her for an autograph for me! How sweet! Even when she's having a blast, she still thought of her newly found online friend :-)


So, you think that's enough for one day??? NO! I got another package this time from April. She said she was going to send me a "little something" to celebrate my 100th post on the Studio Calico message board but OH MY GOSH, this little something is not little at all. It had all kinds of goodies in there and even though I thought I had lots of stuff already, all of the stuff she sent me are things I don't even have. She also surprised me with the Heidi Swapp Butterfly mask that I had been looking for too. By this time, I couldn't take a picture of myself anymore because I couldn't help but cry! I kept asking myself, what did I do to deserve all of these?


This was everything she sent me! I love the little box with the ribbon. What I love most of all is the handmade card. Inside the heart shaped box were lots of chipboard crowns and stuff along with some tags and buttons.

This is what was in that little paper box with the ribbon. It has lots of little cute things like felt flowers, Heidi Swapp Ghost shapes, and that little adorable embossed birds in different colored cardstock. It is so amazing! I love everything!

Also today, my bestfriend and I went out and she treated me out for lunch at Olive Garden. I had told her before that I had never been there because since my husband is so picky when it comes to food, he wouldn't have anything to eat there so she decided to treat me out there for lunch. I had Chicken Marsala and it was DELICIOUS.

So, what could be better than a day like this???? Again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, to Michelle, Dawn and April! You guys are simply the best! How can I ever pay your generosity? Just know that I will never forget this day! You made me feel soooo special and loved.

My New Happy Little Rain Boots!

I got this new boots a couple of days ago from Mervyns when I saw that they were having a sale for 70% off. I had an additional 15% off burning a hole in my purse that was expiring soon and I've been wanting to buy a rain boots so I thought this was the best time to get it. It's been raining a lot here lately, in fact, in rained almost all week and I hate getting my nice shoes wet and when I saw this, I just had to get it. I love the colors and it's very comfortable. I think they're "happy" colors. I wore it for the first time last night and I just love it. My husband doesn't like it of course because he has such a "plain" taste for anything and he thinks it's so "bold" looking but I absolutely love it so it doesn't matter since I'm the one who will be wearing it not him. I even got a compliment from some stranger last night as I was walking back to my car at Michael's parking lot :-) So, wanna know how much I paid? It was originally $45 but I walked away with it for just a little bit over $12 after taxes. I thought it was a good buy!

Gilda's Carbonara Spaghetti

I have been wanting to post this recipe here for a while to share. It's a dish that I have been asked to make several times by my friends because they loved it. I have loved Carbonara since I lived in Japan but when I came here to the US, I haven't been able to find a place that serves it so one morning when I was watching The Filipino Channel, this Filipino Cooking Teacher (not really sure if he's a chef) Sandy Daza was making his family's version of Carbonara and of course I had to watch it. Some of the stuff he had in his recipe are stuff I don't eat and I also like my spaghetti with a lot of sauce, so I altered it a bit to my taste and came up with my own.

It's really easy to make but it's very yummy!

Here is the recipe:
Spaghetti Noodles
1 package of Thick Bacon (cut into strips)
3 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream
3 cubes of Chicken Bouillon
Salt
Pepper
2 Extra Large Eggs or 3 Large Eggs (unbeaten)
2/3 cup of Parmesan Cheese
3 tablespoons of minced garlic
1 cup water

Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions or as you like your noodles then set aside.
Cook your bacon until it turns brownish in color and until most of the fat is cooked. Then drain as much fat as you can from the Bacon and add the minced garlic. When the garlic is golden brown, add the cup of water then wait till it is boiling a little bit and add the chicken bouillon cubes. Continue to mix until the cubes are melted. Add the Heavy Whipping Cream and Salt & Pepper (to taste). Wait for it to boil while mixing occasionally.

When the mixture becomes a little bit thicker, add the noodles and on top, add the eggs and the parmesan cheese. Mix really well for about a minute and it's done. Enjoy!

***If you have left over, refrigerate it and when you're ready to have more, just heat it up on the stove and add a little bit of heavy whipping cream or milk so it's not too dry. The noodles will suck up all the sauce so it will be dry after refrigerating it.

Back again....with a project finished!

Okay, I'm back again. I have no idea why this blogging thing is really not working really well for me! I keep promising to update more or at least even once a week but it doesn't happen. Every time I feel like I want to update, I feel like I need to post some kind of picture to make it somewhat interesting. The problem with that is, I am very lazy with uploading my pictures to my computer. It usually happens only when my memory stick is full and that is one of the bad side about having a pretty big memory capacity. In other words, I'm the biggest procrastinator!!! So, there, I admit it!

So, last night, since I couldn't sleep, I thought I might as well make good use of my time and start a project I've been wanting to do. Since seeing the inspiration about a month ago from Becky Higgins' Website, I had started looking for all the materials I needed to do the project but I got kind of busy with stuff and never really got around to it till last night.

Here is her version of the project:


And here is my version:

I got the plate holder from Michaels at the clearance section. The original price was $29.99 but it was clearanced for $12.00 and I was able to use a 40% coupon on top of that.

The frames were bought from Walmart for $1.98 each.

I printed the pictures from my own printer after editing them in Photoshop Elements. I kind of made a boo boo and messed up on the size of the picture. It was supposed to be an 8 x 10 picture and that is what I had put the size to be but I didn't know that I had to check the box that says "crop to size" so it will actually be an 8 x 10 photo after it's been printed. That is the reason there is a white space on the top and the bottom. I was going to reprint the photos but I didn't have enough photo papers to print them on so I decided to just stick with it knowing that I probably would want to change the pictures later on anyway. David put it up for me when he came home from work and I am really loving it. On each of the picture it says the words "Always", "Love", "One", "Another". My favorite photo is the last one of my two kiddos. Don't they just look adorable???

So, one project on my list has been checked! Yay for me!

Finally...a new episode of House is airing tomorrow!

Since around Christmas time, David and I had been so addicted to watching House. We've rented every single DVD that is out and even watched the ones from the internet that we had missed.

We watch this show so much that even Sophia likes it but Shawn doesn't like watching the parts where he could see blood. He covers his eyes until that particular scene is over. Sophia likes it so much that she even says that Dr. House is her boyfriend!

Having the DVD was nice since we didn't have to wait another week to watch the next episode but since we've watched everything there is to watch, and with the writer's strike that had gone on, we've been waiting for a while for the next one.

Now, just a few more hours and I can't wait. For sure we'll be watching it tomorrow night (or should I say later tonight since it's already almost 3 in the morning?).

Another reason for more snuggling with my hubby on the couch!