Soupdillicious!

Once again, I have found another absolutely amazing soup recipe. It is truly scrumpdillicious or should I say soupdillicious. 

I made this Monday night while the boys were at a baseball game. Emily and I did not stay for the game due to the cool, rainy weather along with her homework load. While she worked on her homework, I made the soup. I found this recipe for Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup at the website Key Ingredient through Pinterest.  

This is such an easy recipe. I didn't make any modifications this first time. Next time, I may use a light cream in place of the half and half to lighten it. Oh, I also didn't add the Parmesan garnish, just remembered that. The boys reheated the soup when they got home from the game and it was a BIG hit. We all gave it a thumbs up and the request was made that this soup be made again when the next cool, rainy day passes through.  

Its a soup you definitely need to try! 

Spring Cleaning - Outdoors

Here in Northeastern New Jersey we've had a true spring. 

The temperatures have stayed mostly cool with just a handful of days with warmer temps. This past Saturday was the first weekend day when the weather was warm and we were home to be able to "work" the yard. 

This spring the weed cover in the flower beds around our home took on the appearance of a blanket. Thankfully we decided to make the yard work a family work project. All hands were on deck and required to put forth a good effort.

In the front of our home, we have 3 bushes - 2 small pines and another small shrub.  The smaller shrub never really developed correctly so we decided this spring to remove it.

Dave decided to have Emily lend her strength in the removal of the small shrub. She did a great job!! Dave did help with the positioning of the shovel but the effort was all Emily. Go girl!!

Matthew and Emily helped in taking the sad shrub to the yard debris bag. 

About 5 1/2 years ago, we had our underground oil tank removed. Due to its location in the front yard, we had to have our Japanese maple tree removed. Sadly, our oil tank issues didn't end there. The tank had a small leak (the size of the top of a pencil eraser) in it so, we had to have the soil remediated. Then we had to have a well put in so samples could be taken over a period of time to show that the soil was "okay". After those two processes were completed, a report was sent to the state, which sadly did not make it prior to the state changing its soil level requirements. Once again, the soil had to be remediated. Why do I tell you this story? So you are aware that for those 5 1/2 years we have not touched this side of the house in regard to sprucing up in fear of a new dig having to occur. Finally, we did get our seal of approval and this spring we took action. Dave created a new bed around the pine and under a portion of the windows on that side of the house.

When it comes to manicuring the beds, we love the look of black mulch. It makes the light color of our home "pop". On Saturday, we mulched the front and on Sunday Dave mulch the beds on the side of our home.  Now, it is time for color. We are planning to add a birdfeeder post to the one side of the picture window and a birdbath in the area next to where we removed the shrub. Also on the docket, some potted flowers and I plan to paint the front door this spring. It is currently green, the new color is called Spanish Tile, an amazing deep red. 

Things came together nicely and I am happy to report that our temperatures are staying on the warmer side of 60. 

Picante Roast & Rice

This is another new meal we tried over the last few weeks. Its one for the crock pot which is such a life saver on those baseball nights.

The roast recipe, 3 Envelope Picante Roast, I found on the website Deep South Dish via Pinterest. Everyone really loved it and it was yummy as leftovers too!! I paired it up with "Chipotle" Cilantro Lime Rice found at the Skinnytaste website also found via Pinterest. This rice was so yummy!!! The two paired together were the perfect combination. Both of these recipes have been added to our family recipe binder. Pinterest definitely has been a great source for recipes and has seriously replaced my "need" for buying cookbooks. 

Photo Finish

Recently, I had an epiphany... okay, another epiphany!  I tend to have these often. 

When the kids were younger, I had wonderful intentions of creating individual scrapbooks of all their momentous occasions. I also wanted to create a family vacation scrapbook. With this plan in mind, I would print duplicates of pictures (yes, I print pictures) so I could make sure each child would have their "events" documented.  

A few weeks ago I realized now that they are about to turn 11 & 8 that I would not be able to make these individual scrapbooks a reality. I don't have the time although I admit, sadly, I probably do have the supplies. Even though the "dream" of individual scrapbooks dimmed with time, my purchasing of scrapbook supplies did not.

I've decided to change the style of my scrapbooking to Project Life. Basically, over a two page scrapbook spread you document the events of a whole week using photos and journaling cards. I've "tested" this style in the past and I find it more doable. What make this style nice is that if there is a special event like a birthday or vacation I can choose to scrapbook more than two pages. 

Knowing I would be following this plan, I realized the amount of duplicate photos I had in my organized photo chaos was overwhelming. In order to start this new project, I needed to put my photos in chronological order and weed out the duplicates. Behold the mess you see above! Now don't worry, I didn't waste trees and toss the extra photos. I have them set aside for the kids to go through and make their own scrapbooks during their summer vacation. 

The above photo containers are filled with photos in chronological order starting with January 2006. I have them going from most recent to latest so I can work on them in either order. 

These smaller bins hold the most recent photos so that I can experience the accomplishment of completing some more  recent events. Also, I have been taken photos with the Project Life format in mind so these will go a little more quickly than the older photos.

One major plus from this whole photo reorganization, which took almost a week,  was I went through a few drawers looking for extra pictures put in "incorrect" places. There it was right in the middle of the drawer under a few layers of "stuff" the Cricut Straight from the Nest cartridge I misplaced quite a few months ago. Now if only I could find my engagement/wedding ring that I "misplaced" almost 2 years ago. The finding of this cartridge has renewed my hope in the possibility that some day my ring will be found. 

Into Every Garden a Little Rain Will Fall

In the beginning of March, I put up a Garden "Growing" themed bulletin board at my church.  

This is a 3 phase board. Sadly, I got a little behind on executing the second phase. Thankfully, this week I got back into work mode and produced the additional elements need for Phase 2 - a trellis and raindrops. Today I was able to go to the church and add these new elements. I also added a "budding" stem emerging from one of the gladiolus bulbs.  

In making the rain drops, I followed the same instructions I referred to when I made the snowflakes for the winter themed bulletin board. I didn't use a template, just free handed the shape of a tear drop. 

Instead of coating the raindrops in mod podge and sprinkling them with glitter like I did the snowflakes, I painted them with a clear glitter paint. Wow, did that save a ton of time!! The glitter gave it that additional dimension needed to help the raindrops stand out on the board.

Standing back I was very pleased with how the board looked.  

The rain drops add a layer of dimension that would not be able to be created with paper. Also, the trellis which I cut from a piece of foam board added height to the other end of the bulletin board. In two weeks, I will be adding flowers: gladiolus, sunflowers, pansies (had to switch out the marigolds) and morning glories climbing the trellis. Also, there will be a change that will surprise you. Something  you may or may not notice. 

I look forward to showing you Phase 3 in 2 weeks.