Love

Here is another card from my Box of Unsent Cards.  I think when I made it, I intended it to be an anniversary card.  What was I thinking?  If I don't remember send Birthday cards, what makes me think I'm going to send Anniversary cards?  Yeesh!  Anyway, it's still a great card and the whole layout makes me smile.  Again, the pictures are crummy, but I think you can still get the idea.

The torn edge with the contrast behind makes me smile.  I also like the way the word LOVE is scratched upward along the side.

This was one of the first time I used Bazzil paper.  I have been hooked ever since.  I stamped the rectagle background first in a brown slightly darker than the paper, then colored the flowers with markers and stamped it on top of the rectangle.

Yep, even with the bad picture color, this card is a keeper.  (Apparently literally)

Bouquet of Gratefulness

This size card, with the rounded corners on one side has become a favorite for me.  It makes super cute cards very quickly.  I have used this stem and flower stamp numerous times.  I love the shading you get from a two-step flower.

You can never have enough Thank You cards, in my opinion.  And this one is like sending along a sweet bouquet of flowers tied up with a little string.

Paisley Wishes

This is one of my favorite cards; that's probably why it's still in my box, I can't bear to send it off!  I love the simple colors and the clean lines.  The pictures are terrible and do not do it justice.  What can I say?  I'm just getting this photography thing figured out and these were taken before I even STARTED trying to figure it out.

I think the simple little sentiment, wish, says it all.

With a photo on my blog, maybe I'll send the card out now.  Who will be the lucky Birthday Girl?

$24 and a Whole-lotta Bowling

A friend of mine posted a link on Facebook this morning that just made my kids summer a little more fun!  Kids Bowl Free is just what it sounds like.  All you have to do is click the link and enter your children's names and birthdate (just the month and year) for free bowling passes for your kiddos. 

The program is for children under 15, but there is a Family Summer Pass that allows you to add on up to 4 adults for $24.95.  The passes allow your kids to bowl TWICE, EVERY DAY until Sept 30, 2010.  The shoes are not included, but it said on the site that you may be able to get an Unlimited Shoe Rental at your location.  This is a Nationwide program, and even the little town where I live in Idaho had a location.

So get all your friends to sign up and get ready to bowl!

**I called our local bowling alley and the Unlimited Shoe Pass is $10 per person and is good for the duration of the Kids Bowl Free Promotion.  Regular rentals are $2.75 per person and on Thursdays they are $1.

Happy Birthday Good Friend

I dug into my card box and found some cards that bring back sweet memories of stamping with friends.  Someday, I will get to stamp and play again, in the meantime, I will look back at what I've done with fond remembrance and share some pictures with you.

I'm pretty sure I cased this card from a stamping magazine, but it was quite a ways back and I have no idea where I found it.  If it's yours, let me know and I'll be sure to give you credit!  I love the three little flowers nestled together in the corner with the antique brads. 

I think a Good Friend would love to get this card on their Big Day!

A New Family Favorite

If I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, I would be hard pressed to choose between Mexican and Italian (if you notice, both use LOTS of cheese, my favorite food group), but these Taquitos make me lean a little more strongly toward the Mexican side.  I rarely find a new recipe that my ENTIRE family goes ga-ga for, but let me tell you, the kids BEG me to make these multiple times a week.  They are so tasty, I'm tempted to agree.  Right now they are our weekly Tuesday night meal because Meghan, Taylor and Jeff can eat them on the way to 4-H.

My friend posted the original recipe from a blog that I have quickly fallen in love with.  Here it is from Our Best Bites.  Of course, if you know me, you know that because I am an incredibly picky eater, I can almost NEVER follow a recipe as written.  So I had to make a few changes to what I've been told was already a KILLER recipe.  I am not a fan of either lime or cilantro, so here is the recipe that I created based on the original recipe from Our Best Bites.  So, now you can choose--lime and cilantro or NO lime and cilantro.

Baked Chicken Taquitos

4 cups chicken-cooked and finely chopped

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup salsa verde, pureed

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic

3 cups co-jack, shredded

flour tortillas (soft taco size)

Combine all of the above ingredients.  Place about 2 TBSP of the mixture across one end of a slightly warmed tortilla.  Roll the tortilla as tightly as you can and place, seam side down, on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Make sure the taquitos do not touch each other on the baking sheet, so they get nice and crispy.  Just before baking, lightly brush oil over the tops and sprinkle with a little kosher salt.  Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes.

I have not tried making these and freezing them before I bake then yet, we seem to eat all that we make each time, but they are supposed to freeze well.  The last time I made this recipe, I got 26 taquitos, but I over-filled them and lots of the filling oozed out onto the pan, so I could probably get 3 or 4 more.

According to my salsa verde bottle, the La Victoria brand is gluten free, so if you change the tortillas you use, this is also a gluten free recipe.

Mother's Day 2010--Part 2

  The girls spent most of the afternoon on the horses.  It had to be at least 2 or 3 hours and they never got bored.  Meghan and Samantha finally traded places and Sam stood in the round pen with the Handy-Stick.

Meghan has gained so much confidence with  the hoses over the last year.

She and Silver make a beautiful pair. 

I don't think she loves anything more than being on his back.

Whenever I get the chance to watch her ride, I beg her to gallop for me.  I love to see how proud Silver looks with his tail flying and his neck stretched forward.

I think that horse would do just about anything for her.  Well, except Trail, but that's a whole other post!

My girls and their horses.  It makes me a little teary eyed.  My dad would be so proud!

Mother's Day 2010--Part 1

I had hoped to get these posted earlier, but things rarely seem to go as I plan lately.  Here are a few (OK, it's really more than a few...it's a LOT, so if you're not interested in horses or my kids, you might want to skip this post) pictures from our Mother's Day.  My brother and his family and my Mom came over for a little BBQ. 

When the girls decide to saddle one horse, all the horses gather to see what's going on.  However, neither Meesha or Hunny actually WANT to be saddled.

Zoey thought she was quite the big helper when Cousin Sam let her carry the reins.

Elizabeth bribing Hunny with some oats.  She'll come close for a snack as long as she doesn't see a lead rope any where close by.

Sackett was actually tied to the post, but Zoey thought she was in control.

She about gave us a heart attack when she wandered behind Sackett, but he just flicked his tail at her.

She gives him a little pat of encouragement.

I would LOVE to know what she's telling him here.  She had quite a little talk with him.  I especially love how both Sackett and Silver are listening intently.

While Meghan, Elizabeth and Samantha messed with the horses, Kennedy, Nate and Scotty spent most all of the afternoon climbing the peachcott.  Taylor and Timothy were not in "picture taking range" for any of the day.

Doin' a little bareback.

Love this picture that Scott snapped of Nate on the porch stairs.

Elizabeth was a sweet cousin and spent a large chunk of her ride with Zoey on her lap.  Hunny felt the need to keep pace with Sackett.

Meghan has been working with Hunny and has even gotten the saddle on her a couple of times.  Usually after Silver and Sackett get saddled, Meesha and Hunny dissapear to the lower pasture.  This time, however, Hunny stayed in the upper pasture and showed off her beautiful lope.

Meesha would not be outdone by her daughter and did some lovely prancing of her own.  She may be getting old, but she has some spunk left in her!

Samantha spent some time in the round pen (that Meghan built all by herself) on Silver while Meghan stood by to give some tips.

This is right after Sackett got to going at a pretty nice little clip.  See how excited Zoey is?  She thought that was GREAT!

Cousinly advice? 

These girls are inseperable!

Cheese, Daddy!  Scott snapped all these pictures with his new DSLR camera.

Gettin' up to speed.

I love how much fun they have out there!

It takes a lot of trust to ride Silver while Meghan stands in the round pen with her Handy-Stick.  Silver is completely loyal to Meghan.

Going Doubles.

Blogspot has decided to not let me post the rest of the pictures where I want them, so I will do the rest in another post.