Second Annual Tea Party

So Jouette has been begging to have another tea party and it just happens that she received a tea set for Christmas. So I told her I thought we could do that over the vacation. I also promised Zekaia a pirate party since we were unable to have one for his birthday so you will see more about that to come. So today we talked about who she wanted to invite and then I set to work to make the invitations. This is what I came up with!

I am really happy with them and I think the girls will like them as well. If all the guest accept we will have 9 little girls. This year since I will be doing a pirate party next week I decided would only be girls. I will have the Ayi take my boys to play and then to McDonald's for lunch so that we will be uninterrupted, well the baby will still be here but I plan to also have a few of the Mom's attend as well. I will post some more pictures of the food once the day gets here.

t

Xijvien Jacques-Edward Cazier

Look at all that hair!

I had not planned to post these pictures here but since I can not get on to facebook this will have to do for today. As you can see our little X-man is here! He was born Yesterday December 1st at 4:07pm. After a very short labor of about 2 hours and 22 minutes. The induced me so that is why I can be so exact on how long it took. The started to pit at 1:45 and broke my water at 2:10. The contractions didn't start to get bad until around 3:40. James called to tell the Ayi that she needed to pick the kids up from the bus since James would not make it since the baby still wasn't here. It had taken them longer to get me hooked up that we had hoped since we came in at noon. But as soon as he hung up I was starting to feel major pain. I want to try this with no epidural or other pain medicine. I asked the nurse to check me to give me some hope we were getting close to the end since I was getting ready to cave for the meds. When she told me at 3:45 that I was still at 5cm I was doubtful I was going to be able to do this. Then things got really bad and I was sure I was not able to do this anymore. The rest of what happened it pretty foggy since all I really remember was pain. But James tells me I moved to a 7 with the next contraction then a 8 then complete. The doctor arrived when I was at the 8 and they just keep saying breath, relax, (yeah right, easier said than done) ThenI heard the nurse say you are complete push if you feel like it. They didn't put me in the stir-ups this time, I think because I wouldn't have done even if they forced me. I grabed my legs and pushed and as James tells me, little Xijvien flew right out. No waiting for a second push. For me once I could push it wasn't quite as painful but I remember thinking, either get this kid out or push him back in but I am done, and he can't stay where he is at.

So to any of you out there, really don't go nartual, it was not fun. It really is too bad it was not a girl because I am not sure I will be signing up for that again.

Baby Announcements !

Well I was not planning on making my birth announcements until after the baby arrived but it was a slow weekend. I had a few ideas of designs I wanted to do but these are what I decided on, and I am in love with them!

I tested out several different papers and colors, more because I needed to make a lot more than what two sheets of paper would make.

I am pretty happy with how all of them turned out but the bird ones are my favorite.


Last year this Pacific point blue paper was really hard for me to use, I didn't like the way anything I made turned out with it but I am now completely in love with it her with the Kiwi Kiss and the So Saffron.

When I bought this paper I never thought even how it would make a boy card but I am now complete in love with them!

Carmel Popcorn balls

Today Zekaia was family night treat and he asked for colored popcorn. Well I forgot to buy some marshmellows yesterday at the store so I asked him if carmel ones would be okay. To which he agreed. They turned out great so I thought I would share the recipe. They were supper easy and I had them made in about 20 minutes. Hope you enjoy them!!

{Vanilla Caramel Popcorn Pops}
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla
Combine all ingredients (except apple vanilla) in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Once boiling, cook for 2 1/2 minutes (just until soft-ball stage). Remove from heat, add vanilla. Allow to cool slightly. Pour caramel over 6-8 cups of fresh popped popcorn. When caramel is poured over popcorn, stir until well coated, pack into popcorn balls.

Small Christmas cards and gift box

Well I wanted to make some little cards that I could give aways this Christmas season to people in the area I live in. Something small since there are a lot of people I don't really know very well. These little cards are 3x3 and have a cute little box to be stored in. I will give them away as a set of 11, 10 cards and one tote. Then they have quick thank you's to send out themselves.

Here I have only uploaded a few of the little cards that I have made. The cards match the box they will be given in.

This first box is before I have taped it all together since this one is being sent in the mail. Amanda if you read this this one is for you. I figure you can put it together once you get it.

Here is the first box I made all put together!

Halloween fun!

I wanted something fun to put with my little bags of Halloween candy to pass out to the trick-or-treaters this coming Saturday. I found the idea for the pumpkin and Frankenstein on a website called splitcoast stampers. But I came up with the other two on my own. The green goblin with the big round eyes was my first idea but I switched to the oval eyes since they were easier to punch out. I thought the little devil was fun too! It is amazing what you can do with one shape. I tried to make a Ghost but the shape just didn't work right. I think if I punched the paper out in brown I could even make and owl. Thanks for looking!!

First Cards in a Long While.

Okay so I have finnally gotten around to making some cards. Now I really need to get down to getting the kids some Halloween Costumes! Kaia wants to be a mummy and Jou a scary lady. Jou's I think will be a bit easier than Kaia's. I hope to go to the fabric market next week and get some white material for the mummy. I think Jou is really wanting to be a witch so hopefully I will not have too hard of a time finding something. Once the costumes are together I will post pictures of them.

Hope you liked the cards! Thanks for looking!

Scrapbook room.

It has been awhile since I have made any cards and I am very happy that I have been able to get into my scrapbook room. Here are some pictures of the room. I still need to get a few totes to put my stamps in but I hope here in not too long I will have my room at full function. I spent a lot of time in my scrap room in Belgium but I don't know if I will get as much time in here now that we live in China. Since I am able to attend the kids school so much I want to take advantage of that. I have been spending part of one day a week in each of the kids classrooms. I am on the Lunchroom Committee so I have those meetings twice a month, I have play group with Bhavik every Thursday, and one Tuesday a month is Lunch Bunch, and one Tuesday is Explorer day. Not to mention all the other shopping there is going on. But I suppose there are always the evenings!

It has been a bit of an adjustment working in this room since it is a bit smaller than my room in Belgium but I really don't think I will be having people over to scrap with me, at least not very often, so it really is plenty big for just me. I really have enjoyed having my punches hanging on the wall. I have seen this idea many times and always wanted to do it, so I was excited when I bought this racks to hang my spices only to find that I didn't have space in my kitchen. So right to the scrap room they went. James was even happier that he didn't have to hang them. Since I just called the workers from River Garden to come and hang them. It cost me 5 RMB per hole they have to make. So for 40 RMB I was able to get them hung. Which is about $5.50. The best part was I didn't have to wait for James to get around to it.

Trail Mix

Last weekend when we went to the Great Wall a sister in our branch mixed up a bag of trail mix. It was so yummy I decided I wanted to make some of my own. The great things about trail mix is you put what you like in it. It has really been quite filling and with some healthy things I don't feel too bad letting my kids (or myself) indulge everyday.

So my filling was:

1 box Multi grain Cheerios

1 box Granola cereal with dried Strawberries

1/2 can peanuts

1/2 can cashews

1/2 can almonds

1/2 bag raisins

1/2 bag craisins

1 pkg. dried pineapple cut into chunks

1 lg. bag plain M&M's

1/2 bag chocolate chips

1/2 bag peanut butter chips

The kids have consumed it. They each have something they leave in their bowls when they are finished but really it has been minimal. Plus it seems to be the perfect after school snack to tided them over until our now very late dinner time of 6:30pm. Sorry for you who don't think this is late but we use to eat around 5:30pm.

Swiss Ham and Noodle Casserole

I meant to take a picture before we ate the casserole but I forgot. Sorry it is not a beautiful picture but this is a really yummy casserole. I got the recipe from a family cookbook that was put together a few years back. This was my first time making it but I am sure I will be making it again here in the future.

The recipe is:
2 T. Butter
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. green peppers, chopped
1 lg. can or 2 small cans cream of mushroom soup
1 c. sour cream
1 (8oz) pkg. pasta of your choice.
2 c. cooked ham, diced
2 c. cheddar cheese, grated (I used white cheddar)

In a saucepan melt butter and saute onions and green peppers until tender. Remove from heat and add soup and sour cream. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with pam.

Layer the following:
1. 1/2 noodles
2. 1/2 cheese
3. 1/2 ham
4. 1/2 sauce
Then repeat with next layer. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

I'm back!

Okay so it has been a really long time since I last posted. Unfortuantely this is really not going to be a great post. Today has been super busy and I am trying to get caught up but you will be hearing from me again in the next few days I promise!!

Prayers please

Okay I think all of you know we are headed to China this weekend. I ask for your prayers that we can make it there without problems. We have our Visas' but the Chinese government is being very cautious about people coming in the country, especially the US. Since Utah has had so many cases and that is where we are flying from we have been given warnings that they can quarantine us for no reason at all other than we came from the US. Plus they do not have to keep us together. Parents are being separated from their children even if the children are minors. We have also heard that the facilities are not necessarily clean or have adequate drinking water or food. So I ask again that you pray that we will make it to our home together. We have thought about postponing our trip but there are actually saying that the swine flu problem might not even be resolved until next year and we can't postpone forever. We will try and keep you up on all our happenings. Thanks.

Catherine

2am Feedings

Now many of you know that I am expecting and no this isn't my baby. All the hair is definitely the give away. I am quite jealous of all the hair on this sweet little girl. This baby is my cousin and his girlfriends little one. She was born on the 1st of July, and her name is Angela. As I was holding her I thought back to when Jouette was first born and how as a new Mom I looked forward to the times when she would wake up in the night so that I could look at her for just a few more minutes. I am sure this is why she didn't sleep through the night until she was 14 month old. But it did get old, after a few weeks I was really wishing she would sleep a little bit longer. As a mother of three children soon to be four I then thought about the differences between when Zekaia was born from when Jouette was born. Unlike Jouette I didn't feel the need to just stare at him in the middle of the night. Reality had sunk in a bit and the hours from 7am to 8pm were more than enough hours to stare at my beautiful baby. It is amazing how many things change from the first baby to the rest. I know I loved him no less than Jouette but being a Mom of more than one child can be very demanding. I know many people are happy to have just one or two kids and I feel if that is all you want that is great. But I grew up in a family of 4 children and even though some days I hated it I am grateful for my siblings now that I am grown and they are almost grow to see the different dynamics of our family. So to all you new Mother out there staring at your baby's I say: "Aren't they wonderful gifts from God! Love them as much as you can for the time passes so quickly!"

Vegetarian Tagliatelle

This I think is my favorite salad out there. A sister in our branch brought it to a potluck a few months ago and I asked for the recipe. She gave it to me a few weeks ago so I made it. Yummy! Really I just love it! Here is the recipe:

Vegetarian Tagliatelle

1 pkg. Tagliatelle pasta, cooked and drained

1 red and 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced

1 tomato, seeded and sliced thinly

1 cucumber thinly sliced or chopped

1/2 lb. sliced mushrooms

1 c. olives slices (She used green I also prefer with a stronger taste but use what kind you like)

6 oz. feta cheese cubes (I used the ones that are soaked in the oil and herbs then you don't need the Provencal herbs later)

1 apple, chopped or cut into small pieces

Combine pasta, veggies, and apple. Stir in dressing, garnish with fresh chives, parsley, and basil.

Dressing:

2 T. Olive Oil

1t. Vinegar of your choice (there are lots of fun ones out there give one a try)

1/8 t. pepper

1/4 t. red pepper flakes

1 T, Provencal herb (omit if using feta with seasonings)

1/2 t. onion powder

Combine all together to make a dressing

Hope you like it at much as I do but if you do try it I am sure you will!

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

I made these yummy pork sandwich's over the weekend and we really enjoyed them. I found the recipe on the Martha Stewart website. But here it is for you!

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 pounds boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), cut into 4 equal pieces
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 soft sandwich rolls, split
Store-bought barbecue sauce, for serving (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks in lower and upper positions. In a small bowl, combine sugar, cayenne, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Place pork in a 5-quart Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot; rub with spice mixture. In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, garlic, and 1/2 cup water; pour over pork. Cover pot, and place in oven on lower rack. Bake until pork is very tender and separates easily when pulled with a fork, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Transfer pork to a work surface, reserving pan juices. With two forks, shred meat. Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with pan juices to moisten (you may not need all the juices). Pile pork on rolls, and top with barbecue sauce, if desired.

Jouette is 6 years old!

I don't often talk about my kids on my blog but this last Monday my little Jouette turned 6 years old. I have loved "almost" every minute of having a daughter. Yes we have our days but I really don't know if I have enjoyed her enough. I would be so lost without her. She really is such a great girl. She is loving, kind, happy and helpful every chance she gets.

One of her first pictures, Ouch my head hurts!

9 days old

1 year old

2 years old

3 Years old.

4 Years old.

5 years old.

Here is my Jouette today at 6 years old.

I love you Jouette and look forward to many more years of getting to know you!

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

I made this delicious cake the other day and wanted to share it with you. It really was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. I am not very good at making frosting so I opted to make this upside down cake and it was really easy. I left mine in the cake pan until I was ready to serve it which was most of the day and it still flipped out of the cake pan very easily without breaking up.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Rhubarb-Upside-Down-Cake-2

Chicken Bacon Bites

Okay so this is a very simple recipe but they are absolutely delicious!

2 Chicken Breast, cut into 14 pieces
7 stripes of Bacon cut in halve

14 toothpicks

3 T. brown sugar

1 T. Chili Powder

2 T. Dijon Mustard

As you can see I wrapped each piece of chicken with bacon and secured with a tooth pick. Note get toothpicks out of the box since you will be touching them with yucky raw chicken fingers! Place chicken in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. Cover and cook until chicken is no longer pink. While the chicken in cooking combine brown sugar, chili powder, and mustard. Add more if you like for as much sauce as you want. I like it with lots of sauce so I make a bit more. Note: you can use regular mustard but I like it much better with dijon, yeah something to use that stuff on!

Once chicken is completely cooked add brown sugar mixture to the frying pan and cook until bubbly and all chicken is coated. Remove from heat and eat! To make this a dinner and not just an appetizer I make a green salad and bake potatoes to go with it. The kids just love that the chicken is on a stick!

Enjoy!

Blog give away!!

The first five people to respond to this post will receive something made by me.
HOMEMADE!
The item will be my choice made just for you!

Restrictions and Limitations:
1. I have complete creative freedom.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done within the next 6 months.
4. You have no clue what it will be.It may be personalized note cards. I might bake something. I might not think of anything until 6 months from now...

The catch? You must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same to 5 people who comment.The first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are in (and posting their favorite color), will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift from me!

Be sure to post a picture of what you get! Anyone past the 6th comment will be entered in a drawing for another item!The quote below is an interesting one, and depending on how you see the world you can replace the first word with lots of things. I like Divine Providence myself :)

Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast;
in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.
--Ovid

No time

Well sorry all I seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth here but with trying to begin the big world move and being pregnant I have just not had the time or the energy to do anything that seems worthy to post. Hopefully that will change, but in the mean time don't forget about me!!

2 Sweet

So here are the last of the card class examples. My Mother and I split them up and each did a few. I was a bit worried that these ones would be hard but I actually had a really fun time with this set.

Sweet Nothings

Okay so I can not take the credit for these beautiful card but I just want to say my Mother did a great job. She made this pack and I did the Sunshine Garden. I have my card class on the 21st of April and I wanted to have some examples with the kits that we are making. I have one more kit but I had a few more people sigh up for that one and I had to order another kit. My SU lady in the states is mailing it to me but I won't have it until next week. So I thought I better not use the kits I have in case the others don't get here in time. Let me know what you think!

Sunshine Garden

Here are the cards I made with the Sunshine Garden Simply scrapin' package. Some of them have stuff in the inside but most do not. You can look in my facebook account to see the pictures individually.

Beef Cabbage Roll-up

As many of you know I am always willing to try something new and these cabbage rolls are a bit of work but they were delicious. I think next time I will try them with sausage instead of the ground beef. I will tell you that I think you can halve the filling though since I had enough to make another 14 rolls. The tangy sauce was sweet and yummy. I think I might use about 1-1/2 cup tomato sauce and then 1/2c. ketchup, I also added some dijon mustard, gave it a nice tangy flavor.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/Beef-Cabbage-Roll-Ups

Chicken Mushroom Melts

I am sorry I didn't think about taking a picture of this meal until after the last one had been eaten. But these little topless sandwich bites were delicious. They are suppose to be an appetizer but I just served them with a hearty salad and it was a great dinner. The recipe has a picture so you can see there how they look. They were quick and easy. I think I was able to get them prepared and on the table in about 35 minutes. Hope you get a chance to enjoy try them I am sure you will love them!


http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Chicken-Mushroom-Melts

Never ending card

I made this fun never ending card today and now I am addicted. I want to make some for my kids birthday cards since I think the kids will love them. Here is the front of the card

Here is the first time you open it.

Never ending card second time you open.

Last flip. When you open this one you are back at the beginning.

Hope you enjoy the pictures for details see this great video on youtube on how to make these fun cards:

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stamping_thoughts/2008/02/never-ending-ca.html

Sympathy Card

It seems like forever since I was able to get into the scrapbooking room and actually do something. I have been working on a altered clipboard project for the stake RS activity this weekend. Jennifer, Becky and I have been painting clipboards for Saturday's activity.

So today when I had a few minutes I decided it was time to make a card for the exchange. The theme was sympathy card and I decided to use yesterdays Try a new technique challenge to use a ribbon frame. I wanted to keep the card simple since the ribbon frame needs to be the focus. The inside of the card says "He always opens a window". I wish I had a stamp of a door instead of a window but I think the point gets across still. Let me know what you think?

Old Glory

Well I thought of two more breakfasts I had not put on my list. One is Fruit Pizza, kind of like what is pictured above, and cinnamon rolls. I know they are probably not the healthiest but they are good. Last week I ask Jouette want she wanted to make for FHE treat since it was her turn to choose. She told me she wanted fruit. So I asked what kind, watermelon, cherries, and blueberries where her reply. Well since it is march I didn't know what all I would be able to find but I said I would do my best. Carrefour had watermelon but let's just say they we less than ideal. But no blueberries or cherries. So I bought some strawberries since I know Jouette really likes strawberries. Later when I went to the Colruyt they did have some blueberries so I bought them but not much else that I thought would go with Jouette's wishes.

So I came home and over the weekend Jouette and I searched for the perfect recipe for her strawberries and blueberries. When Jouette saw this flag pizza she was in love. That was the perfect FHE treat. So yesterday I made the cookie part and the frosting then when Jouette got home she put the strawberries on while I did the blueberries. She was very happy with the results and not only did she get to eat it last night but it was breakfast today too! Okay so maybe I am a bad Mom for letting them eat it for breakfast but oh well, you only live once!