I LOVE to Stamp...Now Why Don't I Do It More Often???

Have I mention how MUCH I LOVE to stamp??? I guess there is just a rush from that creative outlet! I love to see how things turn on paper that have been rolling around in my head! Anyways, one of my goals this year is to stamp at least once a week!

Each year for Christmas, I like to give my mom and Steven's mom a box of cards they can use throughout the year. Birthday, baby, wedding, etc. It gives me a reason to stamp...and they seem to like it Last year I stamped a grand total of about 8 cards (okay 16--2 each of 8 designs). So...they did NOT get cards for Christmas. This year I am going to try harder!

I also am planning on trying to stamp cards to send to Iraq for Steven and his team to be able to use. They are in such a remote location...it is hard to get cards to send home to family--so I thought that would be a fun service project this year!

Anyways...I thought it might be fun to share my latest with family and friends! Kind of a "sneak peak" for the moms even! Today's big project was finally stamping some Christmas cards LOL I was sooooo sick over the month of December, I never got my cards finished for a card swap with some online friends! This is what they are getting in the mail this week :)


The card below is one I stamped up while Steven's sister was here visiting. I needed a baby card for my niece Julee's new cute baby! It's a fun card--the little duck is yellow flocking--so he is soft to the touch!


So those are the two most recent cards! If I haven't shared soon...remind me of my goal! I need all the encouragement I can get LOL! This is my fun "for me" project that always seems to get put on the back burner with all the other "need-to-do-jobs" that come up in life and I miss it when I don't get to be covered in glitter and glue!

Another Cook in the Family!

Stevie had to cook a couple meals for a "Duty to God" project. He sat and poured over the cookbooks before finally deciding to make "Pizza Soup". I have to admit...I wasn't looking too forward to it...Pizza Soup??? How strange!

He did a great job browning and spicing the meat!

He even made cheese covered biscuits to go with our dinner. The first time the can "popped" kind of suprised him!

Kimmy was his "Cooking Mentor" for the meal...but he did most of the work himself!

And the best part? The eating!! Remember how I was nervous about the soup? I had TWO servings and begged the leftovers!! It was DELICIOUS!!

Pizza Soup

1 lb. ground beef

2 cans (26 oz. each) condensed tomato soup, undiluted

6-1/2 cups water

1 jar (28 oz.) spaghetti sauce (We used Classico's 4-cheese)

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

Additional cheddar cheese, optional

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add the soup, water, spaghetti sauce and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add cheese; cook and stir until melted. Garnish with additional cheese if desired. Makes 16 servings.

I Thought Texas Was Supposed to Be WARM???

You know...when I heard I was moving to Texas, I thought "OH NO!! More living in an oven!" We have lived in Georgia and Florida and I was kind of hoping for a little cooler weather! Be careful what you wish for! This is what we woke up to yesterday!

This is part of our fence--it was completely iced!

What you can't tell on this picture--there is a sheet of ice encircling my trampoline net! It was pretty awesome!

Construction Happy Hoodlums!

Last year we moved 2 days after Christmas to Texas. Well, we were stuck in a motel and I got this brilliant idea we would make a gingerbread house with the kids IN the motel. I picked up a huge kit (Hey--buying it after Christmas made it CHEAP even) and promptly decided that was REALLY a stupid idea (mess+cramped motel+3 cranky kids and even crankier mom=BAD IDEA)! I put the kit out in the shed when we FINALLY got our house and forgot about it!

Fast forward to this year...we have no decorations...money it extremely tight...how can Heidi make a memory with the kids? Oh yeah! The gingerbread kit *smile* Yep, it was still there! (and ever mouse and insect free!) I told the kids we were going to make a gingerbread house...just don't eat the candy!

Kimmy was our "Master Builder" and deserves all the credit for how cute the house turned out! She really came up with some fun ideas and got the kids excited about making it (even if they couldn't eat the candy!) Anyways...enjoy the pics!

Christmas in the Sandbox

I realized I had never finished uploading Christmas pictures! Sorry for being late but I really didn't want to miss sharing Steven's Christmas in Iraq!

This is the team that Steven works with in Iraq. They built this "tree" in their tent for Christmas.

I thought the tree was pretty ingenious! The "garland" is duct tape and machine gun rounds. The "ornaments" are cans of Beanie Weenie. It even makes our cactus tree look pretty good!


Steven's boss gave each of his soldiers a gift for Christmas--Steven got a CD walkman so he can listen to music! He seemed pretty happy with that! He even got mail on Christmas Eve. The K12 school my kids do their homeschool through put together a service project and sent boxes of goodies for Steven and his team. They came in on Christmas Eve! He also got a package from my sister too! It's good to have so many people who take care of my hubby!!

I told Steven what I wanted for Christmas from him. Since he had no way of sending us presents this year, I said all I wanted for Christmas was photos of him. I told him I wanted a picture of him in a Santa hat! He borrowed the hat from another soldier and gave me a great present! Isn't he handsome?? I love this man!!!

This is his Christmas dinner. They closed the chow hall for 2 days prior to Christmas to prepare for it. I'm not sure it was worth 2 days of MRE's but at least he got to have a good meal it looks like!

Thank you for the pictures Handsome...They were a WONDERFUL Christmas Present! And now that it is 2009, I can say "MY HUSBAND COMES HOME THIS YEAR!!"

Happy 21st Birthday to My Baby!

Today is Kimberly's 21st birthday! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was cuddling this cute little baby!



She has grown up into a beautiful young woman now! She is my best friend who can always make me laugh! I treasure each day with her...it's always an adventure of what will happen next! Life is never dull at our house!

I left all my scrapbooks and memorabilia in Idaho thinking we would be back withing a few months, so I didn't have any pictures to share of Kimmy when she was little! Thankfully my mom was willing to hunt some down so I could show off my darling baby girl!

Kimmy is always thinking of others...she helps out SO much at home with the younger two kids and is always willing to do anything to help me! I am not sure I could have gotten through the last Korea deployment and then this Iraq one without her help and love!

So...Miss Boo Boo Bear Rufflebum Poopy Toes...Happy Birthday! We love YOU!!

PS...If you want to wish Kimmy a HAPPY BIRTHDAY...Her email is: unicornsdreamer@yahoo.com

Not a Good Way to Start the New Year!

Tonight I am counting my blessings! We almost had a catastrophe at our house today. We are all nursing colds and stuffy noses still. I almost think it may be allergies--since we feel okay--just can't smell real great and still have that cough *sigh*

Anyways...at some point tonight while cooking supper, the knob on the gas stove got turned, not enough to light it, but enough to let gas out. We didn't notice it, and went on with our night. Quite a bit later tonight, I had a raging headache and wasn't feeling very good. Kimmy and I were downstairs talking and I just asked finally out of the blue if she noticed anything...after a bit, we thought to check the stove. ALWAYS listen for that still small voice! We got all the windows and doors opened and cleared out the house...but it has unnerved me of what COULD have happened. I am very grateful for Heavenly Father watching out for us! It gave me quite the story to tell handsome when he called tonight anyways.