So at some point I forgot September ... and October ... so I'm going back now and relieving the memories :)

My oldest daughter turned 11 this year. I can't believe how old she is! We had just a small family get together with us, my mom, and a friend of mine. Basically because she was going to have a Tween Invasion Party (aka sleepover) a few weeks later.

We had pizza & cake and then got down to BUSINESS

LOL I guess they DO end up enjoying the cards and clothes they get for their birthdays ;-)

They also enjoy getting gift cards a lot more than they used to ;-)

Earrings make quite and impression as well LOL

No matter how many you get I guess! A girl can never have too many earrings ... or shoes ... but she's not QUITE there yet

And MORE earrings LOL - she had just gotten her ears pierced recently so this was a BIG thing

Clothes are pretty exciting once you get into the double digits too! My gift to her was a nice sized gift card and taking her out shopping, just she & I :) And since I can't imagine her wanting me around for that much longer, I really savored it.

She's growing into such a sweet young lady and I'm so lucky to have her.

She'll always be my baby girl ... no matter how much she says she's not a baby anymore ;-)

I can't believe she's 11! Or she WAS at the taking of this picture ;)

Srsly ... BEST.RECIPE.EVAH!

Mediterranean Chicken with Rosemary (Basil) Orzo

1 lb chicken breasts cubed or chicken tenders (not breaded)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/3 cups uncooked orzo pasta (looks like rice ;-)
1 can (14oz) chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1 teas. dried rosemary (I used basil = LOVED IT!)
1/2 teas. salt
2 med zucchini (I used cucumber = LOVED IT!) cut into quarters
1 can chopped tomatoes, drained
1 med. bell pepper, chopped

1. In a skillet stir fry chicken about 5 min or until brown

2. Stir in garlic, orzo, and broth. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 8 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

3. Stir in water, rosemary (basil), salt, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 5-7 minutes stirring once, until bell pepper is crisp-tender and pasta is tender.

This recipe is both low fat and fast! And so soooo good! Only 335 calories and 5g of fat!!! I KNOW! If any one tries it let me know I'd LOVE to hear how it turns out and if you tried anything different!!

HEY Sunday Scrappers! Well it's been awhile since I scrapped/posted so I thought I would share a little photo essay on WHY.

A few weeks back a friend of mine decided that since she is now pregnant with her second child and already has no time to scrap traditionaly, that she wanted to move into digital scrapping. She still had quite a few pictures printed out and was feeling pretty overwhelmed thinking about scrapping them all.

I tried to help her feel better about it, but she ended up deciding to give it up.

Then she made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Scrap her remaining pictures in exchange for ALL HER SCRAPPY STUFF.

Needless to say, I was a little excited ;-) I figured it would be a bunch of stuff, having scrapped with her before, but I really had NO IDEA.

I got a gigantic tub, TWO rolling totes FULL, and TWO paper seperaters FULL

Included in the tub were THREE seperaters FULL of brads/flowers/buttons/eyelets

TONS of fibers and ribbons

and a HUGE tub full of albums, tools, a handheld sewing machine and

A LOT of stickers & embelishments! An assortment of ribbon, flowers, jolees, stickers, frames and just STUFF that filled up the end of my table about 3 layers high. You name it, she had it.

I had NO IDEA how much until I started trying to organize it. It became quite the task over the last 3 weeks but I got it under control, and while my husband was working out of town last week, I FINALLY started using it!

I SO wish I could share the EIGHT pages I got done with you all, but since it's *her* family I'm just not sure I should put it out on the internetz for all to see, you know what I mean.

My TO-DOs for the week are to scrap more while the hubs is gone Tuesday and Wednesday. I really want to get her stuff DONE so I can stop feeling like I owe her. I made a good dent in it with my EIGHT pages :-D but there is still so MUCH to do!

Click HERE for more chicks Sunday Scrappin!