Hey there TAT'ers!

Last TAT, I talked about an organizational project that was LONG over due. I showed embarassing photos of my secret horror ... my kitchen cabinet.

It was bad. And it got a LOT worse before it got better. But it DID get done.


Had to start off, of course, with a clean slate :D

So I went through them all, got rid of the expired stuff and moved some upstairs. The rest of the stuff went into a lovely basket so it's not just out there LOUD & PROUD for everyone to see ... except you guys I guess ;-)

And THIS is what came out of that cabinet ...

I KNOW ... I had no idea I had HALF this stuff. Which is why I decided to catalog, catagorize & type up a list of everything that goes back in ;-) I'm going to print it out and put it on the inside of the door - HOW SMART IS THAT?!

Lil Miss of course decided she needed to help...

She just was just tryin to get in front of the camera ;-)

AND THIS is the finished product! If you're saying to yourself "hey self, that doesn't look all that different" ... well say it quietly so I don't hear you, and then go look at my LAST TAT, it's a VAST improvement!

LOOKIN GOOOOOD!

I KNOW, RIGHT?

So yeah, needless to say, I'm pretty darn happy with it :-D Progress is progress I always say.

For more people TAT'in go check out the Lazy Organizer and see what all the TAT is about!

HEY THERE Sunday Scrappers! I'm a little late, but with good reason! I JUST got done taking pictures of my TA-DA this week and it came out AWESOME. I just love it.

BUT.

It's a gift for my BFF ... soooo ...

REBECCA : ... NO PEEKING!

Everyone else .... click here!

Musings of a Housewife was tagged with this meme, 7 {holiday} things about you, so I decided I would play along! So what if it's like a WEEK later ;-)


1. Hi, my name is Christine, and I'm a holiday addict. HI CHRISTINE. I love holidays. I love just about ALL holidays! I even love the "made up" ones like Valentines day. I love any excuse to decorate/bake/have a party/dive head first into a sugar induced coma. I love all the excitement and anticipation that go into the holidays, it just makes life that much sweeter.

2. Christmas is by far my favorite holiday. People say it's over commercialized and complain about bringing out the decorations too early, but for me honestly, it's almost never early enough! I don't mind seeing Christmas ornaments out in July, it reminds me that even though it's 150* outside, the cooler weather and holidays are just around the corner.

3. I LOVE LOVE LOVE cooking on Thanksgiving. On a normal day if I were to make mashed potatoes they would come out of a lovely box in the pasta aisle with the only directions being "add water and mix". But not on Thanksgiving! Last year I started cooking days before and all day of and loved every second of it. I made everything from scratch and even complicated some that are usually just "open can". And it was FUN! It's interesting the difference drinking wine at noon will make for a gal ;-)

4. My favorite Christmas tradition, besides the kids losing their minds in a sea of wrapping paper, is our traditionaly breakfast, Pilsbury Cinnimon Rolls. It started with my mom always making that for she & I when I was just little. And I have made them every year since I was 18 for my family. The smell of those cinnimon rolls reminds me of Christmas and the fun and excitement of that special morning with my mom, and now with my kids.

5. I am a Christmas music FREAK. I love the channel that devotes it's self to all Christmas music-all the time during December. And I don't just listen to it while decorating or baking. I listen to it while driving and cleaning and cooking and have been known to shake my toosh to some Mariah Carey Christmas.

6. My favorite thing that my husband does for the holidays is that he celebrates my birthday BIGGER than Christmas. I am a Christmas baby, born exactly a week before. Most of the time my birthday would get over shadowed, if not overlooked completely. That's just the way it is though, people have A LOT going on that week so I don't fault them. But the way I knew my DH was meant for me, he made (and still makes) a HUGE deal out of my birthday, and not as much for Christmas. He always makes sure that I know how special I am to him and goes out of his way to make it a big deal for MY DAY. He's the best.

7. I will never go back to turkey on Christmas. My DH made prime rib last year and OH MY, it was the best thing I've ever had on a holiday. In fact, I think we would make it for EVERY holiday if we could! If you haven't had it for your Christmas dinner yet, I highly recommed Bobby Flay's recipe = awesomeness.

Geez, I could have labeld this 7 CHRISTMAS things! Guess I have holly on the brain ;-)

Well I will tag anyone that reads this blog ... since I don't always know who does! So if you play along leave me a comment and let me know! I would love to read it ... and love the comment! ;-)

Hey TAT'ers! Today Lazy is having her Home Tour edition where we show off somethin around the home ... at least I think that's the general idea ;-)

Well today my TAT is about an undertaking of MAMOTH proportions. This is actually part one of my post because it IS so bad.

SO BAD in fact ... that if Lazy reads this post her organizing OCD might compell her to hop on a plane and fly over here to Sunny California JUST to save me from this nightmare.

This ...

is my kitchen cabinet ...

I know ... the HORROR!

This is the cabinet that started out a year ago when we moved as my baking stuffs cabinet.

It has since morphed into something aweful ... something where things are literally tossed in and held in place so they don't fall back out! A horrible place where cornstarch and carmel sauce mingle next to Tylenol PM and Benedryl!

And not just because I like to eat carmel covered cornstarch and then induce a coma. Just because I couldn't bring myself to tackle this huge project.

Well my fellow TAT'ers ... TODAY IS THAT DAY! And not only because it gives me something to post about, but because my husband is out of town and I'm BORED OUT OF MY MIND! lol

Stay tuned for Part 2 on next week's TAT! And for more peeps TAT'in bout their Home and such ... check out the Lazy Organizer!!

Hey there fellow Sunday Scrappers! Oh I'm so excited to be back this week with something scrappy to share!

So last week I was browsing all the way-more-productive-than-me Sunday Scrappers and came across this AWESOME post!

The idea is to take a regular old notebook and make it into your catch all for holiday-ness! I, for one, NEED more holiday organization. There is so much going on and SOOOO many lists that I would just lose what's left of my little mind by apx December 12th, give or take.

So when I saw the notebook-turned-holiday planner I was in awe of the greatness! So I ran out and got me a notebook and got scrappin!

She had way better instructions than I could sum up here coherently so go ahead and check out her post ;-) But basically all you need is a notebook, some cute papers, ribbon, and adhesive! I just ended up using my sticky squares and so far so good!

The back and the front...

Okay so I decided on 5 sections, one for family lists for gifts, one for friends and business contacts, 3 is for holiday events, 4 is for my making or baking lists and ingredients, and 5 is misc (i.e. whatever I couldnt think of at the time of labeling the dividers ;-)

I used little ribbon scraps for my dividers and they just look too cute, attached with just your run of the mill stapler :D

So far this thing has become a LIFE saver. All my lists in one place and small enough to fit into my purse! And, I have to say, it's just super cute :-D

So my super thanks to Scraps in Bloom and her awesome altered notebook that will save my holiday sanity! w00t!

For more chicks scrappin on Sunday ... check out Sunday Scrappin!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Biscuits Recipe

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (10 oz) frozen peas and carrots
1 (7 1/2 oz) refrigerated biscuits

1. Place chicken in crockpot. Pour soup over chicken. Cover; cook in LOW 4 hours or until chicken is tender and no longer pink in the middle.

2. Stir in frozen veggies. Cover and cook 30 minutes longer veggies are heated through.

3. Bake biscuits according to package. Spoon chicken and veggie mixture over biscuits and serve.

Slow Cooker Pepper Steak Recipe

*1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef round steak, cut into 3"x1" strips
*oil
*1/2 c. soy sauce
*1 garlic clove, minced
*1 c. chopped onion
*1 tsp sugar
*1/2 tsp salt
*1/4 tsp pepper
*1/4 tsp ground ginger
*2 large green pepper cut into strips
*4 tomatoes cut into 8ths OR 16oz can diced tomatoes
*1/2 c. cold water
*1 TBSP cornstarch

1. Brown beef in oil in sauce pan. Transfer to slow cooker

2. Combine soy sauce, garlic, onions, sugar, salt, pepper, and ginger. Pour over meat.

3. Cover. Cook on LOW 5-6 hours.

4. Add green peppers and tomatoes. Cook 1 hour longer.

5. Combine water and cornstarch to make a paste. Stir into slow cooker. Cook on HIGH until thickened, about 10 min.

6. Serve over rice or noodles!

So today I thought I would tell all you lucky folks about our trip to "Disneyland" ... known to most women as Bass Pro Shops. LOL Ok so the place is pretty amazing. I mean they went ALL OUT. From the waterfall in the back and the replica of the largest tree in California to the rust-looking clothing racks, they looked totally authentic.

The outside of the store introduces you to the ALL OUTness of the place. They have a stream and lake running through the PARKING LOT.
Hehehehe you gotta love that look of PURE JOY on his cute little face!
Ok so you walk in and first is the huge tree replica you walk through past the 3 story tall fireplace and lounge (aka place where the women folk knit and wait for the mens) As you can see there are trees and rock formations and deer and all kinds a stuff

This is facing straight forward looking down the HUGE walkway with more animal and nature formations on the wall
This is the waterfall and mural representing Yosemite's Half Dome. The waterfall empties out into a 10,000 gallon fish tank! There's a guy climbing the wall on the left too ;-)
Next to the elevators was a Trout pond complete with fisherman ;-)
The waterfall and tank are pretty big and you can even walk up and behind it to get to the second floor ... it's actually pretty neat
This is looking down on the waterfall from the second floor

There were laser tag games, shooting ranges, and this cool little place where you shoot at the target and then the whole place gets animated! For example, if you shoot the outhouse it opens up and theres a bear sitting there reading the paper! LOL
This is looking down on the place from the second floor, in the corner theres a cute little general store with the COOLEST gifty type items
And this is the 8th wonder of the world ... the backside of water! (LOL a disneyland reference ;-)
On our way out DH entered a drawing for a Bass Pro Shops car ... you know ... cause whatELSE would a little girl want?!
And then there's ladies wear LOL ...

SEXAAAAY LOL
And what little girl's Christmas would be complete without a pink Hummer and pink camo tent!
OHHHHH and don't forget the Disney Princesses Enchanted Tackle Box lol
And your husband's living room won't be complete without a camo LAZYBOY ... just incase he needs to shoot something from the comfort of his living room.

And for the funniest thing I saw that day ....
That's right ... a camo crock pot. Because ya never know when you might wanna make a crockpot meal in your duck blind ... provided of course ... that it has electricity ... LOL

Today on TAT we're talkin bout our Halloween!

I LOVE that Halloween was on Friday. It was so awesome not to have to worry about wakin kids the next day from their candy induced coma's and sending them to school.

And it was nice not to BE woken from my candy coma until at LEAST 6:30!

This year we had the 3 girls home, the boy was with his mom. So starting WAAAAY back in August thoughts of 3 twirling princesses danced in my head! I started thinking up ways to coordinate them or connect them somehow and then sometime in September my excitement came to a screaching halt.

I found that this year, they actually wanted some SAY in their costumes! WHAAAAA?! Since WHEN?!

And it turns out that they are no longer "into the whole princess thing ... egh ...

It turned out ok I guess, their dad helped with the costumes so that was good. And I still have Lil Miss to form and control until she can verbalize otherwise.

They looked AWESOME! And OH MAN did they have a great time!
Tween was a witch and I did an AMAZING job on her make up! IfIdosaysomyself ...

Princess was a pirate. She wouldn't let me put any make up on her, even if the make up were to look like dirt ... "it's not PIRATE-Y" or so I've been told ...
But I DID get my princess! Lil Miss was Sleeping Beauty :-D And boy did she work it! She came home with twice the amount of candy as the other girls since she told everyone "HI! I'm Sweeeeepin BOOOTY!" LOL they were powerless to her princessly powers ;-)
We all had a great time wandering around the neighborhood. After only 1 1/2 hours out we came home with enough candy to FILL two HUGE bags.

And add at least two inches to my waist line. But oh my those kit kats and twixes are WORTH IT! ;-)

What's *your* favorite candy? And if you'd like to see what other Halloweenly things people are TATin about, check out the Lazy Organizer!

Slow Cooker Chili Recipe!

1-2 lbs ground beef
1 onion1 can green chili's
1/2 can/bottle darkish beer
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp cumin
1 TBSP Brown sugar
1/2 tsp paprika
2 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
29oz can tomato sauce
2 cans black beans, drained
2 cans kidney beans, drained
14 1/2oz can diced tomatoes, drained
6oz can tomato paste
2 cups grated cheddar cheese to top off

1. Brown the meat seasoned with salt and pepper. Drain. Add onion and chilis halfway through the browning process. Add beer. Pour into LARGE slow cooker.

2. Stir in the rest of the ingredients except the cheese.

3. Cover. Cook on high 3 hours, or low for 7-8 hours. Try and keep your husband from "sampling" through the day.

4. Serve in bowl topped with cheese ... if you make it to dinner ;-)