Junior Bridal Party Scrapbook Layout & Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

After all the cleaning, reorganizing and rearranging I've been doing in my scrapbook room the past couple of weeks, I felt inspired to scrapbook a 5x7 photo from A's wedding from back in October. This is a layout of all the junior bridesmaids and groomsmen in the wedding...

The Thickers that spell out "party" were white foam and I changed them to black using ink and Stickles.

Supplies Used: Patterned paper from the DCWV Lemon Flower stack (black & white polka dot and small floral are Making Memories), Pearlescent cardstock in the background is from the DCWV La Creme stack, Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations dies: Elegant Flourishes, Styled Labels, and the hearts mover 'n shapers, Martha Stewart Doily Lace Trim and Vintage Doily punches , Fiskars scallop sentiment border punch, Making Memories black & white polka dot brad, Colorbok silk flowers, DCWV glitter cardstock, Thickers alphas, black diamond and silver Stickles, black soot, peeled paint & weathered wood distress inks, black Staz-On ink, Studio G washi/decorative tape, Font: Ariel Narrow done in gray, sketch inspiration from the PageMaps 2 book,  and I think that's it. :)

I stopped by JoAnn's this afternoon so B. could spend her money on some duck tape. I'm excited that they've got new Tim Holtz dies in and new Cuttlebug embossing folders. I got two new ones that are 5.5" wide x 12" long - Damask Brocade and Polka Dot Page which were both on sale for $7.79 each. I tried them out this evening, and OMG - gorgeous! I love how I can take a plain, blah piece of cardstock and turn it into something beautiful for a scrapbook page. I know I'm gonna get a lot of use out of these. (will post pics soon).

I also made a new recipe this past weekend that I found on Pinterest that I wanted to share here that me and my family really like. And that I, of course, modified a little....

BACON RANCH PASTA SALAD

1 lb medium shell pasta
1 pint grape tomatoes 

2 large cucumbers
1 lb. cooked, drained, and crumbled bacon
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch, dry dressing mix
1 1/2 cups low-fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Rinse with cold water until pasta is cool.  Drain and pour into a large bowl.  Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and add to the pasta.  Peel the cucumber and cut it in half lengthwise.  Using a teaspoon, remove all the seeds.  Cut each half of the cucumber in half lengthwise again and give it a small/medium chop.  Add cucumber to pasta.  In a small bowl, mix together dry Ranch mix, bacon, mayonnaise and sour cream together.  Pour over pasta mixture and toss until well combined.  

I'll be making this for family get-togethers this summer. 

Enjoy! and have a good night.....

Oh yeah, remember when I posted about the turkey that crashed through my husband's work truck windshield recently? We found out today that it did $5,200 in damages! :-o Needless to say, they are totalling the truck and my husband will be getting a new one which he was going to be getting anyway. 

Happy 1st Day of Summer!!

I hope you all are enjoying this sunny (yet hot 'n muggy) weather we're having this week. It's a great week for putting the pool to great use for sure. We have been rather busy here with a trip out to Columbus on Saturday to visit our new little nephews for the very first time, swimming lessons, and just everyday life. Michael and Philip were in the NICU for two months before they were finally able to come home back in April. Which is when the photo (when they were 2-1/2 months old) below was taken when my mom and stepdad went out to visit.....

  They are 4-1/2 months old now and are doing very well and I'm so happy that I finally got to see them and hold them for a little while. It's a three hour drive one way to Columbus from here, so we spent most of the day driving. But it was definitely worth it. I have to say they are even much cuter in person than they are in pictures....

I look forward to getting to see them again later on this summer when we'll be having a little family reunion out there. Of course, going out to see our new little nephews, meant a shopping trip for B. and me for baby stuff beforehand. I decided to surprise B. by letting her get her toenails painted in a cute zebra stripe design at the local nail salon in the mall - for the very first time. She picked Shocking Pink by China Glaze for her base color and I think they turned out really cute...

While we were out and about that day, we stopped in Ollie's Bargain Outlet and I was surprised to find this...

for only $5.99! It retails for $29.99 and has been on my wishlist for the past year. It's hardcover with a spiral binding inside and I can't believe I got it for so cheap. I've flipped through it since I bought it on Friday, and have spotted some great sketches, but haven't had time to sit down and really look through it cover-to-cover. Maybe soon...

B. is finishing up her second week of swimming lessons. She's in a really difficult level this summer - Level 5. This level is more about technique and endurance and not an easy one to pass. Most kids go on to join the swim team after Level III or IV. But we missed the sign up since we didn't know when it was and because even if we did, it was around the time that B. had her surgery anyway back in April. Her test for Level 5 was this morning and although she did good on a lot of the things on the test, she wasn't able to do every single thing required to pass Level 5. One of  them is swimming 50 yards doing the butterfly stroke (down one swimming lane and back again - yikes!). What is that? Half a football field?

 But, really, how many of us can say we can do the "chicken-eagle-rocket" so well...

She is doing her very very best and we are still so proud of her. Yesterday, she started doing flips underwater, and doing them well, which is one of the things she needs to do to pass Level 5. She just kept doing them over and over again yesterday evening in the pool. Tomorrow is "fun day" where they'll have popsicles and get to do whatever they want, like jumping off the diving board. Just a day to have fun and take a break from the lessons. We'll start again on Monday for another couple of weeks. If she never passes Level 5 that's ok. B.'s become a good little swimmer overall and that's what really matters.

B. has had to start wearing glasses again recently. We started taking her to a specialist back when she was in preschool at the age of four for a lazy eye. She had to wear a patch over her good eye to force her lazy eye to work and become stronger. She wore the patch along with glasses for a couple years. And then the lazy eye was corrected and she wore just the glasses for another year and a half or so until her vision was like 20/20 there for awhile. She didn't need glasses for a long time - a couple of years. But the doctor did tell me about a year ago that she would more-than-likely need to wear them again but for a whole 'nother reason - nearsightedness (just like her momma). We were just at the doctor's back in December before Christmas and he said she didn't need glasses quite yet at that point. Several months after that the teacher had to move B. up to the front of the room because she was having trouble seeing the board. You'd think this would have been mentioned in a parent/teacher conference? But no, it was not. I had no idea until the end of the school year when B. finally told me not long before her recent appointment with the eye doctor (we go twice a year now). Now what was once her lazy eye is now her "good eye" and the other eye is the one that's near sighted. Go figure. Suffice it to say, B. is actually happy to be wearing eyeglasses again although her Daddy and I wish she didn't have to. She picked out a cute pair of glasses by Juicy Couture. She knew exactly the kind of glasses she wanted and she's stylin' now. lol!

As you can see, our tomato and pepper plants have grown quite a bit since planting them earlier this month. And we even have our very first two tomatoes starting to grow now...

The second one is kind of hard to see, but it's there if you look closely next to where the one tomato is. I took these pics earlier this afternoon. It is 88 degrees, hot, humid and bright 'n sunny out on this gorgeous first day of summer. Perfect swimming weather. Which we plan on doing here shortly after I make a trip out to the store for some corn on the cob and something to put on the grill. My husband and I decided on pork chops for tonight.

And now to wrap up this rather long post, I leave you all with a favorite summer recipe of mine. Last night, we had kielbasa and bratwurst on the grill along with a baked potato, this yummy salad which I'm about to share the recipe for, and watermelon...

I started making this refreshing summer salad more than several summers ago...

CUCUMBER ONION SALAD

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. water
1 Tbsp. light olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

4 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, water, oil, salt and pepper. Heat until sugar dissolves. Cool...

Pour into a large resealable plastic bag. Add cucumbers and onion. Mix gently. Refrigerate at least several hours or overnight.

This is very good and only 50 calories per serving. B. really loves it and asked for some today for lunch and she even asked for seconds! lol!

Until next time...