Night 2

It wasn't quite as bad because Aiden's crying was split into a couple different outbursts. The first came at 10:30, similar to the night before, but I think he fussed for maybe 5 minutes. He fell back asleep and slept until sometime around 3:45 and cried again.

And here's the funny thing. Now that I know we are sleep training and I don't need to go to him, I am sleeping through his crying! It's so nice! Even more fun is the fact that I can sleep through it but Brian wakes up! Bri was fuming around 5:45 that I was snoozing and not doing anything about Aiden, who was awake and crying again. Sorry babe, I've been on the night shift since last March. But he did get his chance to sleep in this morning while I took Aiden so it's fair! (Well, even then, not really. I woke up this morning with a wet T-shirt and boobs about to pop they were still so full. Ready to be done with breastfeeding, too.)

Gotta scrap now. How am I going to get layouts done for all the new things she has coming?

70 Minutes

That's how long Aiden cried last night when he woke up. Brian and I are doing some sleep training because the kiddo is WAAAAY off schedule after all the holiday trips. Aiden doesn't sleep well in strange places so when we travel, he usually just ends up in the bed with us. That way, when he wakes up and doesn't know where he is, we're right there to quiet him before he wakes the dead with his wails. Well, now that we're home, Brian and I can't take him waking up every two hours to see where we are. So we're having to use a little tough love and only check on him - not bring him in with us - when he wakes up crying. Aiden didn't like that idea last night, hence the hour and ten minute stand-off. It was awful. I hope he's not near as stubborn tonight because I won't be able to operate a vehicle safely if he doesn't start letting me get some sleep!

Peppermint Update: There should be a free kit at the shop this month but it's not done yet. There won't be a new "big" kit for January but there are going to be lots of new elements and for the first time, TEMPLATES!

Us Chicks have already gotten our eager little hands on the new template sets and WOW are they fast & easy to scrap with! I hope you picked up some paper packs while they were on sale because you're going to want to try these babies out. The templates come in a gray-on-gray tone WITH FRAMES and space for journaling. All you do is click on one of the layers (for example, the background layer), place the paper you want it "covered" in over it and then hit Ctrl-G to "cover" the layer with the paper. DONE! You then go through and paper-cover all the gray parts, put your pictures in and then add any elements or journaling that you want. What you end up with is a great looking page in about 30 minutes. There will be tons of examples so you can see how they're used. Check Miss Mint's blog tomorrow for a preview.

We should be getting the new elements to scrap with VERY soon - when I do, I'll type a verbal description of what is coming. Then I need to get my butt in gear & start scrapping, otherwise I'm going to miss the deadline......

So much stuff, so little time!

I'm hoping my scrapping friends hit the PC sale and picked up some goodies. I got a couple of alphas from the clearance section that I didn't have before, some of which are in my new blog title! I was feeling "Office-y" and since my New Year's resolution is to finally organize that darn bead room, I think the header fits for this month.

We got back in town last night and I have my family, including grandparents, coming to my house in less than 24 hours so we can all swap gifts and so the now-great-grandparents can watch Aiden open his gifts from them. Meanwhile, I am trying to get unpacked, get all the laundry from our week-long trip done and put all the new gifts away so our guests will have some place to sit! This is such a busy time of year....and I still need to make something for all eleven of us to eat!

My blog title is the only thing I have had time to scrap and it doesn't look like I'll have a chance to do anything else until this weekend. I have a December 30th deadline for LO's using some new products and I'm sure there is more stuff coming in early January at the shop, including another freebie. I'll post the details as I get them. Meanwhile, all you gals that don't yet scrap but have Photoshop and would like to, keep an eye on my blog and the Peppermint Creative Shop for a new product that is going to make your scrapping life a LOT easier! Hint: I would STRONGLY recommend picking up some new paper packs and element sets while they're still 40% off - until midnight tonight!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

We're still in Oklahoma but I logged in to the team forum just to see what the Chicks were up to and found a sale post from Miss Mint: 40& 50% OFF SALE DEC 26 & 27!

She's never done 50% off! She's startng a new Clearance category on the 26th, where she will put products that she's about to retire. Everything else in the shop will be 40% off.

Stock up now because new stuff is coming in January and I can promise there won't be another sale this big!

Even better, the Clearance section is going to have some items mot of you have never seen before. Here's a sneak peek on her blog of clearance items: http://peppermintcreative.com/blog/?p=548

Thought you would all enjoy knowing! Now, back to the holidays!

Worth The 2 Days To Make It

When I was a child, my mom would make strudel for breakfast on Christmas morning. It's an old family recipe and even the recipe sheet looked fabulously vintage, like it carried the secret of the best strudel on earth. Her copy was written on a single piece of typing paper, folded, creased, yellowed and browned from being splattered with ingredients over the years. The recipe takes two days to make. On day one you mix the dough then refrigerate it for 8 hours or overnight. Day two you knead the dough, roll it, fill it, shape the pastry loaf, let it rise for 5 hours, bake, cool and then drizzle the brown sugar glaze over the top. It's pretty time intensive, which is why my mom stopped making it when I was 12. It just took up so much time and as soon as all three of us knew about Santa and she wasn't up at 3 am putting out gifts, she wasn't willing to get up that early to prepare the strudel for rising. (I can't blame her. After a decade of no sleep on Christmas day, I might put a tradition on hold so I could enjoy sleeping in, too!) It was the Christmas when I was 12 that she announced she wasn't going to make it. But I loved strudel so I made it that year. And I made it for us several years after that, the last time being Christmas of 1998 before I left for college. I was 17.

Fast forward nine years to this week. I had copied my mom's recipe on a single sheet of paper for myself the last time I made it. Unfortunately I believed at 17 that I could never forget how to make strudel, so I just listed the ingredients, baking temp & time and the most basic instructions. Of course, I had forgotten a lot. I stumbled through the recipe and luckily, the strudel turned out okay.

Actually, it was more than okay. It was divine. You can't buy pastries like this any more. Panera Bread's Pecan Rolls kind of resemble the taste, but I never have been able to find it's equal. We cut into one last night, before we took the warm pastries to friends, and that first bite was like returning to a long lost place in time. It really brought back happy memories of Christmas, when the magic of a fat man coming down the chimney was so real! I had never made it for Brian before and I was flattered with how impressed he was. Then he wanted to know why I hadn't made it every year! (See: 2 days to make.) We're going to enjoy having it this year. Even Aiden had a little nibble!

Aiden, I know you're small and you don't understand what Christmas is yet, but I mostly did it for you. I have missed the tradition of having strudel and I couldn't think of any better time to bring it back than at your first Christmas. We have combined some of our favorite Sullivan & Silver holiday traditions and I hope they are the foundation for many memorable Decembers to come. Of course, since several of the traditions involve cookies and pastries, maybe a trip to the dentist in January should also become a tradition! LOL!

Friends: I am planning on digi scrapping myself the full recipe, since my little hand-written one leaves so much out. I'm actually going to re-create the vintage look of my mom's recipe sheet and have it printed, probably as an 8x10 so it can be kept with my large cook books. If any of you would like a copy, just leave me a comment and I'll get one to you!

Hybrids In A Hurry!

Here is the beachy shadowbox monogram I made for Aiden's room! These are turning out so cool and they are SOOOOO easy! I scrapped the 5x7 monogram in under 30 minutes, including all the inking time. I uploaded it online for 1 hour printing then picked up the weathered wood shadowbox at Hobby Lobby on my way to get the print. I assembled the shadowbox, added a few of Pottery Barn's beach pebbles that I had on hand and in one day, this project is done!



I really love how this looks, all sand-blown and roughed up! The letters are the Peppermint Creative Mintage Alpha. The full list of supplies is listed in Miss Mint's gallery, under this project if you'd like to see what all was used. Happy hybriding!

Whew!

The wedding is FINALLY over! It was absolutely gorgeous and I did have fun dancing with Aiden & Brian but I'm glad it's done. It was a very busy day trying to be where we needed to be with Aiden fed, nursed and everyone dressed in the right clothes with no spills or stains. Poor Aiden had to be fed baby food in his car seat in the parking lot of the country club. (It would have taken too long to drive all the way from Champions home and then back.) But we survived and with Sheena being the last of all the siblings married, WE ARE DONE WITH WEDDINGS! (We've done 3 in the last 18 months. We needed a break.) Brian and I couldn't be happier.

Now for some peppermint creative news: My scrapped monogram has been a hit. Miss Mint is making one for her house - I'm so flattered! - and posting directions on her blog. We have also been chatting on our message board about January's kit. Nothing set in stone, just tossing around ideas, but if we get hints about what is coming, I'll pass it on! ;)

I have some free time so I'm going to get working on some LO's - I have gobs of pictures from this weekend, not including all the ones Kelsey took at the reception! Watch for some new pages soon!