the.amanda.sewell

I have this great book that I picked up at Walmart a couple years ago that has jar mixes that are perfect for holidays and special occasions. I decided I wanted to do something nice for the people who helped us move in, so I made up these snack mix jars and decorated them using my papertreyink " Holiday Treats " set. I sponged around the white paper on one and not the other. Not sure which one I like better. Each of them have a tag telling what is inside them as well (it says Cranberry Christmas Snack Mix - stamped using my Karen Foster Design Snap Stamps). I used my largest scallop punch to create a cover for the metal part of the jar. The colors are real red and old olive. Ribbon is some organdy that I had left over from making foam ball ornaments last year, from Michaels. Now for the most important part -- what's inside: 1 cup salted almonds, 1 cup dried cranberries, 1 cup yogurt covered raisins and 1 cup white chocolate covered pretzels (I made these myself w...

The move went super smoothly and we ended up having lots of help! It was great! The new guys from our ward who helped us out were super buff and unloaded super fast! It rocked. I managed to get the kitchen unpacked today and I am thinking I might go unpack my stamp room this afternoon so that I can get back to playing at night after everyone is in bed. I was so tired last night though I think I went to bed at like 8:15 pm. Ooops! We are loving the new house and I just thought I would post a new post so you would know we made it here. Off to make lunch for a couple of munchkins and then back to unpacking for me . . .

My friend Jaime came into town from California to visit and it was fun to catch up and let the kids play together. The last time we saw each other was quite awhile ago. Jaime used to live in AZ close to us. She was also one of my room mates in college. She is tons of funniness! It was totally fun to see her again and hysterical to watch the kids play together now that they are actually big enough to play together. Here is her totally cool baking blog she started recently and you should go check out: Baking Memories at Chateau Vin Riche Oh and I made the most simple broccoli cheese soup ever for lunch. I was surprised that it tasted as yummy as it did. In an effort to use up all the stuff in my fridge/freezer -- I chose this recipe: EASY CAULIFLOWER BROCCOLI SOUP 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen cauliflower 1 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen broccoli (I used one that had cheese sauce - smaller pieces) 1 can cream of celery soup 1 can Cheddar cheese soup 2 soup cans milk 1 cup shredded cheddar (thr...

We took the kids to see Bee Movie today. It was really funny because when we walked in, we ran into some friends and their four little girls. E ended up sitting with them. The movie was a lot of fun. I laughed out loud quite a few times. Very enjoyable!!! I finally finished crocheting a baby blanket for my friend Kristen, but I totally forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it. I seriously have been crocheting for days to get it done in time when I really should have been packing, but oh well, at least it is done now. Now I just have to get packed up. I thought the baby shower was today, but it turned out to be next weekend (oops) so I took it over early since next weekend is moving weekend. I really hope she likes it! I also made a frame to go with the blanket, it matches the the altered letters that I made with her for her new nursery. I did manage to remember to take a picture of how I wrapped it all up. I made the bow after I saw this wonderful tutorial on Splitcoasts...

I hope you are having a happy Halloween. We have had quite a hectic one here. Today was our walk through for our house. We had to go find all the construction damage, etc. We were there for 2.5 hours and I think we were fairly thorough. Most of the issues are minimal paint touch ups, etc. I am so excited to move into the house -- it is almost ready for us. We get the keys on the 7th after another quickie walk through. When we got home, we all relaxed for a bit and then I began to prepare dinner while M dressed the kids for Halloween. I made a pumpkin chili recipe that I found on all recipes (I have included the changes/fast fixes I used). It turned out YUMMY! Pumpkin Turkey Chili INGREDIENTS 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 cup chopped onion (used precut ones frozen - included peppers in the bag) 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 1/2 cup chopped yellow bell pepper 1 clove garlic, minced (used a tsp garlic powder with parsley) 1 pound ground turkey 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoe...

Today we decided it would be okay to carve our pumpkins and keep them in the fridge overnight and throughout the day on Halloween. Ah the joys of living in sunny and (still) HOT Arizona. Anyway . . . J had never done pumpkin carving with us, so it was cool. He has issues in regards to his hands being messy, so it was icky to him when he reached in the pumpkin. My cute little clean freak son. E had done it before but still enjoyed it quite a lot. Usually I just carve the pumpkins during the day on Halloween, so this year M was excited to participate and carve a pumpkin. The children chose Mumble from Happy Feet and Lightning McQueen from Disney Cars. I think they turned out great this year! We had a lot of fun and McQueen was surprisingly hard. I *may* have used a few straight pins here and there to fix it up . . . Here is the recipe I plan to use for the pumpkin seeds we saved: Cinnasweet Pumpkin Seeds (From allrecipes.com) INGREDIENTS 4 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dr...

I am so tired. I am hardly awake as I type this but I wanted to post the pictures of my kids in their costumes. They wanted to dress up as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story 2 -- but since that movie is a few years old, I decided I would make the costumes -- I thought it would be easier for me. It turns out it was a lot of work because I packed my sewing machine thinking I would not need it and then I did, but rather than try to dig it out, I just hand sewed the things I needed to sew. I think they turned out looking pretty good! We had a great time at the party. They had lots of fun games, basketball, ring toss, jello eating contest, cake walk, fishing, throwing ping pong balls into a pail in a pool of water. It was great! They also had chili and treats to eat. (and yes, that is Dobby by the van dressed as a ladybug. E picked that costume out for him)