Wehrheim Family Ornaments 2017 -

2017 was the 40th anniversary of our family ornament tradition.  It was also the year that our sister Jane who started the tradition died.  So the ornament had to be special.  The beehive was especially for Jane as bees were her trademark.  I know she would have loved these!  I found a Sizzix die to make cutting the felt so much easier.  Carol and I each had to make trips to our local Joann's store to get enough buttons.

2017 Beehives

The 2018 ornaments were stars made from squares of fabric, folded into triangles and secured with a button.  We made 51 for the family and Carol made several more for friends.  

2018 Fabric Stars

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I've been busy!

It's been a while - but I've been busy.  I have been planning another charity card workshop.  I have 14 different card designs made into kits and ready to just be put together.  A portion of the purchase price of each card will be donated to Mosaic Pregnancy Center this time.

Here are some of my favorite designs -

Laced up - a design I got from my niece. 

Beehive - using a die cut I bought last year to make our beehive ornaments. 

Love the details on the envelope.

Split DSP - simple but cute! 

The DSP is cut in half and one piece is flipped to the design on the back.

Accordion fold - something a little different.  

Inside the card.

Tri-fold -  this is a fold I learned from my sister but haven't used for a while. 

When you untie the ribbon, it opens up and the circle pops through. 

You can open it further to write a note inside. 

Peek through - the sentiment is stamped on the inside of the card but shows through 

since the front is cut out. 

Fold Flat - this card folds up flat to fit in the envelope but when you take it out ...

it folds out to make a three dimensional display.  

I put a piece of white card stock on the back for a note and signature. 

And I have made a few cards for my own, 

trying to use up some of the retired colors and DSP that I have.  

Tangerine Tango,  More Mustard and Tempting Turquoise.  

Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Gumball Green and Chocolate Chip

Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant

And some gifts for some special friends - 

These are folders with pouches inside that will hold 2 packets of spiced cider mix.  

The ribbon needs trimmed but I will do that after I have added the spiced cider packets and tie the ribbon (and won't have to re-tie it again). 

If you would like more details, here is my tutorial - Spiced Cider Gift Folders

Weight loss journey - post #2

On my third week of WW tracking and down 6 lbs.  For the most part, I have planned out my day's food and stuck to it.  A few evenings I got the munchies and at least once really pigged out.  But that just made me more determined to do better the next day.
Summer has it pluses and minuses when it comes to eating better.  Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables - and produce stands pop up all over.  But also barbecues, graduation parties, carnivals - all have their own temptations - and ice cream to cool off in the heat.  Do I need to say more? 
I've tried to be creative with the menus to make it more interesting and satisfying.
Here are a few of my favorites -

 Chicken with Corn and Tomato Relish, Sauteed Spinach

Flatout Veggie Pizza with Grapes

 Fish stick tacos with assorted fresh veggies

Egg with bacon on 1/2 English muffin, strawberries and blueberries

 Chicken fajitas (there are some pieces of chicken under those peppers and lettuce)

 Grilled Chicken with roasted squash and tomatoes

 Chipotle Lime shrimp and veggies with roasted asparagus and yellow rice

 One of my late night snacks to keep me out of the potato chips. 

 Barbecue Chicken Salad wraps with cheetos and grapes

Tuna Mac with peas and grapes

And my current favorite snack is some Jello sugar free instant pudding topped with fat free Cool Whip.  I usually eat a few graham crackers with it.  

And here is a picture taken the first of June - 

The LulaRoe Perfect T hides the stomach pouch pretty well.  

Weight loss journey

Okay - I’m getting serious about losing a few pounds. I started Weight Watchers online over a year ago and have lost and gained over those months. Currently I’m about 5 pounds under what I was when I started.  So my plan is to document my progress, meals and exercise.

First the exercise- I’ve been using virtual races at yes.fit to motivate me.  In the last week I have ridden almost 50 miles in the stationary bike, completing 2 races. Cinderella with a cute blue t-shirt that says ‘Cinderella is proof the right pair of shoes can change your life’. Also completed King Arthur with a bright red t-shirt saying ‘Straight outta Camelot’. My next one is Edgar Allen Poe’s The Telltale Heart and the shirt says ‘If you still think me mad, you will think so no longer’. I have learned that 30 minutes of high intensity earns me more WW points than 60 minutes of medium intensity. So I’ll be pushing myself more to increase the intensity.
I’ve also been planning and tracking my meals.  I have to plan out the day’s meals and snacks - and stick to them - if I want to be successful. I’ve been using some of the Wildtree freezer meals from the Get Your Grill On workshop.

Tonight's supper was Lemon Pepper Balsamic Chicken,  Roasted Zucchini and a pre-packaged salad. 7 points - and most of those points were from the salad!  Have to watch those pre-packaged dressings. Had enough points left this evening to have some potato chips and dip made with light sour cream.  And I weighed out 1 oz of the potato chips - hard as that was.  I noticed I was inhaling them so forced myself to stop about halfway through the chips and then ate one at a time, pausing after each chip.  I did lick the last of the dip off the plate - every bit! 

Last night part of supper was my own creation - Cranapple Waldorf Salad.  It was pretty good - lettuce, scallions, apples, dried cranberries and a mayo based dressing using Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar. Topped with some glazed walnuts.  3 points!

The salad was a side for the Sage Citrus Pork Roast and Birds Eye Steamfresh Black Rice and Edamame Superfood.  The frozen vegetables and rice mix is actually meant to be one serving but we split it three ways.  The whole meal was 11 points (pork alone was 7) but by making some free food choices for the other meals it was okay.

Breakfast yesterday was only 5 points.  Scrambled eggs with peppers, tomato, scallion, Canadian bacon, and provolone cheese.  Completed the meal with cantaloupe and wheat toast.

Earlier this week I made Chipotle Lime Shrimp with Minute Rice Medley and Roasted Asparagus.  I thickened some of the marinade for the shrimp to serve over the rice since it is plain.

This was 7 points.

And here is my find for the week.  This Canadian bacon is only 2 points per serving - and a serving is 22 slices (these are small slices like pepperoni for pizza).  I only used 6 slices in my eggs.  I like these grabbing a few slices for a snack too.

Christmas Countdown

I have seen a lot of ideas of wrapping up 24 books for kids so they can open one each day in December to count down to Christmas.  I put a little different twist to that.  I wrapped up 24 little gifts for the grandkids so they could open one each day leading up to Christmas.
They recently moved so they are about 10 hours away from us and although they did make it home for a few days between Christmas and New Year's, I knew they would not be here on Christmas Eve like usual.
When they moved the end of November, I sent the first 6 gifts with them.  Since my daughter and I were going to drive out to help them unpack once the moving van arrived, we took the rest of the gifts with us to save them space in their vehicles for other things. 

And since I knew we would be with them from 12/6 to 12/11, I planned out the gifts so they would open ones during that time that I could help them with. 

So here are a few of the gifts - 

Disney play doh set.  

Snowflake streamers

 Funny glasses - snowman and penguin

Gingerbread cookie kit - this was one that they opened while I was there.

Reindeer ring toss.

Some Christmas dishes - Addie enjoyed the bubble wrap. 

Melissa & Doug birthday cake so they could celebrate Mommy's birthday.

Some others things were books, Christmas socks, bath towels, puzzle books, toothbrushes, and flashlights. 

And while visiting them waiting for the moving van (which was a week late) we had lots of other fun.

Making Christmas shirts.

Matching Gingerbread manicures.

Playing hide and seek.

                                                                  Their turn to seek.

iPad puzzles and videos

2 years old!

Reindeer donuts.