{Birthday party success!}

My son turned 6 and I was really nervous to throw him a party with all of his school friends because it would have to be all in French. I almost decided not to do a party at all but I love throwing parties for my kids. I tend to turn it into activities for weeks. Solomon had decided he wanted to have a rocket party. We started out making some rocking invitations. I designed a rocket template and then found the perfect kit, Intergalactic Boy, by Victoria Feemster (she sells at OAKS, TDS and O-scraps). After we printed all the pieces out we spent an afternoon curling paper strips around pencils and cutting and glueing. There is a little pull-out card with the party info and you pull it out of the rocket. It was fun and we ended up with some awesome invites!


Then we found an idea for turning candy into rockets. We used mentos and covered them with paper from the kit and then added shiny silver rocket tops and more fire coming out the back. Last we made a pinata. I printed out paper from the kit and we hodgepodges it all over an oval shaped balloon. Then I made a silver rocket tip, cute out some fin/wings. We also printed up a little decoration for the side that said, 'hors de ce monde' or 'out of this world'.




The night before the party I spent awhile translating how to explain the different activities (how to play pin the astronaut on the planet, rocket BINGO, and what a pinata was) We started out with playing pin the astronaut on the planet. Then we played rocket BINGO. Then we did this http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/space/morbit.htm way cute art project. Then we brought out the rocket cake that we made like this except we wrote out Sol instead of USA.



I bought sparklers to put in the backwith the candles to make it really exciting. So after the sparklers finished we had Solomon blow out the candles, but he couldn't. I had accidentally bought trick candles. The kids were all busting up laughing and we finally all blew together and got them out. I guess that's one of the problems that comes from not speaking fluent french ;) We opened presents and then did the pinata. Pinatas aren't really popular here so none of the kids had seen one before. But they understood the concept quick, whack at this with a stick until candy falls out, not too difficult for 6 year old boys to figure out :) It was a great success and we all had a blast.

Now I've started planning Jocelyn's party. She wants a princess party and I think we are going to do little make-overs, paint their nails and stuff. Should be fun!

Here's this weeks template for the challenge at www.elementalscraps.com . Today is the grand reopening, with one amazing and huge mega kit that is FREE with a 10 dollars purchase. Awesome! Also remember if you do just three of the challenges at ES you get a free kit.


http://www.4shared.com/file/17056250/cb8f4ce2/ribbon_board_johanna_berry.html
Here's a link for the rocket invitation template I made too if you have a little boy birthday coming up soon! Quick instructions: Fill with your desired papers and decorate. Print. Cut out pieces. Cut out one additional rocket shaped piece of plain paper. Glue two rocket papers together only along edges and leaving the bottom open. Curl paper strips around a pencil. Attach curled strips to the back of the insert. Write 'Pull' on the bottom of the insert. Insert it into the rocket leaving just enough for the word pull to show. Here's the link.
http://www.4shared.com/file/17058294/8088b0c4/rocket_template_johanna_berry.html
As always please leave a comment on my blog if you download my templates!

{Visitors}

Can I tell you how excited I am, my sister is coming to visit me! We lived 5 blocks away from each other for the last three years and the I up and moved to Paris on her (aren't I a rotten sister?) but hey she gets a trip to France out of it right? She is bringing her whole family, she's got 5 kids, so add that to my 4 and we are going to have a full house. So I am trying to plan our meals and decided it would help me be organized to have a cute set of meal planners and shopping lists. So last night I put these adorable little things together using Bree Clarkson's What's cookin template and SaraAmarie's way fun Grandmas Garden kit.

Bree's Templates are available at www.scrapbookgraphics.com and SaraAmarie sells at www.oscraps.com

So last week I did something I swore I would never do again, tried out to be a cheerleader :) I just love www.thedigishoppe and couldn't pass up the chance to get involved there :) I am having fun commenting and scrapping there. I just have to tell you if you are looking for a fun friendly site that offers lots of encouragement this is the place!

Last order of business and why you are probably here and reading this in the first place, templates. Mormishmom made my day by asking where I sell my templates, she wanted to buy some, I was in shock :) So I had a few laying around on my hard drive that I thought I would package up and give away just because mormishmom likes them ;) Here's the first one.....


http://www.4shared.com/file/14780486/62d95a60/johanna_berry_story.html
And next is a kind of crazy one I made. But who know you might want it :)






http://www.4shared.com/file/14781088/3ad4b8de/johanna_berry_triangles.html

So have a happy Thursday and until next time (which very well may be a month or two days).

Remember to please leave me a comment here if you download, it makes me happy :)

{Recipes}

My SIL is putting together a family cook book and I thought I would post two of my fav recipes, they are incredibly good, healthy and fast...who could ask for more?

Apple-Chipotle Salsa

1 cup diced (1/4 in) Granny Smith apple (unpeeled, rinsed)
1/2 cup diced (1/4 in) red onion
1/2 cup diced (1/4 in) red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp ground dried chipotle chili or cayenne
1 pork tenderloin or 4 boned, skinned chicken breast
Chili spice rub

In a bowl, mix apple, onion, bell pepper, cilantro, apple juice, vinegar, and chili. Cover and chill.

Chili spice Rub

1 Tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon firmly packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne

mix in small bowl.

Rub chili spice mix all over chicken or pork. Roast in 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or grill.
Transfer chicken to plates. Serve with green apple-chipotle salsa.



Sweet and Spicy Vegetable Couscous

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 large carrots shredded
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can corn
1 (9oz) package frozen sweet peas
1 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups uncooked couscous
1/2 cup peanuts.

Heat oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat until hot. Add onion and carrot; cook and stir 2-3 minutes until tender.
Increase heat to med-high. Add all remaining ingredients except couscous and peanuts. Mix well. Bring to a boil. Stir in couscous. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand 5 to 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork and add peanuts. Also delicious with spicy sausages.

{One link for all}

Okay, I combined all three gifts into one zip file, thinking that maybe if I simplify this *might* work.

http://www.4shared.com/file/12805424/e310efda/templates_negatives.html

I'm sorry, it's the first time I have used 4shared but I will get it. Crossing my fingers...

{Neglected already}

I haven't had my blog a month but I neglect it already:) So I had a lot of fun with all of the RAK's and PIF going on at DST and the designers I design for were sweet enough to let me RAK several of their awesome products too. I like creating too and sharing, it's so much fun to see a lo in the gallery and recognize something in it that I made! That's actually the whole reason I decided to start a blog was so I had a place to share stuff I made. Of course you get a little dose of my family and life as well :)

So here are some little things I have made lately. I had several people say they like my little photo negative in my header. I was trying to make it look like an acrylic sticker, just a slightly different twist on an old thing. So I made a couple different colors and included a gray one for easy recoloring to whatever color you happen to need.

http://www2.blogger.com/
Here are two more templates I have cooked up lately. The three circles is the one for the challenge at www.elementalscraps.com so check it out :)




Hope you like them :)

http://www.4shared.com/file/12701749/b789af3a/johanna_berry_negatives.html

http://www.4shared.com/file/12701750/d74e26df/johanna_berry_circlesincircles

http://www.4shared.com/file/12701750/d74e26df/johanna_berry_3circles.html

I *think* I fixed the links, leave a comment if you download :)

{Home Again}

I know it was wishful thinking but I didn't get my templates posted before we took off for Germany. But I will put them at the end of this post, you gotta wade through my trip to Germany first :) The trip didn't start off great, Solomon woke up crying in the night that his ear hurt. I knew we would have to schedule a Dr. trip on the way out because I didn't want to be stuck in Germany where we don't speak the language and have a really sick kids on our hands. Luckily we were able to get an appointment easily and we sailed in, confirmed he had a huge ear infection grabbed our antibiotics and were on the road.

We listened to the Wizard of Oz on the way and the kids were all troopers, no fits or incessant asking if we were there yet. We got to our hotel at 11 pm and went straight to bed. The next day Joseph went off to the wedding (kids couldn't go so I hung out with all 4 in the hotel room). 5 hours later I was losing it, it was raining and cold so we couldn't even go outside much. But I survived.

We had fun the next few days eating german food and sightseeing around Frankfurt. My favorite place we went was the Dom cathedral. The European Emperors were crowned there from like 1235 to the 1500's. I told Sol and Joc all about the Emperors getting crowned there hoping they would be good and not mind looking around another church but they were pretty bummed when they found out they didn't have all the crowns on display.

It was a fun week but as always it's good to be back home.

Here's my latest page, the file got so big (probably from the 8 pictures I put on there from my 8 megapixel camera) that PSP just stopped working and kept shutting down anytime I tried to do anything. Frustrating! So Finally I called it quits and here it is:

Credits are here:
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=82381&limit=recent

Also as I promised two more templates.





The last one is for the challenge at http://www.elementalscraps.com

http://download.yousendit.com/2215ECB62A8CF0F6 http://download.yousendit.com/D33600C3752EC66A

Note: I have not figured out how to make the links clickable on here yet so you have to copy/paste the url into your browser to get to the download. If anybody wants to enlighten me on how to make the links clickable please do, I haven't had time to sit down and figure it out for myself yet :)

2nd note: Feel free to leave me a comment and if you use the templates send me a link I would love to see what you do :)

Okay I'm done :)

{Yummy Stuff}

I love to cook. I love to try out new recipes. Sometimes I have to make myself make the same thing. I also love to experiment. Hugo's always says he’s lucky if I follow a recipe exactly the first time and then it’s a miracle we have the same thing without me changing anything. Sometimes this turns out really good and sometimes not so good. This morning it turned out good! I was making pancakes, I made some with blueberries and then I decided to see if we liked red currants in them. Then on the last couple I decided to try and mimic the flavor of our favorite pastry here in France, Croissant aux Amandes et Chocolate.

Imagine a croissant with chocolate inside soaked in an almond sauce and then sprinkled with almonds and powdered sugar, Heaven! So I added some almond flavoring, coconut and chocolate chunks to my pancake batter. Yummy! It was delicious. Definitely going to do that variation again.

Today we have a wedding to go to. It will be a full day affair. The wedding is at 3 but then the reception right after goes until all hours. It will be fun to take pictures and see what a French wedding and reception is like.

Monday we are taking off for Frankfurt, Germany. Hugo and I really need to plan what we are going to do there soon, like I should be doing that now:) Reminds me I need to download and burn a new book on CD for the kids to listen to in the car. We just finished listening to Peter Pan, it was really fun.

I have a few more templates (I made my Dance Dance Revolution page into one) that I will be putting up soon, maybe I will have time tomorrow before we head out...

One new page for me:

My little girl loves babies and she has really latched onto this vintage doll that was given to us. She calls it her 'Baby Emma'. It's so sweet to watch her.
Credits are found http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=78807&cat=all&ppuser=422

{Just Because}

I like to create and I like to share. I have been making these templates for the sketch challenge at www.elementalscraps.com and I thought I would put them on here for anyone who wants to visit my little blog. The linked circles is for the challenge for this month, you get a free kit for participating :) Anyway would love a link if you use them. Have a great Tuesday!



download links:
http://download.yousendit.com/C8C70EB37CEE5813
http://download.yousendit.com/2EF867EF0F3EF811
http://download.yousendit.com/12D90A537C7EDA25

{Winter Break}

So apparently the kids are on winter break now. If you knew me at all you would think I was the kind of mom who would be super involved with her kid school. But since I don't speak French I am pretty much in the dark. If Sol hadn't come home with a note on Friday saying there was no school for the next two weeks I would have had no idea. I would have showed up to take them to school today. At least if I had done that nobody would have been there to see me look so stupid :)

I am excited for the week of with the kids. I miss the laid back days of getting up whenever we want and not having a specific schedule. Don't get me wrong, there are good things about having to get 4 kids up and ready to be out the door by 8:15 everyday, for instance we all have breakfast together and I read the kids books and we learn a new song for church at breakfast (I don't usually eat breakfast so I need something to do while they are eating). I do plan on doing that during winter break but I didn't this morning so I'm not off to a great start.

I wanted to scrap some picture of Ike before he had chicken pox so I made this page of him eating his first real food (also for lifts with a twist). I'm a lazy mom in a lot of ways. I don't do baby food. I have better things to do than sit and spoon feed a baby for 20 minutes when half of it ends up on his clothes anyways. So I just wait until they are about 7 months old and start handing them food at meal times. Keeps them occupied atleast.


Credits are here
http://www.digishoptalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=76583&ppuser=422

{Poor Baby}

I thought my kids were having such mild cases of chicken pox but Ike’s got it bad. He’s probably got a couple hundred just on his head, and since he is bald you can see every single one. The poor guy. He hasn’t been sleeping hardly at all. I just kept thinking oh this is probably as bad as it is going to get and then I would look at him a few hours later and see 20 more pocks. He was sleeping so badly that Hugo and I ended up staying up until 2:30 watching LOST because why not enjoy ourselves if we are going to be up all night with a fussy baby? Now all his chicken pocks are starting to scab, a good sign but definitely doesn’t make him look any better.

Poor Baby



Here are my latest scrapbook pages. I was really happy how this one turned out, kind of funky and grungy. My 5 yo seriously get's into this, he is awesome!



Our first trip after we moved to France. The beaches at Normandy were beautiful and so rich in history, amazing!

{Jinxed!}

So I think I jinxed myself yesterday about the whole ‘good mom’ thing. Today I think I am going to get the chance to prove myself. We started out with Hugo not setting his alarm clock and so he was running too late to walk to the gare to catch the 5:38 train he needed to catch in order to get to Paris in time to catch his train to some town north of paris. So I had to wake up all the kids and drag them down to the car to run Hugo to the gare. I had to run a red light to make it but he did catch his train, with literally one minute to spare. By then of course the kids are all bright-eyed and bushy tailed and the chances of them going back to sleep are slim to none. So I resign myself that I am up for the day when Jocelyn comes up and says, “Mommy what’s this on the back of my neck?” Chicken pox. Yes I thought we had gotten by with only Solomon getting it but no, it looks like I am in for the long-dragged out version where they come down with it one at a time every two weeks. She already has more pox on her than Solomon had, hopefully it doesn’t keep getting worse with each kid.

But good news is that when I called the Dentist to cancel our appt for this afternoon I discovered that our appointment was for the 14th (gotta love this language barrier thing) so at least I didn’t drive all the way into Paris for a non-existent dentist appt!

{Good Mom Day}

Why is it that I feel like I am a good mother on the days where my children play together nicely, we do fun things together and everything goes smoothly. If you really think about it I should feel like a good mom on the days when my kids are being rotten but I somehow manage to stay calm and patient. But at any rate today was a good day. The kids played together really nicely, I played some fun games with them. In general a good mom day.

This past weekend we had a break from the gray skies and rainy weather. I decided we had to take advantage of that. We thought about making a run for Eurodisney but decided that we should save that for when we can get the discount tickets. Instead we went to a big park in Paris called La Jardin d’Acclimatation. We had a great time. There was a little amusement park area, menagerie, playgrounds. Afterwards we walked around downtown Paris. I was looking for this beautiful coat I saw a few weeks ago but we didn’t find me one. But on the bright side we found a really good boulangerie to eat at and I had my first Croque Messieur, tasty. On the way home we found a video rental place near us. We rented Nanny McPhee and watched it with the kids. Loved it, maybe I’m twisted but I had a good laugh when the kids were ‘eating’ the baby.