A day with Kyle

I had such a wonderful day today with my son Kyle. As I've mentioned many times.....Kyle is an avid golfer. He is taking full advantage of the rest of the school year with his flexible schedule doing Independent Study by spending lots of time out on the golf course. Since he isn't driving yet....guess who takes him during the week while Kevin is at work? Why me of course!.....and I love it. It's so great to see Kyle in his element playing golf.

Today I talked him in to letting me get a few pics of him. Since Christmas he has lost 35 pounds. Doesn't he look great!!? I'm so proud of Kyle and how he has embraced a new way of eating. He is 100% gluten and sugar free and eats very healthy. What started out as a diet to help him with his chronic vestibular migraines ended up being a great weight loss plan! Kyle has more energy and feels so much better. It is just WONDERFUL to see him feeling and looking so good.

Today he golfed all day at our local course and I drove him around in the cart and enjoyed watching him and taking pics. Below are a few candid shots of him playing golf. He is playing twice a week now...once with me during the week and every Saturday with Kevin. He is also spending a couple days each week on the driving range and practice putting greens. We are additionally in the process of setting up private lessons for him on top of that to help improve and perfect his game. His goal is to try out for the High School team in the Spring of 2013. Today after he played he had the opportunity to sit and watch the two local high school teams practicing.  I could tell he was just dying to jump in there with them! With his hard work and dedication I know that by this time next year he will be ready to be on a team and compete.

The view from the 5th hole. I LOVE the beauty of this course. Being out on the golf course is so serene and beautiful. I now I understand why my husband, Dad and Kyle all love this game. I only wish I could play too...but with my old back injury I don't dare try. For me...golf is a spectator sport only.

Create JOY

I just purchased the stamp set "Creative Elements" from Stampin Up! and had a wonderful time using it in this scrap book layout. The pics of Kate were taken this past 4th of July weekend at my Dad and Polly's house. I love the vibrant colors in her top and used several of those colors when putting together this lay out.

I used chip board letters that I painted with yellow acrylic paint to create the "JOY". The "Create" stamp was the perfect companion for JOY for the title of "Create Joy"

I  chose 2 of my favorite hand stamped cards to share that I made at an event at my friend Krista's house called "Stamp a stack". Krista is my Stampin Up! consultant and I made 2 each of these lovely cards. The above card is my absolute favorite! I love the lively spring colors.

This too is a beautiful card. The colors and style are very victorian, soft and elegant. It's nice to have a few new cards for my card box. I love making and giving hand made cards and feel so fortunate to have found Krista who teaches classes, clubs and workshops for Stampin Up! I'm enjoying being a part of a group of women who love to paper craft.

Valentine's stamp projects and home decor

When we moved to our new city back in July I started looking for a Stampin Up! or Close to my Heart representative. Since I've been in clubs through both companies and love the stamps, paper and crafting accessories from both companies, I was open to either. My goal was to join a card or scrap book club so that I could meet new friends and have fun making new projects too.  I literally could not find any reps for either company in my city. I pretty much gave up on the idea when in December at my church Women's dinner and boutique I met Krista J with Stampin Up! She was there selling many fun Christmas gifts she had made and of course to advertise her business. I knew within a few moments of meeting Krista that I had met someone really special. I was so excited to get started stamping with her. I joined a scrap book club that meets at her house one Friday a month. We make two lay outs that she has pre-designed and cut the paper for. She also has frequent classes and I recently attended her Valentine's craft class as well. Krista is SUPER creative and buys a ton of the newest products to share and work with so it's a special treat to attend her classes and club. Below is what I made at the Valentine Craft Class.

This darling "cup" can be used to hold pencils or candy or whatever else you can think of. It is now sitting on my desk full of pencils and pens.

                                       Here is a valentine card I made.
                                          I love the dimensional heart.

This hanging 3-D project was my favorite thing that we made. We started with making the large "rosette" using a scoring board and then assembled the rest using several die cut hearts etc. I think it looks great hanging on the door in our home.

Below is a Valentine themed scrap book layout that I did at scrap book club this past week. Additionally we made a winter themed layout that I will show in a separate post.  

I love the whimsical nature of this layout. We used these darling stamps with gnomes! This layout will be perfect for some pictures from one of Kate's valentine parties as an elementary school student.

I love the little "gnome" sayings like, "to gnome you is to love you".  I will show these pages again once I get the pictures on them.

 Valentine's Day is such a fun holiday. Those who know me well know that I am totally in LOVE with love and romance. So naturally I'm one that decorates for this holiday. My iron corner standing shelf unit is the best place to display my decorations.

I made the piece of art in the frame a few years back using scrap book paper, stickers and accessories. The angel is from my willow creek angel collection that is out all year round and the heart was made by my Mom.

I made these "be mine" blocks several years back from a kit I purchased at a scrap book store in Las Vegas.

                                      The book and tin were gifts from my Mom years ago.

                                            These heart shaped boxes were made by my Mom.

The love hanging was purchased at Michael's a few years ago.

I made all the heart ornaments on this little "Valentine tree"  several years ago as well.

May you and yours have a very happy Valentine's Day. May it be spent with someone you love!

Recipe: Mahi Mahi Tacos (gluten free)

Going forward, all of the recipes I post will be gluten free. However, in most recipes I will give a non-gluten free version of the recipe for those who are not gluten free. I have been gluten free for a year now and Kyle has been gluten free for  over a month. (more on why we are gluten free in a future post)

These Mahi Mahi tacos are one of the easiest, most delicious recipes I have found recently. It comes from a Weight Watcher's magazine and the total point value for 2 tacos is 4 points. One of the things I LOVE about Mahi Mahi is that it is an odorless, mild fish and although I'm not a big fan of fish in general...I love Mahi Mahi. If you don't have access to Mahi Mahi you can use any white fish of your choice....such as grouper, tilapia, cod or halibut.

Here is what you will need:

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 limes: 2 T fresh lime juice (the juice of one lime)

1 lime to cut in wedges and serve with tacos

1/2 t. ground cumin

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. Mrs. Dash salt-free Southwest chipotle seasoning

1/4 t. salt (optional)

4 (6-oz) Mahi Mahi filets (or other white fish of choice)*I buy frozen Mahi Mahi fillets from Trader Joes

1/4 c. gluten free flour blend (I use Bob's Red Mill All purpose baking flour) if you are ok with gluten than use all-purpose flour

2 T olive oil

8 corn tortillas

1 cup preshredded cabbage or iceberg lettuce

*salsa of choice for garnish*

Directions:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside in fridge.

2. Rinse fish fillets and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into strips as seen below.

Generously sprinkle Mrs. Dash seasoning on both sides of fish strips.

Coat each fish fillet in flour twice. Pat the flour in to fish.

Heat 2 T. of olive oil in large skillet. Fry prepared fish approx 4 min. on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove filets to paper towel to absorb any extra oil.

Set your table with condiments for the tacos. ie: cabbage, salsa, lime wedges, cumin/chili powder sour cream sauce you prepared earlier, corn tortillas etc.. I like to serve these tacos with a side of spanish rice and black beans.

Prepare your taco. In a heated corn tortilla spread out 1 T of the sour cream sauce. Place a fish fillet in center of tortilla. Top with cabbage or lettuce and salsa and ENJOY!