Scrap Girls Digital Scrapbooking Adventures

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Here's a super easy dinner idea that my family enjoys:

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

You will need:

Tortillas
Shredded Cheese
Cooked and shredded chicken
BBQ Sauce
Sliced Onions

On a hot, lightly greased griddle or frying pan, lay a tortilla on the griddle or pan. On one half of the tortilla, sprinkle a bit of cheese (our tortillas were a small burrito or large soft taco size so I used about 1/8 cup of cheese at this point). On top of the cheese, place some of the shredded chicken. On top of the chicken, place some onions. Then, add a bit of BBQ sauce (a little bit goes a long way). We used a bottle variety and I just poured a bit directly from the bottle. Then, top with a bit more shredded cheese (another 1/8 cup or so).

Fold the tortilla half that wasn't layered with ingredients over the part that was. Allow your tortilla to brown a bit and the cheese to melt some. Then carefully flip it over and allow the other side of the tortilla to brown and let the cheese melt completely.

Remove from the heat, cut into wedges, and serve. I continue this process for each quesadilla that I am making.

This can also be easily made in a microwave, if you prefer.

(Products used: ScrapSimple Digital Layout Album Templates: 4x6 Recipe Card and Old Friends Collection Biggie)

One-on-One Reading

I recently attended a meeting and had the opportunity to hear Chieko Okazaki speak. She has been a leader in a variety of women's organizations and is the author of several books. While she was speaking, one point she made that struck me is that we should be reading to our children 20 minutes every day. I have heard this refrain many times and I'm no stranger to reading to my children. But sometimes life gets in the way and we slack a bit. I assumed that once they became fluent readers on their own, it wasn't as important for me to take the time to read to them.

But my opinion changed after I heard her speak. She talked about the importance of creating one on one time to read with our children, no matter their age or reading ability. She stressed that, where possible, we should try to pair up with just one reader and one listener to make the experience more intimate. She went on to say that sometimes, one parent may be reading to one child, while an older sibling is taking a turn reading with a younger sibling. Aha! This was how we were going to make this work. The plan started unfolding in my mind. . .

I set to work and drew up a schedule and posted it on our fridge. Everyone will take a turn reading to my youngest daughter, who can't read yet. And every child will have the chance to be read to by both mom and dad at different times. We will stay with our designated pair for an entire week and the listener is the one who gets to choose the book(s). We have a 5-week rotating schedule and then we will repeat it at the end of those five weeks.

It all looks good on paper. We just completed Day two and it is working well so far, fingers crossed that it continues.

Here is a digital scrapbooking layout that I created of the three different reading pairs from this current week.

Supplies used: Story Time Collection Mini, Scrapbooking 911: 20 Sketches to Revitalize Your Digital Scrapbooking - Book 3 eBook, ScrapSimple Tools - Styles: Gradient Glitter 6401 Super Biggie & Dynamic Brush Set: Fancy Glitter 6401.

Meeting Janneke Bruines

This weekend Jeroen and I went to his sister's wedding. It was the first time I was able to meet his extended family. To my great surprise, I met his Aunt Janneka, who as I found out is a ceramics artist. Her daughter told me she is having a show in Den Haag in November and I am excited to attend.

The next day I was sent the link to her gallery and I am totally smitten with her amazingly creative work & thought I would share a few with you. I hope to visit her studio soon and take in all the creativity. I have great respect for those who are talented and do intricate work such as hers.

Copyright Janneke Bruines

Mom, I have a girlfriend!

This afternoon, when I was picking my boys up from their sixth day of school, my little first grader jumps in the car and proudly announces, "Mom guess what?! I have a girlfriend!" He rambled all the way home about how excited he was to have a girlfriend for the first time and that he has never had one before. When I asked what her name is, he replied, "I don't know but she has a pink shirt."

Apparently, she chose him to be her boyfriend because her other boyfriend moved away and she thought Kobee had the coolest drawing. He drew a pizza. My DH and I have been waiting for this day to come. We knew years ago that he was going to be our little ladies man. Girls will be drawn to him. Meanwhile, our third grader just rolls his eyes and thinks it is all non-sense.

Isn't it so fun to see the different personalities traits in our children emerge? There is no doubt in my mind that they were born with these personalities, and we as parents can only help encourage them in one direction or another. Because these strong traits are not changing, anytime soon.

Layout created with: ScrapSimple Transparency Overlays: Street Grunge - Frames & Stylize Paper Biggie.

Greetings from our vacation.

Each summer we go on vacation to the same spot in the Tyrolean mountains in Austria. We usually send postcards to our family to share some of our memories. However, after a few years, the postcards that we buy at the local store started to look the same.

This year I thought that it would be nice to make my own. I packed my laptop with my stash of digital scrapbooking products and my handy pocket printer into the car. I was lucky that we had enough space for this extra luggage. At our destination we took some beautiful shots while hiking and back in our apartment late that afternoon I created this digital card. The children were happy to write a little text about our daily adventures. I don’t have to tell you that our family was delighted to receive the card in their mailbox.

Card created using Picnic in Park Collection Mini, Colors of Spring Collection, Blossoms & Blooms - Summer Embellishment Biggie, A Gardener's Diary Collection, At The Cottage Collection Biggie, Adobe Photshop CS3