From our House to Yours.....

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a joyous and healthy New Year......

here are some highlights from our Christmas Day....

As we reflect on another year passing, we have so much to embrace and celebrate! We are ever mindful of our military family members that are separated from their families- you are in our thoughts and prayers- may God keep you safe and protected. We hope that 2009 has been a wonderful year for all our friends and family. Our home is always open and we would love to see you and if you are looking to take in some DC cultural we sure can help with that!

God Bless,

Josh, Jennifer, Ireland, Patrick and MacKenzie

dreams do come true....

After living in Florida for about 5 years, I have longed for my kids to experience real snow and have fun with seasons! Well, I got my WISH- BIG TIME! Northern Virginia got a huge snowstorm today! It has been snowing since late Friday night and it just doesn't seem like it will stop-YIPPEEE!!! The kids have been out three times and Josh has shoveled the driveway 3 times! At 3:00pm he measured 17inches of fluffy white stuff! I wonder what our measurement will be tomorrow?!? Even our Westie enjoyed playing in the snow! She took off running and was so full of excitement- super cute!
Here are some pictures from our winter wonderland......

FUN Friday!

It seems it is a FUN friday for everyone in my house today! Patrick had a little presentation to do today on Family Traditions. He shared with his class about our tradition of baking and his favorite cookie- one his Godmother taught me how to make- Chocolate Toffee Chunk Cookies.







Then Ireland had a homemade gift exchange with her class today. They drew names and had to think of a fun thing to make the person on her list. It was so FUN to watch her think of something to create for her friend and I was so impressed with how she designed it, did it on her own and worked her magic!












And today was Josh's internal office Christmas party which I could not attend because I was teaching Scap N Play Club today. But his email with this picture stopped my breath! It was a joke but it totally caught me off guard and I had to run and call him to make sure! He was laughing!!!!!!









Lastly for me it was Scrap N Play and I had a full house this morning! It was so great to see my friends and make great layouts for Christmas- I will post pictures this weekend! And now I am waiting to pick up the kids from school and wondering how much snow this snow storm will give us!!

Tis the Season!

Oh my goodness...December has been FULL STEAM AHEAD!!!! It seems I have been out of touch for awhile but I think that I am not alone! We have been busy, busy, BUSY! I love this time of year and getting all things ready for the Magical Holiday Coming.
Josh and I went out last friday for his office Christmas Party- that is where this photo was snapped. We hardly go out on dates so this was super fun and the kids loved having Shannon, their babysitter, come and play! I even dragged my hubby out on the dance floor for a couple of spins(and seriously could my hubby be any more handsome?!? sometimes it is not fair standing next to him! HA!).

I had two outings this month with the Belvoir Officer's Spouses Club. The first was a luncheon at Mount Vernon. We had a great time and it was fun to see Chef Roland's amazing Gingerbread House-amazing talent!!! The 2nd was our book club meeting. We had a great potluck brunch, great talk about the book that we all were in agreement was a little dry(interesting topic-just not executed well), and a fun gently used "naughty santa" book exchange. Somehow two of the books I choose were both taken but I am excited with the book I ended up with and I received a beautiful card with an Irish Christmas blessing- how perfect was that!?!

The kids have been busy too and I can tell we are all ready for Winter Break! Unfortunately their school does not get out until the 23rd at 1:30pm!!!! They have their holiday parties on the 22nd but I think I have decided that I am not sending them to school on the 23rd so we can sleep in, hang out in our jammies and do some baking and other fun things together!!!

The other bit of news is my camera has been going on the fritz lately. And come the night of the holiday Party it just was not working- it was acting really goofy! The pictures all on this post are from dear friends that have shared their pics with me- THANK YOU!!!! Josh and I then got in a pretty hefty talk about what camera to get and all the fun that can be when you have different opinions! Tonight Santa(and my birthday) arrived early and I got a new camera!!!! We (or should I say me) decided on the Canon G11. I am pretty excited to start playing with it but feel like I should take a camera class- anybody want to join me?!?

I am looking forward to Friday. Patrick has a little presentation in the morning and then it is SCRAP N PLAY Day with my great customers!!! See the sideline to get details or email me for more details! I cannot wait to see everyone and have them come play in my organized room!

Hope you are enjoying the Season and taking time to do things that you and your family love!

~Jennifer :)

CLEARANCE SALE!!!!!!

ONLINE CLEARANCE SALE! Items are 50%- 80% OFF! Just in time for holiday shopping!

The sale starts TODAY- Wednesday, December 2nd, at 9 a.m. (MDT) and continues through Thursday, December 17th OR WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. Often times these items go fast, so plan on shopping early.

Go to my website- http://jenniferbohnart.myctmh.com and click SHOP ONLINE. Look for the link that reads Holiday Heyday Clearance sale.


Details:

*Sale has quantities restricted to FIVE per item to provide a smooth shopping experience for all customers.

*You'll want to get in on the amazing deals like My Acrylix stamp sets from JUST $2 and My Reflections paper packets from $5. But that's not all! We have grab bags for $30 each- filled with over $100 in retail products. Plus, great shipping deals on orders over $100. Orders of $100+ have a flat rate shipping of $5.

*Please be patient while shopping and checking out. Sometimes the server gets bogged down...so be patient and be thankful that you don't have to push and shove your way through the store and check out lanes! :)




*Here are a few of the items that will be available:
15+ Level One Kits (favorites like Vintage Travel, Laid Back, Free Spirit and more). $5 (regularly $9.95)
10+ Level Two Paper Packs (Caprice, School Zone, Expedition). $6.50 (regularly $12.95). Stickease $4 (regularly $8.95)
35+ Stamp Sets from $2-$8 (Let Us Adore Him, Let's Play Ball, Precious Alphabet, Card Sentiments, and other greats)
Embellishments like brads ($3), ribbon rounds ($4), chipboard ($3).

*Note that clearance items may not be combined with regular-priced items in a single shopping cart, and clearance purchases are not eligible for any Constant Campaign qualification or Stamp of the Month.


HAVE FUN SHOPPING...Sit Back...sip your Coffee or Cocoa and Enjoy getting FABULOUS Deals! Or a Deal of a Lifetime as my hubby likes to say when he scores something FUN!

~Jennifer :)

ORGANIZE!!!!

So if you really know me you know that I cannot, I mean absolutely cannot, handle clutter and an unorganized house!!!! This time of year and before each kiddos birthday gets me in a mood to organize, pair down, and make room for new! And if you really know me then you know I am not 100% happy in this townhouse but I am making the most of it because deep down I know we will not be here forever! So you gotta make what you have work and every place that you are stationed at is what you make of it- heard this from a very wise Daddy of mine!!!

During Thanksgiving break, I had a night where I could not sleep well. Not sure if it was the cold medicine or my head so congested that sleeping did not make any sense- at any rate I laid there for hours trying to sleep and I had a VISION! It was a vision with an answer for my basement that has caused me such fits because there just didn't seem enough room for the kids and me- it is a very small townhouse basement. So I woke up with a plan and very excited to put my plan into work but the biggest obstacle to this plan was having Josh on board because I needed his help. Um I mean his muscles! :) LOL! Thankfully he was on board to try it and give it a whirl.

and here is the scrapbooker, memory keeper in me that WISHES I had a photo of what that space looked like before because it would give you a HUGE appreciation of how fabulous it looks now!!!! So with some pieces moved, a new shelf and some tweeking....I finally have a space that is starting to be a long the lines of what will work for me and the kids!

And my biggest goal was to give the kids more space as space is a premium here and we had SUCCESS!!!! (so now fingers crossed that we can extend our lease here for 2 more years since we think we will be here that much longer....)

Here is my Space....




And here is my own personal way I store my paper- I have fallen in love with VERTICAL STORAGE(by Cropper Hopper)! IT ROCKS! I have tried the towers with the clear plastic storage bins but I just don't know what is in there and after starting to switch to Vertical...I will tell you I can fit more this way and have a better understanding of what I have to work with! So here is what I do-

All Cardstock gets put in a Holder organized by Color. Then my Background and Texture Papers go into a Vertical Storage Holder that has dividers- oh this rocks! So take Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Collection for instance- I take out all the Cardstock and put it where it belongs. Then I take the remaining Background and Texture Paper and put it in its own Divided Section. LOVE IT! I am slowly (gotta work in the budget) working over to this system 100%.


So there is a little insight into my crazy world and how OCD I can really be! :) I am thinking this will be a MAJOR help to my loss of artisitc and creative drive! Now if I didn't have a "To-Do" List a MILE LONG!!! My next goal is a personal assistant- not holding my breath but that would be the ULTIMATE! :)

Happy December Friends!
~Jennifer :)

Turkey Recap!

Here are some photo highlights of our fabulous Turkey Day- my family is crazy I tell you!



And for those non-football people- The Packers played the Lions on Thanksgiving Day which is why Josh is proudly sporting the green and gold. I was too but managed to sneak out of photos as I was suffering a bad head cold! I have to say I love technology because Josh put the game on pause so we could eat at a reasonable time and not let football control EVERYTHING! tee-hee!

Patrick loves the big LEG!

Ireland LOVES Cranberry Sauce- the canned variety and she requested 5 cans this year!

Do you have a favorite recipe or two that you use with your leftovers??? I found this awesome White Chili recipe from a dear friend- Ms. Shirley Bailey and I love using the turkey meat to make this!!!!

White Chili by Shirley Bailey

1 lb Dried Great Northern White Beans
2 t Ground Cumin
2 t Ground Oregano
2 t Coriander
2 t Onion Salt
Pinch Cayenne Pepper
1 t Seasoning Salt
3 T Canola Oil
1 C Chopped Onion
3 cans chopped green chili peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 QT. Chicken Stock
12oz Bottle Beer
6 Chicken Breasts, boned, skinned and cooked( this is where I use the leftover turkey meat)
Sour Cream for garnish
Green Onions, chopped for garnish

Soak beans in cold water overnight. Mix cumin, oregano, coriander, onion salt, pepper, and seasoning salt together. Set aside. Heat oil in a large stock pot and saute' onions until translucent. Add Chilis, garlic and seasoning mix, saute' 1 minute longer. Drain Beans and add beans , stock and beer to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until beans are tender. Dice Chicken into bite size pieces and add to stock; cook another 15 minutes. Ladle into serving bowls and garnish with a tablespoon sour cream and chopped green onions.

ENJOY!!!!!!


~Jennifer :)