Tuesday, December 31, 2019

...Air Force Basic Training Scrapbook...

...I thought I'd go ahead and post about the Christmas Present W.I.P.'s...that I couldn't post about before...and I'll start with Our Airman's Basic Training Scrapbook...because I started it first...and it took the longest to complete...
...I had one Air Force Scrapbook 'kit'...and a bunch of different papers...camouflage, several flag ones...a couple of camping ones left over from Scouting...and some with maps...a bunch of flag stickers and some other Air Force 'sayings' that I just printed out on the printer...

...the preliminary photos came from the dvd we bought when we went for graduation...they actually had a photographer who followed the recruits around and took photos...so I just had to view about 1500 photos and pick out the ones that had Our Airman in them...which is not as easy as it sounds...because they really do all look pretty much alike...and it was hilarious when we were looking through the scrapbook together on Christmas day...and there's a photo of Our Airman stuffing his face in the DFAC...but...you guessed it...it's not him...hahaha...

...I had a 50% off email from Shutterfly so I had about 125 photos printed...a lot of the later photos y'all have seen because we took them while we were in San Antonio...
...for the cover...I just bought a standard school 3 ring binder...and printed out the U.S. Air Force letters...Basic Training block...and the dates on a little metal looking tab...laminated them all...and glued them to the binder with E6000...

...oh...and that little tiny hat...the Man found it on Etsy and ordered it for the Airman's Baby for Christmas...so here's cute a photo of her wearing the little hat...
...amazing how much she looks like her Daddy...
...now here are few pages of the early days at Basic Training...basic issue...getting their gear...boots/uniforms/duffel...etc...
...some photos of Our Airman in the band...
...and just going about his day as a trainee...
...and he was such a champ at the Gas Chamber...

...I had a lot of fun making the scrapbook...and Our Airman really seems to like it...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, December 30, 2019

...Over the Weekend...12.30...

...well...I'm very sorry to say that the entire fam...aside from The Airman's Baby (thankfully)...were victims of a horrid stomach bug (rotavirus) that has been circulating the community...first the Airman's Wife...then me...then The Airman...then The Man...it was so sad after such a joyous Christmas-time...

...the kiddos bounced right back and left for a weekend at the beach as they had planned...me not so much...
...I'm still recuperating...so no grocery shopping was done this weekend...and very little food prep or eating of any kind...
...it's funny how the same disease affects people so differently...the Man changed the oil on Saturday...and I'm thankful once again for his DIY handyman attitude...
...and in the two minutes at a time that I could stand to be vertical...I managed to wash the sheets and hang them on the line...the weather was so gorgeous Saturday...it was a perfect day for it...we opened up all the windows to air the house out...so needed after an illness like this one...

~Wishing you a lovely (and healthy) start to your week!

Saturday, December 28, 2019

...YAY!...Christmas 2019 was a success...

~Have a lovely weekend!...

Friday, December 27, 2019

...Christmas recap...2019...

...this is going to be a long and rambling post covering several days of Christmas celebrations chez Affectioknit...
...first of all...I made some Brownie Bites...it's about the best little pop in your mouth dessert and everyone loves them...
...and I also...(or second of all..haha) popped open a pomegranate to take to the Sunday School Christmas gathering...
...it was pretty well attended despite the pouring cold rain...
...and they do a crazy mean Santa game where everyone steals a present from someone else...but it was all in good fun...I had to open about 5 gifts because mine kept getting stolen...
...and we had a fire in the fireplace and we took advantage of that to make smores...
...mine was a triple decker and it was so good...
...On Christmas Eve...one of our parishioners gave us another bag of apples...so delicious...and kind and thoughtful of them...
...also on Christmas Eve...this package arrived from my sweet sissie...
...Mom brought us a delicious pineapple...and some oatmeal...she had bought double by mistake...and just knew we'd use it up...so sweet...
...and she got us two of the adorable welcome mats...I love them...
...and then...as is our tradition...also on Christmas Eve, we drove around the neighborhood ...looking at Christmas lights...starting at the Church Nativity...I love it's simplicity...
...and there is a pretty spectacular light show right up the road from us...
...and a more 'normal' display closer to the house...
...so when we got home...we had cocoa...that dark chocolate cocoa is so good...it's not very sweet so the vegan marshmallows are a welcome addition...THANK YOU Sissie!...we love the Christmas treats...
...now...on to Christmas morning...the Man had a recipe for pumpkin spice pancakes he wanted to try...veganized of course...
...really no more difficult than regular pancakes...
...with some gimme lean vegan sausage...
...soaked in maple syrup...it was a delicious start to our day...
...gift time...I'll be doing a post all about these adorable little overalls...obvi...couldn't post it before Christmas...
...it was definitely a year of handmade gifts...my favorite kind...a sweet mug with our granddaughter's footprints on it...and yes...I've donated my hair again...I'll do a post about that soon too...
...Our Airman opens his 'Basic Training' scrapbook I made for him...
...and then looked through the entire thing...so that was a hit...I'll have to do a W.I.P post for that as well...
...aren't their matching pj's the cutest...their Snoopy themed...
...Jack was so interested in all the present opening...but eventually it became too much for him...and he tuckered out...
...and so did The Airman's Baby...
...everyone being pretty tired of the traditional Christmas fare...we made a delicious vegan curry for dinner...
...no real recipe...there are chickpeas and button mushrooms and cauliflower, tinned tomatoes and curry sauce...topped with fresh tomatoes and green onions...
...and served with jasmine rice and The Airman's favorite Brussels sprouts...

...it was a wonderful Christmas!...hope yours was a well...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, December 23, 2019

...Over the Weekend...12.23...

...wow...what a weekend...
...the Man and I gathered Christmas-y costumes...
...and dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus...for the community breakfast on Saturday...we had so many photographs with families from the community...it was so much fun visiting and hearing what all the little ones are wishing for this Christmas...
...the Church was decorated...
...and a beautiful cake was picked up...
...because this was The Airman's Baby's Baptism day...she was a perfect angel...as always...
...my dear friend Amy was there...so we did our Christmas gift exchange too...
...and my sweet Mama was there as well...
...so the kiddos did their gift exchange with her as well...

...it was a wonderful weekend...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

Friday, December 20, 2019

...Vegan Scones from a Cake Mix...

...you will only need a few ingredients to make these sweet and delicious, crispy and flaky vegan scones...

1 box of vegan cake mix - any flavor...I used strawberry because the red looks Christmas-y...
2 cups self rising flour - I make my own...
8 Tablespoons of vegan butter...
about 1 cup of vegan buttermilk - any vegan milk and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar...you may need a little more or less to get the right biscuit-y texture...
Optional - fresh fruit...
...add the flour to the cake mix...and cut in the vegan butter...
...like you're making biscuits...you should still be able to see flakes of butter...
...prepare your fruit if using...
...add the vegan buttermilk...
...and stir to make a stiff but soft dough...
...add your fruit...
...plop the dough onto a lightly floured surface...
...and shape into a circle...
...cut into wedges and pull each wedge out a bit to separate them...
...sprinkle the tops with sugar...
...and bake just until they start to brown a little bit...

...these were so delicious hot from the oven...but we had them leftover too...and they are a nice sweet biscuit...

...I can think of lots of other flavor options I want to try...lemon/blueberry...cinnamon spice...cranberry orange...

...I think the cake mix adds the perfect amount of sweetness and the lighter flour contributes to the lightness of these scones...

~Have a lovely day!