Mason Bunch

Happy Valentine's Weekend!

2012-02-10T20:13:00.000-06:00

As you can see, Katie made it to her school Valentine's party. She was so excited this morning. Like she said, today was her day. Her daddy took her to school and momma came to her party with treats to pass out to all of her friends. I love her class this year. Everyone are friends, students, teacher and parents. We just have an awesome class!

Later, we met mom and dad at their house and went to the Rehab Center. A place my mom spent a great deal of time when she was so sick. Sometimes the elderly are forgotten and they need our love as well. What better way to show God's love than to go and say hello to them. We didn't get to spend a great deal of time in each room because they have a little over 200 residents. Mom, Katie and I made each resident a little valentine with a scripture on one side and decorated the other. I know, having a mom in a Nursing Home/Rehab Clinic, they get lonely and appreciate you remembering them. My mom was so lonesome when all of us went home. She looked forward to the next day that we would come to visit, it keeps them going. We ran into several family members there, visiting their loved ones. They told us how much they appreciated us coming by and it gave us an opportunity to tell mom's story. Just to let them know, "hey I know what you are going through and we are thinking of you." I was just as blessed as they probably were today. Katie was our little mail lady, delivering cards to each person that I saw wasn't a risk. She was our little mascot. Her just going into the rooms with valentines created lots of smiling faces. It just brightened their day. I told mom that it's good for Katie to volunteer and experience kinds and love this way. I think she understands and I'm hope teaching her humility and humbled. Honestly, I think it did mom good too. She got to see her therapist. Her therapist was so happy to see her. She said that she needed to see mom, to remind her why she chose this field of work. She just had a frustrating day. Of course, they both began crying. It got me choked up as well. Mom got hugs from a lot of nurses and residents that she made friendships with during her time there. I think it did everyone good to have this reunion. We visited each and every resident in the clinic. I was so pleased that mom made it! She got a work out and she may not get out of her chair tomorrow. HAHA! I'm so glad we got to do this. It made my heart joyful. One scripture we wrote on some of the cards - "A happy heart makes the face cheerful." Proverbs 15:13. I love this verse and it really applied to my life today.

We haven't decided if we are going to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend or if are going to wait until Tuesday. While we are deciding, I would like to wish you a very . . .

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

A Glimpse of Spring

2012-02-09T22:11:00.000-06:00

It's February and the flowers are in bloom. I took these photos today.

We haven't had much of a Winter, but seeing flowers in bloom and the fairly warm temps, gets me in the mood for Spring.

Valentine Butterflies

Our project this year, to make 20 Valentine Butterflies to pass out to everyone in Katie's class during their Valentine party. Each one has their own personality. I think they turned out adorable. I got the idea from Skip to My Lou. You can get the template from the website. I just printed them out on 8x10 scrapbook paper. I had Katie decorate them. I am in love with Glitter Markers. It's the coolest thing ever. We added antennas and eyes, it really gives them personality. We had so much fun creating these. I think the kids will like them.

Katie came down sick yesterday, a 24 hour bug. She's doing great now and so excited about her Valentine party tomorrow. She loves the whole Valentine holiday. I think it's because she loves hearts, the colors pink and red and fairytales. I found the cutest thing for Katie's Valentine gift. She is going to flip out. She collects Lalaloopsy dolls. Well, I found a mini-lalaloopsy set that is "Alice and Wonderland." There are two dolls, Madhatter and Alice. It also includes little accessories like the Cheshire Cat and teapot. Soooo precious! I can't wait for her to see it.

Colton kind of found his gift and because mom and I were so involved in our project for the past couple of days, I let him go ahead and play with it. It's a big plush Woody from "Toy Story." To show you what a push over I am, he also got to play with one of his birthday presents. Whell! He knew that I put it in my bedroom. He kept aggravating us about it. It started out him just carrying around his Thor action figure still in the box. All we heard for the next hour, "I AM THOR! ANYONE WHO POSSES THE POWER OF THOR!" (Blah Blah Blah) Next thing you know, he was trying his best to crack it open. Like any mother that buys toys well in advance of a child's birthday that he was with me when I bought it, I opened the stupid box and let the child play with his birthday present. A month before his birthday. Hey, we got our project done in two days because of it.

Super Bowl Sunday - Giants Win!

2012-02-05T21:28:00.000-06:00

Congratulations New York Giants

I'm all about the commercials and halftime performance, which in this day and time you have to watch out for the halftime. You never know if someone if going have a malfunction, especially with kids in the room. Yikes! Madonna's performance was good, but we could have gone without the birdie flying towards the end. Ugh! Thank goodness my children were too bored listening to 80s & 90s music. I have to say I was a little surprised that Katie knew one of Madonna's newest song. She must have heard it on the radio.

My top three favorite Super Bowl commericals this year.

I love any commercial with Betty White in it. She is so funny to me.

The animal commercials were cute.

What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial this year?

Happy 75th Birthday Mom!

2012-02-04T09:23:00.000-06:00

Last night, the family came together in honor of our mom's 75th birthday.

She looks fabulous!

We are so blessed to still have her around.

She told me that she doesn't feel 75, but much much younger.

She never in her wildest dreams ever thought that she would make it to 75, but so happy she did.

We had our celebration at Chamblee's Restaurant. They were great to work with, very attentive and made the night special. I was so glad that most everyone got to attend, a total 25 people showed.

"Happy Birthday Mom"

I look a lot like my mom. Don't I?

Opening up presents

Pretty African Violet and card Sandy and Wade gave mom.

Sandy, mom told that you hit the nail on the head. She has been really wanting another violet.

She absolutely loves it! Thank you!

My mom's favorite flower/plant

The roses represent mom's children - 5 pink roses are her 5 baby girls; 1 white rose is dad and the other flowers are all of her grandbabies and great grandbabies. Look what she created = 5 girls, 5 boys (in-laws), 10 grandchildren and 8 great grandbabies.

BUGZ Musical

2012-02-03T11:24:00.000-06:00

Last night, Katie was in the school musical "Bugz." The production included all first graders, approximately 200 students, from our school. The little kids got a kick getting to go to the high school for rehearsals. The musical was taken place at the high school auditorium. Each class represented a different species of insects. Katie's class were the Monarch Butterflies. They did such a great job! You talk about a packed house. I didn't invite our whole family because I knew that there would not be enough room for everyone. Instead, I invited the grandparents.

My little Monarch Butterfly

She is singing with all her might

We were so proud of our little bug. This was the first school performance. After last night's production, I hope the board decides to continue to have some kind of school performance every year.

Doesn't he look laid back and ready for the day? I got tickled at him this morning. He came down the hallway, straight to the couch, asked for his mek (milk) and nana. He crossed leg, drinking his cup of Joe in one hand and eatin' his nana with the other. HAHA! My funny man.

Star Student; Spidey Sense and Weight Watchers Recipe to Boot

2012-01-31T19:12:00.000-06:00

My little Diva was the Star Student for two weeks at school. Calm down. All the students in her classroom has their turn being "Star Student." This gives each student an opportunity to get to know one another and Ms. G to know more about her students. Diva loved the fact that she got to show her classmates a few of her Squinkies that she collects.

Last week, Katie's school celebrated 100th Day of School by having each student bring a poster with 100 words that you can read. I thought it would cute to arrange the words to spell out "READ." Little did I know, I wasn't the only one with the same idea of using the words to decorate the posters. I got to see other kids posters and WOW! These parents have done this before, you can tell. A boy's poster had the Auburn symbol. A little girl had a gumball machine. The gumballs had words on them. CUTE!

Colton and I have been under the weather. I haven't been to church for the past couple of weeks. If it's not him, it's me. Ugh! I still blame the weather. I can't remember when we had highs in the upper 60's and lower 70's in the month of January. CRAZY! Anywho, Katie and daddy brought back this costume after church for Colton.

As you can tell, Colton loves his Spiderman costume. In this picture, he was shooting his web at me. HAHA! His mask looks weird because I was kind of afraid that he would have a hard time breathing.

A real quick Colton story. Is two years old too young to be girl crazy? Why I ask is because I was watching movie today and a pretty girl wearing a swimsuit showed for a second. Out of the blue, Colton turned to me and said and I quote "Yeah, ba-b-y." At first I was shocked because I couldn't believe this was coming out of my baby's mouth. I couldn't believe it, so I asked him what he just said. He said it again, but this time he grinned.

The other day, Colton and I were headed to pick up sister from school. He asked me to sing the "Hulk" song. Well, I didn't know the Hulk had a song. I told him that I didn't know the song. He insisted that he wanted me to sing the Hulk song. I asked if he could sing it for me. Without skipping a beat, he started singing "I want my baby."

Weight Watchers Crockpot BBQ Pork Sandwiches
I just want to tell you this is a great recipe to try. So tasty! I didn't take a picture, but Doug really liked it.

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, cut into thin wedges
1/2 cup water
1 (2 to 2 1/2 lbs) boneless pork sirloin roast
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup low calorie bbq sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp ground ginger
10 whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted

Directions:

In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker, combine onions and the water; set aside. Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut meat to fit in cooker. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, 1/4 tsp of the cumin, black pepper and garlic. Sprinkle mixture evenly over meat; rub in with your fingers. Place meat in cooker.
Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 9 hours or HIGH 4 to 4 1/2 hours.
Using a slotted spoon, remove meat and onions from cooker. Using two forks, pull meat apart into shreds.
In a large bowl, combine bbq sauce, vinegar, honey, ginger and the remaining 1/4 tsp cumin. Add shredded meat; toss gently to coat. Fill each bun with about 1/3 cup of the meat mixture and about 1 Tbsp of the onions.

Yield: 10 servings
Serving Size = 1 Sandwich per Serving
Weight Watchers PointsPlus + = 6 per serving.
Nutrition Info. :
Calories 251, Carbs 27 g., Fat 5 g., Fiber 3 g., Protein 23 g.

Tweely Twue

2012-01-25T10:48:00.000-06:00

Introducing the latest in technology from Michelin:

The new Michelin Tire "Tweel" Design

This is so cool and futuristic. Almost too much like science fiction to be real.

"You is Important" by Aibileen Clark

2012-01-24T21:20:00.000-06:00

This is my new favorite quote. I finally got to watch "The Help" last weekend. It was an inspiring movie. I laughed. I cried. I felt shame and disgust. I think my most favorite part of the movie was Minny telling her "BIG" secret to Skeeter and Aibileen. HAHA!!! I love it!!! Attention to all you Mrs. Hilly want-to-be's it's in chapter 12. LOL!!

Seriously, in God's eyes we are all important. No matter where we come from or what color we are. We are no better than the person sitting right next to you. We are all equal and have a purpose for His glory. All you need to do to get started is one random act of kindness a day. Before you know it, it spreads like wild fire.

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes today. I had another wonderful birthday. It started off with my beautiful children wishing me a "happy birthday." I love my snuggle bugs. Poor Colton has been battling a cold. Millard and Peggy brought me lunch from my favorite restaurant, "Sweet Peppers Deli." Yum! On top of that, they picked up my favorite plate - chicken salad on a croissant with a side salad. Ahhhh! Y'all it's soooo delish. They also gave me a slice of one of my favorite desserts - chocolate eruption. It's basically a chocolate cheesecake on a chocolate cake bottom. Doug surprised me by leaving work early enough to pick up Katie from school. He apparently likes my photography because he purchased a new lens for my camera. It's different and I've had my other one for so long that it's just going to take time to adjust. We did try it out tonight and I have to say that the pictures were brighter and have more clarity.

I hope you have a very blessed week and remember "You is kind, you is smart and you is important."

God Bless!

Love . . . Always and Forever 2012

2012-01-21T11:01:00.000-06:00

Chase and Leslie are to be wed this coming Spring. They were so sweet to allow me to have a photo shoot with them. I've never taken a photo shoot with a couple other than just snap shots during a family gatherings.

Photos were taken at a new hotspot in Cullman "Stone Bridge Farms." They are booked solid years in advance during the Spring and Summer months as the main wedding venue. I had the opportunity to attend a wedding this past Autumn at Stone Bridge. The place is simply breathtaking. The property is outlined in Leyland Cypress and slightly rolling green pastures. The focal point is the beautiful pond, wooden bridge and gazebo that are located in the center of the large pond. A charming little wooden chapel and large reception hall over look this pond. The reception hall is an open restaurant on Thursdays. I haven't had the chance to visit the restaurant on Thursdays. I hope to have that opportunity one day. We have friends that visit quite frequently and rave about how delicious the food tastes.

Our shoot was taken last Thursday, so when we were well into our intensive shots, I noticed that we were the entertainment for several on-lookers. A couple got into my photos without me really knowing about it until it was too late. They were a couple of great shots too. Ugh! I guess I was too focused on my job.

Thanks Stone Bridge Farms, Chase and Leslie for a very successful photo experience.

This will the couple's wedding ceremony kiss

Potty Training Woes

2012-01-17T21:22:00.000-06:00

We are going through potty training woes. Flash hates to go to the potty. He says and I quote that "it's yucky." I don't understand how a potty is yucky, but yet you can poop or pee in your own pants. One morning as we were getting ready for school, Colton messed in his pants. He told me that his bottom is yucky. I told him that I would change his pants as soon as he finished eating his pancakes. Well, he saw me coming down the hallway with diaper and wipes in hand. Shaking his hand and saying "no," he didn't want his diaper changed. I told him that if he didn't change his pants, his bottom would start burning. Again, he said "no." I asked him why he doesn't want to change his pants and Katie and I began giggling as soon as he told us his reason. He said "'cause I'm watchin' the news." Too funny! He is such a character.

For a couple of hours, Colton did pretty good wearing his Buzz Lightyear underwear. I asked him if there was something special that he would like to have as a reward for staying dry all the time. He piped up and said that he wanted a Superman. I've never seen him go to the bathroom so fast. The funny part of this story is him trying to go to the potty, when he doesn't really have to go. He is so funny! He literally strains, trying to pee-pee. He shakes his head, close his eyes and tells me "it won't work momma. I try, but it just won't work." LOL! After he says this to me, he has this funny, disgusted look on his face. Of course after he didn't go pee-pee, he asked where his Superman was and when we were going to go get it. Yeah. He doesn't understand that he has to keep going to the bathroom every time he has to go potty and keep dry pants. Too funny.

2012-01-10T20:35:00.000-06:00

check out my comic

FINISH

2012-01-10T16:54:00.000-06:00

It's the team's motto ~ FINISH. The word "finish" has been mentioned several times throughout the season by coach and players during news media reports. To finish what they've started and boy did they ever FINISH well.

It was a fun and exciting football game last night. Doug and I got everything wrapped, so we could be parked in front of the television for the next 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Doug literally did not move off the couch, he was afraid that it would bring bad luck. I'm telling ya, Bama went to NOLA with game and hunger in mind. We have been eatten up with the sports media ever since the loss to LSU, the first time around. We should not have lost that game, but it happened. Revenge is ever so sweet.

Honestly, I think Jefferson and Honey Badger is still sitting on the field wondering "what just happened?" I think LSU thought they were easily going to chew us up and spit us out. They just didn't know how hunger we were for the championship. Two great teams from the Southeastern Conference, it couldn't have been a better match. It's great to be from the SOUTH!!! We gave LSU several opportunities to win the game last night, but this win was in our favor and I'm so glad it was. How sweet it is!!!

ROLL TIDE!

#14 BCS CHAMPIONS!!!!

Grilled Salmon

2012-01-08T21:44:00.000-06:00

Grilled Salmon
Ingredients:
1 lbs. salmon fillets
lemon pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt to taste
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup light olive oil

Directions:

Season salmon fillets with lemon pepper, garlic powder and salt.
In a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, brown sugar, water and oil until sugar is dissolved. Place fish in a large resealable plastic bag with the soy sauce mixture, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Preheat grill for medium heat.
Lightly oil grill grate. Place salmon on the preheated grill and discard marinade. Cook salmon for 6 to 8 minutes per side or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

We made this tonight for dinner. To me, it taste just as good as any high scale restaurant or better. The salmon was tender, not dried out at all, and flaky. This recipe is so good and will be revisited often. I have to stay away from baked Irish potatoes, so we just had a side salad. It would also go well with steamed vegetables.
Enjoy!

Submit Yourself

2012-01-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

Reading Joyce Meyer's Devotion "Enjoying Everyday Life" for today, titled: "Breaking Satan's Assignment" was motivating for me. Here I'm focused on kids, my new healthy life, family and there are so many people out there that need my help. Even if it's something so simple as a smile or letting someone pulling out in front of me, helping someone get the bag of flour off of the top shelf at the grocery store.

Joyce writes:

"Most people seem to only quote half of James 4:7: 'Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' Discover the importance of the first half of this verse."

Well after much thought and research into the greek word Submit - "Hupotasso", which means to give or obey. The first half of this verse tells me to get out there and give myself/give to others by obedience of God Almighty. It's a fantastic and powerful meaning out of a such a small word - submit.

On a Healthy Note
This is day 3 on my new healthy way of life. I can't say the word "diet" because I've failed every diet you could possibly think of, let's not forget last year's fitness overload at the gym. Ugh! No, this will be a whole new way of healthy living. Fortunately, I've been eating whole grains, olive oils, Omega 3 oil and some veggies/fruit in the past. I'm just going to step it up a little more than I have. I've been educating myself a little more each day. What foods fight or prevent diseases like cancer. Ways to eat heart healthy and reduce fats. It's challenging and educational.

For instance, I've never heard of Flax Seed until I stopped and watched a snippet of Dr. Oz's show about Flax Seed and how it's good for you. I figured that I would have to go to the GNC store in order to get it and when I do pick some up, what do you do with it? Right? What is it and why is it so good for you? Well, I found out that it is rich in Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty oils and a good source of fiber. It's an excellent food of good bacteria, which is great to prevent certain diseases like Colon Cancer. Now knowing this information, where do I sign up? I've found a couple of foods that contains Flax seed. I first found World Table brand "Brown Rice and Flax Rice Crackers," which is pretty tasty. It does contain potato starches, but it does contain other good ingredients like brown rice, flax seeds, safflower oil, soy and is whole grains. I've always liked the Kashi brandname "TLC Oatmeal Raisin Cookies," but I never knew that it contains flax seeds. That is until I got to reading the ingredients. Now it might be a trace, but it is listed in the middle of the ingredients. This is just a beginning to me. As soon as I'm on my feet, who knows. Maybe I can find out where to buy the ground flax seed and the recipes to make my own treats with my new friend - Flax Seeds.

Nick wants me to keep my heart rate at around 127 while exercising because this will burn fat without gaining muscle. So as simple as it may sound, I use my step ladder. Going up and down steps just to keep my heart rate low. Challenge!!! You know in the working world, when things got overwhelming in the office. One of my favorite sayings was "I love a challenge." If keeping my heart rate at 127 during exercising will help me burn more fat, then I welcome the challenge!
I appreciate the prayers. Who knows, the next time you hear from me I'll be a Flax Seed Connoisseur. LOL!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T21:34:00.000-06:00

New Year's Eve, we went to a birthday luncheon at Logan's Restaurant. I love their chicken tenders and rolls. Yum! Doug's cousin invited us to come celebrate her husband's birthday. Afterwards, Millard and Peggy took the kids shopping and then back home with them, while Doug and I went to watch Natalie's basketball game.

We had a great time, visiting with everyone and watching UAH blast Tennessee Temple. I believe Natalie made 7 or 8 points in this game. Natalie plays on the starter team. They were so far into the game, point wise, that coach began putting in the second string. They didn't even slow down our second string because we were still putting the points on the scoreboard. I believe the final score ended up being 117 (UAH) to 37.

After the game, Natalie and Leslie invited Doug and I to meet up with them and their boyfriends at "Buffalo Wild Wings." We had a good time and their Honey BBQ Boneless wings were delish. Maryann ordered the Parmesan Garlic wings. It sounds yuck, but I tried them and they were really good. Maryann and I were discussing how good it would on a baked chicken breast. I will have to work on that dish.

That night, Millard and Peggy came to our house to help celebrate the new year. We had our own private party. Doug bought the XBOX 360 Forza Motorsport 4 some time back, but I never really got to play it until over the Christmas vacation. We were telling Millard and Peggy how much fun it was. We talked ourselves into getting it out and playing a few races. We even got Peggy to try it out. We laughed so much. Katie loved driving just so she could see how bad her car looked after the game was over. So funny to see how beat up your car gets. I absolutely recommend this game. It's just a lot of fun.

Millard and Peggy didn't stay with us until midnight. They were wiped out and ready for bedtime. We stayed up long enough to watch the Moon Pie in Mobile to fall and a little New Year's Rockin' Eve party. The only ones up to say "Happy New Years" were me and Katie, sitting next to me in bed. Uh, we were exhausted the next morning.

On New Year's Day, we always go to Doug's parents for a big pot of greens, cabbage on my part, and black-eyed peas. It's a sin that we ate so much. But I told Peggy that I had better enjoy it while I can because when everything gets back to normal, we are changing our eating habit. I'm cutting back on sodas and sweets. Drinking more water and taking time to do a low cardio exercise each day. Nicholas and I have been discussing my weight loss plan and exercise. He just finished a complete study on good nutrition and weight loss at school. I've told him what I've been doing in the past and he is helping me tweak it a little and showing me where I might be making mistakes with my weight loss plans. He has been very helpful. I've done a little research on cancer fighting foods, getting fit, and possible calorie burning foods. Really, it's a lot more food than I first thought. Basically, Nick told me to shop my groceries around the outside of the aisles and stay away from the food aisles. That's your produce, breads, meats, and poultry. Pray for me. I need all the strength and prayers that I can get. I have to watch my sodium, sugars and carbs. Everything has carbs! That's why he wants me away from the inside food aisles. Makes sense.

Today, Pat, June and Nick came over for a visit. While the guys watched ballgames, us girls played one of Katie's games, "Cinderella." Later, June, Nick and I played "Rummikub" and a card game called "Golf." June won all the Rummikub games and I think I overall won Golf, I love that game. We also got out the Motorsport XBOX 360 game for everyone to try out too. That is until the bowl games started going good. LOL!

Katie is so happy that she gets one more day of vacation before she has to start back to school. She misses school, but we (all) have enjoyed sleeping-in in the mornings. Come Wednesday, it's going to KILL us. Katie and I both have stayed up late every night and slept in every morning. Ahhh!

Happy New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!!!!!

2012-01-01T00:07:00.000-06:00

Gaylord Opryland Hotel 2011

2011-12-30T21:12:00.000-06:00

We had a little family excursion yesterday. Doug and I were wondering when the last time we went to Gaylord Opryland Country Christmas. We decided that it has to be at least 7 years ago, way before Katie was born.

We all have to have our picture taken in front of the poinsettia tree.

I just love this Nativity Scene

At the main entrance of the hotel. Y'all will have to excuse the blur in this picture. The only way to capture the lights without it looking all pitch black, you have to set my camera to twilight. This makes your shutter speed slow down, thus you need a tripod in order to make the perfect shot. Unfortunately, I was not going to lug around a tripod to make these photos.

Looking through a small window out to the waterfall

I was so happy to capture this waterfall from the skywalk, looking down. So beautiful!

Doug and I tried to get the Dreamworks Experience package a while back, but missed the specials on the rooms $100 a night. Normally, the room are over $200 a night. Needless to say, we didn't get the special deals for the Dreamworks Experience, so we couldn't get the kids' picture taken with Shrek and Puss. As you can imagine, they were the limelight of the kids night. Colton absolutely loved Shrek. Millard took him to get a better look. Shrek came over towards Colton, waved and said "hey" to him. One of the workers asked Colton what he thought of Shrek and he told her that he liked Shrek.

Katie had a blast, looking around the hotel. She couldn't fathom the thought of all of this in one hotel. We, adults, were getting pretty wore out from all the walking, but Katie wanted to see more. If it was up to her, she would research every inch of this place. She told me as we were walking in the Delta room that this was the greatest day ever. She is so funny.

Today was the "Music City Bowl" - Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest in Nashville. Well yesterday at the hotel, you had Mississippi State fan merchandise on one end of the hotel and Wake Forest on the other end. Football fans checked in with their bulldogs sweatshirts on. We found one guy holding a sign that read "Wake Forest tour". We don't know what that was all about. Buses were pulling in, one after another outside the main entrance. We don't know who were in the buses other than just visitors. People, people were everywhere. Doug and I had to watch the children, so they wouldn't get trampled. There were a few rude men, barreling through. I did say "excuse us" to one guy because I just knew he was going to run over Katie. I didn't let it ruin our trip.

As you can tell, we loved the lights inside and outside the hotel. Earlier, we did go by the Opry Mills Mall, but most stores were still closed for repair from the flood a couple of years ago. We did get to shop at the Bass Pro Shop. The rest of the stores are suppose to re-open this Spring.

We drove up the road to Rivergate Mall and did little shopping. Gymboree had a great sale going on; unfortunately, I don't have a dime to my name after Christmas. Anyway, they had their entire stock for $15.99 and less. Katie was going crazy because she heard that this mall had a Build-a-Bear. Thankfully for her, she had a little money saved from Christmas and spent it all on her new bear "Rainbow." It is cute and I think she did a good job picking out the outfit. Colton was so thrilled that I finally got him a Spiderman t-shirt. He was excited to try it on this morning that he wouldn't let me take it off.

We hope you have a great New Years weekend.

Christmas Recap

2011-12-28T22:34:00.000-06:00

Kids acting silly

Another Blissful Christmas ~

We visited friends and family during the holiday weekend. Ms. E was so sweet to bake us some goodies. I guess she and I had the same idea because we gave her a tin full of butter cookies, which according to her is one of her favorite cookies.

On Christmas morning, we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and blew out His candles for him. I split the Holiday Bon Bon recipe and made a small birthday cake to Jesus. I iced it with peppermint icing and decorated it with crushed peppermint candy. I would have taken a picture, but the next day the peppermint candy melted on the icing. Ugh! Oh well. It was still good.

Here are a few photos just to recap all that we celebrate and are thankful for this Christmas:

The kids got exactly what they wanted from Santa Claus. They couldn't believe that he remember them.

Peggy playing Uno "Moo" with the kids on Christmas morning

My parents gave Colton this Spiderman mask. He absolutely loves it! He is really BIG into the Super heroes right now.

Colton is shooting his web at the camera for me

Colton wanted dad to try on his mask. Too funny! I think we got more laughes with that crazy thing.

Zayden's First Christmas! He is 3 months old now. He is such a sweetheart.

Me and my family gave Zayden this cute little bear for Christmas. The bear talks - says "Peek-a-Boo" and moves it's arms. So sweet. I think he likes it.

Sue and Tim's clan

Mom and Katie talking it over

I have to tell you this little tidbit before ending my post. While getting ready for bed the other night, Colton was following me around like a little puppy. He does every night. I began asking him questions like: "Do you have a birthday coming up?" and "How old will you be?" Then, I asked him if he wants a Mickey Mouse party for his birthday. I said this because I really want to throw a Mickey Mouse party, I think it would be fun and there are so many cute ideas out there. Well, he let me know right then and there that he doesn't want a Mickey Mouse birthday party. Instead, he said "I wanna Hulk party."  Trying to convince him otherwise, I told him "no, you don't want a Hulk party. You would like a Mickey Mouse party better." He didn't like the idea of me trying to change his mind. "No, mommy. I not wanna Mickey Mouse. I wanna Hulk party." When I asked him why. He said, "'cause I said so." Oh no. He used my own playing card on me. Yikes! Needless to say, after much negotiation I did convince him to let me throw him a "Super Heroes" party instead. If you don't know, the Super Heroes are every one of the super heroes (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Ironman, etc.). Now, I'll have something to work with instead of HULK - GREEN.  Ugh! It reminds me convincing Katie at this age to have a Fancy Nancy party instead of Shrek.

For Christmas, Millard and Peggy gave Colton characters to go along with his Batcave, like Joker, Riddler, Penguin. It's cute, seeing him using his imagination playing with the action figures.  We were puzzled for a while when he kept telling us about a "Puckin'". We would look at one another, shake our heads, asking "what's a 'puckin'?" FINALLY! We figured it out. He calls Penguin, "Puckin'". It's quite hilarious. Now, we all call Penguin - PUCKIN'. And everytime, Peggy will begin laughing and the rest of us will at least crack a grin. LOL! My little Flash is such a character, but I wouldn't have him any other way.   He always knows how to get put a smile on his momma's face.

At the beginning of the new year, Colton and I are going to get this potty training thing down. I hope to get serious about it. Please pray for me. I also have a few projects lined up starting at the beginning of the year. I promised Leslie that I would create a cookbook with all of my favorite recipes as a present for her. I went ahead and got started this morning. I'm going through Blurb to get it published. I guess they were really the only ones I could find that would help create cookbooks. Now, I have to gather ALL thoses food pictures I had taken for my past blog posts. Ugh! I knew I should have named thoses photos. Maryann wants to get together in the next month to begin planning Leslie's bridal shower. I pulled some ideas into my Pinterest, to go over with her along with a few possible bridal shower games. Then, I've got a Super Heroes birthday party to prepare for. I've been getting a few ideas from Pinterest and online. I've been playing around with an idea.  We'll see how it turns out. Wish me luck!

Katie received some books and art books for Christmas, so she has gotten pretty wrapped up in them. I really thought that she would put the books down during Christmas vacation and not even think about it. In fact, she's been playing school in Colton's room with her bag of books. She loves to read to Colton. It is so touching. Christmas morning, she read a story to her grandma Peggy and Colton. She still says that she wants to be a teacher and I think she would make a great educator.

Jingle All The Way

2011-12-21T22:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we had such a great, but exhausting day. It was our class field trip. YAY! Katie was excited all weekend, knowing she was going to her favorite museum. The only difference, it was transformed into Santa's workshop and Elf College. Tehe. Us parents took lots of pictures. We have our usual group of moms and dads, so we got to have our little catch up session. While the children were being read a Christmas book by Mrs. Claus herself, a few of us parents were in another room talking, giving me advice about a future Disney World trip. This is way in the future because we want Colton completely potty trained. Well, a few of the men in our group have this booming voice and a Santa's helper had to come calm us down. Yeah, we got into trouble with Santa's elf. Oops! Holly asked if that meant we were put on the naughty list? We all had a very good time and it was so worth the money.

Kids Graduated from Elf College - their wearing their elf hats

A huge Christmas tree was displayed in the dining hall - Katie is pictured in front of the tree

Katie the Snowgirl

Katie in Santa's sleigh

Santa's reindeer resting and ready to go come Christmas Eve night

Katie makes an elf doll at the toy workshop

Mrs. Claus reads the children a story

I love how festive every room was decorated

Mrs. Claus' formal Dining Room area

Katie makes a pretend gingerbread cookie

The kids stop by the blacksmith and watch him make a nail for Santa's sleigh from beginning to end. It was interesting and he was funny. The kids really liked him.

Photo op for all the students to have their picture made

Bakin' Away!

2011-12-17T23:34:00.000-06:00

Last night, Doug and I didn't get to bed until around 1-2 o'clock in the morning. Needless to say, we slept in this morning. I didn't look at the clock when I got up this morning, but Doug said that we got up around 9:00. Wow! I hate having to waste good sunlight, but it was nice to actually sleep in today. Ahhh!

The Keebler Elves quickly got busy in the kitchen today. I wanted to make more, but was a little confused as to if I might be making too much or not enough for this week. Doug's got an office party Tuesday and Katie's got her party Tuesday. Then, there's next weekend. You see where I'm going with this, don't you? I was excited to finally try out my new mixer. Y'all. All I can say is sheer bliss. I was surprised how quickly I could get a batch of cookie dough mixed. No, stopping and scrapping. Start, stop and restart over and over. I just love it! I couldn't ask for anything better. Thank you Doug!

Another new kitchen gadget, I bought a few months ago was also used for the first time today. First, I must say that I grew up on the traditional Christmas sugar cookies, butter cookies, and especially spritz cookies. At Christmas time, my mom would make bookoodles of spritz cookies with the sugar sprinkles. Now, I know why she made tons of these little butter cookies. It's so EASY! I love it! I found a great Spriz recipe from Christmas Cookies. So simple and tasty. Here are my spritz cookies that I made today. One batch makes around 60 cookies.

Christmas Spritz Cookies

Spritz
Use a cookie press to create lovely shapes in this easy, buttery cookie.

2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup butter
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Heat oven to 400F. In large mixer bowl combine sugar, butter, egg, salt, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture is light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add flour. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed, 2-3 minutes. Place dough in cookie press. Form desired shapes 1 inch apart on cookie sheets. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Note: You can also color the dough with food coloring, and decorate with dragees and colored sugar. I have 2 Pampered Chef cookie sheets to bake with, but I needed more cookie sheets to fit all the cookies. So, I placed parchment paper on an extra regular metal cookie sheet and put more spritz cookies on it. I found that I had a hard time getting the spritz dough to stay on the paper. The cookies didn't turn out perfectly shaped like the Pampered Chef cookie sheets. My advice would be not to use the parchment paper. I just like using parchment so there wouldn't be such a big mess.

I'm planning on making a batch of Chocolate Spritz Cookies hopefully tomorrow. Wish me luck! The recipe is exactly the same as above except for the cocoa.

Chocolate Spritz Cookies
from Hershey's
Prep time: 25 minutes
Ingredients
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
Decorating sugars, sprinkles or candied cherries (optional)

Directions
Heat oven to 350F.

Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy in large bowl. Stir together flour, cocoa and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

Fill cookie press with dough. Press dough onto cool, ungreased cookie sheet. Garnish with sugars, sprinkles or cherries, if desired.

Bake 5-7 minutes or just until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies.

Variations: Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Spritz Cookies: Prepare dough as directed above. Press dough onto cool, ungreased cookie sheet with ribbon plate in cookie press. Bake and cool as directed. Melt 1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Chips or Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips with 1 tablespoon shortening (do not use butter, margarine, spread or oil). Gently dip part of each cookie into chocolate. Place on wax paper-covered tray. Refrigerate until firm.

Zesty Cheddar Cheese Straws

I had too much fun with my cookie press today. Knowing Doug LOVES Cheese Straws, I thought I could try to make some. Millard and Peggy came by to drop off the kids and we had them here for supper. I told them about my idea and they thought it would be a good idea too. I found a great recipe from Paula Deen. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her? These cheese straws, I made are so soft and have a wonderful flavor. I hope you'll find time to make these because they are so good.

Zesty Cheese Straws

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 300F.

In a food processor, add the butter, cheese, flour, salt and cayenne and process until a smooth dough is formed. Scoop it into a cookie press, fitted with a flat ridged tip. Pipe the dough in 2 inch strips (2 clicks) onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. (Alternatively, refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes and roll on a lightly floured surface into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Cut into smaller rectangles, about 2 by 3 inches, with a pizza wheel or sharp knife). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to racks to cool.

Note: I don't own a food processor, so I made this delicious cheese dough in my Kitchenaid mixer just fine. In fact, I think it incorporated the ingredients really well like this and stirred it right into a nice ball for me. Yay! The measurement listed above for the amount of cayenne pepper to use gives the straws a very mild flavor. Too mild for my husband. So with the second batch, I put a heaping 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and Doug still says it's too mild. The next time I make these, which I already have a request, he wants me to double the measurement. I don't think I'll do the full double the measurement, but I will add a little more.
Well, now Doug has 2 batches of cheese straws to take to work for his Christmas party. That is, if we can stop eating them. They are just so good, even the kids like them.

A Quick Update
Katie didn't get to go to J's slumber party. J's mom called me yesterday morning, letting me know that she just got back from picking up J at school. The first thing going through my mind is she's sick. Sure enough, she was sick, but she didn't have a fever. Becca said that J was crying and so upset about missing her party ontop of being sick. Poor baby. I felt so bad for her. Becca decided to just move the party to this Wednesday night. Katie was sad, but she understood and she got to stay with her grandparents, so it all worked out.

Congratulations Leslie!

2011-12-17T12:09:00.000-06:00

Last night my niece, Leslie, received her bachelor's degree in Nursing. We are so proud of her. It is tradition for every nurse to have a separate and more intimate Candle Light or Pinning Ceremony the night before graduation. Unfortunately, Leslie's ceremony was on a Thursday night (school night) and we couldn't make it, but she understood. We had the opportunity to go to Ryan's Pinning Ceremony and it is very moving. I was thrilled to be able to make Leslie's graduation though.

Isn't she pretty?

We are so proud of her and wish her all the best on her new adventures

Chex PB and Chocolate Blast Recipe

2011-12-15T20:33:00.000-06:00

Katie's friend, J, is having a birthday slumber party tomorrow night and has invited Katie to come. She is so excited. Eventhough J and Katie go to the same school, she hasn't really been able to spend time with J since this past summer. Becca and I have been trying to get the girls together for a while. I asked Becca if I could bring a snack. She told me if I wanted to bring one of my good appetizers that would be great. I thought the girls would like to munch of this little treat, while playing games or watching a movie. It's really good and I wanted to share the recipe with you.

Chex PB and Chocolate Blast Recipe

6 cups Rice Chex cereal
1 cup white vanilla baking chips (8 oz.)
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup red and green candy-coated chocolate candies
1 cup dry-roasted peanuts

Directions
Line 2 cookie sheets with foil or waxed paper. Place 3 cups cereal in large bowl. In small microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on High about 1 minute or until chips can be stirred smooth. Pour melted chips over cereal in bowl; stir or toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in single layer on one of the cookie sheets. Refrigerate 5 minutes or until set.

Repeat the above using the remaining cereal and the peanut butter chips; refrigerate 5 minutes or until set.

Gently break up coated cereal into large bowl. Add candy and peanuts; stir gently to combine. Store in airtight container.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 22 servings (1/2 cup each)

Doug got out the Zune and charged it up for the kids to play with. We just have Bugs Bunny and Tinkerbell downloaded on it. I got tickled at Colton all sprawled out on our bed, watching Bugs Bunny.

Katie's class "Read to Feed" campaign expires next Tuesday. I am so proud of her dedication. As you know, her goal is 90 books. She has currently read 80 books. I know she will be so relieved when she doesn't have to read 6+ books a day. LOL! Her homework time has gone from an hour and a half to two hours a day. It's real challenging on gymnastics day. Shew!

Today marks the second week, Katie has had a spelling test. She thinks she did well. Ms. G gives the children 10 words to learn to spell, plus a bonus word worth 5 points, by the end of the week. For homework, each night the students are to write each spelling word several times, write sentences with each word and put them in alphabetical order. At the end of the week, she checks the students spelling notebooks for extra grade points and they take the test. It's a great concept to get them to memorize and understand the meaning of each word. Last week, Katie scored 105 on her test because she got the bonus word correct "December." This week's bonus word is "holiday."

You can tell it's close to Christmas time around here. Katie is tired of school and so ready for a break. Colton is tired of taking his sissy to school without him going too. He is so bored with sissy being at school. Of course, I can't get anything done throughout the day because he is right underneath my feet. He is at the age that drives all mommas crazy. So I can get a few things done around the house, I do like any good parent. I give him a bowl of cereal, filled with tons of sugar and carbs and stick him in front of the television. We were doing good watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins. Now, he thinks he is too old for those cartoons. Now, he wants to watch cartoons like Batman, Hulk, Spiderman and Superman. Ugh! Thank goodness for Netflix. Of course, he'll watch 5 minutes of an episode and announce that he doesn't like that "super spider." This is code for select a different episode so he can watch only 5 minutes of it. Then, you have to select a different superhero so he can go through all of it. Lastly, he'll insist that it's a splendid idea to watch 15 seconds worth of superhero videos from YouTube. Thanks Paw-paw Millard! Love ya!

This weekend, Katie and I have plans to make COOKIES. Doug's on me for not breaking in my mixer yet. Wish me good luck!

Zayden's Baptismal 2011

2011-12-11T19:33:00.000-06:00

This afternoon the family came together to witness my great nephew's baptismal. Zayden's three months old now and such a sweetheart. After pictures, we all met up at Zayne and Whitney's for hors d'oeuvres. It was so nice to sit and visit with those that we haven't met yet like Zayne's aunts and uncles. It was also great to visit with those we haven't seen in a while. They had a very nice little party and of course, passed Zayden around like a sack of potatoes. LOL! Enjoy the pictures.

Photo taken right after the baptismal celebration

Proud Parents

Proud Grandparents

and Great Grandparents!

Honey Almond Sugar Scrub Recipe & Preparing for Christmas

2011-12-10T22:58:00.000-06:00

Here is my Sugar Scrub as promised

I tried a little bit of my first batch that I made. I was very pleased with the results. I got the idea from TidyMom. I was interested in making sugar scrub of my own since this past Summer, but never had the chance. Then, I thought it would make a nice Christmas gift for the ladies in my family. I couldn't get over how easy it was to mix up. It took longer to decorate the glass containers then it did to mix and fill them up. My sugar scrub is different from TidyMom's because her recipes calls for cinnamon essential oils and other warm spices. It being no secret to my sisters, I had a couple of them to chose their scents. I couldn't find cinnamon essential oil at Hobby Lobby, so I purchased Honey Almond and Japanese Lotus. Well, I'm glad I didn't search any further for the cinnamon because none of the ladies liked cinnamon flavor anyway; however, they did like the smell of the Honey Almond. It's a light, sweet scent, similar to vanilla.

Honey Almond Vanilla Sugar Scrub
1 cup Pure Cane Sugar
1 cup light olive oil
5 drops vitamin E oil
6 drops of honey almond essential oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 16 oz. glass container with lid

Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended. Using a spatula, transfer mix into the container and secure lid. Contents will settle, mix before using. Scoop a teaspoon or two of the scrub on your hands and gently massage in circular motions onto your skin. Leave on for 3-4 minutes before thoroughly rinsing. The scrub will tighten on your skin.

I made these instruction tags for my sugar scrub.
Sugar Scrub Gift Tag
You can print them out for your own personal use.

I bought these pretty cocktail spoons from World Market. I thought they added a nice touch.

I designed this simple label for the top, which lists the name of the sugar scrub flavor.

The kids checking out the Christmas ornaments on the tree.

Katie loves her glasses

If you've kept up with my blog these past several years, you would know that it's tradition to sleep by the family Christmas tree. This year, Colton is old enough to participate in our tradition. I stayed up with them until everyone was asleep. We watched the "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" with The Rockettes and "The Christmas Bunny".

This afternoon, Peggy and I took the children to see Santa Claus at the mall. Katie wasn't too shy talking to Santa and telling him what she would like for Christmas. Colton on the other hand, seemed a little timid. I think that if sister didn't get up on Santa's lap, he wouldn't have attempted.

Busy Christmas Season

2011-12-04T22:06:00.001-06:00

This big elf has been busy this Christmas Season. I started on the sugar scrub gifts. I even tried it out myself. I think after Christmas, I'm going to make me some to keep around here for me. I decided to make candies this year along with my cookie plate for Christmas parties. Saturday, I spend most of the morning dipping just about everything in chocolate (peanuts, pretzels and cherries). Doug requested pecan clusters and white chocolate pretzels. I've got it on my list for the week.

Today, we met up with Leslie and the other bridesmaids at David's Bridal, trying on dresses. Katie picked out her dress, which was on sale. She tried her best to get me to purchase a tiara to go with it. "Momma, I think this crown would make my dress look even more beautiful" she said. The small tiara that she wanted was $30. I just didn't see paying that for one day. Besides, Leslie thought it would be pretty to have a flower in her hair. I told Katie that we would go check out Hobby Lobby or Michael's for a pretty tiara. Pumping her fist in the air, she smiled and said "YES!" It's a girl thing. What can I say? LOL! At the store, she couldn't keep her hands to herself. She had to touch all the rhinestone diamond necklaces, earrings and rows and rows of wedding dresses. They had Vera Wang's dresses in her own very spot. Pretty. We got to see a Royal dress that was similar to Princess Kate's dress. Absolutely beautiful! Speaking of Princess Kate. Real quick insight. I heard that she and Prince William are expecting a baby and possibly twins. Way to go Will! LOL! They waste no time at all.

I had to go to a few places before going home. It was CRAZY in town. Everyone was everywhere. It will be like this for the next several weeks. I wished I could have shopped a little longer, but I never have enough hours in the day. I told Doug that I'll just have to come back another day and enjoy looking at everything. I just love to look at everything. Michael's had a great sale on Christmas picks 60% off. It may have been crowded tonight, but no one lost their Christmas spirit and manners. Merry smiles every corner you turn. It makes a huge difference.

I've got another long week and I hope to get some house cleaning done. Shew! This month will be gone so fast because so much is going on. Katie has two spend the night parties to attend, I just hope they are not on the same night. I know when the first one is, but haven't heard a date for the other one. Yikes! My niece, Leslie, graduates from college this month. We will have another RN in our family. She took her last exam this past week. I think she's glad that it's over, but now she has to get a wedding together within 5 months. Woo Hoo! We got a sneak peek at her wedding dress. It was absolutely gorgeous. I'm so excited and happy for her and Chase. It seems like they've been engaged forever. Also, I can't forget that Katie's class will be going on a field trip before school is out for Christmas vacation. I'll be sure to take plenty of photos and share with you the loads of fun, we will be having that day. When I have an opportunity, I will post more about the sugar scrub I made. Along with the recipe. I think you'll like it.

Take care and God Bless!

By the way, we watched the news tonight about the BCS Bowl. All I will say is . . .

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-30T12:52:00.000-06:00

All the leftover turkey and dressing is gone. The Christmas tree is up, the lighted deer is outside to greet thoses that pass by. The Christmas cards are addressed and ready to mail out. Get this, we had our first pre-Christmas snow the past couple of days. It started snowing at 4PM on Monday and continued to snow until around 11AM yesterday. The kids loved it! It's too bad the snow didn't stick, it would have been beautiful.

The kids catching snowflakes with their hands and tongues

IT'S BEING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS!

Our Thanksgiving get together was enjoyable and fun. The ladies took home a container of my lip gloss that I made and everyone went home with their Blessings Mix. My goodness the food that was prepared and no one went away hungry. I know I had a good time, catching up on everyone's lives. I hated that not everyone could make it and of course our family out West, but I understand. Below are a few pictures of the day:

Dash kept running off, so I had to hold him down for pictures

Five Generations

I still can't get over our Jon-Boy is a Senior

The new homeowners at their new house

The kids love Zayden

I can't believe I forgot to get a picture of the cook, while I was outside taking photos

Katie's class is partaking in the "Read for Food" campaign for a region in South America. Katie is so excited about participating in this campaign. She has set her goal at 90 books, which includes chapters, within the next three weeks. She was telling a lady at the grocery store about it and how many books she wants to read for the cause. I thought it was so sweet that this woman took out some money out of her pocket and gave it to Katie for a donation towards the cause. How selfless was that? Katie didn't know what to do with it. We walked out the store and she asked me, "momma, why did that lady just give me this money?" I explained to her that it was a donation towards the "Read for Food". "What am I suppose to do with it?" she asked. The campaign began yesterday and she read 3 books. She wanted to read more, but she had a headache and I didn't want her to push it. I'm glad Mrs. G said that a chapter will count as a book. I hope Katie reaches her goal. Now, Doug and I need to decide how much cash donation per book to give her.

Katie's problem with solving math questions are improving and Mrs. G seems to think she is ready to read level H books. Of course, Katie reminds me that she normally reads level G, but Mrs. G wanted her to try level H. She did pretty good reading it last night.

Colton is still enjoying watching videos from Kids 123. They do have some really good and educational videos for preschoolers. Colton's favorite would be "Animal Sounds", "Five Little Monkeys", and "10 In The Bed". It's just too bad each video doesn't last more than 15 seconds because I'm constantly having to stop what I'm doing just to start another one. It's funny, when he wants to watch his videos on the computer, he'll get up in my face and spray the word "com-PU-ter". I usually have to wipe off my face everytime he says the word. I also have to hold back the laughter.

Thanks-Giving Day 21 & Cute Craft Ideas - RTR!

2011-11-21T22:19:00.000-06:00

Today's note of gratitude may sound a little weird, but then I am a little weird. LOL! Anywho. I'm thankful for the day, my dad suggested that I take a photography course at school. He had this 1970 something Minolta camera and never really knew how to use it (all these years). There are SEVERAL family photos that are over exposed, under exposed or that funky orange color. I needed an elective for school and he wanted me to teach him how to use his camera. I enjoyed taking the class a lot more than I thought I would and it actually sparked my on going interest in photography. I did learn how to use my dad's camera and had some pretty good photos developed from it. To this day, you'll see some of my photo posts. I am still learning new tips and effects. Not too long ago, my dad gave me his old Minolta camera. The film camera that started my photo taking hobby. Thanks Dad! I love you!

Hanging Paper Maple Leaves from Craft Ideas

What You'll Need:
- scrapbook paper in the colors of the season
- Spellbinders Set of maple leaves
- Wizard or Double-Do XL cutting and embossing machines
- stick glue
- sewing machine and matching thread

Instructions:

1. For each leaf you need to cut out 10 shapes (5 reversed). Because one side of the paper is white, glue 2 leaves back to back so that both sides are printed. When finished, you will have 5 sets of “doubled leaves”.
2. Line the leaves up in a stack and paper clip the sides together to hold in place.
3. Sew a straight line down the center of the stack to sew the leaves together and remove from the machine.
4. Cut away the excess bottom thread. Use the top thread to hang the leaves up.

Salt Dough Leaf Prints from The Artist Woman

What You'll Need:
salt dough, recipe to follow
artificial silk leaves
round container to use as cutter
oven
acrylic paint
mod podge for sealer

Salt Dough Recipe
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 - 2 cups water
extra flour for kneading

Mix first 3 ingredients together to form a nice soft dough. Knead smooth with extra flour. The more you knead this dough the easier it is to work with.

Keep leftover dough in the fridge.

Instructions:
Make up your salt dough. This recipe will make enough for 8 rounds.

Roll out dough and the using circular container or bowl, (coffee can) cut your rounds.

Pick a leaf for your design. I initially tried this with fresh leaves but they did not leave a good imprint. I think it would have worked with clay.

The silk leaves leave a better impression in the salt dough.

Place where you want it and press the leaf into the dough.

When you lift it off you should have a nice impression.

Place on a parchment or foil covered cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 2 - 3 hours or until hard.

Let cool.

Take some acrylic paint in Autumn colors.

After trial and error I found the best way to paint these is to paint the leaves in different colors first.
Let dry.

Then using dark brown paint that you have watered down apply a wash, like an antiquing glaze to the entire surface. The dark color picks up the veining in the leaf and still lets the Autumn color show thru.

Let dry and then apply a coat of glossy Mod Podge as a sealer.

Chocolate Acorn Cookies from The Celebration Shoppe

You’ll need:
mini Keebler Stripe cookies
Hershey’s Kisses
small piece of black licorice for your stem.

I attached them with a small dot of icing and done.

It's that time of year again!

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!

Thanks-Giving Day 20 & A Little Crafty (of course)

2011-11-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, I had the joyful opportunity to sit down and have a lovely pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, Doug's parents and Katie at church. Our church does this every year, where we try to get together at our facility with our friends and loved ones. We are all served a traditional supper by our wonderful deacons by candlelight and serenaded by a few choir members. After dinner, Bro. Steve says a few words, followed by communion. Then, we are dismissed by prayer. I really enjoyed tonight with my family.

So tonight, I'm thankful for still having the ability to get together with my family and give thanks until the Lord for all He has done in my life.

Katie's Thankful Tree centerpiece

I thought this was touching. She is thankful for "Jeasiss" aka Jesus

Checking in on my blogs that I like to follow, I caught a glimpse of this precious Snowman. I have a weak spot when it comes to snowmen. I just think they are so sweet. This guy (below) is chilling as a great centerpiece from Shindig Parties. I fell in LOVE! I breezed through the instructions on how to make this little guy and it sounds pretty simple. I don't know if I'll be able to make him this year, but I had to share him with you. CLICK HERE for instructions and further information.

Thanks-Giving Day 19 & Blessing Mix

2011-11-19T23:05:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for Adobe Photoshop and having the ability to do so many different, fun things. YAY!

I've been a little busy making some tasty hostess gifts for our guests this Thanksgiving. It took me a few days, but I put together the final touch last night. I made enough Blessing Mix for an army. I ended up making 43 gifts. Shew! I got this idea from Caramel Potatoes. I wanted to put my own spin on this treat. I thought it would be nice to stick the bag full of mix inside a paper cornucopia. I didn't like the idea of putting Hershey's Kisses inside the bag with the rest of my mix, so I place a little double sided tape on the bottom and stuck it on top the bag. I think it turned out nice. After Halloween, I couldn't find any candy corn. It's the only thing that's missing from this mix, so if you are planning on making this next year - BUY the CANDY CORN ahead of time.
Blessing Mix Tag

I got the cornucopia template from Make and Takes CLICK HERE for free template and instructions.

Thanks-Giving Day 17 & 18 and Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

2011-11-18T22:59:00.001-06:00

I'm thankful for . . .

having the chance to be involved in so many wonderful opportunities in my life, whether it was on the job or volunteer work. It was and is truly a blessing!
having the opportunity to visit so many places all over the country. I was one of the blessed children with parents that loved to travel. My grandparents lived up North, so we would drive 12+ hours to visit them. The older I got, the more I appreciated seeing the sights. I still remember the two week trip in the late 80s. We drove to North Dakota and all down South, to New Mexico and across the big state of Texas. We visited beautiful landmarks and family. It was great! I'll never forget.

Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas

Thankful Tree from Family Fun
The kids and I just finished our Thankful tree this past week. Katie and Nia traced the leaf templates for me on construction paper. They wanted to help cut them out, but I felt that I should do this job. Katie wrote on the leaves of all the people and things that she is grateful for. It was sweet, she even wrote her P.E. coach's name. She really does like Coach B.

Just a couple decorations that I thought would look great this Thanksgiving.

from Weddingbee

from Better Homes and Gardens
for other creative ideas, recipes and crafts, just check out my Pin.

Thanks-Giving Day 15 & 16 and more Thanksgiving Ideas

2011-11-16T22:27:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for . . .

the simple things of life. Out of the blue, my son will reach over and grab my hand to hold in his. My daughter will come up and give me the biggest hug just for the heck of it. They are such sweet kids and I love them so much. My husband will make arrangements for us to have a date night, without children, just to enjoy each other's company.
I think I must have the largest sweet tooth everah and I've got CHOCOLATE right at the top of that list. I just LOVE chocolate, no matter how bitterly dark or sweet milk chocolaty. It's an addiction I know, but one I almost can not live without.

Pilgrim Candy Wrapper from Laurie Furnell
Laurie's blog offers this free printable candy wrapper for this Thanksgiving holiday, so go on over and take advantage of this great gift.

Tom Turkey Cookie from Seventh House On The Left
Is this not precious? I love it, I just wish I have the time and patience to make these cuties. Hopefully, you'll have that chance.

Ingredients:
Nutter Butter Cookies
M&Ms Minis (brown only)
White Cookie Icing
Red Jelly Bellys
Orange Jelly Bellys
Yellow Jelly Bellys
Candy Corn
Reese Cups (full sized)
Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies

The assembly process is pretty much self explanatory. Just use the photo above as your guideline. Simple as that! However, we do have a few tips and tricks to pass along:

The secret is in the icing. Over the years, we have tried several icings. Not only does it have to taste good, but it also needs to serve as “glue” to keep the Little Gobblers in one piece. Without good stiff icing, let’s just say they won’t ride in the car very well. In our opinion, Betty Crocker Cookie Icing works best. One tube will make about 6 Little Gobblers.
Hunt them down. The Nabisco Famous Chocolate Wafer Cookies are used for the base and the back of the turkey. Sometimes, they can be a little hard to find. But if your grocery store carries them, you will find them in the ice cream topping section (you would think they would be in the cookie section, right?). But if you have trouble finding them, thanks to the World Wide Web, you can purchase them online. Or you can visit the Nabisco website and search for them by zip code. Also, make sure you buy an extra box because they tend to break very easily.
From Point A to Point B. First of all, you need to make sure your Little Gobblers have enough time to sit and hang out before you show them off to your friends and family. When transporting these little guys, we line the bottom of deep Rubbermaid containers with paper towels. Then place the turkeys on the paper towels diagonally side by side (so the feathers don’t hit each other). The paper towels help the turkeys stay in one place. If we are making a whole flock of Little Gobblers, we like to use the disposable roasting pans.

Parents Magazine posted these sweet gobblers

Make It: Glue google eyes onto small pom-poms and let them dry. Help your kids fold chenille stems into legs and feet and glue them onto the pinecone. Cut out a triangular beak from orange or yellow foam. Glue on the eyes and the beak; let the creature dry completely before beginning a fun game of make-believe with your kids.

Thanks-Giving Day 14 & Corny Cookies and Corn Cupcake Recipes

2011-11-14T22:53:00.001-06:00

I'm thankful for having the opportunity to stay at home with my children. It's been a struggle at times, but we have been able to manage. My husband and I knew it was the right thing for our family and we have absolutely no regrets. Sure, like any mother, I do get frustrated and hold my breath when money gets tight. We couldn't have made it without God bringing us through our good and bad times.

from Disney Family Fun

Corny Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vanilla frosting
Green fruit leather
M&M's or Reese's Pieces candies

Using an electric beater, cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix well. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the flour a little at a time until the ingredients are well combined. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Working on a floured surface with one part at a time, roll out the dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Using a knife, cut out corncob shapes about 4 inches long. Place the cookies on ungreased baking sheets and bake for 9 minutes or just until the edges brown. Let the cookies set on the sheets for about 2 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frost the cooled cookies. Next, use kitchen shears to cut husks from the fruit leather to fit the sides of each cookie. Press the husks in place atop the frosting, with the tips down a bit. Now fill in the middle with candy kernels gently pressed into place. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen cookies.

from By Stephanielynn

Thanks-Giving Day 13

2011-11-13T22:30:00.000-06:00

I won't write much tonight, I've hurt my wrist somehow and it's giving me fits. I just wanted to go ahead and post what I'm thankful for this the 13th Day of November.

I'm thankful for living in the South! I was born and raised here in the good old South and I LOVE IT! The weather never stays the same everyday, so you never get bored. The hillsides this autumn has been absolutely gorgeous, just like a Thomas Kincaid painting with all the colors. So beautiful! You just can't get that any where. The smiling faces, I see every single day of my life. We all have our ways of greeting each other, whether we know each other or not. Men usually smile and nod, while ladies smile and mouth "hey." The small talk at the checkout line, whether it be from the clerk or the person waiting in line with you. It's automatic mommy talk in line, when you see there is another mommy right behind you. We may swap recipes or advice within the next couple of minutes you maybe in line. It's a wonderful place to live. You never drive a few miles without seeing a church or some sort of Christian run organization. Our favorite saying if you say or did something stupid is "Bless your heart." If you are having a hard time in life, we respond with "bless your heart." If you are generous and giving, we respond with "well, bless your heart" or "God bless ya darlin'." It's amazing how many ways a simple sentence could mean sooo many different things like "God bless you" or "Bless your heart." I love it! I love the fact people that are not from around here, think us Southerns are stupid because of our accent. When they see some of the few idiots on television interviews, acting crazy, automatically think there are nothing but a bunch of rednecks livin' down here. We'll just keep givin' you a big ol' smile and say "Bless Your Heart!" We love our God, men, family, football and guns. We are not afraid to LOVE our friends and family. Support our boys out on the field. Most of us believe in conservation and self defense, when needed. If you wear Bama apparel, be expected to be greeted with a "ROLL TIDE."

Yes, I LOVE the South! So, I would like to send you a big "ROLL TIDE" and a heart felt "well, bless your heart."

Thanks-Giving Day 12 & Pumpkin Spice Cookies

2011-11-12T21:29:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for friends, new and old, close-by and far away. God has blessed me by allowing me to marry my best friend; having the opportunity to always make new friends and still keep in touch with friends that I've known pretty much all my life. I just appreciate every one of my friends, buddies, and girlies. Love you guys!!!!

Like I wrote yesterday, I've been hoping to make this day possible for a while. I had a few more poses in mind, but the kids were not having a great day. It's amazing. At the end of the day of a photo shoot with the kids, I have the strongest urge to start smoking and I don't smoke. So instead, I made a tall glass of Coke Zero Cherry and ate a few M&Ms.

Now after a very tough day, this is what I have. They would have been awesome, if they were having a good day.

I read the recipe below from My Computer is My Canvas and had to post it, in order to keep this recipe in my file. I'm really hoping to make it. I sounds so good and the picture of the finished cookies, looks mouth watering. But of course, I LOVE pumpkin.

Pumpkin Spice Cookies
Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix
Can of Pumpkin

Mix the two ingredients together, do not beat. Do not add egg or oil! Once the batter forms drop by spoonfuls on to a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Spread a little cream cheese icing and sprinkles on top. Sounds so good!

Thanks-Giving Day 11 & Family Update

2011-11-11T15:09:00.000-06:00

I'm thankful for God blessing me with such a beautiful day, so I may take pictures of my children. I've been planning this for a long time and so glad I was able to do it. My drive everyday to pick up Katie from school, I've noticed this patch of woods that is so picturesque. You'll have to stay tuned . . .

I thought I would take this time to put aside the Thanksgiving crafts and recipes and give you a family update.

Doug and I are busy as ever with work, school and preparing for the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday. As you may know, Doug and I will be hosting this year's Thanksgiving Day family dinner. I think Thanksgiving comes second to Christmas as being my favorite holiday. I absolutely LOVE the whole traditions of Thanksgiving. Watching the Macy's Day Parade in the morning, picking out which float is my favorite. Thanking God for all He has done for us and our blessings. Having a table or in our case, multiple tables full of food. The turkey, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatos, and a sea of different kinds of pies, cookies and other desserts. Doug suggested us going nontraditional with this year's Thanksgiving meal. I love turkey and dressing, especially the way we cook the turkey. We deep fry our turkey. It is so juicy and tender, like butter. Of course, my heart sank that brief moment when Doug suggested having a breakfast or some other course that is nontradition. Needless to say, we're fry up that turkey come the 24th of November.

We got Katie's report card last week and we are very pleased, all A's. When I told her what was on her report card, she was all grins. She has worked very hard for those good grades too, especially putting up with me. LOL! Her being the youngest in her class, she will have to stay on top of her studies and practice, practice, practice. She is doing so great reading. Now that reading comes a little easier for her, she likes it. Mrs. G has her reading a level F. I think a level F is probably equivalent to a level 2 because that's what Katie can read from our library at home. I know she can read the Dr. Seuss books real well. Right now, Mrs. G and I are trying to work on her reading comprehension. It's okay, but I can tell there is a little difficulty. I was the same way. Of course, I wasn't 6 years old either. Her main comprehension problem comes from solving math problems. You give her 5 sheets of nothing but typical math problems and she can answer them in nothing flat. You give her 1 question in the form of a story to solve and there is no telling what answer she'll come up with. She can read the question just fine. It's understanding the question in order to solve it is the problem. I've started working with her this past Wednesday, by typing out some word problems for her to solve. She worked on 3 of the 20 problems. She had a little trouble understanding, but I know in time she'll learn how to solve those type of problems. Meanwhile, I've asked Mrs. G for extra problems in this area. She's suppose to be working on getting them to me by next week, hopefully. I think if Katie practices on a daily basis, she'll get it and I think Mrs. G will agree. Her math is great. She can count by 2's, 5's and 10's up to 100.

I can not believe I haven't posted this until now. Ugh! Where is my brain? LOL! Anyway, at the beginning of school. I would ask Katie how school was and what did she do? I would always hear, "good" and "I don't remember." I got tired of hearing the same old thing every single day. I remember my mother would beg me to tell her about my day. I don't know my reasons for not telling her, but I guess I'm paying for my raising. Well, since then we've come up with a game on the drive home. It started out she had to tell me 3 things that actually happened at school that day. If she told me 3 things before we got home, she got a treat. The treat would be anything from yogurt raisins, a couple cookies or a few gold fish. About a month ago, she answers 5 facts that happened at school. She loves playing this game that she brings it up as soon as she gets in the car. Yesterday when I picked her up, she asked me if she could tell me 6 things that happened at school before we get home. It's race against the clock. It's amazing how we went from not saying anything all the way home, to talking all the way home. She tells me everything that happens at school, including who was being mean or nice to her. I just hope she takes my advice when it's needed.

Colton is a very curious little toddler. He does things that Katie, at that age, never would have thought of. For instance, he has put his dirty diaper in the toilet the other day. Yesterday, Doug walked into the bathroom just to find a toilet filled with toys. There is something about this toilet. In a few years from now, we might read this and get a good chuckle, but right now he is adding more gray hair to my head. He has developed a love for comic heroes such as Batman, Superman, and Spiderman. So every time we see one of these super comic hero, he goes crazy. He has gotten at the age now that he enjoys me reading to him and sing songs. In a good mood, I can get him to copy the hand motions.

Thanks-Giving Day 9 & 10

2011-11-10T19:37:00.000-06:00

I'm Thankful for . . .

being blessed with a such a loving and supportive family. I consider myself close with all my siblings and their husbands. I try to be close to their children and now grandchildren. I try my best to keep in contact with my aunts, uncles and their children. I love and are close to my parents and my husband's parents. We all have a great relationship. I just thank God for letting this closeness to happen and pray it will continue.
God leading me and my family to such an awesome church family several years ago. Our church mission is to spread the Love and Lifestyle of Jesus Christ. My church family are a wonderful group of people and wouldn't take anything for them.

Thanksgiving Ideas

Oreo Turkey
from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
Double Stuffed Oreo Cookies
Candy Corn
Whoppers
Peanut Butter Cups
Chocolate Frosting
Yellow Frosting
Red Frosting (optional)
Black Sprinkles for eyes (optional)

*For these kinds of things I love to use the little pre-filled tubes of colored frosting you can buy in the baking isle. The chocolate is easy to make, and homemade actually works a little better because you can make it stiff. However for the colored details like yellow and red, these little tubes are great. It doesn’t really matter what they taste like and they last forever (which is both cool and disturbing at the same time.) I’m using store-bought tubes for everything here purely for convenience- works great!

First step: Grab a cookie. You don’t have to put frosting in there, but I like to because it holds in the candy corn a little better. Just give it a little squeeze of chocolate.

Then stuff in your candycorn. If you’re in some sort of candy corn shortage, you can cut off the white tips to use later for your beaks. I think the candy corn sticks in better with the tip so I leave it on. Go ahead and do all of the cookies through this step.

Next put a dab of frosting on the opposite end of the cookie and secure it to the “base” cookie. It helps to place them next to a wall as they dry so they stay put.

While those are drying, unwrap your PB cups. Take a sharp knife and cut a sliver off of one end. (I don’t need to tell you what to do with the sliver, do I?) It helps to gently cut in a sawing motion so you don’t break the PB cup. (Although I wouldn’t have to tell you what to do with a broken one either, would I?) Cut it from the bottom.

Once those are ready, flip your cookies over, but you may find it’s easy to keep them next to the wall. My frosting was a bit soft, so they needed the extra support.
Place a dab of frosting on the pb cup, and place it on the cookie like so:

Now those little guys will need heads, so glue a whopper on there with frosting as well. I put frosting on the side of the whopper that hits both the cookie and the PB cup. Wouldn’t want a turkey running around with its head cut off, would we??

While they’re still laying there, use a dab of frosting (I use yellow) and glue on the white tip of a candy corn for a beak. Put two yellow dots on for eyes, and for the black spots in the eyes you can use a dab of chocolate frosting, or a mini chocolate chip, or a little sprinkle like I’ve used. A sprinkle is really the perfect size if you have them

Once the beak stays put you can flip them over and draw on some little yellow feet. If you have red frosting too (usually comes in a set with the tube of yellow) you can add a little gobble gobble.

Above instructions supplied by Our Best Bites. CLICK HERE for full tutorial from Our Best Bites.

Pilgrim Hats
Those are just marshmallows dipped in chocolate and placed on a fudge strip cookie. Use yellow frosting to make the buckle.

Thanks-Giving Day 8

2011-11-08T21:52:00.000-06:00

Day 8 - I'm thankful for the location and actual house that I reside in. It was 16 years from this month that God lead me and my husband to this very spot. We were so exhausted at looking at houses and just knew this was the first fixer-upper, we would enjoy fixing. This house has been there and seen us go through a LOT of changes and updates.

I think these Gumdrop Turkey are sooo cute and would make a great craft for the kids. I found these gobblers Design.wash.rinse.repeat.

This Thanksgiving, I'm sending my guest home with a little "I'm Thankful For You" gift. I got the idea from The Idea Room. Each packets will have a "Blessings" message tied to them. I thinks it's such a great idea. Of course, I'm going to put my own spin on the gift by first sticking the Blessings mix packet inside everyones very own paper cornucopia. I have the idea in my head, so we'll see how they turn out. Wish me luck! CLICK HERE for the free Blessings Mix printable notes.

Below is the instructions for the Blessings Mix:

This recipe will make about 16 blessing mix gift bags of about one-third cup each. Use cellophane goodie bags or zipper food storage bags to package this treat.

Ingredients:2 cups Bugles brand corn snacks
2 cups small pretzels
1 cup candy corn
1 cup dried fruit bits or raisins
1 cup peanuts or sunflower seeds
1 cup M&Ms brand chocolate candy
16 Hershey's brand chocolate kisses
Directions:
In a large bowl, gently mix all ingredients except Hershey's Kisses. Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup Blessing Mix in small cellophane treat bags. Add one Hershey's Kiss to each bag.
Makes 16 Blessing Mix gift bags
Blessing Mix
2 C Bugles
2 C Pretzels
1 C Candy Corn
1C Dried Fruit
1 C Sunflower Seeds
These are shaped like a cornucopia, the horn of plenty
The shape symbolizes our arms folded in thanks and prayer
During the first winter, the pilgrims were each allotted 5 kernels of corn per year because food was so scarce.
Thanksgiving is the celebration of the harvest
Seeds represent the potential of a bounteous harvest for the next season if they're planted and well tended.

"And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive
and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering;
being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times;
asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal;
"Always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive." Alma 7:23
(source: The Idea Room)

Coconut Joys

2011-11-07T19:17:00.000-06:00

Coconut Joys Recipe
3 cups shredded coconut
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 stick butter
Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt butter. Stir in coconut and sugar. Form into 1 inch balls and refrigerate. Melt the chocolate chips and drizzle on top. Chill before serving.

Note: I added a cup of chopped pecans into the mixture. Pecans doesn't want to stick real well to the rest of the mixture, but it is so good and a great crowd pleaser. Instead of using chocolate chips, I used baking almond chocolate blocks. Microwave 3 blocks for 90 seconds at 100% high power and then 15 second intervals until nice and smooth. I wanted the candies nice and hard, so I put them on wax paper inside a large Tupperware container and stuck into the freezer. I'm sure you can make these babies ahead of time and keep in the freezer or fridge.

Pray 4 Joseph

2011-11-07T00:01:00.000-06:00

I've tried linking this website for you, but I'm having some Blogger difficulties.

Joseph is a little boy from Louisiana that has a tumor in his brain. His relatives are from our church and have been spreading the word about Joseph. He needs our prayers. He needs your prayers. The family has had to move yet again to a hospital that is hopeful to help his condition. The treatments are still in testing with FDA, so insurance will not pay for it. He needs these treatments, I think, close to a year. The cost $50,000. The family is financially strapped from going to hospital after hospital. Prayer Warriors we need to come together and offer up our prayers and offers to God Almighty. He is the Creator, Father and Healer. Today at church, I've seen a few people with their "Pray 4 Joseph" bracelets on. It just touches your heart and you want to reach out to these people.

I encourage you to take the time and watch Jon and Joy Scott's video. It will tug at your heart just hearing what they have been through. If you can not give, they will need your thoughts and prayers for their little boy. I know, I would appreciate every simple thought and whispered prayer, offered for my child. You can also go to their Facebook for updates on Joseph and view photos. Thank you!

Joseph Scott video and information website is listed below:
CLICK HERE!!!!

God Bless.

Thanks-Giving Day 6 & 7 and more

2011-11-06T20:40:00.000-06:00

Okay, I forgot to give my thanks last night. I need to give two things I'm thankful for tonight.
I'm thankful for . . .

Bama not getting beat like a pulp, any worse than they did. (boo, whoo)
Having my parents still around, happy and healthy. I cherish every moment I have with them.

I came across a recipe from The Celebration Shoppe that I want to share with you. It sounds so delicious!

Chocolate Chip Reese's Cookies
Ingredients:
Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Reese Cups

The Celebration Shoppe has 4 simple steps photograph to go by, in order to make these yummy cookies. It looks like to me that she did the following steps:

Cut a thin layer of dough, place it in the bottoms of each cupcake baking pan.
Place a regular sized Reese cup, face down, on top of the dough.
Pile more cookie dough on top of the Reese cup, filling each cupcake holes up to 3/4" full. Just like you would if you were pouring cake batter for cupcakes.
Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes.

My sister and I love making Mini Reese Cup Cookies every Christmas or other special occasions. I've even baked Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies and they are all delicious. I'm sure these cookies would be great made in the miniature cupcake pans for parties.

Check out The Celebration Shoppe for full instructions, including photo diagrams.

Thanksgiving Ideas

I've found several ideas for Thanksgiving that I would like to share with you these next couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have. I found the above free printables from Dimple Prints. So sweet and I definitely have plans to print a few of these out for our Thanksgiving party.

2011-11-06T01:12:00.000-05:00

It's too depressing to talk about the Bama game, so I'll just talk about Natalie's basketball game.

Nat #22 warming up before the game

Good save on the ball

Great defensive block

UAB Blazers - dancers and mascot (dragon)

Pep talk from the coach

Die hard Blazer fan

The funny thing about Natalie playing against UAB is that her brother is currently going to school here.

Front entrance to the Bartow Arena is this HUGE dragon "Blazers"

UAH held UAB off up until the last half. UAB has always had a great basketball team. It was a challenge to UAH and I think Natalie's team did great.

. . . on the up side of the defect against LSU. We had a great tailgate party tonight, right here in our own Living Room. We had about 15 people here and TONS of delicious food.

Mom showing Whitney some really old pictures from the mid 80s. There were pictures of Whitney when she was a newborn and some of us couldn't get over how Zayden looks so much like her when she was a infant.

We fried 10 pounds of fish, fries, hush puppies, and even gator for appetizers. Our sides included oriental slaw and cowboy baked beans. I whipped up a batch of Coconut Joys and Peggy made brownies. There were all sorts of finger snacks like Chex mix, pretzels, popcorn, chips and dip. Everything was so good. Oh and we have a new cooking tip for frying fish. Doug read online that a guy used Italian dressing to marinade the fish. You can definitely taste the flavors, so good. The only thing Doug didn't care about is how the dressing makes the batter really stick to the fish. I thought was delicious and I liked the flavor party going on in my mouth. So good!

Guess who came to see us?

He is so precious and real alert tonight.

Day 4 Thanks-Giving and Christmas

2011-11-05T02:02:00.000-05:00

On this day, November 4th, I'm thankful for my sweet and most precious gifts from God Almighty. I'm thankful for my sweet and beautiful children. They are truly a blessing from Heaven. We love our moments piled up on the bed, cuddled under the sheets, watching television and giggling. We also love going for rides, just because.

By the way, I must tell you that Katie has lost her second tooth. Of course, I had to practically wrestle her down to get the tooth out. She gets scared because she knows how it will feel the first few minutes, while trying to get the tooth out. I suppose it is instinct to fight against someone trying to take something out of your mouth that's been there for many years. The tooth was just dangling there, bloody and causing poor Katie pain. When she finally got brave enough for me to give it a good yank, I held in my napkin another baby tooth with a long root.

I would like to thank those that have kept me in their prayers and passed along sweet and thoughtful comments by phone or written. I really do appreciate them. Thank you!

Doug and I had an opportunity to watch Nat's basketball team play against UAB Blazers tonight. I think she did good despite their lose. Kevin, Maryann, Ryan, Sarah and Nate met us at the Bartow Arena. It was the first time I've ever been there. They have a very nice basketball arena. Doug and I did take lots of photos and I'll pass those along to you tomorrow. After the game, a few of us met up for a late supper. I wanted to do a little Christmas shopping, since the kids were not with me. The only store that was still open was Walmart, which is open 24 hours. I was able to pick up a few small things for the kids. I decided to wait on the big stuff until later. I've been keeping my eyes open with the "Black Friday Ads" currently available. Target has some great coupons already available. They are good until November 23rd. Walmart has already started their daily specials, also listed on the "Black Friday Ads." If you are interested in viewing all the Black Friday Ads available, please CLICK HERE!

It's hard to imagine that Christmas is right around the corner; thus, I need to get a good start on my list. Oh me, I made the mistake of pulling up Target's toy section on my laptop and having Katie go through it. I showed her where the toy titles were located and asked her to write down her wish list. Her wish list ended up being three sheets long and she says that she wants to go over it one more time because she doesn't know if she is finished. She's at the age where she still loves her toys (dolls, playsets, LPS, Zoobles, Zhu-Zhu Pets), but yet she likes the big girl stuff like video games, stuff for your hair, nail polish, body spray, and lip gloss. That kind of thing. I plan to fix her up a Caboodle box with all sorts of fun things like glitter nail polish. I've noticed all of her polish has gotten old and dried out.

Tomorrow night is the BIG BAMA vs. LSWho? football game. This game has been the talk of the town around here, especially for the past couple of weeks. Reports from T-Town is that the excitement for this game is out of sight and is bringing HUGE revenue into Tuscaloosa. This is great news because the town could really use the profits right now with all the construction and rebuilding of Tuscaloosa. Yesterday, our local news showed two chefs from Louisiana making ENORMOUS pots full of gumbo for a tailgating party. It's all over the talkshow radio stations and we got to watch a little ESPN news late tonight. Everyone's talking about it and very well should be. This game will be the first real challenge for Bama and I have faith that U of A will pull through with a great WIN. We've got 10 pounds of catfish just for the occasion. We are expecting any where around 15 people here tomorrow evening for a little fish fry, followed by watching the game at 7PM. Oh my gosh! The food that we are expecting tomorrow. I plan on trying a new recipe called "Coconut Joys." They are homemade "Mounds" candy bar candies. A lady from Millard and Peggy's church made these a while back for a bridal shower and I fell in love with these candies. Oh, they are so good. Peggy passed along the recipe to me and it sounds so simple. I can't wait to try it out in the morning.

ROLL TIDE!

Doctor Update and Thanksgiving Teaching Tools

2011-11-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today, I had my six month follow up with my Neurosurgeon about my little tumor. According to my MRI, nothing has changed. This is good news because it's not growing. Yay! Dr. Clark wants me to have some blood work done to check my Prolactin level. If it's still elevated, I will have to continue to take my medication. If not, I can stop taking the meds. Regardless, I'll have to have MRIs on my head once a year. Dr. Clark said that there is no telling how long I've had this tumor and will probably have it for the rest of my life. We just need to make sure that it doesn't grow. If it does begin growing, it might affect my eye sight. So today, I'm thankful that my tumor hasn't grown.

I've found a couple teaching toddler pack for Colton. I'm not going to use all of them because I don't feel he is completely ready for dot to dot and letter sounds, but there are a few good sheets. I wanted to share them with you, if you are interested.

Thanksgiving Tot Pack - from Our Little Monkeys
Thanksgiving Tot Kits - from LawTeeDah
Thanksgiving Countdown Activities - from ABC and 123
Thanksgiving Lapbook - from 1+1+1=1

Thanksgiving Challenge 2011

2011-11-02T23:25:00.000-05:00

. . . so, I've decided to take the Thanksgiving Challenge this year. A fellow blogger, A Bushel and a Peck blogged about this challenge a few years ago and I happened to stumble across it. I absolutely love her blog name by the way. Mine is so ordinary compared to some that I've had the chance to visit.

I feel this is a good thing because you are not only putting your priorities in order "what's more important in your life," but also assures you offer your Thanks-givings to God Almighty more on a daily basis and not ever so often.

Beings that I've missed November 1st, I have two things I'm thankful for:

My Lord, Savior and Best Friend - Jesus Christ that saved my soul from Hell and Satan's grasp. For God so loved the world (you & I) that he gave (ultimate sacrifice) His one and only Son (Jesus), that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16.

My Husband and other best friend. We have known each other for 18 years and have been married for 16 of those 18 years. He is the love of my life and is one of the most precious gifts God has blessed me with. The one thing I love about him is he has seen me at my worst and still holds me with compassion and truly loves me. He also gets better with age. :)

I hope you take this challenge with me this year. I would love to read what you are most thankful for.

HUGS!

Witch's Brew Recipe

2011-11-02T22:24:00.000-05:00

Doug found this recipe published in the Walmart sale paper and asked if I would make it for our little Halloween Party. Doug loves anything with sherbet in it. After reading all the measurements, I knew this punch was going to make a lot. It would be perfect for a crowd, but I didn't know about our little group. I decided to half the recipe. I did a taste test, without the sherbet. Oh, so good. The above picture shows that the sherbet makes it look a little foamy. Once it melts a little, it gives off a very pretty red. Everyone loved this punch, including the kids. I made a little over 3 quarts of punch and I was beginning to think that I didn't make enough for our guests. We had 10 people to make it for supper and 2 more guests showed up later. The punch was gone well before everyone had left. According to Doug, this punch is his new favorite. I already have plans to make it for Christmas parties.

Witch's Brew Recipe
48 oz. 7-Up
64 oz. Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red
1/2 cups ReaLemon 100% Lemon Juice
32 oz. Canada Dry Club Soda
24 oz. Orange juice
1 qt. Fruit sherbet

Mix all the ingredients except the sherbet into a large bowl or container. Put in the fridge to chill. When ready to serve, put sherbet into a punch bowl and pour liquid on top and stir. This recipe makes over 6 qts. of punch. Great for a large crowd.

Note: I didn't have much time for the liquid to chill, so I added a few ice cubes in the punch bowl. We like Pineapple sherbet the best, so that's what I used. You can use your favorite sherbet flavor. This recipe can be halved.

Half the recipe (makes a little over 3 qts.)
3 cups 7-Up
1 qt. Hawaiian Punch Fruit Juicy Red
1/4 cups ReaLemon 100% Lemon Juice
2 cups Canada Dry Club Soda
1 1/2 cups Orange Juice
2 cups Fruit sherbet

Follow the instructions listed above.
Enjoy!

Halloween

2011-11-01T14:28:00.000-05:00

Our Two Little Spooks - Winifred Witch & Big Al

We had another great Halloween night. I hated that it was during the week. My little Winifred Witch was ready in her costume early yesterday morning for school. I just know when we picked her up that makeup would be everywhere along with her hair. I was surprised that she didn't need a lot of touching up.

The children didn't get to Trick-R-Treat much last night, but what they did was a lot of fun for them. We have the area churches that have the annual Fall Festivals, but we like it old school. Our neighborhood is good to cater to the children. This was Big Al's first year to really get out there and beg for candy without help. He was sooo FUNNY! Maryann and I were giggling and laughing at the way he was acting. He would go up to the houses and before knocking on the door, he would yell out "TRICK OR TREAT!" Believe me, he found out REALLY quick that people at the door give you candy. We went to an old school friend's house, which is an Auburn fan home. Johnny saw Big Al and began picking at us and him. Johnny made the mistake of saying, he won't give candy to an Alabama fan (laughingly). Well, Big Al took that as a no candy. turned around. and was headed to the next house. Maryann and I had a time explaining to him that he can get his candy. I think it made Johnny feel bad. GOOD. ROLL TIDE! LOL!

She wanted a spiderweb on one cheek and bat on the other

How do you like my craftsmanship? LOL! She said that she wanted a Snow White.
We had a pretty good party at home. A few of our family members got to come by for some Chicken and Dumplings, Homemade Veggie Soup, Spagetti and all the fixin's. Let's not forget the owl cupcakes, chocolate dipped pretzel sticks and tons and tons of CANDY.

Winifred Witch loved getting to stay up a little longer on a school night. Her and Big Al acted like they were hiped up on candy. Running around having a good time.

Big Al wanted a ghost pumpkin. I think he likes it.

He was goofing around. I LOVE THIS PHOTO of him.

I tried making owl cupcakes. Mine doesn't look as good as my friend, Malorie's, owl cupcakes. I was also in a hurry. I had two hours before everyone got here.

My hands get shaky when I take nighttime photos at slow shutter speed, but I love the effect.

Here is our newest little pumpkin. He is such a doll baby.

I was wanting Maryann to take a picture of the kids. I didn't know that she got me in the picture as well.

We hope you just as much fun at your Halloween party as we did. Now, on to Thanksgiving! Please remember Christmas in Cullman is November 12th & 13th.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-10-30T00:08:00.000-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

My sisters and I . . .

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Her Choice

2011-10-29T12:18:00.000-05:00

Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the annual benefit banquet for "Her Choice" at St. Paul's Church. Our church has had the opportunity to host this great organization one year, many years ago. It was a great luncheon then with wonderful speakers. My new friend, M, invited me to this year's banquet. She had the joy of helping decorate the room and did a marvelous job, I might add. I saw a few familiar faces, delicious food, great speakers, but what impressed me the most was their special guest speaker from Illinois, Jill Stanek.

Jill Stanek, a common woman, like you and I. It seems like overnight she has turned from an RN nurse to a beacon of light for all the ProLifers and a thorn in the sides of most ProChoice media. She has a fascinating testimony and definitely eye opening for me. How her walk with Christ has given a voice to all of the billions of aborted babies in the world. Yes, I did say BILLIONS! It's astonishing. Isn't it? A possible next Billy Graham, the one person that would find the cure to end cancer or other diseases, the next great God-loving US President - GONE! Now you may have reasons to be ProChoice, but God created us ALL for a specific purpose in Life and in His own like-ness. "Before I formed you in your mother's womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you." Jeremiah 1:5.

I wasn't born under a rock, I do realize these horrorible acts are created all over the world. It makes my stomach flip to just think about it. As a human, it is easier to not think about it much less, how this evil doing is done. Some people are blinded by Satan's lie saying that the child would be better off dead. Having a baby right now would be a huge inconvenience for me and my career or future life. The child is diagnosed with a terrible disorder or disease and won't live to reach adulthood or much less, a few hours. Jill told us some awful stories of her experiences in the Labor/Delivery Room. The secrets she found out working at the hospital were involved in abortions for medical reasons. Come to find out, some of the babies that were aborted were very healthy and didn't have disorders like first thought. Oh and the way, they aborted babies made me sick. They were induced births. The babies were born alive, laid or held by either the parents or nurses until they smothered to death because their under-developed lungs. Jill said the babies would live anywhere between a few minutes up to 8 hours. She herself told the story of holding a baby that fit in the palm of her hand. He had down-syndrome. She said you could see his little heart beating through his transparent skin. She went on to say that he didn't move much because it took most of his energy to breath. She held him until his heart stopped. There were several moments, she just wanted to leave it all. But she felt that she needed to stay and fight for the unborn lives that were threatened to be terminated. It goes to show how the human culture pressures us to live in a "perfect world" that strive for "perfect humans." Yet another one of Satan's lies, which he likes to play tricks with our emotions.

This banquet was to raise money for a local organization called "Her Choice." It's a Christian foundation that ministers to men and women alike, considering aborting their unborn child. They offer other options than abortion. They also offer free guidance, childcare support and charitable help. It's a great charity that speaks God's Truth of LOVE.

If you would like to learn more about "Her Choice," just CLICK HERE!

Jill Stanek has a blog that I plan to keep up-to-date with her ministry. Spreading the Word and being the voice for all the billions of little angels (babies) that are with my Lord and Savior right now. To read her blog or if you would like to know more, CLICK HERE!

Superman

2011-10-28T08:36:00.000-05:00

Flash tried on his Superman costume for this year. Well, I bought a 2T last year, but his legs are too tall. LOL! He is definitely not like Diva. He needs to go up an extra size every year. So I guess our Bama elephant costume wins it hands down. Check out the witch's hat, Diva's, on top of his head. Too funny. That is until . . .

he decided to put my witch's hat on. LOL! That hat swallows him up. He had fun playing with it.

He's a bird, a plane. No! He's Superman.

His tough look

And he is taking off - flying off of the couch. Ugh!

I was really wanting him to be able to wear it this year because he is so in to the Marvel cartoon characters like Batman, Superman, Iron Man, Captain America, Green Lantern, and Spiderman. He likes to pretend that his Batman figure is flying through the air. When we look through the toys at stores, he is always wanting to look at the Marvel characters now. Don't get me wrong, he still loves his cars, sports and Lightning McQueen. He is 110% BOY!

Just For Laughs

2011-10-28T08:33:00.001-05:00

<="" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" embed="" flashvars="autoPlay=false&orig=" wmode="window">
Tom Mabe plays pranks on public by pretending to be talking to someone on his cell phone.
(Caution: there is some bad language)

To give you a laugh this Friday morning.

Enjoy!

Red Ribbon Week and Halloween Craft Ideas

2011-10-26T22:11:00.001-05:00

My little diva hated to see last weekend end. As you know, she got to go home with her BFF, "A" after school Friday. Saturday, I brought A home with us because her parents were going to the game in T-town and she didn't want to go with them. We loved having her here. She is such a sweetie. Her and Diva stayed in Diva's room most of the day, watching movies, putting on plays, musicals, concerts and loved having Flash chase them all over the house. LOL!

This week is "Red Ribbon Week" at school. Each day the students do or wear something specific. Monday was red shirt day. Tuesday was Pajama Day (check out the picture). Today was crazy sock day. Tomorrow is hat day and Friday will be school spirit day. Next Monday (Halloween), the students are asked to dress up as a storybook character. Diva and I talked about dressing her up as Clara in "The Nutcracker," but she wanted to wear her witch's costume. So, Diva will be Winfred Witch in the storybook "Winfred Witch and Her Very Own Cat." The students will get to take their storybook with them to school to share, which I think is neat.

It is cool in the mornings, you can tell it in this picture.

My babies in their jammies.

All month, I kept forgetting to put our custom made CD of Halloween music in my vehicle for us to listen to in the mornings. I think I'm kind of glad because that's all my children want to listen to as soon as they step inside the car. There are a total of 17 different songs (Devil Went Down To Georgia, Who Can It Be Now?, Weird Science, Thriller, Ghostbusters, Monster Mash, Maniac, Halloween Theme, etc.) We began playing our special Halloween music last weekend. Flash insists that we play 3 out of the 17 songs over and over. They are "Monster Mash", "Ghostbusters", and "Thriller". I remember Diva was the same way at that age. Now that she's a little older she is beginning to like the other songs more, but not Flash.

Flash is doing well with his color names. He gets them a little mixed up at times, but he is very eager to learn. He is putting together 10-12 piece puzzles on his own with very little help. He loves to play games. I have him match an object with it's silhouette. Then, we match same color objects, to practice with same color concept. He does real good with these games. I introduced to him, paint markers. Oh my gosh! He loves them and I like them because they are washable and not so messy, plus it's a good way to teach color recognition.

With help, he can count to 10. By using the markers, I'm trying to get him to count to 5 on his own. He gets a little confused, but he is getting there.

I just haven't had much time or money to do a whole lot of Halloween crafts this year. But I can share the great ideas with you.

by Trey and Lucy
I thought about making these sweetie with Diva's class, but I forgot that I had already printed out the labels for the treat bags. After that I haven't had time to make them. There's always next year.

by Parent Magazine
On the way to school, one resident has her dancing ghost in a circle just off her hill. So cute and I've wanted to do the same thing now for a couple years. Oh well.

by Miner Moments
I LOVE this idea and had so hoped to have the time and money to do it. PRECIOUS!

by Parents Magazine
This looks so simple, but I just don't have the time to make them. It will just have to make my list next year.

by Everyday Is a Crafting Day
This was on my list last year. I even made sure to have my cheese cloth in stock, but no ghost yet. Ugh!

For other great ideas for Halloween or other upcoming Holidays, you can find them on Pinterest. I am absolutely addicted to Pinterest. A lot of my family and friends have also joined Pinterest. It's a great place to find and pin all of the things you LOVE. Happy Pinning!

Ol' Timer's Day

2011-10-25T23:12:00.000-05:00

Sunday, my in-laws' church planned an Ol' Timer's Day. Most everyone came to church dressed in special costumes to represent those of the old days, coming to the Lord's house. It was fun! Diva and I did the best we could, dressing up for the occasion. I told a couple of ladies that we were representing the 60s and 70s decades. LOL!

I think the kids had a good time. One of the guys, Perry, rode up on his horse. As you may know, Flash loves horses. I was surprised how easy he was to be placed on the back of Perry's horse. The horse was very gentle with the kids.

The kids did pretty good during church. I thought a time or two that we were going to have to take Flash out because he was being so loud. It was pretty funny whenever we or the choir stopped singing, Flash would announce "we're done!"

After church, we had a very nice luncheon with the church family. It was the best food put in your mouth. Yum! Fried chicken, homemade pies, cakes, and other goodies. It was so good. No one went hungry, trust me. A few of us photographers in the making, had fun taking pictures of couples and groups to document the special occasion.

Back at the farm . . .

the kids played on the tractor, with their paw-paw right beside them. Meanwhile, this mama went pine cone hunting for future holiday decorations.

The Skeleton Bone Dance

2011-10-24T21:03:00.000-05:00

Colton told he liked this a lot and agreed that we should put it on our blog for this Halloween week.

Katie Stays the Night

2011-10-21T23:07:00.000-05:00

Katie and "A" dressing up for the ball

I've enjoyed getting to know "A's" momma. She is so sweet and we seem to have quite a bit in common. Yesterday, the girls had a field trip. The class went around (walking) visiting the Police station, power company, and distributed canned goods to organizations that will make sure it goes to the needy. Us parents met up with the children at the area park for a picnic lunch. A's mom and I texted each other until we got to the park. By the time I got to the park, I had enough time to play catch up with a few of the parents that are friends of mine. I was so glad that A's mom got to place their picnic blankets next of ours, so we could talk. We just didn't have enough time.

I've never seen such happy little girls because they have planned this sleepover for a week. This maybe sad, but this is the first time Katie's slept over at one of her friend's house, that is not a relative. She has been aggravating me for the past couple of days about what she is going to take and stressing over who will be picking her up. Too funny.

Of course, a few times tonight I've been wondering what the girls are doing. Is Katie using her good manners? She is like any other kid and forgets them from time to time. LOL! I've enjoyed A's mom sending me pictures of the girls having a great time.

Oh me!

My sweet princess!

It was so strange not picking Katie up after school today. Get this, I even got to take a 15 minute nap. This never happens! So nice. I'm going to have to do something special for M, A's mom. She just doesn't know what an angel she is. LOL! So, what did I do with all this free time. Just me and Colt. Well, I finished up a couple of my Halloween gift projects.

This is for Katie's teacher. Kind of a Halloween "Teacher Appreciation" gift.

The cup is an 24 oz. insolated plastic cup filled with assorted chocolates and candies. It's decorated with a Halloween bow and label. Yes, I actually put together the decoration. I got the idea from Blackberry Vine. I printed the label about a month ago and already punched out the label with my cutter. I'm pretty sure that I got the label from either Living Locurto, The Celebration Shoppe, or The Tomkat Studio. I honestly can not find it in any of my bookmarks, so if it is yours let me know. For the black part of the label, I cut 2 - 1 1/2" strips of black cardstock paper. Folded the paper accordion style and cut off the tail at the end. I placed a small strip of double-sided tape to both ends and attached both strips of paper together. It should look like a zig-zag circle. Once you have the paper down on a flat surface, tape the "Happy Halloween" label to the black cardstock and then tape it to the bow. Yay! I love it.

I helped Katie put these together for her classmates at school. There are a whole lot more, but I only have a few for the photo. I made all the kids Halloween bookmarks by using clipart from The Toymaker. He has a lot of neat things that you can print out on paper/cardstock. All I did was save his clipart bookmarks and then by using Photoshop, I added the sayings: "Happy Halloween" and "Spooky" for examples. I printed them out on cardstock paper. I think they turned out cute. Katie likes them. I stuffed all the candies, bookmarks and stickers in sandwich baggies. I stapled the cute trick 'r treat labels on top. You can print the same design for several other party supplies through The Celebration Shoppe. I just loved this theme last year and had to use it this year for something.

Colton Meets Zayden

2011-10-20T21:35:00.000-05:00

Colton didn't know what to think about Zayden. He wanted so bad to touch him. For a little while, he thought he was a toy. Susan was the one holding Zayden and talking to Colton about him. Some how Sue asked Colton, "what is this?" Colton answered her "a toy." LOL! Mom and Susan cracked up laughing at him. Then Susan asked him something like where did he come from. Colton told her, very serious I might add, "Target." Too cute!

Doug's parents came by and Colton had to show them all the Halloween decorations and tell them about seeing the baby. It was priceless! I don't think he took a breath between subjects. He is so funny because it seems like he starts talking from the time he gets out of bed to the time he goes to bed. LOL! He talks about everything. There are times when he gets so excited and wound up that he begins to stumble and stutter his words.

While entertaining mom and Susan, Katie and Colton were playing kick boxing in the Living Room. They were acting this way not only because they had new people around to watch them act crazy as a bed bug, but mom helped by giving them a load of chocolate candy before supper. Thanks mom! They were bouncing off the walls. We had to start laughing at Colton because Katie has taught him before the Karate chop to stand just so and motion your hand out to your opponent like he is saying "come on, I dare you." When he did that all authority and control (on my end) went right out the window because everyone was laughing. Ugh, my son. He is such a clown.

For the past couple of months he comes up with these sayings or names that I have to write down before I forget. They are:

He calls the blow-up Frankenstein (Halloween decoration) outside - "Einstein".
He calls Fruit Loop cereal "Donut cereal"
He couldn't get over Zayden having his diaper changed. "That babe pooh, poohed?" "Change diaper." He said with his eyes wide open and pointing his finger at Zayden.
"I watch Mickey." This means, he wants you to either turn Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the TV or put in the movie.

Colton's changing everyday:
Not only is Colton growing out of his 24 month clothes, but changing everyday. Here are just a few things:

He is into playing games more now. His favorite games are: Go Fish, Don't Break the Ice and Elefun.
He likes to be read to now, especially at bedtime. His favorite books right now are: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear," "I Love You, Stinky Face," "The Monster at the End of This Book," and "Miss Spider and The Sunny Patch Kids". I found the neatest thing on YouTube. Movies of some of his favorite books being read or animated. Yay! It occupies him, while I'm helping Katie with her homework.
His new favorite toys that he would rather play with are: Hot Wheels cars, toy trains, balls, Batman figurines, stuffed animals, small simple puzzles. He has stopped putting together the peg puzzles. I guess he got bored with them. LOL!
His favorite TV shows are: Good Luck Charlie, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Super Why, Martha Speaks, America's Funniest Home Videos.
His favorite movies are: Disney's Cars, Disney's Tarzan, Baby Einsteins Mozart, Baby Einsteins World Animals, Scooby Doo meets Batman, Mickey meets Santa, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Choo-Choo Express.
He absolutely loves it when his sister comes home from school. He misses her throughout the day. He doesn't like it when I spend time with her during homework time, which takes a little over an hour a day to complete. He doesn't like it at all when she doesn't want to do what he wants to do.

I've been working with him during the day, while Katie is at school. We are learning our colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet, sorting, and matching. I got most of my material from 1+1+1=1. She has a Tot Homeschool section filled with lapbooks, games, crafts and lots of resources. Making Learning Fun is another great source because they go by themes or favorite storybooks to make learning more appealing. Colton loves it! This week, we've done the worksheets based on the Bill Martin Jr. book, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." Add in the You Tube
story read by Bill Martin Jr. himself and you've got a great lesson about colors. Colton loves this video and I hope you enjoy it as well.

Harvest Season Spirit

2011-10-14T22:29:00.001-05:00

Now that I made my first ghost, I wanted to be creative with the second one. This time, I supported the frame by adding more wire, from a cut wire hanger. I also added a more frilly bow with furry boa and hair bow.

I've been a little busy, decorating for Harvest Season. It's amazing how you put out a few things and it gets you into a great spirit. A table full of different sized gourds and pumpkins. I still plan on making some salt dough characters and spooky trees. Where I'm going to put them? I have NO idea! LOL! Would someone like them? LOL! My hanging "Halloween Greetings" card, I purchased from one of my favorite stores "World Market."

The "Trick or Treat" beggers and haunted house with graveyard, I purchased from Big Lots for $7 each. I absolutely fell in love with them.

I must tell you that you will have to start checking into Eighteen25 beginning tomorrow for all the Halloween craft and cooking ideas Link Up Party. I'm thinking about sharing my crafts this year. What do you think? I know last year, I had so much fun at their Halloween Link Up Party. I posted a couple of my crafts, but I received so many other inspirations. I encourage you to link up, browse, and just have good fun.

Oh and I guess you can see from the photo above, I finally received my Bama Cross today. Don't you just LOVE IT?!? I'm so tickled. A sweet sweet lady from Mississippi makes all kinds of these crosses for a living. She makes all sizes. Mine is considered large and is perfect for the front door. Instead of displaying on my front door, I've got it in my hallway because I didn't want to take down my Halloween wreath that I just made. Mrs. D had my cross ready for quite sometime. Unfortunately at the time that she was ready to ship it to me, her son had an accident. Isn't that awful? Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. I asked her if he was doing better, but she hasn't given me a response back. If you are interested in purchasing one of these crosses (in any color), please leave me a comment along with your name and web address and I would be glad to get you in connect with Mrs. D.
Happy Harvest!

Monkey Bread Recipe

2011-10-13T21:32:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine, likes my Monkey Bread and requested my recipe. I haven't made it in a while, but thought I would share it with you as well.

Monkey Bread Recipe
2 tubes biscuits
Stick of butter, melted
Sugar and Cinnamon mixture (half and half)
Chopped Nuts (I like Pecan)

Cut each biscuit in 4's.
Roll up in a ball.
Dip in butter.
Roll in sugar/cinnamon mixture; roll in chopped nuts
Place in a Bundt cake pan.
Pour remaining butter over rolls
Bake at 350-375 degrees until golden brown

Black Boa Halloween Wreath

2011-10-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally finished my Halloween wreath. I just love it! The only thing is my guests will be able to see at the door and not so much at the driveway. I guess that's what I get for having a dark colored wood door. LOL! I've had a few sweet compliments, but again I had to bring it to my guests attention.

What you need:
16" straw wreath
7 black feather boas
Floral pins
Ribbon
Halloween decorations to your taste

I didn't take the plastic off the straw wreath because I knew that the straw would end up all over my floor. My first 2 feather boas were shedding everywhere before I could finish the wreath. The next 5 boas, I picked up the fur feather boas. They were thinner, but seemed to work better. The poor clerk at my Hobby Lobby tried to get me to purchase the individual feathers, after I explained to her what I needed the boas for. Now, let me ask you one thing. Can you imagine me hot glue each individual feather to this wreath? I'm not out of my mind. After I realized that she was serious, I shut my mouth. Thanked her and purchased the fur feather boas. That's why I had to use so many boas, but so worth it. I just wrapped the boas around the wreath and secured it with the floral pins. I tied a decorative ribbon at the top for hanging purposes and made a bow on the wreath with the ribbon left over. Have fun decorating!

The wreath shown at my front door.

Katie's School Picnic

2011-10-11T09:57:00.000-05:00

Friday was Katie's school picnic and this time, Doug got to come. I think he really enjoyed visiting Katie's classroom and seeing all that she does in class. Ms. G went over a few of their regular activities. We got to read a few stories in Katie's journal. We found a couple of the pretty funny stories.

I had the opportunity to meet a few of Katie's friends and their parents. I finally got to meet Katie's close friend, A. They are like two peas in a pod. They are a lot alike. I think A's mom and I hit it off pretty good. The more we talked, getting to know one another, the more we found out that we have the same connections. She knows my family members and friends and I know hers. She's already talking about having the girls spend the night one weekend. We even met up with them at Hobby Lobby. I needed to get some supplies and A's mom needed to pick up her eldest daughter's framed painting. Her daughter is only 10 years old and I saw the painting. She has such a great talent. She's planning to have it entered into a contest.

Katie's teacher, Ms. G, had nothing but nice things to say about Katie, which makes my heart smile. She said that Katie is making all good choices and makes a good leader with the group of girls that she is friends with. Hearing this makes me relieved, knowing that Katie can't be persuaded. Kids are under so much peer pressure in school at all ages. I never thought I would say this, but I hope she will continue to be the hard head she is and stand firm in her beliefs.

Her grades are doing great. The progress report that we just received showed that she had a 100 average. I reminded her that all the hard work really does pay off. Ms. G has added a little more to the homework. Katie has math flash cards to go over every night now. The objective is to teach the children how to add in doubles (ex. 9+9=18). I think it's great because I've been teaching Katie her numbers by 5, so it will help her to tell time. In class, they did the doubles song in front of all the parents. They added all the way up to 10+10=20. Their Doubles Rap is pretty cute and they love singing it.

Doubles Rap

It's the doubles, baby,

Let's go, let's go!

It's the doubles, baby,

And we'll start with 0.

0+0=0 (oh)

1+1=2 (oooh)

2+2=4 (more)

3+3=6 (kicks)

4+4=8 (that's great!)

5+5=10 (again)

6+6=12 (that's swell)

7+7=14 (that's keen)

8+8=16 (let's lean)

9+9=18 (jelly bean)

10+10=20 (that's plenty!)

Their class just had a word indentification test on the two pages of words lists. They are suppose to bring home another list of words to remember. They won't officially begin having spelling tests until after Thanksgiving or Christmas. In Social Studies they will be exploring the continents and oceans and doing some research. I've seen an improvement on Katie's reading this month. She was so excited because Ms. G. moved her reading level up to Level E, which is a more reading and less picture helping stories. I've noticed Katie grabbing books from our family library and reading them to Colton. I've got to get my video camera out, so I can tape them at least one time. Their class is scheduled for a field trip coming up soon. I'm sorta glad that they won't need chaperones this time around. The class is gathering canned foods for the next two weeks. The field trip is the students going to several different charitable organizations, distributing canned food items that will go to those in need. I absolutely love trips like this. I love knowing Katie is participating in charity groups such as these.

Lighted Ghosts

2011-10-10T14:50:00.000-05:00

Light up your Halloween by making this ghost for your front door. This ghost was fun and simple to make. I plan on making one more ghost to greet our little Trick-or-Treaters. Katie hasn't seen this ghost yet and she is going to flip out in the morning.

You can make this ghost too.

All you need are:
Twin size white flat sheet
Sheet of black felt
Tomato cage
100 count white Christmas lights
Black Ribbon
Glue gun
Safety pins
Scissors
Duck Tape
Needle nose pliers
Wire cutters

Take your tomato cage with top down (flat side) and stakes sticking straight up.
Bend the metal stakes slightly to make a round head for our ghost greeter.
Duck tape the stakes securely at the top, forming the ghost's head.
Begin securely (using cable ties) stringing your lights around the metal cage. Begin at the bottom first. I followed the wire all around and up and down. There's no wrong or correct way of doing this.
Cut all the tails left on the cable ties. Making it nice and neat.
Fold your twin sheet in half.
Drape it over the frame.
Once you've equally created your ghost's body. Tuck in the sides and safety pin them. This secures the ghost's shape and keeps from the lights being exposed.
Free hand draw an eye and mouth template. I made mine approximately a 4 inch oval shape with a triangle inside cut, to make it look like the ghost was looking off to his side. Gives it character.
For the mouth, I cut a 4 1/2 inch oval shape.
Lay the templates (eye & mouth) on top of the black felt. Secure it with a safety pin.
Cut out 2 eyes and 1 mouth.
Hot glue them onto the ghost's body.
Tie a black ribbon around the ghost's neck area. To keep it secure place a dot of hot glue on the sheet and press the ribbon on to it.

Viola!

There are other ways to make this ghost out of the tomato cages. If you don't want to see the lights in the head portion, you can simply stick a large round styrofoam ball in the stakes. The styrofoam ball becomes the ghost's head. I didn't want to use the styrofoam because I wanted to see the ghost's face all lite-up.

For arms, simply cut some durable wire and twist around the metal part of the cage on both sides. With your pliers, curl your wire around so it won't poke out so much. This makes the sheet stick out a little more.

You can also apply wire legs for the ghosts to be a little taller, probably a plant stand or set it on top of an upside down pot. Remember the sheet covers what's underneath.

There really is no wrong way to create your friendly ghost. So create and have fun with it.

More crafts in the making:
Black Boa Wreath
. . . stay tuned!

Our Bama Game Trip and Prayer Requests

2011-10-09T22:29:00.000-05:00

Sue called me a few days ago, saying that her husband bought tickets to the Bama game this weekend. This would be her first football game and she was bringing Maryann with her. She knew we were going, so we planned to ride together to the game and the places she would like to see. She was excited. I was excited. Maryann was excited.

We got to T-town really early because we wanted to take our time to see the sights. We drove through the tornado raged area. The clean up effort seems to be going well. We noticed that they went ahead and tore down the Hobby Lobby building along with many many others. Sue has heard us rave about Mellow Mushroom and had to try it. I don't think she was disappointed. The time we arrived there, was great timing. As you may know, it was the university's homecoming. Thus, a parade was making it's way downtown, right in front of the restaurant. It was great! The floats, sororities/fraternities walking along the streets, followed by area school bands. From there, we went ahead, parked the car, and walked along the streets headed for the quad. I felt so bad for Maryann. While we were walking, she twisted her leg and got hurt. She felt that as long as she could move her leg, walking, it might working out the soreness. She insisted walking to the museum and quad area. We took frequent stops, but she was able to hobble around the campus.

We did get to see the team's bus drive up to the walk of champions. Because there were so many people, we were not able to get up close to see the players or coaches. Maryann and I rode up the elevator to our nose bleed section in the stadium. LOL! Doug and I sat three rows from the top of the upper level. What a work out, walking up ALL those stairs. I really got a work out because the time we got seated, I had to go buy a shaker. Sue and I got the shakers. I had a mild heart attack by the time I got back to my seat, just to have to go back because Doug drank most of my soda. Here we go again. I surprised myself, making it back to my seat without needing fibulator.

Doug and I had a hard time watching the game for all the surrounding entertainment. We had the typical drunk, feeling real good and couldn't believe that the fans around him didn't feel as good as he. One guy a couple of seats by him asked him to sit down, so everyone else could see. Well, he didn't like it and let him know it. It wasn't long before another guys tapped him on the shoulder and asked him again to sit down. Well, he had a few choice words for him as well. That is until the fan pulled out his badge and told him to sit again. It wasn't until the off duty or undercover cop went to get security to escort the drunk out of the stadium, the drunk decided to sit down. The cop followed by three guards climbed up the stairs assess the situation. One security guard holding the drunk's collar, so he wouldn't fall going down stairs. Yay! The surrounding fans cheered with satisfaction. We had a great time at the game. Doug had an awesome time because Auburn lost and Bama won. LOL! He tickles me.

After the game, we went to Mugshots for a late night supper. I love Picou (grilled chicken sandwich), so good. I don't think Sue believed us when we told her how good their sandwiches were until she tried it. She went on and on about how good it was and she just knew it was something that they put in the meat. We had so much fun and hope to do it again.

On our way home, we talked Maryann into just letting us drop her off at home. She was feeling really bad by the time we got back to the car from the stadium. Bless her heart, she will probably need to see a doctor this week about her leg.

Prayer Request
I would like to take this time to humbly ask you to please pray for the following people.

My cousin April was recently diagnosed with a terminal cancer. We don't know how long she's expected to live, but it's not good. She's only around 12 years older than me. Her brother and sisters are either there with her during this difficult time or they are on their way. She has three older kids.

My nephew and his wife just found out that they are expecting their second child. She is having some difficulties and would appreciate your prayers.

Of course, my sister, Maryann, for her leg pain.

My mom's feeling much better. The doctor says that they got all the cancer out of her temple. She is on the road to recovery.

Katie Meets Zayden

2011-10-06T23:25:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, Peggy, Katie, mom and I went to a baby shower. It was so nice and like I told the new expecting grandma, now we need a baby to meet.

Afterwards, we stopped by Zayne and Whitney's to see the baby. It would be the first time Peggy and Katie met him. Katie was in love immediately. She absolutely loved holding him and looking at all of his toes, fingers and tiny ears. LOL! She pretty much examined every inch of his body, eww and ahhing over him. Of course, we passed him around like a sack of potatoes with Katie following him all over the Living Room. Too funny.

Katie giving Zayden a kiss on his head

Katie gets to hold Zayden for the first time with Leslie's help

She kept telling all of us how cute and tiny he was.

I don't remember what was said here, but I'm sure whatever Katie said was amusing with Leslie grinning the way she is in this picture.

It's my turn to hold baby boy.

Great Grandma gets a chance to look him over.

Peggy and Katie are checking him out

Katie loves to look at babies feet. She did the samething with Colton.

Autumn Vegetable Soup

2011-10-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

Vegetable Soup
2 cans (lbs) Veg-All
1 can (lbs) Petite Cut Diced Tomatoes
2 3/4 qts. Tomato Juice
16 oz. Elbow Macaroni (2 1/4 cups) - cooked and drained
2 lbs. Ground Chuck - cooked and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together ina 6 qt. stock pot. Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally. Simmer on low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Makes for a very LARGE gathering, be prepared. This soup is so easy to freeze and use for later.

Serve with corn bread, bread bowl or saltines.

Charlotte's Web

2011-10-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

I have a huge fear of spiders - HUGE! So, first thing one morning when I went to the kitchen sink, I found this garden spider right in front of me. It scared me at first, but immediately I became grateful that she was outside and not inside the house. Of course, she was much much bigger than she is shown in this photo. My first instinct was to go outside and kill her. Then, I became very calm and okay with the idea of having a garden spider in my Kitchen window for a little while. I thought it would be educational for both me and my children to watch her. Every morning, we check on the spider, which was later named "Charlotte." Knowing that I'll be alright, I've enjoyed watching her and admiring her beauty. She's a Black and Yellow Argiope Spider.

For the past couple days, Charlotte hasn't been feeling well. I know this because, she wouldn't run after an insect that had just gotten tangled up in her web and she wasn't making new webs every morning. First thing in the mornings, I enjoyed watching her create her masterpiece. It's amazing how it would be in a perfect circle. The kids absolutely love her! It's a sight to see her eat very large insects. Amazing! Doug even enjoyed it.

Yesterday, I found out what was going on. The night before I went to bed, I checked in on her. She had crawled up to the edge of her web, hanging up-side down. This wasn't like her. I figured she was preparing to die. I went ahead and warned Katie what was probably ahead. Well, to my surprise yesterday morning. I found a very skinny spider and a very LARGE egg sac. The above picture is of Charlotte sitting on her egg sac. Charlotte would work diligently making her egg sac secure with her web weaving, but I knew she was getting tired. She'd work for a while and then rest. Busy once again and get real still. Katie couldn't get over the egg sac. She is so tickled that we will be having baby spiders this coming Spring. It has been a real experience for her, watching God's work in such a small creature and how life is always going on. After reading up on garden spiders, I prepared Katie to the worst. According to an article, garden spiders die off soon after laying their eggs in the Fall. The spiders will hatch during the Winter months, but will stay securely in the egg sac. Once Spring has sprung, the spiders will come out of the sac and go on their marry way. Of course, Katie doesn't want her spider to leave us, but I'm trying to teach her that this is God's plan. Lives are lived and then they must pass on, no matter how long or short. Before I went to bed last night, I checked on Charlotte and she was still hanging on. Today, she seems to be hanging in there. It took her most of the day, but she was able to dispose of the old web and spin a new one. I even found her eating a bug that had gotten tangled up in her web.

Here's a better picture of what our spider looked like before she had her babies. This picture is supplied by Fairfax County Public School System.

Let Your Light Shine This Autumn

2011-10-04T21:44:00.000-05:00

Sure, it's fun to dress up and go from door to door receiving candy. But is there a different meaning to celebrate Halloween. Did Historical Christians take part in celebrating or honoring All Hallows Eve?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY! Today, All Hallows Eve is seen as a night of pagan rituals, but it has Christian roots. All Hallows Eve or Halloween is a time to honor the saints, the living and the dead. All Hallows Eve literally means the eve or day before all "holy ones" (hallows). The Lord’s Prayer, used by many Christians, contains the phrase, “hallowed be thy name.” Medieval Christians hallowed, or honored, not only God, but also all the saints who worked for God’s work in the world and glorified the Church with their prayers and service.

Skeletons decorate walls and scenes for Halloween today, but the original Halloween skeletons were bodies of holy Christian men and women.

Early Christians gathered bones and remains of their dead and honored them with special prayers and devotions. Christians began celebrating the Feast of All Martyrs and its vigil during the fourth century to honor all Christians who had died for their faith (martyrs).

Despite King Louis and Pope Gregory IV’s intentions, Samhain ("Sow" "en") traditions such as trick-or-treating, dressing in costumes, and pranks continue to be a part of Halloween celebrations.

Catholics and other Christians observe All Saints Day on November 1, and some honor the vigil of this feast, All Hallow’s Eve, with prayer and reflection for the saints.

In order to keep this special day holy, offer thanks and prayers to God. Here are a few October prayers and dinner grace.

"God of time and timelessness, thank you for a new month, October. Please bless us in all that we do this month [one may insert significant activities occurring during October such as birthdays, children's concerts, tests, or projects at work.] As this month begins and continues, let us notice Your changing creation around us and rejoice in the goodness of Your world. Amen."

Christians historically celebrated the Eve of All Saint's Day, known as All Hallow's Eve or later Halloween, with candles and prayers to honor the saints. The following prayer invites God to bless all who celebrate All Hallow's Eve as well as the saints who glorify God in heaven and on earth:

"God of heaven and earth, thank you for all Your saints who serve you and glorify Your name, especially [insert names of saints and other Christian friends and family if desired.] As we notice the celebrations around us, let us remember Halloween's basis in You, that we may celebrate Your goodness in the world, this day and always. Amen."

A family might light a candle and share this prayer together on Halloween to honor God and all the saints who have served God's church.

October is a month of beauty, cool weather, and many blessings from God. With prayer, a Christian can honor the passage of time this October and always.

Do you remember me carving this last year's Halloween? If not, HERE is the post for Halloween 2010. The glasses were my mother's special touch. LOL! You'll also find the Pumpkin Carving Prayer posted on last year's Halloween as well.

This year, 1+1+1=1 posted a really cool free template regarding the Christian Pumpkin. So precious! My kids did their Christian Pumpkin today and wanted to share it with you tonight. I simply printed out the cute printables and had my children color and glue the symbols onto their pumpkin. I read the pumpkin gospel to them as they created their Christian pumpkins. We have them displayed in our windows for everyone to see. I really love this and wanted to share it with you. Thank you 1+1+1=1!

Pumpkin Gospel
I am a Jack O' Lantern
My lights will shine so bright
For I'm a Christian pumpkin
My symbols tell what's right

My nose is like the cross
On which our Savior died
To set us free from sin
We need no longer hide

My mouth is like a fish
The whole wide world to show
That Christians live in this house
And love their Savior so!

The story starts at Christmas
My eyes are like the star
That shone on Baby Jesus
And wise men saw from far

My color it is orange
Just like the big bright sun
That rose on Easter Day
Along with God's own Son

And so on Halloween
Let's set our pumpkins out
And tell the trick or treaters
What God's love is all about!

I love reading "The Pumpkin Patch Parable" to my children. We've only just checked it out from the Library, but I think we should add it to our own Library at home. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend. You won't regret it.

1+1+1=1 also offers a Pumpkin Patch Parable printable activity for you and your children to read and color. Just CLICK HERE!
For more awesome Christian Fall Books, CLICK HERE!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Resource:
Suite 101;
Grace To You
1+1+1=1

Welcome Zayden Lee

2011-09-24T12:21:00.001-05:00

I would like to introduce to you my new great nephew, Zayden Lee.

Mom and baby are doing great! Daddy too. {hehe}

This past week, Whitney called me just to chat. She had not been feeling all that great. Morning sickness was coming back and I knew what she was talking about because I went through it with both of my children. I think I received a month break before the acid reflux and nausea came back. Bless her heart, I felt so bad. At the same time, I reassured her that this was good because it wouldn't be long. Her initial due date wasn't until October 4th or 6th, I believe. So we all thought she still had some time before thinking that the baby was ready to come into this world.

Thursday night, Peggy and I were out doing a little shopping and we were talking about Whitney and the baby. I told Peggy that Friday was Whitney's birthday and how nice it would be if the baby decided to come on her special day. Well yesterday, I received a phone call from Maryann saying that Whitney had been having some pretty bad pains and was on her way to the hospital to get checked out. Not knowing if the baby would come that day or it he would wait until the next, I kept in touch with Maryann. Once I knew for sure he was going to arrive sometime last night, I grabbed a ride with Natalie and away we went to the hospital.

Look at all that hair.

Thankfully, we were not at the hospital before Whitney received her shot to relieve the pain. Shew! Everyone said it was rough. While we were all waiting in the waiting area, Kevin came by and said that he heard the baby crying. That's all it took. We ALL got up and headed for their door, wanting to hear the same precious cries that Kevin, "new paw-paw," did. He had just came into this world a few minutes before we got there, around 7:35PM.

Ryan and Sarah had just gotten off work, to come and see the new family member born. At least Ryan didn't have far to go after getting off of his shift, being his residency is at the same hospital. LOL! It was funny seeing him in all his scrubs and little hat walking down the hallway from the hospital. It's hard to imagine that little Ry-Ry and Natalie are now aunt and uncle. I feel old!

Happy Birthday Whitney and Happy Birthday Zayden! She couldn't have received a better gift than this precious little boy. I think you'll agree, he is a bundle of sheer joy and happiness.

Such a sweetheart

He was so alert. Maybe it was all the noise and lights flashing, but I think he just wanted to meet all of his family and join in on all the fun.

Of course, Kevin, Maryann, Wayne and Robin are very proud first time grandparents.

Proud New Grandmas

Proud New Parents

I'm so happy for Zayne and Whitney, starting their own little family. We wish them all the happiness.

Perfect 24+ Hour Holiday

2011-09-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

Last week Doug asked me out of the blue, if I would like to go off with him Friday afternoon. Sure, where? Every now and then, Ross Bridge Resort have special offers on their rooms. Now, coming from a photo enthusiast, the Ross Bridge community is like walking into a fairytale. I've been wanting to just take pictures of this quaint little village. So, yes. My superman and I went away for the night at Ross Bridge Resort.

Ross Bridge Resort at Hoover - all photos taken by TheMasonBunch.blogspot.com.

The room we stayed in is usually over $200 a night. With the special offer, we paid $99. Such a great deal and I think it is well worth the money. I think before I'm finished with my post tonight, you will think so as well.

Water fountain found in the front of the resort

View of the back of resort on the greens

When we first visited this community, many years ago, it seemed as if the developers were aiming for a more Danish architecture style with the very identifiable Dutch housing. I had hoped to take a few pictures of the structures. But I must tell you, this visit makes me think the developers are leaning more towards a more Italian villa. I noticed a lot of the homes were of a stone {brick or river rock} with the red awnings and umbrellas on the patios. I didn't take many photos of these homes, simply because I didn't want to intrude on someone's privacy. Besides, I wanted to capture more of the Danish architecture instead of the Greek/Italian.

Water wheel and pool area

Golfer practicing his putt

View of barn and resort

Golf Course Barn and Water Wheel from Tee #11

The resort is breathe taking. I can see now why the Region's Tradition Golf Tournament have chose Ross Bridge Resort to host in the past. Our little Diva would have flipped out if she had seen the photos that I took of the swimming pool area. Their back patio that joins the restaurant, "Brock's," was ideal. Friday night, the staff came out onto the back patio and lite the stone firepits, while their guests sipped on glasses of wine. The more braver kids were taking advantage of the crisp night to practice their waterslide techniques. People walking around the stone walks with their light jackets on, walking side by side with the loves of their lives, while holding a beverage in one hand. It was truly a perfect holiday.

From terrace looking down onto swimming pool area

Roses planted around the golf tee markers

View of putting green from our balcony

View of lake

View of lake - Tee #11 (I think)

Driving Range

Market Day at Ross Bridge

So Beautiful!
Our room was absolutely beautiful! It's no secret, I prefer to take showers in the morning instead of baths. There's nothing wrong with baths, I just like showers - in and out. My superman, once again delivered when he announced that I had my shower separate from the bath tub. YAY! If we were not current dressed for dinner, I would have loved to crawl right in bed. I have a confession. We don't have a pillow top on our mattress. I've never really slept on a pillow top mattress like the one we slept on that night and I'm finding a new great love for them. {happy, happy} On top of the pillow top mattress, we had a down comforter. I like down, if it is a really cold night. Down comforters really do not fit our life style because we get too hot. That night, poor Doug was not getting along with the pillow top mattress and we both woke up in the middle of the night, sweating. I know . . . gross. Doug finally turned the air down to 65 degrees. LOL! I loved the bed with all the pillows. Our room's balcony overlooked the putting green. So pretty!

Superman posing inside our beautiful room. Just look at that bed . . . Heaven! I suppose I'm easy to please, but I had the best night. Snuggled down on top of my millions of pillows and pillow top mattress with superman laying beside me, while we watched re-runs of "Frazier" on the television, eating Lindt chocolate truffles. Sheer HEAVEN!

For dinner that night, we cruised over into The Summit and had a wonderful Mongolian Beef with LoMein noodles and Chicken Fried Rice at one of our favorite restaurants, P.F. Chang's. I couldn't believe how fast we were serviced. Of all places, I ran into one of my new friends, Connie. She was there with her husband and a few friends. I didn't recognize her at first, but thankfully she said to me that she knew me and then I just knew it was her. I told her about our little holiday and she said that she would be telling her hubby.

We actually had enough time to do a little shopping before going back to our room. YAY! Susan told me about a shop I had to visit, while I was there. Have you ever heard of "The Christmas Shoppe"? It was laid out like a "Linen's 'n Things," but they had a lot of nice odds and ends. I loved the Autumn and Halloween section, y'all I'm just itching with Fall Fever. Of course, I had to go to one of my favorite shops, "World Market." I just love that place especially closer to the holidays. So much fun! I picked up a few Christmas gifts. {Shhh!}

The next day, we started our sunshining morning with breakfast at the hotel restaurant, "Brock's." It's a little costy, but good. They will cook you just about anything you want and the staff was so cheerful. The food was good and the waitress gave us a sample of their new watermelon juice. Doug and I just looked at one another. The juice tastes just like someone cut up a watermelon and poured the juice from the melon right into our glass. Doug had a chuckle out of that one. After a nourishing breakfast, I grabbed my camera and got into my element. Do you like my photos? This is my favorite past time hobby. We did a little more shopping since we had more time before heading home to watch the game. It was so great! Thank You Honey!
If you think that you would like to visit Ross Bridge Resort and the surrounded area, CLICK HERE! I'll tell you a secret. (Come closer) If you "Like" Ross Bridge Resort and Spa on Facebook, you too might be able to stay at this lush resort for the same price that we did. When they run the special, they'll post it on Facebook and that's how we knew about the special deal.

Happy Dreams!

Yard Sale Frenzy

2011-09-12T22:04:00.000-05:00

Last Friday and Saturday was the 10 mile yard sale located in the Gold Ridge area. Yes ladies, I said "10 miles". This is one serious yard sale. It had something for everyone. I had the pleasure of participating with a few of my family members. So much fun! Doug and I took over two truck loads full of stuff (clothing, toys, furniture, other odds and ends). I thought I had everything priced reasonable and guess that's why I came home Saturday afternoon with only two plastic containers. Yay! I was so pleased. We had six families pull all of our items together and filled up poor Kim Ann's front yard and garage. We tried to organize as best that we could. Kellie had a brilliant idea of putting out ice cold drinks for $.50 each. They went fast. She didn't bring a whole lot of stuff to sell, but she made her money by selling drinks. I know the people up the street had their nice lemonade stand, selling drinks for $1.00. Word travelled fast and it wasn't long before people were headed our way. I had 2 1/2 large tables filled with boys and girls every day clothes. I'm talking about mounded. When it was over I had about 20 pieces of clothing left, if that. I had Doug a table by himself with all of his brand new pants, shirts and coats. Everything was gone, except for one nice golf button up polo.

Maureen and Kim Ann kept laughing at me using my salesman technique on people. I love it when parents would bring their children with them. I love to play on the hearts of children. Especially if they have mama and daddy tied right around their finger. TEHE! I would try to size people up as they were walking up the driveway. We sold a few things that way. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. {darn}

We all got to Kim Ann's by 5am and worked until 7pm Friday night. Saturday morning, I got there at 7am because June and Kim Ann told me to sleep in. I wished I had followed my instinct because by the time I got to Kim Ann's street, it was major chaos. I couldn't get in and no one could get out. Vehicles were parked on both sides of the road, causing the traffic to go to a single lane. When I finally got there, a few of the shoppers were telling us how they witnessed a police officer writing tickets. Oh me, crazy! By Sunday morning, I was talking with one of the ladies that was at the yard sale. I asked her if she knew anything about it. She told me that she witnessed the whole thing. An older lady was mad because someone parked in her driveway and she was ranting and raving about it. She had her vehicle parked vertically in her driveway, but people apparently parked next to her. The church lady seemed to think the cop was writing a ticket just to pacify the irate woman. There were several homeowners that had ropes or vehicles blocking their driveways and/or front lawns, if they didn't want anyone to park. I'm telling you people could have made some extra money, if they charged shopper to park in their driveways and/or yards.

Here is just a glimpse of the chaos from our front yard.

I never had the opportunity to do a little shopping this year. Fortunately for me, this community has this yard sale every year. I may not be participating in next year's sale, but I'm definitely going to be there. Mark you calendars ladies.

A Day of Remembrance and Reflection

2011-09-11T19:23:00.000-05:00

After church today, I noticed one of our parks had all of the small flags covering the ground. They were accompanied by two tall stacks of pallets with American flags drapped over them. So touching for me. I had to take pictures of this. I hope you can appreciate them as much as I have . . . remember and reflect.

Below is a link for poems and songs in tribute to September 11th.

9-11 Memorial Poems

GOD BLESS . . .

THE

UNITED STATES

AMERICA!

We are Mighty Women . . . Hear Us Roar!

2011-09-08T16:26:00.000-05:00

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.
If you give her love juice, she'll give you a baby.
If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.
She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her.
So, if you give her any lip, be ready to receive a ton of crap.

Women are angels. And when someone breaks our wings, we simply continue to fly . . . usually on a broomstick. We are flexible like that.

I received this funny from my sister. All I can add is AMEN! {kackling, kackling}

Funny Church Signs . . . Soo True!

2011-09-07T10:24:00.001-05:00

I Wish I Had More Energy

2011-08-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

Lately, it seems that I only have time to quickly blog at nighttime, while everyones asleep. I'm lucky to do some catching up on my most favorite bloggers that I love to follow. I've put the sweet everyday devotional bloggers to the side like 5 Minutes of Faith for Moms, Joyce Meyers and Beth Moore. It's so easy to cut out the important spiritual messages, that I should be reading, to make time to read about the newest creative ways to entertain. This morning as I'm breezing through my Reading List, I noticed "5 Minutes of Faith" had a new post "Wishes-Glimmers of Hope." This time, I made time to read and reflect my life. I can relate to the quote below. "I Wish!"

I wish I were a better mother.

I wish I had more time to be home with my children.

I wish I could ask forgiveness easier.

I wish I wasn’t so distracted.

I wish I could keep up with the housework.

I wish I could paint better, sing better, pray better.

I wish…I wish…I wish!

I hope you will find the time to read this devotion from Barbie at "5 Minutes of Faith," just CLICK HERE!

Katie News
A few weeks ago, Dr. Green found a small cavity on one of Katie's molars. Before I was even going to ask about sealants, Dr. Green brought up the subject. This is the second time Katie's had a tiny cavity in her teeth. Ugh! It's very discouraging as a parent. He said it's probably because her back teeth are such a tight fit between each other. We floss, but let's get real. Yeah, we might miss a day or two of flossing and I can't control her flossing when she's off spending the night with someone. I know I had weak teeth that is why I wanted her to get the sealants, to help.

Yesterday was the big day to get her tooth filled and receive sealants. I've never had sealants before, way after my time, so I didn't know what to expect. I was just going by what the hygienist explained to me, while I was scheduling the appointment. Easy, breezy! Right? Well, I picked Katie up just before school let out to take her to the dentist appointment. She knew what to expect. She wasn't thrilled, but she was alright with it. I let her take her favorite toy, usually a doll, to hang on to while having her teeth cleaned or in this case, get her teeth worked on. She held on to her Smurfette and my hand, while the hygienist was applying the sealants. I have to tell you, there is a lot to get sealants applied to your teeth. Bless her heart. First, you have to put your head way up on the head rest and lean it back as far as possible. They have the little cotton swabs along your bottom jaw and a thin wide cotton patch along the upper and side cheek. You have to keep your mouth wide open with all this stuff in your mouth. Let's not forget the suction tube to keep your saliva away from your molars, so the sealant will dry onto your back teeth. UGH! Poor baby. The hygienist explained to me and Katie what to expect before the procedure, but you still couldn't gather until you saw with your own eyes, what it really entails. Katie did so good, but after the third time of applying sealants, she was getting scared. They tried to get the fourth set done, but we all think she couldn't continue with it. She tried very hard to keep her head back and mouth wide open, but was too tired. She ended up tasting the cleaning solution, which is soap for your teeth. Yuck! She said it tasted disgusting and kept wanting to spit it out. Dr. Green hurriedly washed the soap off her fourth set of teeth and said lets schedule another time to finish the sealant and fill the cavity. He and his family have become friends of mine, so he told me that if I could get her in the morning time for cleanings and filling, it would be better on her. He was too afraid to continue for fear that he would scare her too much, by pushing her. Afterwards, he spent about 5 minutes talking with her about "The Smurfs" movie, which she loves. They also talked about his little girl EK and how much she likes school. EK was in Katie's ballet class last year. Dr. Green and his wife are such sweet people and down to earth. EK and Katie go to the same school, but they only get to see each other during recess and lunch.

When we left, Katie was a little disappointed in herself because she didn't want to have to go back. I took her to Walmart and I was preparing to get out when I could hear Katie snubbing. I quickly turned around to see what was the matter. She told me, she was sorry that she wasn't good during her dentist appointment. Y'all my heart sunk. I felt so bad for her. I hugged on her and told her that she did an excellent job and how brave she was to go through something so scary. She admitted, she was beginning to get scared. I assured her that was why Dr. Green decided to stop because he could see she was getting uncomfortable and scared.

We could tell Walmart was getting ready, in the Toy Department, for Christmas with all the new toys. I'm just one of the kids when it comes to new toys, checking them out. A while back when "The Smurfs" movie first came out, I told Katie how I was a big Smurfs fan when I was little. How I use to have a big Smurf stuffed animal that I slept with during the night. I use to have the Smurf glasses that you would get at fast food restaurants and small plastic figurines. While looking at all the toys and making out our Christmas wish lists, what should I see? On the side of the aisle were stuffed Smurfs of all kinds and sizes. I got Katie's attention from the aisle over. I wished you could have seen her eyes. I had her pick out a Smurf for her and one for Dash. She couldn't believe it. She didn't have to wait until Christmas to get a stuffed Smurf. LOL! She loves her Smurfette so much. I was sort of surprised how Dash liked his Clumsy. He drug that Smurf all over the house last night and made sure he was in bed with him last night for bedtime.

Katie is doing great in school. They had their DIBELS testing last week. Just as a reminder. DIBELS stands for: Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. The instructors are looking for Initial Sounds Fluency - identify a picture by its beginning sound by pointing to the picture or naming it. Letter Naming Fluency - recognize upper and lowercase letters out of order. Phoneme Segmentation Fluency - tell all the sounds heard in spoken words. And lastly, Nonsense Word Fluency - blends sounds together that make nonsense words. I received Katie's results and they are as follows:
Letter Naming = 57 (expected to know 37 by beginning of school year)
Phoneme Seg. = 61 (expected to know 35 or more)
Nonsense Words = 47 (expected to know 50 by January 2012)

She had her first spelling test yesterday and made a 100. Mrs. G is only working on three letter words right now. I was kind of wondering how she would give a test and it was easier on the kids that I first thought.

You may not be able to see Katie's pencil writing,

but you can see her grade - 100

She made sure to show daddy her test score last night. We are so proud of her. I hope she will keep up the good work.

The homework has pretty much taken over our evenings. We have two random books, two stories from her small workbook and the same stories from her weekly reader to read each night. She has to go over her two sheets of words, plus her weekly vocabulary words. This week the vocab words are disgusting, compliment and amazed. As parents, we have to help her to understand the meanings of each word and how we would use them in a sentence. Yeah, this is first grade homework. For math, she works on side B of the worksheet every night for a grade the next day. For her Social Studies, all students are encouraged to practice good manners. As parents, we're expected to help our children to exercise these good behaviors. She also has three songs to memorize: Just Good Manners, Months of the Year and Days of the Week. I felt bad yesterday for having her take back one of the books she got from the Library last week. According to the newsletter I received, the first graders get to check out two books a week instead of just one. YAY! The problem we're having to work out is finding time to read both books in a week. So, last week we had time to read the one book, but ran out of time to read the second one. Ugh! Please pray for me.

Have a great day!

What A Surprise!

2011-08-29T22:41:00.000-05:00

What exciting news for Katie! She FINALLY pulled her first tooth. YAY! I picked her up at school and I couldn't get her in the car fast enough, before she's telling me how her tooth feels loose. I told her that she needed to keep wiggling it, so it would come on out of there. At home, she fooled with it during homework time. At supper time, she bit down on her hot dog and began crying and screaming. I thought she was being her Miss Drama self. I took a peek at her tooth and I could see the new tooth right behind the baby tooth. I guess when she bit down on the hot dog, it broke a root because I could see that the tooth moved and there was a little blood. Once I got her to calm down, I convinced her to let me take a napkin and see if the tooth would pull out. I pulled a little and I could feel that last root pop. My goodness the drama began again. It took her a little while before she realized that I had the tooth in my napkin. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did both. LOL! I had her go to the bathroom to rinse out her mouth. Well, she didn't understand why I wanted her to do that until she saw the blood in her mouth, looking in the mirror. Here come the screams and crying once again. All the blood scared her to death. Shew! You should have seen her face tonight when I told her that she's got at least 3 more teeth to fall out. She told me, while I was tucking her in bed, she didn't want to go through that again. I reminded her about how she wouldn't have to go through all the pain and having a bruised spot on her gum from letting her tooth just sit there until it fell out on it's own because it was all over. Now, all she has to think about is the MONEY! I got a chuckle out of her and she was all better.

In the above picture, I took a picture of her talking to her grandparents on the phone about her pulled tooth. She kept pointing to her tooth while she talked, as if they could see the tooth through the phone lines. Too funny! She wants everyone to know that her tooth is gone. I felt so sorry for her at gymnastics today because she had to tell her new friends and kept trying to get her coaches' attention. While watching her at practice today, I saw her pointing to her missing tooth to the coaches. Bless her heart, I felt bad when the coaches didn't give her the attention she wanted. I know the coaches have a schedule to keep and lots of little girls to watch over. Katie didn't seem to mind. She got to call her grandma Peggy as soon as we got home, so that made her feel much better.

Prayer Request
My great aunt Mary at the age of 101 years old, passed away this morning. She was the eldest and only living sibling remaining out of the 5 or 6 children. Mary was my grandmother's, Ann, sister. My grandmother passed away a month before my wedding day. Aunt Mary was such a sweet sweet spirit and kept everything that was given to her. My mother is a little upset that she passed because she was the last aunt/uncle living. Aunt Mary and my mom were pretty close. I think it was because she was the last tie to my grandmother. I know my family loved her very much and she will be greatly missed.

Doug's great aunt Mae at the age of 87 years old, passed away this morning as well. I was fortunate enough to meet aunt Mae, such a sweet and fun loving lady. Viewing and funeral will be later this week. My father-in-law seems to be doing well. Please remember these families in your prayers. Thank you.

What To Do This Weekend?
The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, has a new show on the Food Network. The show actually premiered last Saturday, August 27th at 11:30am/10:30c. Y'all may know Ree from her blog The Pioneer Woman. When I first started blogging, I would follow her pretty good. She's published a cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks". And now she's got a show on Food Network, one of my favorite networks to visit when Doug's not at home or asleep. I hate that I didn't get to see her premiere the other day. According to the schedule, Food Network will be re-showing last Saturday's episode "Surprise Birthday" this Saturday, September 3 at 11:30am/10:30c. I am going to have to record this show, so I don't miss a thing.

Crane Hill is hosting a Sweet Tater Festival Sunday, Sept. 4th and Monday, Sept. 5th. If you would like more Sweet Tater Festival Information Click HERE.

WSCC will host a Bridal Show at Stonebridge Farms on Sept 11th from 1-4PM. For more information, CLICK HERE! A friend's son is getting married at this farm this Fall and I am so hoping that we get invited. I would love to practice taking a few pictures. Y'all this farm is absolutely beautiful and is used mostly for special occasions. They have a restaurant on the property that is only open on Thursdays, other than during the special bookings for the reserved occasions. Doug and I have talked about going out there to eat dinner, but something always seems to come up at the last minute.

Of course, last but not least -

Bama vs. Kent State

Saturday, September 3, 2011

11:21 cst

at Tuscaloosa

ROLL TIDE ROLL!

The Baby Shower of The Year!

2011-08-28T22:29:00.000-05:00

Parents-to-be

Whitney ready to open gifts - she looks so pretty.

Whitney & creative hostesses

(notice: the ribbon trees worked well on the food table)

Gift I put together from our little family

Cute diaper cake Leslie made

Two little mischievious girlies

My sister, Sandy, made this beautiful diaper bag. I absolutely fell in love with it. If it didn't have baby material print inside, I would have been tempted to sneak away from Whitney. LOL! One of the guests even warned Whitney to hide it from me. It is so pretty and I love the compartments to store all of my things, so I won't loose them. Sandy, I would love to have one of these. I will even pay you a nice price for one {hint, hint}

More photos are available below:

Click here to view these pictures larger

A Good Day All Together

2011-08-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

Doug's parents were so sweet to have the kids spend the night last night. The kids were so ready to go with them, they almost forgot to tell us "bye". LOL!  What do we do, while they are gone? {Hmm}

We haven't seen Whitney in several weeks and I've heard that she's really gotten big, so we decided to go visit her and Zayne. She's at the nesting stage. Bless her heart. She wants so much done, but can only do so much. Her mom, Maryann, has been coming over and helping her get the nursery ready. I think they did such a good job painting and decorating. I took my camera, but it's a small room and Whitney was tired. So, no pictures to show you. I will tell you that they painted in block style on the wall with a shade of green (I would say close to a sage color), a coffee brown and ivory colors. Beings that her nursery theme will be jungle, it is precious. She is so excited about her baby shower tomorrow. She told me, they will get all the last minute stuff soon after the shower and then they should be ready for baby. She wanted to get her suitcase packed, but she only got as far as getting the suitcase out of the closet. Poor thing, she is all baby and so darn cute. Us girls spent most of our visit comparing pregnancy notes and experiences. I made sure and told her to keep my number close by, for her to call me when things get crazy. She promised me that she would. Oh, how I remember those days (best forgotten).

I'm set on go tomorrow for the baby shower. Whitney requested to have one of her favorites at the shower, Spinach Dip. HERE is my Spinach Dip recipe, if you ever need a good one. I've had great reviews on this dip, so I hope you enjoy it. Normally, I cut out the center of a round King's Hawaiian bread and set a small soup bowl down inside the loaf. I cut up the pieces of bread and set around the cut out loaf for dipping. I also offer a large bowl of Scoops chips beside the dip. It is soo good.  We needed some more centerpieces for the guest tables, so I decorated my gift to Zayne and Whitney's baby into a centerpiece. I just spoke to Maryann and I believe everything is coming together nicely.  Please stay tune for LOTS of photos from the baby shower of the year. . .

This morning, Doug announced to me "we are going to Birmingham." Well, I always love it when get to go off because I get to visit places that I haven't visited in quite some time.  If you remember, Susan and Leslie were telling me about their visit to "Garden Ridge" at Grant's Mill Station.  Doug was so sweet to take me there today. I was one happy woman. As you know, I'll be hosting Thanksgiving this year and I had a few ideas for decorating. Well, I needed a few things to accomplish these decorating ideas. Nope, I'm not going to tell right now. You'll have to just wait. {wink, wink} Y'all this place is awesome. They have a little bit of everything from seasonal decorating items, ceramic decor, outdoor living, furniture, linens, wall decor, kitchen, party items and much much more. They have a lot of unique items as well, which is what I loved. The prices were very reasonable and they also had several areas 50% off the sticker price. WONDERFUL! Their wooden arbors were on sale for $40, real nice. I needed Living Room pillows for our sofa and loveseat. I purchased 4 real nicely made pillows for $9.99 each. I was tempted to get a couple of the extra large floor pillows for the kids. They love to lay and play on pillows in the floor.  I really liked this place and hope to have to opportunity to go back again.

Before heading home, we stopped off at one of our favorite restaurants, "The Cheesecake Factory" for lunch. YUM! Doug and I split a juicy cheeseburger, so we both could enjoy a delicious cheesecake. Doug ordered the Red Velvet Cheesecake, while I had the new Chocolate Bar Cheesecake (actually it's made of Hershey's chocolate). Unfortunately, we couldn't finish our cheesecakes, so we brought them home for later. Oh, I was such a happy Bama mama when I found a script "A" cookie cutter at the Campus Spirit's shop. Now, I can serve delicious Bama cookies to our guests during this season's football parties. YAY!! I'm just having a good day all together. Can't you tell? LOL!

We were not shopping around inside Sam's Club for very long before I found the new Better Homes and Garden's special "Trick or Treat" edition magazine. I knew that The Celebration Shoppe was featured in the magazine because Kim wrote about it in her blog. She does such great work and enjoy the free printables, she shares with her readers. Right off the bat, I picked up the magazine and began looking through it. I also noticed Martha Stewart has her 2011 Halloween edition out as well. I enjoy looking through these magazines and getting creative ideas. While I was thumbing through "Martha Stewart's Halloween", a lady walked up beside me and also grabbed Martha. We got to talking and I mentioned the feature in the BHG of The Celebration Shoppe. She seemed interested, so I flipped over to Kim's pages. I sold the lady and she took a copy with her. LOL! Doug asked me if I get commission for selling the magazine for The Celebration Shoppe. The sweet lady is an Avon manager and she host several parties. I told her that she might get lots of neat ideas and free printables from The Celebration Shoppe for her business. She thanked me and assured me that she would be checking it out. I did purchase Martha Stewarts Halloween and I can't wait to check it out.