Happy Thanksgiving!

My family and I would like to wish you a very . . . 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Colton's Turkey

Katie's Thanksgiving picture she made in art class.  

I think is so beautiful! She has developed a great talent for it. 

Colton's Hulk 

He created this Hulk all by himself.  For a 4 year old, I don't think it bad at all.  

I must add that he insisted on cutting it out himself.  Not bad. 

Another year has passed and it is time to look back and give my Heaven Father a special thanks.  

Psalm 100:1-5 says,  

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endure forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." 

There is so much sorrow and strife all over the world and at home.  Pain, fear, loss and death.  For today, I am thankful for God's mercy and strength.  God has blessed me that my cup runs over.  I don't know why he has allowed so many blesses to come my way, but I hope I am able to show gratitude and thanks to him.  I pray I will be the servant He would like for me to be that I might be obedient to him and humble to hear his calling.  I pray for continuous grace and protection for my life and my loved ones.  I pray that His will be done in my life that I might be a beacon for the Lord.  

Exploring Thanksgiving Recipes

Doug and I were discussing Thanksgiving food items several days ago. He loves green bean casserole and I haven't made one for him in a few years. The only recipe I've ever had and made was the Campbell Soup recipe. You know the one with cream of mushroom soup and French's fried onions. I'll eat it, but I don't crave it. I guess you could say. It's like it is missing something, more flavor. Well, Mr. Doug asked me if I would make him a green bean casserole this year. I didn't realize how much he missed or loved it until he asked. I would do anything for my hunny. He does so much for me and I know he appreciates all that I do for him and the kids. Yes, I would love to make him one, but I asked if I could make a different version. He didn't seem to mind. I went on a big search for a couple of days to find the casserole that would contain the right flavor and ingredients that we like. A couple of recipes intrigued me, but I started with the one from "Taste of Home" magazine. The recipe is titled "Festive Green Bean Casserole" and that is what it is - colorful and (to us) the right flavor. If you are tired of the same ole bland green bean casserole, I urge you to give this casserole a try. Now, I didn't follow the recipe to the tee. It called for frozen green beans. In the past, I've had bad luck cooking recipes as written using thawed frozen vegetables. More than likely, they are always under cooked and crunchy. Doug hates crunchy unless it is suppose to be like chestnuts.  Of course, fresh green beans are best.  I recommend that they cook until tender before putting them in a casserole.  I'm one of those women that just grab a can.  In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with canned veggies.

I made this dish tonight. Doug, Katie and I all really like it and I will be making it for our Thanksgiving dinner. I hate that I forgot to take a picture of the finished product before we all dug into it. I won't take a picture, while it looks like a mess. LOL!

 

Festive Green Bean Casserole

Ingredients:

1 chopped sweet red pepper

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of celery soup, undiluted

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (add a little extra, if needed)

1 can Family Size (28 oz.) French-style green beans 

1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese 

French's fried onions

Directions: 

• In a large skillet, saute red pepper and onion in butter until tender.  Add soup, milk, Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce; stir until smooth.  Stir in beans and water chestnuts.  
• Transfer to an ungreased 1 1/2 qt. baking dish.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until heated through.  At the last 5 minutes, sprinkle fried onions around the dish or as desired and continue baking.  

Serves: 6-8 

Prep/Total Time: 30 minutes

Nutritional Facts:  1 serving (1cup) equals 144 calories, 8 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 24 mg cholesterol, 404 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 6 g protein. 

Of course, you can adjust the recipe to meet your diet needs (fat free milk, low-sodium Worcestershire sauce, fat-free cream of celery soup, etc.) 

 

You may remember in my past posts, I love movies that have a lot of cooking.  I never had the opportunity to read "The Help", but did get to watch the movie.  I've seen it several times and just LOVE IT!  I do believe Minnie is my favorite character.  I think Octavia Spencer is a terrific actress and also an Alabamian.  She's a good Southern woman in my book.  {wink!}  All throughout this movie, Minnie's famous Chocolate Pie is shown and mentioned.  I'm telling ya, it does look delicious on the big screen.  All except for the scene, where Minnie gives one of her pies to Mrs. Hilly.  Yeah, you remember that one right?  LOL!!  Hilarious!!!  Oh, if you haven't seen this movie, you've got to go get it right now.  I can't believe I don't have the movie in my library by now.  Such a great movie and Minnie makes it funny with her special pie to Mrs. Hilly.  Just watch it, if you haven't.  

Now that I've mentioned the movie, I've been wanting to try the famous Mrs. Minnie's Famous Chocolate Pie.  Guess what?  I found the recipe! I made the pie tonight and it is delicious.  It is so simple and inexpensive to make.  I even made the Whipping Cream to go on top.  

 

Does this pie look familiar?  Yes, this is the
Minnie's Chocolate Pie with Whipping Cream that I made today.

Minnie's Chocolate Pie with Whipping Cream 

Ingredients: 

makes one 9" pie 

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 eggs

3/4 cup evaporated milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 pie crust 

Whipped cream (see recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Roll out pie dough, lay in pie plate and crimp the edges.  Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork.  Take a sheet of aluminum foil and carefully press into crust, now take 1 lb. of dry beans pour them into the foil and bake pie crust for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes before removing foil and beans.  (save the beans in a zip-loc after they cool for your next pie)
2. In a mixing bowl combine sugar, cocoa, melted butter, eggs, evaporated milk, vanilla, and salt. Whip until smooth.  Pour into pie crust.  Return to 350 degree oven and bake for 50 minutes or until pie is firm, but just barely has a jiggle to the middle.  
3. Remove from oven, place on wire cooling wrack, allow to cool completely before serving with whipped topping.  If you have any leftovers store them in the refrigerator.  

Whipped Cream:  1 cup of whipping cream, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, and a dash of vanilla whipped with a mixer until stiff peaks form.  

Our family has gotten so big that we've gone from bringing 3 or 4 different plates for dinner to 1 or 2 sides.  LOL!  Even then there is always so much food that no one can eat it all.  We always have the traditional Thanksgiving meal with deep fried turkey, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, various casseroles, pies and other sweets galore.  I think we made the right two choices for our meal.  What will you be making on Thanksgiving day?  Share your recipe with me.  Thanks! 

 

Halloween Preparations 2013

I finished creating all types of treats for our little booger bears. This year, I made candy treat hands with bat rings for each student in both Katie and Colton's class.  I used Smarties for the fingers and individual bags of Skittles and M&Ms for the hand part.  I tied off the top with decorative ribbon.

It's been a few years since I've made Salt Dough Ghosts, but I thought Katie and Colton's teachers would like them as a Halloween gift.  CLICK HERE for the Salt Dough Ghost instructions.



Lastly, I wanted to try something new.  I found these on the grocery store shelves.

Now, you may have already seen these Jet-Puffed Pumpkin Spice Mallows before, but I had not.  I love the pumpkin spice flavor and a light bulb went off.  Why not make pumpkin rice krispy treats in the shape of pumpkins?  I got the ingredients and went home.  I used a Rolo for the stem and green icing for the leaves.  As I was looking at Kraft's website, I like the idea of putting a mini candy bar like 3 Musketeers inside the pumpkin.  Great idea!  However, I didn't have any mini candy bars to put in the center of each pumpkin.  I basically made these just like you would make regular rice krispy treats.  

Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispy Treats 

3 Tbsp. Butter 

1 package Kraft Jet-Puffed Pumpkin Spice Mallows

6 cups Gluten Free Rice Krispy Cereal

6 Individual Rolos

Green Icing 

On low heat, melt butter.  

Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. 

Add cereal and stir until coated completely.  

Keeping your hands wet at all times, form the cereal into a large ball and place on a flat surface.  Because your rice krispies are still warm, it might try to fall apart.  Keep your fingertips wet and mold back together.  Once it cools the ball will stay in it's form.  This recipe will make 6 large pumpkins.  Place a little icing on the bottom of the Rolo before placing it on top of the pumpkin, to make your stem.  With a leaf tip on the bag of green icing, decorate the top with leaves and curly stems.  Have fun with it!  

I could not believe my eyes, when Katie brought this home from school.  They've been well on their way with Multiplication Tables for a few weeks now.  Who would have thought Algebra?  I guess I was a little shocked when I showed it to Doug.  He very calmly said well she can do it.  That wasn't the point.  She's just 8 years old and just began memorizing her multiplication tables.  I looked at the sheet again and realized that yes, she can do it.  

Congratulations Nathan and Natalie

My niece and her boyfriend of three years have finally gotten engaged.  She graduates college this Winter and then she can spend the rest of her time, planning her dream wedding.  They've set a date for this coming Spring and SHE HAS THE DRESS.  Things are ticking right along just like clock work.  We are so excited for them both.  Nathan is so good to her, treats her like a queen.  They are so in love and I don't think I'll have to say it too loud because I think you can see it in the pictures.  They wanted a few engagement photos.  What better time to do it than in the month of October?

I simply made the background black and white

"Love"

Actually, I was planning on cutting their bodies out of this picture and zoom in on the heart, but look at them.  They are so in love.  I couldn't cut them out because this is LOVE. 

My instructor told me how the Autumn lighting is so different compared to Summer.  I believe it!  However, I have to say this photo brings a sense of passion.  

They really liked how this picture brings out their blue eyes.  We think it's the red blanket and Natalie's shirt.  Regardless, it turned out perfect. 

Thank you so much guys for allowing me to pull you around for an hour, taking pictures.  It gives me a chance to get more experience, learn from mistakes and see the difference in lighting opportunities.  

We love you and wish you the very best future God has to offer!!! 

2013 Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

2013 Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

This was a fun little trip for the kids.  We were on a live farm with loads of fun things to do. 

The farm had ponies, goats, sheep and pigs, making all kinds of noises.  The kids loved it!  All except Colton and his buddy.  I kept trying to get him to pet the animals and talk to them, but the only thing on this little boy's mind was having fun.  I could just see his little mind turning.  Thinking, what can I jump, climb or slide down.  

This is called the black mamba.  It is a huge slide, the biggest I've ever seen.  Colton LOVED it!!  I couldn't get him away from it long enough to do other things.  

This is the Johnny Jump.  It reminds me of a enormous trampoline.  Sand is nestled all around the Johnny Jump to catch the kids that jump too hard or high.  You've never heard so many giggles. 

Play Barn - down stairs has a bend full of corn for the kids to play in it.  Upstairs is a big open area to run around and go down the slide.  

Colton having a great time on the Johnny Jump - he found the dump trucks in the sand

Silly lil' punkins

Colton with one of his buddies - Colton hates having his picture taken

Pizza and Movie Night

Have you ever had one of those days? A day that you are so tired and have absolutely no energy. We had leftovers in the fridge, but I'm getting tired of eating chicken casserole. It was good, but it makes so much and I just wanted something new. After Katie got all of her chores and homework done, we loaded up in the car and picked up a couple of pizzas. Katie requested that we watch "Hocus Pocus," while we eat.  She told me that I was the best mommy in the world.  I hope she remembers that when I have to say no some time down the road.  LOL!

Colton is so funny.  One morning, we dropped Katie off at her school.  Colton didn't have school and he was very disappointed.  Out of the blue, he informed me that he wished he could go to school every day and he could take his chocolate milk with him.  LOL!  He absolutely hates the fact that I won't let him take his chocolate milk to school.  He makes up for it as soon as we get home.  LOL!  He is adjusting to his flavored water pretty good, it's progress.

Colton and I were waiting on Katie to come out of ballet.  He was singing a new song that he learned from school.  As I was paying attention, I noticed he was trying to spell the word "red".  He sang, "I can spell red, R-N-D, R-N-D, R-N-D.  Say it louder!  Say it louder!  R-N-D, I can spell red."  I thought it was so cute.  He can count to 10.  He still gets the number 5 mixed up, but that's okay.  He tells me about the stories that they read in class.  At home, he loves for me to read "The Little Old Lady that Swallowed a Book," "The Stinky Cheese Man" and of course the superheroes books.

Katie is still loving school and ballet.  Katie was excited to tell me that her new friend had joined the same club as she at school.  Third grade has been a challenge, but I have faith that she will prevail.  Some of the math problems that she has to solve, leaves me asking what grade is Katie actually in because I don't think I covered this until my 4th or 5th grade year.  Wow!  She is doing great on her test scores.  Of course, Katie faithfully asks God to be with her during test time and that she will get a good grade.  Poor baby.  She gets so nervous during test time.  Last week, Katie got to learn the 5th position in ballet.  She was so happy to tell me something new because they have been reviewing positions from last year.

This week in photography class, we finished going over shutter speeds and aperture settings.  Our homework is to create art by taking pictures that inspire us with words (verses, poems or quotes).  She wants one good photo, but we can bring as many as we would like to class.  I love this week's homework assignment.  Below are two of my favorite photos that I created, but if you would like to see or learn more CLICK HERE.

My favorite poem is from Robert Frost, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening".  The picture says to me that God has a specific purpose in my life and He is not done with me.  

I love the Live, Laugh, and Love saying.  I've used it quite a bit.  I really thought this picture fit the meaning.  I've mentioned before how I can get my kids to do exactly what I want, if I interact with them.  It's a lot more fun and I don't get aggravated.  This time, I told them the Peter Piper tongue twister and asked them if they could repeat it back and forth to each other.  It was a hoot!  We all were laughing at each other trying to say the tongue twister.  Perfect Picture!

Johnny Appleseed

This week was Colton's first class field trip. They have been learning about Johnny Appleseed and had the opportunity to visit an apple orchard. It was very educational. They had different stations set up: Johnny Appleseed Story; Learning about Bees and the importance of pollination; Nutrition and different ways apples are used; How the apples are gathered from the orchard and how the trees are cared for. The orchard staff passed out little goody bags and each student got to take an apple home. We've bought candy apples, apple butter and fried apple pies from this orchard and everything that we've bought is so good. Of course, Doug and Katie gave me their order before we went to the field trip. HAHA! Katie LOVES their candied apples. The orchard will be hosting a Scary Trail and Haunted House that the owner told me wasn't going to be that scary this year. Katie has made it very clear that she would love to go so she can try the bloody punch. HAHA! I'm thinking a photo op next month at the scary trail. {hmm}

 

Colton waiting on his buddy to arrive - boys climbing the apple tree

Learning about the nutritions of apples and the different types of apples

Must have been a granny smith apple - LOL! 

 

Learning about the importance of pollination

My photography class went real well this past week.  The class liked two of three pictures that I turned in.  Ms. Theresa really liked the water fountain picture and challenged me to take it again, but using my shutter speed and aperture settings.  We studied about photos in motion.  Very interesting and inspirational ideas came popping in my mind for during the rainy season and hopefully snow this winter.  Our homework this week is going out and capturing life in motion.  Thankfully, the county fair is in town for the next week.  WOO HOO! Below are just a few of my favorite photos this week.  If you would like to read more CLICK HERE.

I still like the fountain in slow motion more than the flowing

HAPPY PHOTOS AND ROLL TIDE!!!