Christmas Mittens

I have posted before how I love to paint pottery. Well, I'm working on making Ashley's teachers a Christmas tree ornament. I think these turned out really good. (of coarse I'll find some sort of flaw, but I'm learning to let that go!) These are sooooo much fun to make.

MOMMY TIME

Well, you are probably expecting me to talk about me and my kids. Right?............

Wrong! I got to spend time with MY MOM today. Me and Charlie went to my Mom and Dad's house this am and spent most of the day with her. We got to see my Dad too. I don't get to see my parents quit as often as I wish I could. With me working on Saturday and Sunday being so busy. My mom has always been my best friend and I'm so lucky to have her in my life. I look forward to the next time I GET MOMMY TIME!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY........

We would like to wish a Happy Birthday to My Mother-in-law, Henry's MOM and My Kids Grandma, Gayle. We all hope you have a GREAT birthday.

Love: Henry, Jana, Ashley and Charlie

This Kid is Dangerous!

Well, he's done it again. This child has more injuries than my last child.

His poor head and face. Well, Sunday he was riding his little school bus ride on toy having a fun time. Then, BOOM we heard it. He was definitely hurt not mad. Went to pick him up and yep, blood this time. He fell off and hit his eye on his metal Tonka truck he got for Christmas last year. (Yes I know accidents happen Darenda you know we don't blame you!!) :) :) But his cry was short lived and he'll recover nicely! Here is the shinner and his big sis. She really loves this little guy.

What's for Dinner Tonight?

Well I thought I would post what's for dinner tonight and my recipe for Tuesday early. Tuesday's have become a little busy for me. I've been working and Ashley has started volleyball again, and I've been trying to go to the pottery painting place to work on teacher's gifts for Christmas. Yes I said Christmas, it will be her really soon for those of you who haven't been preparing! So here is our dinner tonight!

Meat loaf- I use 1 lb of ground beef or ground turkey, 1 small can of tomato sauce, 1 egg and Italian bread crumbs. salt and pepper. I bake this at 350 for an hour ( or til Henry comes home)

Mashed Potatoes

Hoppin John ( I think is what is is called?) It is a can of black eyed peas drained and rinsed and a can of rotel. I love this so much. It is a new twist on black eyed peas.

French bread

For desert I made a cream cheese pound cake. I'll post that recipe next week or later on in the week.

The Amazingly fun Farm

Make a Smilebox slideshow

This was a lot of fun. The corn maze was awesome. It took us about an hour to get through. We did it while the sun was still up. I think it would be really fun to do at dark with flashlights. (maybe next year without children!) I recommend renting a campfire spot and taking hot dogs etc. We only took smores and sandwiches, but were hungry when we left. People were playing guitar and singing, and there looked like a family reunion of some sort there too. It was fun. We also took a hayride to the pumpkin patch and picked our own pumpkins from a field. (in the dark with flashlights) That was so much fun. Some of the girls picked the white pumpkins which were so pretty. I would, however, say if you do this it might be better to pick pumpkins while it is still a little light outside. This makes it a little less hazardous. (falling etc.) Hope you like the pics.

Halloween Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

I love making these sugar cookies. These are really easy and really good. They taste like you spent a lot of time making them though. I whipped up a batch for our fall fun night.

Ingredients

1 package 18 ounce of refrigerated sugar cookie dough (room temp)

3 ounces cream cheese (softened)

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cut softened cookie dough into about 8 pieces

in electric mixer: combine dough, cream cheese, vanilla, and flour.

Chill dough in frige for at least an hour

Roll dough on floured surface about 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters of your choice.

Bake at 350 for aprox 7 to 8 min for soft cookies longer if you like a crunch to your cookie.

cool and decorated as desired.

These are really Yummy!

Some Fall Fun

My SIL Darenda and I decided to let our girls have a "Wildcat" fall fun day. This will be so much fun, I can't wait. We let the girls each invite 4 friends from school and we are taking them to the Amazingly fun farm. It is a big corn maze, along with a pumpkin patch, hay rides and games etc. We also rented a fire pit so when it gets dark we can tell ghost stories and roast marshmallows etc. We have Goodie bags and will take snacks and drinks. I think it will be a fun night. Check back for the pics. later.

Recipe Tuesday: Pumpkin Pie Crunch

I got this recipe from a Blog I follow, and I had to make it last night. It sounded so yummy and I have really been in the mood for pumpkin. I guess it is the weather? This is REALLY REALLY good. I think it will become a tradition in this family for sure.

Ingredients:

1 can pumpkin

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 c sugar

4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

yellow butter recipe cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

1 c. butter melted

1 tub cool whip

Grease 9x13 pan

combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and sugar

pour in pan

sprinkle cake mix on top evenly

sprinkle with pecans

drizzle melted butter over top

bake at 350 for 50-55 min

cool and top with whiped cream

I like theis better when it is out of the fridge, but it is yummy still a little warm too.

Thank you to Jennifer Bacak from the Bacak Nation for sharing this recipe. She has a lot of yummy recipe's on her blog, and they are all very good.

Last carnival cake

I got more eggs and made my last carnival cake tonight. This one didn't turn out as cute as I wished it would have, but I had fun making it and Ashley is excited to take these to school. I even made an extra one for us as an after dinner treat tonight. It was really good too. I'ven been in the mood for cake.

Favorite Thing Thursdays: dish soap

I bought this soap and I love the way it smells. Most dish soaps are fruity etc. Not this one it smells like how CLEAN smells. Really fresh and CLEAN. I wish they make this at Bath and Body Works! I love doing some dishes with this stuff.

Ham and Cheese Bake

My week has been busy so i didn't have time to post a recipe on Tuesday. Here it is on Thursday. Better late than never huh.

Ingredients:

Ham cubed -I bought a package of about 1/12 c

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of cheddar cheese soup

1 package of egg noodles cooked and drained

4 oz of cheese cubes--I used cheddar

That is it. cook and drain noodles. combine ham, both cans of soup and cheese cubes together,

add noodles and combine well. Pour into 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 min.

Halloween Cakes for the School Carnival

Ashley's school has a fall carnival every year, which is alot of fun for the kids and grown-ups too. I am making some cakes to take for the cake walk this year. I'm having so much fun doing this kind of stuff. I don't even mind the clean up! (Those of you who know me well know how i am about mess etc. So that is a big deal to me!) I only have these two made so far so check back for the other one or two that I'll make this evening. (I'm out of eggs!!!) Happy Fall Y'all!!!!

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The Shack

Henry downloaded this to his ipod for me this weekend. I listened to it on the way and back from Red River and then finished reading the last 4 chapters last night when we go home. This story was unbelieveable for me. I LOVED it and I think I'll take the recommendation and read it again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I laughed at times, cried at times, I really loved this book. If you haven't read it......YOU SHOULD!

WAY TO GO ASHLEY!!!!

1 Language Arts 94
2 Reading 92
3 Math 94
4 Soc. Studies 93
5 Science Health 98
6 Physical Education 100
7 music 100


I am soooooo very proud of Ashley. She has been working so hard in school this year, and her grades show it. We had to get used to lots of tests that we didn't have last year. I met with her teachers on Thursday, and she took a practice TAKS test at the second week of school, she will be commended on the test during an awards ceremony toward the end of the year. So when you see my little STAR, tell her congrats!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Rain Rain and More Rain

As usual you can expect a afternoon shower in Red River, but this was a storm. We had lightning, thunder, hail, winds, sleet and even lost power a couple of times. But you know being cooped up in a cozy cabin, in Red River, with the ones you love beats being stuck at home any day!!!!!! We are already planning next years trip.

Family Fun

We rented a different cabin this year, one right on the river. Katie and Ashley had fun running and exploring for hours at a time. We went to town and walked to all the great little gift shops, got our traditional fudge and candy at the little candy factory, and even bought moccasins this year.

We had a two story cabin with an upstairs balcony. Perfect for keeping Charlie confined to one area. Although, it did not keep him free from injury. He got 2 or 3 head injuries on the first day. He looked like a wounded Indian.

We ate breakfast a 2 new places this year, as our traditional place was closed for some reason. The food was good and as usual we ate to much. On Saturday night we did go to the Market and bout chicken, ribs and lil' smokies and grilled out in the rain. It was so yummy.

Can you imagine?

I have NEVER noticed a sign like this in my life. Have You?

This is an actual sign that we saw while we were gone. Can you imagine looking up and seeing falling cow? I must say that would be pretty scary. Think of all the damage!!!!

A Heavenly Weekend

We went away for our traditional WEEKEND IN RED RIVER, with the exception of last year when Charlie was sick. We had such a great time. We usually don't go this late in the year, but boy was it pretty. The leaves were changing and the scenery was very pretty. I must say, it sure did get cold. Temps in the 30's at night, and probably 50-60 during the day. The air was crisp and fresh and the the atmosphere was wonderful.

Professor Charlie

Henry brought Charlie out of the bathroom with an old pair of Ashley's glasses on. Doesn't he look adorable? He got a kick out of us all laughing at him. He thought he was pretty funny.

I love to watch Jon and Kate plus 8. One of the little boys on there wears glasses and he is Ashley and my favorite. There is just something about a kid in glasses. Ashley, I'm sure would disagree with me on that. She is reaching the point where she is already asking for contacts. Just not sure she is ready.

Well, hopefully Charlie has good vision and doesn't need glasses. But if he does he sure will look cute in them!

Favorite Thing Thursdays: Paint your oun Pottery

I love this hobby. I'm soooo looking forward to this this winter. I don't know why, but for some reason painting pottery just seem like a good winter project. I went on Tuesday night and really got fired up for some painting. The owners of our local place are so very nice and it is just a fun place to take the kids to or my favorite GO ALONE! The above plate is a pic from their website, not one I painted. FYI.