HappY BiRThdAy ASHLey.....

Ok...I'll just get this out there...Birthdays are very bitter sweet for me. I love watching my kids celebrate their special day, but I tear up EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!! I don't break down and need Kleenex by any means, but the lump in the throat and the tears fill the eyes. It sounds silly, but I don't know why they have to grow up so fast?

I remember January 2, 1999...waking up with a terrible pain in my back. I never would have thought that I'd be in labor since I wasn't due for 3 more weeks. BUT...at 4:15pm my life would change forever.. and for the better!! I first got to hold this little bundle of joy about 3 hours after she was born due to some breathing struggles. When that nurse put her in my arms, the feeling that came over me was unlike anything I could have ever imagined. I was in LOVE. The soft pink skin and that button nose, the long fingers and that smell. My life was complete. Looking back on that day, I will remember it always with fond memories of what an awesome gift I received on that day. Happy Birthday Ashley!!! I Love you sooooooo much more that you will ever know! You will always be my baby girl no matter how big you get!

Ashley 8 years old
Ashley at her 7th birthday party

Ashley 10 years old.

Happy Birthday Ashley...LOVE you so very much!

Christmas 2009

It's always so much fun to spend time together for the Holidays. We had such a wonderful Christmas and made some great memories. Ashley, Allyson, and Livy on Christmas morning.
Charlie checking things out.

Allyson

Ashley and Charlie at Grandmother and Grandad's house.

Katie and Chesley at Chance and Jerilynn's house on Christmas eve.

Cutter and Conner.

Ashley and her aunt KK

Ashley and Cambry.

Charlie playing with his "choo choo" that Santa brought.

Look what Santa brought. Thanks Santa.

Christmas is a time for.......

.....EATING!!!

My Goodness WHY do we do this to ourselves every single year?? I guess family + food = LOVE! This is a new recipe I got from my Mom this weekend. It is called Beef Skillet, and it is very good and worth trying.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of ground turkey or hamburger browned and drained

1 can of tomato soup

1/2 cup of picante sauce

1/2 cup of water

tortillas Corn or flour...I used 6 small corn cut into bite sized squares

Brown your meat and drain, add in soup, hot sauce water and tortillas.

Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Top with Shredded cheddar cheese and serve. I served mine with Rice a Roni spanish rice (my favorite).

very good and fast.

Easy cheese ball.

Ingredients:

2 packages of softened cream cheese

2-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 package of ranch dressing mix (dry)

about 1 cup of chopped pecans

Mix cheeses and ranch together well

form a ball, and roll in pecans.

wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Really Yummy, and oh so easy.

Rolo pretzels

Cover a cookie sheet with foil and preheat oven to 250.

Place desired number of pretzels on sheet and top with a rolo.

bake for approx 3 minutes (enough to soften, but not melt)

Remove from oven and take a pecan 1/2 and press it into the rolo, smashing it into the pretzel.

cool and enjoy.

Very addictive!

Just thought I would throw this in. These funfeti cakes during the holidays are so fun to bake and make a great treat for after school or after dinner. This Christmas on turned out cute!

Yummy side dishes

I love easy side dishes that I can make early in the day to serve along with dinner at 6:00 when my hubby walks through the door. Yes...i strive to be a good wife/mother! HAHAThis pasta salad is soooo good and easy to whip up. It is a favorite of mine, and you can do LOTS of variety to change it up.

Ingredients:

1 Box of pasta (I used the garden rotini this time, but have used regular and macaroni too)

I cucumber cut into bite size pieces

1 bell pepper chopped

1 half bag of cheese chucks ( I used the colby jack kind-Pepper jack would be awesome)

1 half package of ham cubes (more or less if you like)

1 stalk celery

1/2 bottle of light ranch dressing (eyeball how much you like...you may have to add more after it sits in fridge for a while!)

Mix all together,cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours so it all combines together well.

You could use Italian dressing too...that would be good, or the mini pepperoni in place of the ham would be awesome. The variations are endless.

UUmm this is what is for dinner tonight!

Broccoli slaw is another easy side to make ahead.

Ingredients:

1 bag of broccoli slaw

bacon bits

ranch

just dump broccoli slaw in, coat with ranch, and sprinkle in some bacon bits and stir.

how easy is that. Let it sit in fridge for at least 4 hours to soften the slaw and combine flavors.

We had this last night. So good

Happy Wednesday all!

The Week in Review...

Our computer was out of commission last week, along with my Ipod. Both of them were having issues. I'm so glad to finally have them both back, and finally have time to catch up on my blogging.As you can see from the above picture, we got a new pick up. We traded our van for this little beauty and are so excited. We both really loved the van, but we were foreseeing some repairs that would cost us in the long run and really thought it was best to say so long to it. I'm hoping to get another one someday, but until then I must learn how to drive this big baby.
KK and my great niece (her grand-baby!!) Mackinzie. She is 7 months old and is a little doll. She will be crawling all over soon. She is creeping around right now and a happy little girl. BTW- her feet are too fat to wear shoes!! HAHA

Some of our family. Unfortunately I did not get pics of everyone. The day kinda flew by and I was a little preoccupied tying to "host" Thanksgiving. Thanks Mom and KK for helping me.

This is my little man all tuckered out Thanksgiving morning. He came in bed with Mom and Dad that morning, which is very unusual for him. He is not a peaceful sleeper and not a lot of fun to lay with. It kinda feels like you are in a cage fight during the night!!!!