Christmas 2010....

Another Merry Christmas at our house again this year! We have several celebrations so it's always fun to get together with family and eat and open gifts and celebrate! One of the highlights for our family is the Christmas Eve service. It's become a tradition for us since Grace was just a toddler. To end the service they dim the lights so only the Christmas trees on the platform are lit and everyone lights a little candle they hold and we sing Silent Night....We let Grace hold her own candle this year and she was so happy about that! After service we usually drive around and see the light displays while we wait for our PIZZA order to be done! haha Mike's brother and aunt come with us and we go home and have pizza and watch It's a Wonderful Life on tv. We love those traditions!















Here I am excited about a gift Mike's aunt got me.....a baseball cap with the TARGET store symbol on it...For one I'm a baseball cap lover....I have one on almost daily in summer and I LOVE TARGET!! Mike's aunt works at Target so only employees can order them....as you can see I was very surprised and excited...even though it's blurry!

Grace still keeps Christmas magical for us....Not that we all weren't excited but there's just something about the "youngest" child's excitement that is contagious to the rest of us! Here she is holding ANOTHER horse to add to her growing collection! She collects Breyer horse sets and this was the Breast Cancer awareness horse...Pink and "glass" or so she says it's glass but it's really "fine plastic" ha She's always happy to get horse sets and always smiley on Christmas morning!! she's excited about any gift....even clothes!

"Mom all I want this year is a camera, really you don't have to get me anything else I just want my own camera!" Well how could we turn down that request! So here she is smiley and happy about her own new camera. We got her a pink case for it and she's done very well taking photos. We go on to my parents after we open our gifts at home and she did great taking photos herself! And we did get her other gifts, not just a camera...but she sure was happy....I waited to let her open that after several gifts which kind of made it funnier!

And my boy....I couldn't help this year thinking about Christmas' that are coming soon, in just the next two years and wondering if we'll be anxiously awaiting him to come home from college for Christmas....where did the time go and why is it now going faster than I want it to.....We saved KINECT until almost the end for him to open and as you can see he was VERY excited and a bit overwhelmed he got it.......The greatest story about this gift is I decided I wanted to clean out all our old games and gaming "stuff" before we got more stuff for Christmas and so we gathered a big bag of old games we no longer used and turned them into Gamestop with the intention of putting the money towards Kinect and guess what? we ended up paying.....$23 for it!! Wow...pays to clean up! We have all enjoyed Kinect this week, it's alot of fun and very physical!

So another Christmas has come and gone and it's New Years Eve....we're having a big family party tonight and we'll eat and play games and watch specials on tv. and eat some more! It's always a blast and our house is filled with laughter all night.......Hoping all of you had a wonderful Christmas and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas Eve....

(Some very old photos of my babies...Pondering the season, thinking of days gone by, old memories and new.......but most of all the TRUE reason for this Season! be sure your speakers are on to enjoy this gorgeous version of Oh Holy Night by David Phelps!!!!!)

13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.

19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.

20 The Shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:13-20

Frosty The Snowman Original

I love Vintage Christmas stuff and I stumbled upon this adorable rendition of Frosty! love it!!!!

My Daybook.......

Outside my window.......WHITE snow....and it's very very cold and windy! 15* cold and minus windchills! brrr

I am thinking......About going out tonight with friends to Olive Garden for dessert, mmm

I am thankful for......Two snowdays in row now, and the Cantata Sunday night was cancelled which left me in pj's that day as well! ha

From the learning rooms......We're doing a Jesse tree, most evenings that we're home, trying to remember the true reason for the season!

From the kitchen.....Holiday swirl snowball cookies, mmmm the start of Christmas baking!

I am wearing........Jeans, red turtleneck, and a white pull over fleece!

I am creating.......Still working at that special project!

I am going......to Kohl's and Target and then Olive Garden for dessert tonight!

I am reading......Cedar Cove Christmas, Debbie Macomber

I am hoping.....to get my Christmas project DONE tomorrow (and that there's school so I can haha) and all my wrapping done on Thursday and Friday!

I am hearing.......TOTAL QUIET minus the wind...all 3 kids are off to piano lessons. One with Mike and Jordan took Macy just now!

Around the house.......pretty tidy actually, kids were a big help over the snow days, as well as Mike! It feels so good when it's tidy, but it's not ever tidy very long! ha

A few plans for the week....besides what I listed, a church board Christmas party, kids are going on a Youth outing, Christmas party at my mom's and some MORE shopping is my guess! I'm 90% done though! whew....

A picture for sharing.......The BEST daddy EVAH who will brave the cold to give joy to a girl who wanted to go out and play in the snow on Sunday and no one would go with her!! She would play outside for hours if she could!! her eyelashes were frozen after she came in and we laughed about her red nose! Have a good week everyone and go here to make up your own Daybook!

Jesse tree....

Last year I remember reading a friend's blog about making a Jesse Tree. So..this year I was thinking about some advent activities we could do with the kids that would celebrate the true reason for the season.....so the Jesse tree was the choice this year!

A Jesse tree marks the family tree or the bible characters that lead up to Jesus being born, starting with Adam and Eve and so on.......I have to say in just the week that we've been doing it I've learned little tidbits here and there. So on a daily basis there is a bible character, for instance on day one it was Adam. There's an ornament you color of Adam and a bible reading for that character and then you hang it on your tree. We made our tree out of colored paper but you can use any tree you'd like.

We chose a website that was geared for younger kids since Grace is the youngest....but there are some with more in depth readings that you could certainly use.

It was alot of fun creating our tree and we decided to hang it on the back of the kitchen door......it doesn't take much time, holds even the youngest child's attention. You could certainly create your own ornaments and make it a real project!

We have had a lot of very sad events in our church family over the last few weeks, the death of a friend's teen aged daughter and the loss of a newborn baby for another and others who have lost their parent recently.....so we decided to incorporate family prayer after we do this and pray specifically "for" others that might be hurting over the holidays this year!

The nice thing about this is I think even Jordan enjoys getting in touch with his inner "child" haha and it just draws our attention away from the "commercial" of life........We love everything that has to do with Christmas, all the tv. specials, and the movies and the baking and shopping but it's so important to pull your kids back to what we're "really" celebrating!!! and this is a fun way to do that!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.....it's not too late to start your Jesse Tree...we didn't make ours until we would have been on day 6!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas....and I LOVE it!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas around here and I LOVE IT! it's my time of year....I LOVE to decorate and I love getting people special gifts! We have five trees in the house..yes I realize for "some" people that might be excessive or make you shake your head....but I tell ya, there's JOY in every room! haha This tree above is in our downstairs living room where we hang out almost all evenings together....our fireplace is down there and I hope my kids all have that memory of curling up listening to a crackling fire and watching Christmas movies!

Today we had a program at church called Camp Christmas. It's a time where you can drop your child off at church from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. They feed them lunch and they have blow ups to jump in and a couple from a nearby city comes to speak and put on a FUN FUN FUN program for the kids. Grace got to participate this year and Jordan and Macy were helpers. Mike and I had a great time taking our time shopping and had a great lunch out together. Since Jordan drives we didn't have to worry about getting back to get the girls so that was nice too! We are 90% done with our shopping I would say........wrapping? now that's another story!

This is our upstairs mantle, it's a bit dark but it's light blues and silver and white...this is the mantle we face when we're snuggled up on the couch reading Christmas stories or doing an advent activity. Last year during an advent activity we lit candles and sat in the dark with just the trees and mantle on and sang Silent Night...it made me so tearful and thankful for a family that spends time together!

This tree is across from the mantle above and next to the piano where I love to sit and listen to the kids practice their piano....Jordan is playing out of a Ronnie Freeman piano book right now and it's so beautiful to listen too.......

This is the girl's "pink" tree in their room.....They love to lay in bed at night with that on and they have the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack as their bedtime music...(don't be alarmed we do unplug it when they're asleep! ha) Jordan has a tree in his room as well.....but he couldn't plug it in for me to take a photo because his XBOX was plugged in at the time...ha Jordan isn't as enchanted to have a tree in his room as he used to be (*smile*) but I still made him clean his room well and put it up......I imagine before I know it, I'll be sending it with him to his college dorm when he visits for Thanksgiving (*gulp*) .......AND he'll remember all those years I made him put it up won't he?? hahaha

SO there ya go........a snippet of what's happening around here in the delights of night in our house! Maybe I'll do a post on all the SNOWMEN I've collected through the years, next!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.......I hope you're enjoying every minute of December and the great times it can bring!!

This little tree is called a pencil tree, and it stands......in our kitchen! "I know I know...."

My daybook........

FOR TODAY....
Outside my window.....Gray skies, leafy yard......very calm breezes!

I am thinking....about getting alot done today since I have a free day home!

I am thankful for......being able to stay home everyday!

From the learning rooms.......Grace working VERY hard to learn lines to two Christmas musicals she is in soon!

From the kitchen......HAHAHA this makes me laugh because I've been sick yet still cooking pretty good stuff this week surprisingly! Hoping to make a triple batch of Oatmeal cookie dough today when Macy gets home, she's a great help in that area and needs very little supervision!

I am wearing....Jeans and a sweatshirt....no time to shower yet which is unusual ...Jordan realized at 6:30 a.m. that he had a 7:00 a.m. MEETING...so I was high tailin it this morning!

I am creating.....(it's a secret Christmas project for my kids and since they sometimes read my blog I can't say but I'm glad to have free time today to work on it! ha...stay tuned!....it's a project that I said yesterday to myself: WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS NOW? hahaha)

I am going.......to clean for the next 45 mins, make a list of what I've purchased for Christmas so far, then work on the project and laundry while I'm at it! Mike's taking a half day to put in a new floor in his bathroom!

I am reading......SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, it's so funny...it's what the movie Christmas with the Kranks was made from...I love to read that and the Christmas Jar every year at this time!

I am hoping.......to accomplish ALOT today!

I am hearing........Chris Botti playing Christmas trumpet, so relaxing!

Around the house.......things coming together for the holidays!

One of my favorite things.......HOLIDAY "STUFF"!

A few plans for the rest of the week......Finish Thanksgiving grocery shopping tomorrow, do more Christmas shopping with Mike tomorrow night, spend lots of time with the kids in the evenings this weekend......and I MIGHT put up my Kitchen tree (OK don't wince!...I've been down and out sick for over two weeks now and I need some cheer in the house..these poor kids aren't seeing their "best" mommy! plus they love it! and it would be ONE DOWN! ha)

A picture to share.....Two Saturday's ago this is what we woke to, and Mike was out taking a picture of it at 6 a.m. when he took the dog out! Notice all the leaves underneath? haha

Have a super week all preparing for your Thanksgiving .....and remember to take time to actually BE THANKFUL!!
Go here to Simple Woman and do your own day book!!

Quick dinner.....

I made these a few weeks ago and they were fast and yummy and a hit with all five of us!! Broccoli Cheese Calzones. I've made this recipe as one big Calzone but these were good as individual.

1 loaf Whole Wheat frozen bread dough, cut into 4 sections

1 Jar of your favorite Pizza sauce

1 bag Broccoli Florets

1 bag Shredded Mozzarella

Steam the bag of broccoli until it's almost done, it will cook a bit more in the oven

Roll individual sections of dough into a rectangle, in half of the dough place a few pieces of broccoli, 1/4 C. Sauce and 1/4 C. cheese. Pull dough over to meet edges of dough and roll the dough to pinch it together and then press the edges with a fork so there are no "escape holes." Shape into a half circle and continue with the remaining four pieces. Let rise on baking sheet for about 15 minutes. Bake at 400* for 15-20 mins. until golden brown (perhaps less time if your oven runs hotter)

Let sit a few minutes on baking sheet, warm remaining sauce for dipping and serve.

If you wish to freeze these, do all the steps minus the rising, just freeze on the baking sheet and then transfer frozen Calzones to a Ziploc bag. VERY important, when you pull these out for baking day, transfer them back to the baking sheet to thaw about an hr. and raise, if you just let the bag sit out to thaw you'll have a stuck together MESS! (I learned this the hard way! ha)

ENJOY!

This served 5 of us easily with 1/2 leftover!

Cruising through the holidays.......

There a great website, Flylady, click here to head there! It's a website that helps you get your housework on track! I just started doing what's called "Holiday missions". She has a whole plan that gets your house ready for the holidays and it's broken down in manageable jobs. If you click on the link it leads you to a Big Christmas tree, just click on Holiday missions to get started.
Even if you weren't hosting anyone for the holidays it gets you motivated to get your house in order or atleast free of clutter!

I love the holidays, any of you who know me, know that, and I love to HOST HOST HOST......but I also like to have time to enjoy it too so being organized and motivated is a huge help!

If you have time you can go to the home page on Flylady and read about regular daily missions, I'm doing those as well and what she's done is break your house down into "Zones" and you concentrate on that Zone for the week so it's manageable and you're not cleaning all over the house like a madwoman! ha

These little missions don't just pertain to getting ready for Christmas it's for Thanksgiving as well and I've found them to help remind me of things I may have forgotten to do! You can also watch the daily Holiday missions on her tv. page each day, that's kind of fun too!

Hope you find some great motivation over there.......I just filled my sink with Mr. Clean and I"m planning to hit the high spots in the kitchen. Top of the fridge and ceiling fans.....I may even do some extras so then I can enjoy things like......JUMPIN IN THE LEAVES WITH GRACE! (don't forget to put on some "moving" musis...I've got ya going for the first 15 mins. on my blog here so turn up the speakers and get that sink full of soapy water!!!)

Nov. 6, 2010

For Today.......

Outside my window.......Melting snow over fallen leaves, ha Gotta love Michigan!

I am thinking.......about the many things I'd like to get done in the house today!

I am thankful for.......feeling alot better today, I've been feeling pretty sick all week.

From the learning rooms.......hmmm not alot, need a library run too.

I am wearing........HAHAHAHA my pj's and bathrobe and it's 1:00, but it is the weekend!

I am creating.......a few lists for Thanksgiving company/dinner......and even some Christmas shopping.

I am going.......shopping with Macy later for church dress pants.

I am reading........a fluff Christmas book by Debbie Macomber and a Teen book.

I am hoping..........to get alot done today and have fun too!

I am hearing........Christmas music on the holiday channel on tv.

Around the house.........it's a mess actually......just needs some time!

One of my favorite things........November and upcoming holidays!

A few plans for the rest of the week.......It's going to be a busy week, 2 cleaning jobs, 1/2 days for both girls and I'm watching my friend's two kids 4 afternoons this week and going to both of my girls conferences.

A picture for sharing......We had a light snow today it was pretty, but we do need to get the leaves up before it snows regularly! ha

Running like a chicken.......

I found myself under the weather today taking a day off (encouraged by my wonderful friend Leanne). Funny thing is even though I didn't feel so great, I got 6 loads of laundry done and folded ......(I was able to delegate the putting away to Macy bless her sweet heart!) I put Broccoli Cheese soup in the Crock Pot. I took the laptop, the bills, my purse, some ads and a pad of paper and a pen to my room.

I was able to pay all the weeks bills, make a rough list of things I want to have done before we have company for Thanksgiving and things before Winter sets in, got in on some great deals online for my kids for Christmas (check out Aeropostle's clearance online if your family likes that store, they have some great $5 t shirts and $15 hoodies), and got dinner on. I didn't get to look through the ads and make my grocery list but I've decided to stay home tonight from church and relax and do that! I might even clean out my purse, but I don't want to overdo it haha

To be honest, I know I'm an over achiever at heart.......meaning I like to be "doing" alot to keep things organized etc. but often my expectations haven't been meeting the "doing" and I've felt like I can't run one more errand, give one more kid a ride, fill out one more piece of paper or clean one more thing in this house! I think I heard myself say yesterday in a tearful voice "I'm drowning in my own schedule" so when I stumbled upon this great article on Crystal Paines blog Money Saving Mom (click on this link to read it). Basically she was encouraging us to not do IT ALL......To say no to some things that aren't in your season of life right now and let go of perfectionism........this was so good and I have to say when I went over my list of things I do that I could say no to or delegate it was hard at first to think of what could wait but I think I can manage to wait on some things until it's easier to manage. See the chick in this picture, doing what she loves to do......bake or cook or make something for somebody......missing that feeling!

I want to be able to give the best of myself to my family and I haven't found that to be easy lately......so I hope you enjoy this article! if you look around her blog she has alot of great time saving ideas and if you click on her most recent post she has a great guest post about managing time!

The holidays are coming so it's a good time to get stuff in order and be ready, it's my favorite time of year and I want to suck every bit of enjoyment out of it with my friends and family......there's a phrase Crystal wrote in her article "to have your house 45 minutes from company ready" WOW! that's a pretty good way to live I think......plus she spends 30 mins. in God's word and in prayer before her kids get up....the timing of this wouldn't work for me since my kids are up only 15 minutes after me at 6 a.m. but this is doable for me after Grace goes to school....I realize it's all about being INTENTIONAL!!

I want to enjoy the holidays and my family and not be barking orders and being grouchy (I'm not promising this will happen all the time haha) but I just want to stop the frazzled feeling! I try to find things that help me feel happy or make the job easier, for those that know me know that Christmas music puts me in myhappy place so you bet I turned some on today!

I heard a great speaker last night at a ceremony for Jordan and other students at his school and one thing I heard him say was "Be the best at all you do, try hard and don't quit, commit to doing the best job you can and don't overload yourself with QUANTITY so you can do QUALITY work.....Be the best at having a CALM ATTITUDE!" "KAPOW!!!" I knew he was a Pastor but it was a secular event but I knew what he was saying......stop stressin and doing too much and do well on what you need to do!!

ENJOY YOUR LIFE.........it's tough if you have anything extra to do, kids, school events, etc. but leave some room for a lazy "me" day you will find it so refreshing.........I realize this is all easy to say since I laid in bed all day but I plan to make myself a few little prompts around the house on note cards to remind myself this life isn't a race it's to be enjoyed. Our family has made a commitment as a family to "serve" others and we can't do a very good job with no time in our schedule.........The blog button for Proverbs 31 on the sidebar of my blog has great daily devotionals for women that I've found to be priceless in my life!

If you have any good links or ideas/books on this topic share them in the comments! we can all use help! haha HAPPY HOLIDAYS FRIENDS!

Welcome November....

Well I made it through October.......it seems to be such a busy month with sports, school stuff and church stuff.......I'm always ready for November to roll around and it's true again this year! We joined Mike's Grandpa today at the place he lives for a Halloween lunch! it was nice...alot of residents were dressed up and they had a contest for best costume! Mike's Grandpa is new there so next year it will be our year for him to WIN IT! ha

Macy, Grace and my niece Alecia were dressed up tonight ready for some fun! A cowgirl, Angel and a clown!! so cute!

Here's the girls and I at lunch today, I wore a Red Riding hood cape! Had to get in the spirit of the day!

We passed out seven bags of candy tonight at home, and the girls probably brought that much home in their bags.......UGG I am such a mean mom when it comes to candy that we do 2 pcs. a day when they actually remember...after a few days they forget! Well this year will be even harder because Grace has an expander and she is getting four braces on her front teeth this Tuesday so her candy intake will be more limited!

So.......there's the weekend in a nutshell! it's done and over with and I'm ready to move into a more relaxed time of year. Well more relaxed than it was the last few months anyhow...Cross Country ended yesterday, Gymnastics ended too......so it's gotta be more relaxing now...it's just gotta!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh HD- Winnie the Pooh and the Blust...

This the certainly the kind of day we're going to have here! The ONLY plus, it helps our stubborn Oak leaves to get falling so we can clean them up before bad weather sets in!!!

Fall treats....

This is a sweet treat we will make the end of this week for Grace to take to school for her Halloween party at school! I can't tell you that Halloween is our favorite holiday, but I know it's exciting for kids and we try to do more "Fall/Harvest" things and focus on that! So when I came across this idea a few years ago it became a yearly tradition.......(The only thing to keep in mind when you're eating these like popcorn, haha, is you are eating an ENTIRE Hershey's Kiss so limit yourself!

Start with a box of Mini Nilla wafers and a bag of Hershey kisses(any flavor!). (These are not my photos, I googled them but they are perfect to show how they're made!)

Have your kids peal the wrappers off the kisses, pour them out on to a tray.

Spoon 3-4 Tb. Chocolate or caramel canned frosting into a piping bag with a writers tip OR into a Ziploc freezer bag(you could use a reg. Ziploc baggie but they aren't very strong and sometimes I've had them burst on me!) and snip just a TINY hole, I mean tiny like a toothpick width because it will expand as you pipe! If you don't want to bother with the piping you can just use a butter knife and put the icing on the cookie and skip the stem as you'll see!

Pipe a pea sized dollop of icing onto the flat edge of the cookie and press a Hershey's kiss onto the cookie. Keep going until you've used up all your Kisses. Then pipe just a dot of icing on top of the cookie and pull up as you pipe to create a little "stem" look!

EASY PEASY and oh so yummy!! you might want to do a few bags of Kisses, I'm telling you they will go fast!!

Do these the night before so they have time to set up and dry well, this helps them stay together! Put these on top of a Chocolate cake to decorate it, so cute!

Enjoy your week all.........it's a gorgeous day here today! unseasonably warm for this time of year! We have one layer of leaves raked but there are many MORE MORE MORE layers to come......our yard is full of Oak trees that seem to be stubborn in giving up their leaves until after Turkey day! Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Mexican casserole

This dish is a favorite and really fast and healthy!

1 lb. Ground beef (I used lean ground Turkey)

1 envelope dry Taco seasoning

1 Jar Black Bean and Corn salsa

1 Can Pinto beans, drained and rinsed

8 oz. Shredded Mexican style shredded cheese

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (+ingreds. to make Cornbread)

2 T. butter, melted

Fry ground beef and drain if necessary. While ground beef cooks, mix up 2 boxes of cornbread mix with ingred's it calls for on the box. Add taco seasoning and water the envelope calls for to drained beef and cook for 5 mins. Add in jar of salsa and can of Pinto beans and stir together. Pour this mixture into 9 x 13 sprayed baking dish. Set aside 1/4 Cup cheese for topping hot casserole. Sprinkle remaining cheese over meat mixture. Top this with corn bread mix and 2 T. melted butter. Bake at 400* for 20 mins. Top with remaining cheese and put back into the oven just a minute or two until cheese melts! Serve with sour cream, diced tomatoes, green onions, black olives or Chips and salsa! It's even better leftover!

My Daybook.....

FOR TODAY....

Outside my window.......Leaves changing into pretty colors and swirling swirling to the ground.....Jordan mowing the lawn for the last time this season most likely!

I am thinking........about getting cozy with Grace on the couch with some library books

I am thankful for........After listening to yesterday's sermon at church that God, our groom is preparing us for the "wedding" celebration and I want everyone I know to be ready and waiting for His arrival!

I am wearing.....Black mesh shorts and black t shirt, tenners and socks....I actually worked out earlier!

I am creating......Some sense of organization around here, it's really been an overwhelming mess lately since I've been changing out Fall/Winter clothes for Summer! blah I dislike that job!

I am going......to enjoy this free night with the family! Minus Jordan going to Cross Country practice for just an hour.

I am reading.....Christmas Angels by Debbie Macomber (I was in need of some fluff reading, since I've been reading about Teens/Tweens lately! ha)

I am hoping......that's it's a lighter week and relaxing for us as a family together!

I am hearing......Good music on our Christian station! Macy playing piano! good mix lol

Around the house.......sort of clean, sort of organized but more to go.....enough done for today though!

One of my Favorite things.......at this moment in time, Fall, the crunching leaves, changing colors, unexpected warm days, the FOOD to name a few things......

A picture for sharing, me and my guy at the Train park in town!

Go HERE to create your own daybook and link up!

Upgrades....

So when we moved in we had this bathroom with this pink tile and blue tile floor.....well it was very costly to redo it and at the time we wanted to spend money on more prominent parts of the house. Well......it's still there and now even more costly, and I don't really mind it since it's small I can work with it.....but it needed an update! So here is the before and after.....

My friend Leanne emailed me last week because she knew I was shopping for a new shower curtain and asked me if I got one that makes me smile.....and that was a good question because it DOES!

I got these cute cute scroll candle holders at Walmart...they sort of look like an old fashioned bicycle don't they? they were so inexpensive.....I think they were $15 for both!

The shower curtain is from Target.....my friend Susie helped me decide! I showed it to her online and she thought it would get us looking more modern and she was right.....Because when you look in that bathroom those bright POLKA DOTS ARE THE FIRST THING YOU SEE.....ha So an inexpensive upgrade....yeah the pink tile is still there and the blue floor but it is cool in summer and nice and bright in the mornings! HAHAHAHA

Fall decorating...ahhh

I am definitely a true to the season sorta gal....You'll hear me say during every season how much I love it! I guess it's the change in scenery, clothes, foods etc. Nothing like curling up with a good book and Fall makes it alot easier to snuggle down into the covers and enjoy a good read!!

And the food......Fall foods? I love Fall foods, I'm sure you do too! I love a good burger on the grill but there's nothing like that first hot pot of soup, or a mug of hot cider, a fresh apple pie out of the oven or a bubbly hot casserole pulled from the oven and leaving the oven door a bit ajar to let the heat into the room.......mmm

This room I have to say is my favorite to cozy into a chair or on the couch and peruse some magazines while I listen to someone practice piano! I love decorating this mantel with sparkling lights all year round.......and the nice thing about decorating for Fall is I leave it up until Thanksgiving day ends...and you KNOW what comes to this mantel after that...but that's a whole new post for then! ha

Apples Apples Apples.....I love all things apples, I love having a basket full of them, even fake ones like the ones under this globe, apple PIE, apple CIDER......apple cake, donuts, fritter, .......endless!

I hope you're all settling into Fall, soon the leaves will be raining down their orange and golden rains......I have to laugh at Grace when we go for a walk and she rides her bike, she likes to ride over the fallen crunchy leaves to hear it crunch......"I got that from you Mom!" I'm glad my kids love the changing seasons and I'm so glad they take notice of the changing seasons indoors too...I think they enjoy the decorations too.....Sometimes it makes me think about wanting to make a mental note to see if any of them do this when they have their own homes someday (gulp)....I can hear them now "We ARE NEVER buying any Charlie Brown CD's and take it easy on the decorating!" haha

Getting ready for supper....

Ok so I got this great idea from a new cooking show Rachel Ray has about making 5 meals on the weekend for the week's meals ahead.......

So Sunday afternoon I got busy with cooking and am very pleased with the results! Yesterday for lunch we had Butternut squash and I always make Butternut soup with the leftovers...You can go here to find the recipe in my archives! We all love this soup, and by chance I had 1/2 a pint of HEAVY cream leftover from a dessert I made this week and Half and Half so I used that instead of milk and OH BABY! creamy goodness....can't wait until lunch today!!

I also put on a pot of sauce to simmer......I just brown up Ground chuck, and Ground turkey, onion and garlic, add the largest jar of Prego, a small can of Tomato paste, 3 cans of water from that can, salt and pepper, a can of mushrooms, fresh basil (when I have it, or dried is fine), 2 T. sugar, and let that simmer away! Mike ate a bowl of it for a snack with a piece of bread! he would eat Spaghetti everyday he has said! ha

I also made a batch of Sloppy Joes, the only difference in the recipe you can click on here in my archives is I used half ground turkey and half ground chuck. I often use just ground turkey but I wanted to stretch the cost too! Be sure to click here to make the best fries EVAH to go with it!

I'm so glad to have these things ready to reheat......last week dinnertime was chaos, between after school activities, sports and church I was so unprepared for meals in the timing to prep and cook times......so hopefully this will make dinner easier! I love to connect with the kids at dinner and talk so if I'm prepared with easy and filling meals ahead I think it will go well...until Sports end for us in Mid November anyhow......

Tonight is Spaghetti, can't wait to smell that sauce fill the room with it's yummy savory good smell! You can just add a salad/veggie or hot crunchy bread to any of these and you're good to go!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

Happy Monday......

HAPPY MONDAY.....decided I'm going to dust the house throughout and put up my Fall decorations! It's time....and it's a gorgeous day! enjoy!

Give away.......

Go here to Danielle's blog and check out an awesome give away on 30 day cooking.....she's already tried it and it seems soooo great!

Stuffed Meaty Pizza

This is a great weekend go to recipe for me in Fall/Winter, I always double it and freeze two halves for future use!

1 loaf Italian bread

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, (I use ground turkey, 99%)

1 ts. minced garlic

1 onion, finely chopped

1/3 C. finely chopped carrots, peeled (this makes the recipe)

1 Tb. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 ts. Allspice

1 jar Prego (or any sauce you like)

1 1/2 C. Mozzarella cheese

2 T. fresh basil, opt'l

Preheat oven to 450*. Split bread length wise and hollow out most of the bread leaving a shell. (Toast the hollowed out pieces and grind them into bread crumbs or just eat them! ha) Lightly crisp the bread loaves on a baking sheet for a few mins. watching carefully.

In a large pan cook beef, onion and carrots until the meat is done and vegetables are tender. Drain any excess grease. Add Worcestershire sauce, allspice and Spaghetti sauce and simmer 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer meat mixture to hollowed out bread loaves, sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese is just melted and bubbly. Pull out of oven and top right away with snipped basil (you can use dry). Enjoy.....these freeze great so double or triple it!

To prepare from frozen, defrost and bake at 375* for 15 mins. or until heated through and cheese is bubbly! Enjoy!

I can see clearly now........

I got reading glasses......did I tell you that? I went with Grace this summer to get eye check ups.....and I knew she would be getting new glasses since she's worn them all along but I didn't know I would be getting READING glasses!

He put reading lenses up to my eyes and I gasped, out loud and the Dr. sort of snickered and said "it sneaks up on you doesn't it?" WELL YEAH!

But I have to say as much as I love to read....it's probably a good thing that I have them! I just cannot get used to seeing the bottom rim of the glasses and find myself pulling them down on my nose like a granny......now I know why people do that! ha So.....I guess it's not so bad...I made it to age 42 with perfect eyesight......guess some things gotta give and if it's gonna give then let it be my reading eyes! ha Read on my friends......