Christmas Tour

I came across this tour of homes from http://www.boomama.net/ and decided to join in on the fun, so here goes...

This cute wooden basket is where I keep my Christmas cards!

I love my Santas, and the kiddos love their

countdown clock, it plays Christmas music

everytime you change the date!!

And the mantle, I forgot to edit this

picture so you could see it better (sorry)

Oh Christmas Tree...

This is an ornamnet that Hannah made at

school and I just had to show it off!

I like my new platter that I got last

year and was sooo excited to display it!!

Okay, maybe that wasn't real exciting, but it's our home for Christmas and we love it! Thanks for stopping by!!!!

A quick share

Just wanted to stop in between kids Christmas parties at school and all the craziness that goes with this month and show you some my latest creation... yeah!! BATH SALTS BABY!!! Okay, I wanted to do something to add to the teachers & friends gifts, so I whipped up some Sweet Almond Bath Salts and bath bombs. The sweet almond essential oil is good for dry skin, and this time of year we all tend to get a little dry and "ashy", I used some and it really made a difference, it was so easy to make and I put it in these cellophane bags, made some tags from cardstock, used some festive ribbon and what a great addition to any gift!!!!

A full heart...

these days I am all about things that make my heart full, I feel as though I NEED to have a full heart, it's just something that's important to me right now. My kids are my greatest source, and this time of year especially brings out meaningful things that we might not always notice otherwise, there are a few commercials that do it for me, Sears Grant a Wish, the song alone makes me want to just bawl like a baby, Pillsbury Home is calling makes me feel warm, and the Hershey kisses in shape of a tree dancing a tune makes me excited and Christmasy! This morning as I sit here drinking my coffee, trying to stay warm because it is soooo cold outside, I think about this morning and how chaotic it was trying to get the kids out the door, they were not cooperating very well, and thinking about Jim driving to work and it took him a long time because of the icy streets, I miss them and treasure them and pray for them to have a good day and to lead them back home to me this afternoon. Have a good day, keep your heart full!

My sweet boy

Last night our family attended Cameron's choir concert "A December to Remember" and it was so good, he did such a good job, they have been working so hard on this for weeks now and it was great! We were so proud of him, got it all on video for family that couldn't be there, and afterwards we went to Sonic for milkshakes to celebrate, fun times!!!

{oh, the weather outside is frightful...}

well... not really... kinda... it's really cold today, for Texas that is, kinda Christmasy weather. I know that people up north and all my friends here that are "northerners" say this is nothing you sissies! I'll take it... well I finally got my Christmas cards ordered, so that's out of the way, and let me tell ya, no matter how old your kids get they still act weird, naughty, bratty, difficult... well, you get the point, when you announce your taking their picture for a special occasion they truly go off the deep end, in one of the pictures Cameron who is 10 mind you had an expression like he was truly in misery and wanted to cry, and Hannah 6 whined before, threatned me that she wasn't going to tuck her hair behind her ear, wasn't going to say "cheese or money" and then proceeded to get on the trampoline and have me take her picture there, I truly felt like doing some heavy drinking at that point, but, I did get some good ones finally!!!! and I was DONE!! I have done some shopping, I am pleased with my progress, I have all the wrapping goods, I love buying those!! My sister is really on the ball this year, got some great deals on Black Friday, she is waay ahead of me!! I am reading "The Christmas Train" for my book club next week and it's a really good book, I will lead the disscussion on this one. Well, I better run, I need to do some stuff around here, there's always stuff!!

Stacy

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!

Love it, love it... so full of joy and happiness! We had a great 4 day holiday, fun with family, ate lots of everything humanly possible, (I am promising to hop on a treadmill at the gym tomorrow) anyway, don't judge me!! I am in the process of decorating right now, I needed a break, everything is looking so festive and happy! Well, that's it for now, just wanted to check in for the 1st of December, have a good day!! Stacy

Thanksgiving

I love the week ofThanksgiving, there has always been a "feeling" that I just love. I love shopping for my baking and cooking things, gearing up for casseroles & pies, 2 of my favorite things to make at Thanksgiving. I am thinking of making a thankful tree with the kids, I always want them to be sure they recognize this day as being with family and just enjoying each other without the expectations of gifts, I want them to be thankful for everything they have and all those they love. I can't wait for Thurs. morning, I always get up before everyone, while drinking my coffee I start cooking whatever I am taking to lunch, and then turn the parades on, I have never not watched the parades, EVER! then everyone else gets up and we all watch the parades! love it, love it!!! Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Love, Stacy

Things I am loving these days...

{ The anticipation of the holidays }

{ The smell of pumpkin & hazelnut candles }

{ Looking through my recipe books for holiday recipes }

{ Always, my family }

{ Taking pictures }

{ Blogging }

{ Making homemade pizzas }

{ The crisp weather }

{ Looking through the toy catalogs at what my kiddos have circled }

I love making these lists...

brrrrrr...

it is cold out this morning, but I like it!!! I am ready for Thanksgiving break, the kids are out of school all next week, yikes, what are we gonna do?? I have my recipes all mapped out and already have some of the ingredients for them, so I feel organized on that. I am contemplating Black Friday shopping, I love it but... if they don't have anything I need on sale, why go?? we'll see. I am cleaning house this morning, doing some of the heavy duty stuff, feels good to get it done though, yesterday I went and had Thanksgiving lunch with Hannah at school and then I read her class a cute little Thanksgiving book, she loves it when I do that, she was sitting right in front of me when I was reading and every now and then she would hold on to my leg and smile at me, oh, make a mamas heart sing!!! I have a recipe for you today, it's especially good for the cool weather and for the holidays with everyone being so busy but still needing something good and hearty to eat...




Texas Baked Potato

bake large potatoes
top with chopped beef, baked beans,
sauted onions
grated cheese
and a dollop of sour cream
sprinkle with pepper
Soooo easy!!! and yummy

Hello out there! not a whole lot going on here lately, today Hannah is home with me, stomach bug, it started around 12:30 this morning and she ended up campin out on our floor for the night on her sleeping bag, Jim and I were cleaning up, if you get my drift... she decided to leave a trail from her room to ours and well, I'm just keepin it real! so I have lots of laundry to do!
Saturday Hannah had her fall fest at school, so we did that, and I entered the pie baking contest, but didn't place, but hey it was fun :) Cameron spent Fri. night with a friend and was tired all Sat. because they didn't go to bed until realllly late. Went to church yesterday and then went to Chili's for lunch, hung out the rest of the day, Jim and Cameron straightened up the garage, read the paper and watched some football, yeah Cowboys! you did it! FINALLY!! Well I need to get, the dryer went off and I need to make a switch! Have a good Monday! S

From the heart...

almost 4 years ago we left the church we had been at for about 5 years because the pastor was resigning to start another church, so we along with about 15 other families left with him...we had no hard feelings about this church but felt lead to start anew. Last October we left that church because we felt we were no longer where we needed to be so we have been visiting other churches, but still didn't have the feeling we were looking for. Well, after much thought and prayer we went back to visit the church we started at, after walking in and looking around and seeing many many familiar faces getting numerous hugs from everyone, and no one once mentioned why we left or why we were back, they were just glad to see us! we then sang "Your all I want, your all I've ever needed" and I was just touched beyond words, it felt good, it felt right, Jim said it feels good to be here again. The kids went to children's church and really enjoyed themselves, we're going to stick with it, it's where we started, it's where we want to be...

Treat

I wanted to share this cute little diddy I did for the kids classmates on Halloween. I made rice crispy treats and added some candy corn and mini choc. chips, I used some clear treat bags and some with spiderwebs, for the circles I used my large round scrapbooking circle cutter, and with my rubber stamps I put a spider on the spiderweb bag and a pumpkin on the clear, put the treat in, fold, and attach the circle with glue, and wala! a cute treat, and I got many compliments from other parents and teachers!!!

I know, I know...

long time no blog, but I'm back. Okay here is Halloween! we had such a fun night, my Southern Belle & "Jason" went to a Halloween party at their friends house, they had a bounce house, haunted house, food, drinks, it was a combined kid/adult party. Then we all headed out for trick or treating around their neighborhood, there were about 50 of us and we had a great time, then we came back to our area and went a few streets, the kids got too much candy, but we had a great night!

Trick or Treat???

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound on Sat. and had so much fun. Beware... picture overload!!! Miss Hannah with her "ladybug"

I love the pictures of the kids popping up in the hay maze!

Me and my babes

I put my family in "jail" haha!!

My little angels!

I am in that "feeling unsettled" state of mind, I sure wish I didn't get like this, but I do when things are in disarray. I took alot of decor down today and packed it and now I just need some more tissue paper for the fragiles, packing is going good though. Hannah is doing much better, still in breathing treatments, but sounds alot better, she has gym. tonight and she is ready because she had to miss on Wed. Cameron had choir yesterday after school and he really likes it, they are just the most precious children, and don't want to move and I feel bad for them, but we're not moving far, they will adjust. We got their costumes, Cameron is going to be a scary dude with a "Hannibal" looking mask, a hatchet, and a black cape looking thing, no more Spiderman cutesy things anymore, and Hannah is going to be a Southern Belle, she loves to be "pretty" I wanted her to be a witch or a cat or something different than a princess, ballerina... but that is what she had her heart set on. I would like to go to a pumpkin patch tomorrow, we'll see what the day holds. The weather has been so nice, love that fall feeling! Have a great fall weekend! Stacy

oooh went the wind...

it sure is howling out there, the leaves are blowing, it's misting rain... it's blowing in fall! and how I love it, I could just run around outside like a maniac! My little Hannah banana is home today, her asthma is acting up so I kept her in today so we can do breathing treatments every 2 hours, she didn't want to stay home, she loves school, but her dad and I told her she needs to get better, so she has done some crafts, played a game, and now she is on the couch with a blanket and pillow watching tv. And I need to be doing something productive like packing, but, well, I'm not, shame on my lazy self. Last night for dinner I made salisbury steaks from some deer meat we had in the freezer and it was so good, I baked it in the oven instead of frying, and the best thing of all deer meat has no fat, we also had mashed potatoes and green beans, it was a good dinner, on Sunday I made an apple tart is was soooo yummy and easy, peasy! Here's the recipe:

1 can apple pie filling, add some cinnamon/sugar to it

take a pie crust and lay it flat on cookie sheet

dump the above mix in the middle of the dough & spread to within 2" of edges

pleat crust as needed

brush crust with egg white, & sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar

Bake at 425 for 20 min.

Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!!!

Fun with pictures...

we filled alot of these this weekend from the attic!
saw this cute, cute movie

love, love these 2 products, I could eat the cheese with a spoon!

and what is the deal with these guys???

I just wanted to drop in and say hello and happy Friday! Not too much going on here this weekend, we're going to tackle the attic, that ought to be fun :( the garbage man isn't going to like us on Mon. morning!! but it does feel good to clean things out. I started packing a few things yesterday, and if I haven't mentioned yet, we've found a rent house to live in until we find the house we want or until the house we already found and really, really want is released from the bank from foreclosure, it could take some time so we're going to just patiently wait! we look at it like we have accomplished the hard part of selling our house so we're looking at this an adventure!! anyway, so we're just doing the "moving thing" right now. And just so we can have some fun we're going to the movie to see "Wall-e" it started at the $ movie, so we're excited about that, and church on Sunday and the Cowboy game.

I baked some pumkin bread the other day and my gang has been gobbling it up! Jim really prefers banana, so maybe I'll make him some next week, it is feeling fallish finally!!! and it makes me want to go to a pumkin patch, we'll do that next weekend, we love to carve pumpkins and roast the seeds, so delish!!! I'll give you my recipe next week on that. Well, I need to run to Walmart and get some groceries, I think we'll have something pasta tonight... I'll figure it out as I stroll along! Have a fantastic weekend!!

Stacy

{Fall}

fall is...

"...all about new school supplies, comfort casseroles and my favorite treat on a rainy afternoon, a homey apple dessert. To me fall means cozy routines and a warm kitchen...and I can't wait."

{Apron love...}

How adorable is this apron??? my mother surprised me with this for my birthday last week, I am sooo excited about this little darling and can't wait to do some serious baking in it!! The store it came from is www.jilliewillie.com it is the cutest store ever, the name of this apron is chocolate mint, how cute a name that is!!! Thanks Mom!!!

{Family Reunion}

We had such a good weekend with our family, I got to reconnect with those I don't see much and that really means alot to me. My dad is one of 7 siblings and they live all over, and they have kids and ... so there were alot of little ones running around! I took alot of pictures but had to choose a few to share with you...

My Dad and cute nephew Asa
They had a treehouse/deerstand that the kids lived in the whole time!!
A better picture of it
These are mine and my siblings kiddos, I'll frame this one,

cousins, they are the bestest!!
And Miss Molly-Kate striking a pose for her Aunt Stacy!

{Fun Friday}

Good morning! I am just sitting here having my coffee waiting for the roofers to get here, we're getting a whole new roof, it's going to get awful noisy around here today! I have been battling sinus/allergies this week and haven't really felt like chatting, but I am feeling better and am ready for the weekend, we are heading to East Texas for a family reunion on my dad's side and I am really looking forward to seeing family that I don't see that much. The kids get to play with their cousins, and everyone is sure to have a good time, and oh yeah... lots of good eating too :)

The weather has been good this week, not to hot but it could be a bit cooler in my opinion, I need fall!!!! the kids have been throwing around ideas on what they want to be for Halloween this year, they change their mind quite a bit! well, the roofers are here and I need to get started on my day!! Have a great weekend! S

Getting in the fall mood!

Roasting marshmallows on the grill for smores!
I love the excited looks on the kids faces as they

anticipate their yummy treats!

Hannah Banana feeding her sweet tooth
Raided the $ spot at Target and got these Spiced Pumpkin body scrub & shower gel, some Halloween treat bags and some other craft items to make goody bags for the kids classes.

It's October!!

My most favorite month! I love it, love it! It is my birthday month but that's not the main reason, I love the fall, what we actually have of it, but to me it signifies the start of the holiday season. I love the pumpkins, scarecrows, Halloween stuff, cozy food, the crisp colors, it really makes me happy. I already put my fall wreath on the door, and now I need to put some decor out in the house, that reminds me I need to have Jim get it out of the attic this evening, I won't put too much out this year since we are moving in exactly 4 weeks and I don't want to have too much stuff to box back up. I have a few things going on today, I have a couple coming to see me about childcare, I hope it works out, I need to get busy again! then I need to make a Walmart run, and Hannah has gym. at 4:00, so that's my plan, and I could really benefit from a nice walk this morning, so I think I'll take Kirby with me, all I have to do is go to the laundry room where his leash is and when I take the container down that it's in he goes crazy! Have a great day, it's October!!! S

While out running errands this weekend the kids were in the back seat eating chips and they said look at us mom, and I turned around and they were being cute for me and I just so happened to have my camera with me and I told them to hold that pose and took a picture and Cameron was so not alseep he was messing with me! the picture was a little shaky for we were in daddy's loud and bumpy diesel truck!! Anyway, had a good weekend didn't do anything exciting, just preparing to move at the end of Oct. Right now I am waiting for the roofer to come out and look at our roof, we need some work done before we close so he will let us know what exactly needs to be done! oh yay! house stuff pretty much dominates our lives these days! well, I better get my realtor just shot me an email and I need to see what's up! later taters!! Stacy

Finally...

I have been trying to get this post finished for 2 days but blogger was acting up, so... here it is!

First of all, Happy Fall! it's my favorite time of year, that is when it finally starts to feel like it outside, but is it "officially" fall. Yesterday morning as we were getting in the car to go to school I told the kids it was fall and Hannah said "oh yeah, I wish I could play in the leaves when I get home" I'm like good luck with that!! haha!! Okay, about these pictures... my dad and niece came to visit us this past weekend and Hannah and Madeline and a friend down the street decided to take pictures with my camera, so this is what I found... "we're goofy"
Madeline & Alexis
Hannah loves the look of her hair in this one & Mad is going for a serious look ( I guess??)
And last this is what Hannah has learned in the past week, she is a braider now

and so very proud of it, this is Betty Spaghetti here and with no limbs, poor Betty!