A Lovely day

Today has been such a lovely day!

I wish I had pictures to share.  (what is everyone using now that we no longer have picnik?)

I woke up at 7 a.m. and had my quiet time with the Lord.  I started a load of dishes and piddled around the house and prayed and such for a couple of hours.

The girls woke up and I made them some biscuits.  They enjoyed them because they have been having a lot of waffles.  So, this was a nice "treat" for them.  I am planning for muffins in the morning but I am going to make them tonight, I think.

We worked together and put away the dishes and my hubby ran a cleaning cycle on the dishwasher with lemons in there and I think some vinegar too but I'm not sure on that.

We left to go meet friends at Burger K!ng.  They have a big in door place place that's really nice.  I saw my cousin, Brandi there.  She was there with her dad and her children.  So I got to see them and our friends (the Autreys)  The Autrey family is like family to us as well!  We had such a good visit.  My friend, Leslie, bought all of the children ice cream cones after lunch.  (so sweet)

After that, I did a few errands for my hubby and then we got what we needed for dinner tonight, the muffin packets, and some goldfish crackers.  We were relaxed and happy and things went without stress or me having anxiety which was wonderful.

We came home and I loaded another load of dishes.  (my dishwasher has been down so I had 3 days of dishes to get cleaned, aweful, right?)  We all had some free time and relaxed.  At that point I was needing some time out to just be quiet and relax.  I had been "doing" since 7 a.m. and was getting overwhelmed.  I listened to that feeling and took a break.  I'm glad that I did.  :)  I had the girls play in the play room during this time.

Soon it was time for supper.  We made an easy meal:  barbeque weenies, mac-n-cheese and ranch beans.  Sarah Faith cut up the weenies.  Madi Grace made the mac-n-cheese.  Hannah stirred on each as needed.  I made the ranch beans then we each grabbed a plate and had our dinner.  It was easy, simple and I was not stressed.  The girls cleared their plates and had extra.  (even Hannah ate everything and normally will not eat beans.  She asked for seconds on every item)  

My hubby cleaned off the coffee table which was piling up and a chair nearby that is a catch all.  I was so happy and thankful for that.  (of course I told him so!  smile)  

Now, we are all having some down time while the dishes in the dishwasher cool down from the "dry cycle."  We'll then work together to get them put away and a last load going.

All day my girls kept thanking me again and again.  I finally asked what they were so thankful for and they said that they were thankful I was happy which made them happy.  (and they did name a couple of things like biscuits for breakfast and having lunch with friends also)  However, they said they would have been just as happy at home today because I was happy and it made such a good day.

I should be happy more often.

Read more...

A Lovely Day!

Today was another peaceful day.  Although my sweet family is still coughing something awful.  I wish I could make them all better.

I made banana bread for the first time and it turned out lovely!

My sweet husband made supper - he fried catfish, fries and hush puppies.  Everything was so delicious!

We had school today and did our regular chores.  It was just a nice day all the way around.

Blessings!

Read more...

Random :) lol

I was tired and didn't feel like fixing dinner Friday night.  So I made Sloppy Joe's or Manwiches, whatever you choose to call them.

I say *I* made them but actually Madi Grace & Sarah Faith did.  Madi browned the meat and Sarah put in the sauce.

So easy!

Dollar Store cuties to decorate the table simply!

We think it's cute and it's less cumbersome than our usual huge set of flowers and candle sticks.

Here are my girls enjoying their manwiches.  Yum!

Just a simple time together!

Read more...

Planting some Seeds & Cooking dinner with the children :)

Yesterday was so much fun!!

We enjoyed so much time together and yet we still got the house done.  I picked up a tiny little planter set from Michaels for each girl to plant a little tiny planter of flowers.  When they grow I'm going to move all of them into a bigger planter all together.

So here starts the fun!

Here Madi Grace is putting the water onto the potting mix DISC to make it expand and loosen up and get a bit of water into the soil.

Here, Brittany is adding the water for Hannah Joy!

She was looking at it so proudly.  I shouldn't have asked her to look up and smile because BOY is that a FAKE smile!  LOL!!!!

Here Brittany is working on her own!  :)

After you add the water, the disc of soil fills the planter up and you put in no more than six seeds.  Lightly pressing them down.  I accidentally put more than that in Hannah's so I hope hers will be okay.  I got two blue flowers and 2 red flower ones.

Sarah Faith joyfully working on hers!

The girls finishing up putting in their seeds.

I put them in the bay window in the kitchen with m y flowers and their little animals that grow grass as hair.  (Thank you Tamara for those gifts - we have had more fun with them!!!  They love to trim their hair)

The girls LOVE to help me cook!

We were making spaghetti so Sarah Faith was to make the noodles and Madi Grace was to brown the meat and add the sauce.

They were so excited!

Hannah Joy and those fake smiles, hee hee!

She was "watching" them cook but Mommy kept scooting her back so nothing would splash out and give her a boo boo.

Madi Grace fixed her hair and I thought it was pretty cute.

My proud cooks!  They are SO precious!

ALL my girls are and I'm so BLESSED!!!

I had to have their pics in their aprons!

Hannah is a ham and always wants in the picture.  Little cutie pie!

The finished product tho I must admit we had already made our plates when I took this picture.  More than half was leftover and the girls are warming it up in their bowls as I speak for lunch today.

They did a great job and it wa delicious!

I am SO blessed, Thank you JESUS!!!

Read more...

Easy Mexican Casserole Recipe

Christy asked me to share my recipe and I am honored to do so!

Thank you, Christy, for stopping by my blog and commenting!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef (I use very lean)

1 pkg flour tortillias

1 can Rotel

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can Chili (you choose with or without beans)

1 can Fiest Nacho Cheese soup 

(of you can just use Cheese soup if you do not want it hot)

About 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

What to do:

Brown your meat and drain.

Add in your 4 cans of ingredients.

Stir it up as this is your "sauce".

Take out your baking dish and start layering.

Start with a thin layer of sauce then a layer of 2 tortillias side by side.

Keep layering and MAKE SURE you end with sauce on top.

Sprinkle on cheddar cheese evenly and pop it into the oven.

You're basically melting the cheese and heating it up.

Bake on 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Wallah!  It's ready.  You can serve alone or you could serve with buttered flour tortillias and refried beans on the side.

ENJOY!  If you make it, I'd love to hear if you liked it!

Blessings!!!
 

Read more...

My Girls & Dinner

While I've been cleaning, my precious girls have been helping and yet having a great time too!  So have I!!

Here are some pictures!! 

Painting with a friend over...

Sarah Faith fixing Hannah Joy up all funny and cute!

Playing so well together!

I'm standing in the middle of the room - this is all an empty area because we do not have formal furniture and such.  So we have a little play area fixed there but the big one is in the upstairs living room.  They enjoy both of them at different times.

Homemade Mexican casserole for dinner...

...and Hannah Joy konked out on the couch sound asleep.  Just how I felt too!!  I love my family so dearly!

Read more...

Joyful Cooking

Two of my daughters, Madi Grace & Sarah Faith have been learning to cook with me in the kitchen.  It has been so much fun!

We cook together and enjoy our meal as a family.

I do not normally "enjoy" cooking - it's more of a "must!!"  With my girls I look forward to it daily and so do they.  We make a nice supper every evening and are trying new recipes.

I never learned to cook.  So I'm learning right along with them but I believe it will make it much better for them starting out and the fact they are cultivating a joyful heart in their cooking.

I am so blessed!

Read more...

The Day I made my First Pie - quite a while ago! :)

Today I made my FIRST PIE! =)

I have been wanting to do this for quite a while!

Today, I DID IT!  :) 

I hope it will taste good.  We're using it for the girls promotion into the next grade celebration tonight with ice cream!  Yummmy!!!!  :)

First I'm letting my "pre bought" crusts get to room temperature. (takes 15 mins)

I have all my stuff set out and ready!

Wow, I can open a can of peaches!  LOL!

Cutting up the peaces to smaller sizes.  They were in halves.

I hope that works out nicely.

Seperate the peaches from the juice.

To the juice, add:  1 cup sugar as I am doing here.

This is so fun!

Then add 2 TBS of cornstarch to thicken it.

This one is just for "Aunt Ruthie" and "Beulah!"  LOL! :)

Madi Grace laughed so hard!  (She was my photographer!)

OK back to business ;)  Add 1/8 tsp nutmeg

Add 1/8 stick butter

This is what it all looks like added together.

Cook on low until it thickens.  Then, add your peaches back in.

We love lots of pictures, can't yall tell?

Still cooking to get it to thicken...

Placing my bottom crust in my pan...

Wow, that was easy! ;)

Cutting out hearts from my top crust.

2 reasons - it will be pretty :) and it allows the steam to come out while cooking.

Oh, what a blessing to make a pie for my family!

Here's the yummies to pour in!

Pie, oh my!  Yummy Pie!

"Fluting" the edges of my crust, or trying to!  That part was hard and I didn't do so well!

Practice will make it better!  :)

..here it is before it goes into the oven...

Oh yeah, I brushed milk over it as one of my "Sugar Pie Sistas" suggested..

and sprinkled some sugar on top as she suggested as well.

This is supposed to help the crust be crunchier, I think she said ;)

Edges getting dark, time to cover them with foil.

This happened quickly so watch that pie like a hawk!

That was a pain to get that on there right!  LOL

The pie is DONE!  At least I think/hope it is!!!!

I made my FIRST PIE!

I hope it blesses my sweet family!

Read more...