Nothing like calling a cousin a friend!

This is a photo taken on Thanksgiving weekend while my sister and her family were here. These gals sure do love each other. Age makes no difference!

The kit I used for scrapping this page is one from Kim Broedelet.

After the Snowball...day 1

Well...Rachel said the kids were mostly sympathetic and didn't laugh TOO much at her today. She's sore, and her eye has been fuzzy a couple of times today, so we'll head to the eye doctor tomorrow just to have things checked out, and her glasses adjusted again (we were just there for that on Monday!) They always say things look their worst 24 hours after...so we'll see. Hopefully it looks BETTER tomorrow!

Another Family Favorite Recipe

I've made this for Ron for years...since the first year we were married! We loved it then, and still love it now, and the kids have labeled it "Perfect"

California Tamale Casserole

3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 c. milk
1 egg
1 pound ground beef
1 package of chili seasoning mix (or taco seasoning)
1 t. salt (optional)
1 (1 pound) can tomatoes (with green chilis is also good)
1 can corn
1 can sliced black olives (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese

Mix together in (greased) 2 1/2 quart casserole dish or 9 x 13 pan, the cornmeal, egg and milk. Blend well.

Brown the ground beef. Add the package of seasoning mix (without water), salt, tomatoes, corn and olives. Stir well to mix together, and add to cornmeal mixture. Blend well. Bake at 350* for 1 hour 15 minutes or til golden brown on top. (cooking in a 9 x 13 pan makes a thinner casserole and may not take quite as long to bake). Top with shredded cheddar cheese, and bake for 5-10 minutes longer til cheese is melted. Serve topped with salsa and sour cream. You can also add a bit of heat to the casserole by adding sliced jalapeno peppers to the mix.

YUM!

First Project done!

Well...one big Christmas craft is done! I did these several years ago for teacher appreciation gifts, and they were a big hit. I figured they'd go over well as thank you gifts to several people around here for Christmas. These are simple to make! Just cut individual stems with flowers off of an artificial boquet, and trim to the length of a pen. Wrap the flower onto the pen using florist tape. Stick into a pot filled with styrofoam or florist foam. Top with Spanish moss to give it a finished look.

I'd SO rather be

here in these phtotos rather than stuck here in the blustery cold, windy, snowy, wintery state of Iowa! Take me BACK!!!!!

Snowball Issues

What happens when you get hit in the face with a cold, icy hard snowball? It HURTS, Rachel says. She got wholloped quite good after midweek tonight. She saw total whiteness, and the lens popped out of her glasses. Lucas kindly helped her find it. She's in pain, and swollen, and trying to be a big girl about it. Not looking forward to going to school tomorrow, especially wrestling in PE tomorrow! Prayers for her to have a great day are appreciated!

Trimming the Tree

It's that time of year again. We dug out all of our Christmas stuff last night, and the kids got busy and helped decorate.

Musicians at Hometown Christmas

Hometown Christmas was this past Saturday at City Hall. The wintery weather did not keep people from showing up and shopping! In the morning, Rachel entertained with her clarinet, she and her friend Katelyn played a couple of songs on their clarinet and sax. During the afternoon, she played some Christmas carols on her clarinet! We're proud of her musical abilities!

MMMMM....Deep Dish Pizza

I got this recipe from my friend Tammy on my Chit Chat list. It made one AWESOME pizza! I used Sam's Club pizza dough balls for the crust. We stuffed ours with just lots of cheese and pepperoni. We only had to bake it about 20 or 25 minutes and it was gorgeous and MMMMMM ...good!

1 loaf frozen bread dough... thawed
1 cup pizza sauce
canned mushrooms drained
1/2 cup sun dried tomatos in oil/ drained
1/2cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced black olives
2 cups fancy shredded italian blend cheese
1/2 cup of 'meat' toppings
2 tbls olive oil

preheat oven 350 coat a round pizza pan with cooking spray,
cut bread dough in half. roll out half to fit prepared pan... spread pizza sauce over dough.. top with toppings... sprinkle with cheese.. roll out remaining bread dough to fit over top of pizza.
sead edges.. brush dough with olive oil.. bake for 40 mins or until brown

Supper tonight

is a long time family favorite. It's been a while since I made it, but it went FAST!

Chicken/Turkey Tetrazzini

2 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup butter/margarine
fresh or canned mushrooms
1 onion, coarsely chopped
3-4 cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey
1 package of noodles (spaghetti (8-10 oz) or regular noodles
Shredded cheddar cheese

Cook noodles as directed on package, and drain. Melt butter and saute onions and mushrooms til onions are almost translucent. Mix sour cream and chicken soup. Combine butter/onion mix, noodles and turkey or chicken. Add soup/cream cheese mixture. Stir well to combine. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 or larger pan. Bake at 325 for 35 minutes. Top with cheddar cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or til cheese is melty.

A family favorite!

Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffet Music Video

This is one of our favorite videos! It really helps Ronnie remember the lyrics...which he has occasionally had trouble with in the past.

Aunt Sandy's is the Best Pizza!

Sigh. What I won't do for love. I had kind of thought that we'd just order pizza in on Sunday night, after a busy weekend. But Sue Ann tells me that everytime they order pizza, Jordan asks "is this the kid that is just ok, or is this the kind that is almost good as the good kind I make with Aunt Sandy?" So...with that...we HAD to make pizza. Jordy likes plain cheese pizza. He made a beautiful one, and ate a good portion of it all on his own! Yummy, yummy pizza!

Mushroom and Cheese Pizza

made with lots and lots of love. It's another Thanksgiving weekend (Sunday evening) tradition when these guys visit. We always make homemade pizza.

First we roll the dough

Then we put on the toppings

then we add the cheese

and then we bake it and EAT it! mmmmmmmmm.