Four Christmases

Usually during Thanksgiving we all get together and go to a Movie. This year was no different, but this year we all choose different movies.
Dusty, DeAnn and Don (his dad) went to see "Transporter 3" They all liked it. DeAnn said there was even a romantic plot to the movie.
Denae and Darci went to see "Bolt", they also loved it especially in 3D!
Joann (My mother-in-law) and I went to see "Four Christmases".
I thought it would be fun to give my review.
I thought it was a very funny movie. This movie is about a couple who set out to create a perfect life and to do so they have to exclude everyone but themselves. They vow to never marry, never have kids and to always be happy. This movie is all about the reality that they are trying to avoid like ...parents ( 4 sets of them) , siblings, nieces, nephews, poverty, their pasts and what has shaped them.We can all relate to this movie.
I thought it was funny and true. We can never be completely happy until we are real with who we are and what we are. We can't find true happiness in thinking only about ourselves but true happiness is found in knowing who we are and embracing the person that God has made us to be.
I hope you get to enjoy a good movie this Holiday season!

Happy Thanksgiving

Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me. Psalm 50:23.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

"Pillow"

You know sometimes you wonder if your kids are learning anything at school? Last year Darci took a Home Economics class and she learned how to make a pillow. I am not sure her teacher thought she would ever use this again but this week she decided she wanted to make a special present for a special someone. So I bought the material and told her I would help but this would need to be her creation.
So she cut out her 4 x 4 template and began cutting and then sewing.

She pieced the blocks together...

Then put the back on....

And sewed it all together...

Then she stuffed it and sewed the edges together . It really turned out beautiful.

All for her special friend, Caleb.

Happy Birthday Caleb! Your gift was made with Love!

Chocolate

This is our cat. Her name is "Chocolate". She was a stray that came to our house about 5 years ago. She is a loving cat, as cats go.
My Husband said that he didn't want her setting on our furniture any more, as you can tell my kids are perpetuating this problem. So I bought her the cutest bed at Wal-mart , even has cat mint in the bottom.
But she has been reluctant to stay there, as cats go!
We were having fun with her the other night and my girls were trying to get her to stay in her bed......


DeAnn didn't fit but was trying to show her how fun it is to watch TV in...

Denae tried to get her to stay there...

She thought she might check it out, in cat fashion of course....

AWE!!! This is comfortable!

Make a Joyful Noise

Today we traveled to Valley Center, Kansas to watch DeAnn play the Bass Clarinet in an Honor Band festival. The band teachers choose several kids from each school in our division to meet and play 4 songs under the direction of a professional band instructor. These kids work all day on these songs and then play them for the parents in the afternoon.
They all did a fantastic job!
DeAnn had played the regular clarinet in 5th and 6th grade but when she got to the 7th grade the band teacher said I think she has enough wind to play the bass.She has worked hard and really does a nice job. As you can tell , I'm kinda proud of the shorty!

Thankful

Several years ago at a Craft fair in Oklahoma City I found these cute Turkey decorations that you add to your Pumpkin. I had not used them in several years because we always carve our Pumpkins but this year we were too busy. So I pulled them out and the girls love our little turkey on the porch.
It makes me think of all the blogs I have been reading where people are trying to list something every day that they are thankful for. I love that idea! I also wonder do you think of the trials in life as things to also be thankful for. The Bible talks a lot about this. In James 1:2 it says Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, it goes on in verse 3 to say that because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. It has been my experience that these are the real learning moments in a Christians life.
So here is your challenge-Think of a trial that has happened this year that turned out to be an outright blessing.
For example, I was helping out visiting patients one day , just for 2 hours, and not on a normal day that I would usually work. All of a sudden a Huge Hail storm came up and pelted my van! I was so frustrated that now I was going to have to fork over a huge amount of money to get my van fixed. It took several weeks before an adjuster came to our house to assess the damage, then he wrote me a check. It was far less than the quote I had gotten at a dealership but he said that I could go anywhere to have it fixed. Well it turned out that I got it fixed and had some money left over and it was just the amount to fix my husbands starter on his truck that had gone out that very week. It amazes me that God knew that one month later I would need a certain amount of money and He had a plan in mind.I just needed to trust in Him!
So... what is your trial that has turned out to be a blessing!

Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie

I have been dying to make a pie! You know the cooler weather makes me want to bake. Today at the office we were having a pie baking contest. I thought that it started at 1230 but it really started at 1200 so my pie was no cool enough to take ,that means once again I didn't win, but our family will get to enjoy it tonight. I had to have a piece before they all got home and it is delicious.

You will need: 1 pie crust

2 cups of canned pumpkin

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Mix this together and pour into pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Then reduce oven temperature and in a small bowl combine;

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp.

Cut the butter into the mixture until it is crumbly. Stir in 3/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped and then sprinkle evenly over the pie. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Door Flowers

I sorta stole this idea from Joy at Joys of Home. Saturday our community had a MONSTER garage sale. It was located at the State Fair Grounds. I found this little wicker hanger thing filled with the ugliest blue flowers and thought ,If I remove those flowers ,I think this would be cute on my front door. So I bought it for 25 cents, brought it home and put some fall flowers and a cute bow that I already had and it now sets on my front door. Pretty cute!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to two very special relatives.

November 7th was the 70th Birthday of my wonderful father-in-law, Don Cowell. October 31st was the 12th birthday of my niece , Sierra Johnson.
Hope you both had a wonderful day!

"How To"

Remember when you were in High School (or college) and you had to create a "How To" demonstration in English or speech class. I remember how scared and overwhelmed I felt but how much I learned from the experience. Denae told me weeks ago that she had a "How To Speech" coming up and she wanted to talk about and make sugar cookies. Denae had never made sugar cookies so we did a test run and the cookies were awful. I kept asking her did you forget something? She said no. So we did another run through and found out she must have forgotten something, only I couldn't figure out what it was. Anyway, yesterday was her "How To" so on Tuesday evening she made the cookies with little assistance from mom with the stove and Mom made her a cute apron to wear while she demonstrated. she was darling and the class loved the cookies. She can now tell you how to make sugar cookies without a recipe and you can tell by the pictures that she is really proud of herself.

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

This is not a crock pot recipe but it is very simple and delicious.I took this recipe from one that my mother-in-law, Joan, gave me when Dusty and I first got married and adapted to meet our families needs. You could use more,less or no broccoli and you could add more meat to meet your families needs.

2 heads of Fresh broccoli, cut up and stir fry in 1 tbsp of oil then set aside, sprinkle salt and pepper over 1 1/2 pounds of round steak, thinly sliced, add 1 tbsp of onion and stir fry in 1 tbsp of oil, When browned then add 1 cup of beef bouillon and simmer on low for 12 minutes. After this is done, add the broccoli , turn the heat up to high and pour over 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce, sprinkle of Black pepper, and 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Cook until bubbly and serve over rice.

I Voted, Have You?

On the way to vote this morning a song came on the radio by Jeremy Camp called "I still Believe". He says in this song how he still believes in God's faithfulness and In God's Truth. I couldn't help think that even though we are so unsure of the outcome of today's election that God is still in complete control.He is faithful!
I hope that you take the opportunity to make your vote count!

Trunk or Treat

Some people worry that Halloween is Satan's day but we feel that every day is a day the Lord has made.

Every year our church host Trunk or Treat for the community. We all back up in the church parking lot, decorate our trunks and pass out candy.You can be as elaborate or low key as you want. It is a real community event and we all have a lot of fun. There is a contest for the best trunk which usually wins a gift certificate, I have never won! Here are a few of the Trunks!