Slow Cooking Thursdays

I will be joining the Slow Cooking Thursdays, and sharing a crockpot/ Slow Cooker recipe with you each Thursday. I do hope you enjoy.

Crockpot Red Potatoes and Ham

2 lbs. Red potatoes, washed and quartered
2 c. Chopped ham
1 can cream of potato soup (or any cream soup)
1 pkg. Ranch dressing mix
1/4 - 1/2 c. onion, chopped
Pepper to taste
1/4 c. Milk
8 oz. Lite cream cheese, softened

Beat soup, dressing mix, onion, pepper, and milk until thoroughly combined. Pour over potatoes and ham and transfer to a prepared Slow Cooker. (greased or coated with cooking spray) Cook on low 6-8 hours. It may need an occasional stir during cooking. Add cream cheese in last hour of cooking.

Hugs and Blessings,

Remembering 9/11/01

Please never forget the Day the World Stood Still!

Remember all that loved and lost,

and all the great Heros,

many who perished too!

God Bless the USA!

I'm Thankful

What a Beautiful Day!!! All the way around. It was a bit rainy again, and the temps even cooler. We had to put on some pants again. It was wonderful! They girls both had so much fun playing together and being outside today, after being kept in for several days.

We were off to check the mail, and I got in a catalog from The Country House. http://www.thecountryhouse.com/. Lil E loves to look at them and opened the page up and said Mommy look at this! On the page was a sign, of many things on this page, but it reads "Take time to be thankful". As we drove to pick up a friends mail for them, I knew this was so very true! This sign was just a reminder of what I had read on a blog just the day before, about how we take things for granted now. I'm so very guilty of this with some things, lots of things I have to admit. So we just stopped to enjoy some of God's blessings for us, there is many beautiful things to be thankful for. I'm thankful for the family I have, if it wasn't for God bringing my girls to me, I sure wouldn't have them! I'm thankful for the man I love. I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father that is so gracious and merciful, I'm thankful for my Lord and Saviour. I'm thankful for my family, for parents who taught me right from wrong and instilled morals into me, and kept me full of faith in God Almighty. I'm thankful for our loving Grandparents, they are very inspirational to us and when I married my husband I didn't have any grandparents of my own that were living, they had all gone to be with the Lord. His Grandma and Papa just took me right in. I'm thankful that God gave us all the chance to get to know each other so much more and for them to be such an important part of our lives! I'm thankful for my friends, they are my extended family. I'm thankful for the home I have, for the car I drive, for the chance to live out in the country. This allows us to the see the stars at night, to see lots of of God's creations that we wouldn't see back in town. I snapped a few photos of what we could see right there to be thankful for.






I'm thankful that when I looked out, I had the beautiful landscape to see, I could see the cows graising and the horses much nearer enjoying some green grass.

Then I looked at the color just right down at my feet! To some they are just weeds, but they are plants, God's plants. They are beautiful and just take a moment and look at those beautiful colors!

With this, I am thankful for eyes that have vision, so that I can actually see beauty of God's world around me! It is so much greater than I can even imagine, and we are living in it! Can you imagine how wonderful Heaven will be like? I sure can't even really begin to imagine it! I know it's much greater than one can even imagine! Every time I hear one of my favorite songs, "I can only Imagine" I tell ya, I know that I can't even imagine, and if I did, I believe I'd be standing in awe!

I'm thankful for cameras, so that I can capture and cherish daily life as well as all those special occasions! Above, Lil K was enjoying watching the cows in the pasture next to us and the dogs running about. And Lil E stopped for a picture for mommy, as she continued on to run about! She loves being outside! And Below Lil E was play cooking! I'm thankful that my kids have toys to play with and imaginations to make it so much for fun. Lil E has a cup of tea for you. Please take a sip while you are powdering what you are thankful for.

Tomorrow my baby girl will be 4! Wow, where does time go? It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our precious 5 week old lil darling home with us! I'm so thankful for the gift of Adoption! At that time we lived on the coast. Which brings me to say I'm thankful that we no longer live on the coast! But I do worry for all in the path of the storms. To our friends and family in Ike's projected path, know we are here and praying for you all. We will continue to pray for all that have been affected by all the storms!

We had so much fun playing today. The girls enjoyed the break in the rain so that we could play outside. Lil E ran and ran and ran some more, she had a ball playing on her riding toys too. Lil K had so much fun just standing up and bouncing! And even cooler than that was today was the first time, that she wore her first pair of boots! She has lil pink cowgirl boots! Both girls' first pair of boots were pink. Can you tell we love pink. *grin*

We sure hope you all had a wonderful day! Please remember to take the time to be thankful!

Hugs and Blessings,

Another Fall Like Day

It was raining out again today and so dreary. Great cool temps and all. So we had a great time playing inside and doing some baking! We made some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies! Lil E loves to cook and bake too. She is always right there to help you in the kitchen. It is a great way to share some really special time too, and make some fabulous memories! Lil E loves to make cookies, it is actually her favorite. Sharing some pics of our process of making cookies today.

Thought I'd share the recipe with yall. Our recipe is a very special one handed down to Lil E, making the 4th generation. This makes it so special! Hope yall enjoy the recipe too.

Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. shortening

1 c. white sugar

1 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda

2 c. all purpose flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 c. oatmeal

1 tsp salt

a sprinkle of cinnamon

I omit the cinnamon and add in 1 c. of milk chocolate chips

Mix all together and mix well. Roll into small balls or scope out with small cookie scoop and place on the cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

Looking forward to more great days!

Hugs and Blessings,

My Creations

I made this lil dress invites for Lil E's Birthday party. I drew out the dress and made a pattern of it. Then stamped them using Close To My Heart (CTMH) stamps and ink pads, and then added the lil flower with a brad. I just thought I'd share them with you all.

Hugs and Blessings,

What a Blessed Day

We had a great day today. I ran some errands. It was dreary and raining through out the day. It made it feel just like fall. With the coolness in the air, the girls had to put on some light weight pants! Oh, the feelings of fall! It was so great, that we even changed our dinner plans and instead of making Bacon Ranch Chicken, we made Chicken Enchilada Soup, using the seasonings from Homemade Gourmet. It is really hearty and so very yummy! A favorite at our house for sure!!!


Even bigger news today was that Lil K learned a new word, "bite". She sure is growing up way fast. And she is starting to walk with her toys and if she is holding on to something! It is just darling for sure!!!

What a beautiful day we had! I sure hope to see many more fall family fun days! Will be baking this week too. I know we are going to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. And later this week, we will make some cupcakes for Lil E's birthday. I just love this time of year.

Hope yall have a wonderful week!

Hugs and Blessings,

Good Bye Summer

Good Bye Summer! I love fall! I am more than ready for fall and winter! We filled the pool one last weekend for the girls to have the last of the summer fun. We had a great family day, grilled out on our new grill, the girls swam a bit, and played outside for most the day. I know the weather has already started to cool off and I am ready for even cooler weather. We are saying Good Bye to the Summer of 2008.

Please keep all in the paths of the storms in your prayers. They sure need them.

Wishing you all a good weekend and week ahead.

Hugs and Blessings,

We have a voice

Tonight a sweet friend of mine shared something very touching to me! I had vowed to keep this off my family blog, and then I decided I would not, this is a big blessing in my life and I wanted to share it.

I am so proud to say I support Sarah Palin! Did you know just how Godly this woman is? I know I did not! But you know what, she is! And she believes in our Lord and Savior! How awesome is this!!! Watch and you can see how real it is!!!

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1766638341

So with this said, You all know who I will be voting for! I am for real going to do my job, and that is to Pray her into office, and Thank God, Our Father, for the blessings we have and are about to receive. Just think, we can make her our first Woman President!!!

Go Sarah Go!!!!

Hugs and Blessings,

M & M's

Lil E's favorite candy is Lemon & Lem's. That is how she says it. I can't believe she is about to be 4. She was chatting up a storm tonight and wouldn't go to bed. So we got on the subject of the things she likes to eat. And at the top of her list is Lemon & Lem's. It cracked me up so much! We are looking forward to a nice weekend at home. We need some down time to relax and just hang around. That is always nice. Maybe we can go to the park if it turns out nice here this weekend. Just wanted to come and shae a lil something tonight.

Hugs and Blessings,

Growing Up

I can't believe it, our baby girl is about to be 4. (The above pic is when she was just a tiny lil one, and we had been home a week.) We had a lil party this weekend, since family was here, for her birthday. I sit here and reflect back to when she was just a lil thing and we were bringing her home at 6 weeks old. What a special joy in our lives! She still is that that special blessing in our lives. A special Gift from God. The things she does now keep me young and oh so proud. The love we have shown her is reflected in the the love she now has for her baby sister. It is amazing. Time sure flies by! We love you, Lil E.

Hugs and Blessings,