~Merry Christmas~



whoopie pies delivered from Massachusetts




otis enjoying his new bone.




popcorn anyone??




brady trying to guess his gift.




lovin' his new bones




headphones are back in style.....oh yeah!!!




our Christmas tree.




brooke holding up nebraska hoodie....



Merry Christmas!

Hope yours was merry and bright...

~a recipe worth sharing...~

again this year someone contacted me for this recipe

that's how good it is.

i had made it couple years ago for thanksgiving with the family

and now every year they are wanting it to be a tradition...

so i though i'd re post the recipe again.

it's really easy, so you'll love that part as well:)

it was found in my church cookbook many, many years ago when I attended Castle Rock, Colorado

Church of the Nazarene.

Recipe:

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1-1/2 c. water


1-1/2 c. sugar


1/4 c. cornstarch


1- 3 oz. box strawberry jello


3 to 4 c. fresh strawberries


Cook first three ingredients until clear. Add the Jello and stir well. Cool. Add the fresh strawberries halfed and quartered. Put in nine inch pie shell or graham cracker pie shell. Chill. Serve with whipped cream.

Hope you will try this.

and i hope your family enjoys as much as mine has.

 

Happy Friday!



~15 years~

i saw this on pinterest and thought it was extra meaningful today....

chuck and i have been married for 15 years

and this fortune cookie made me laugh.

so true. but what a journey:)

engagement picture many years ago.

~chillin' right now~

these, as we speak, are in my frig right now chillin'. if you have time to add this to you Christmas baking list i'd recommend them. they are delicious. my kids are not great fans, but i think it's because they heard the word molasses in them.

molasses crinkle cookies

3/4 c shortening

1 c. brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. molasses

2-1/4 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ginger.

Mix first 4 ingredients thoroughly. stir in remaining ingredients. when mixed together, chill dough two hours. roll into balls, roll in sugar, place on cookie sheet. sprinkle with a drop of water. bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

~getting ready...~

we are getting ready for Christmas.

how about you?

i cannot believe how fast it has snuck up on us.

another year almost gone.

I love Christmas.

it's hard taking this guy shopping without him getting distracted and falling off course. :)

i mean one minutes he's shopping with you and then the next.....

it's like where did he go?

oh right, there he is. being weird...

following us around the store like this.

he keeps us smiling.

brooke and otis having bonding time.

how comfortable is too comfortable??

the words of the song "so this is Christmas" keep coming to mind.

but it isn't just about the cute kids, the dog, the presents(although blessed with these things)

it's about Christ!

and through the rest of this season and the next year coming i MUST focus on that!

I heard a song the other day after dropping the kids off at school.

Jesus Freak.

People say i'm strange, does it make me a stranger.

That my best friend was born in a manger.

wouldn't it be nice if we all became a freak like this!

~weekend plans~

last night chuck and i had a date night with another couple.

they took us out for his birthday. (which is today)

i keep thinking if i can get through all the birthdays in my house i could concentrate more on Christmas.

man it's a busy time of year for us. not to mention our anniversary is December 21st too

who gets married that close to Christmas?

This am (a.k.a. birthday day) chuck had to head to guards for the weekend.

no rest for the birthday boy i tell ya!

so i decided i will try and stay home and get organized....

is it just me or does being organized make everyone happier and things run much smoother?

lately i've been stressed out of my mind

with everything. and that's not what Christmas season should be about.

so i'm going to work at making it better and more meaningful.

not to mention i was in a car accident two days ago and am feeling a little shock en up from that still...

but i'm going to rebut my mind and "just breathe" and get some things accomplished.

WITHOUT STRESS!

i read this today and it was is very comforting....

In anguish I cried to the Lord; he answered by setting me free. (Psalms118:5)

so this weekend i will work on my attitude and get back up and try again in a more organized fashion.

i ran across these blogs with organization ideas. i thought i'd share in case you are where i am.

31 days to an organized home.

31 days to {cheaply} organize your home.

~baby it's cold outside~

~two teens~

well today i am the mother of two teens.

my baby turns 13 today! (finally his age matches his shoe size. well for now)

next time you see me i may just have a few more grey in my hair.

tonight i'm lucky enough to have 8 boys over to spend the night.

i think they are headed to the gym to play hoops.

that is what brady loves these days.

all about basketball!

on another note since yesterday was Dec 1st the snow came out!

very fitting for this time of year even if it did not last long.

~as of lately~

• i've been entertaining my mom who was here from Maine. which made thanksgiving special.
• made a trip to denver for few days to hang out with my brother and mom before she flew home.
• learning how to use my iphone:) 
• trying to plan my son's birthday party coming up this weekend.
• putting up our christmas tree (finally happened tonight) 

here are a few photos from my iphone:

sneaking up on otis to take a picture of him napping!

me getting caught while sneaking up on him!

our Christmas tree this year!

Santa's elfs (a.k.a brooke, brady, chuck)

can hardly believe it's almost December....yikes!

it is also otis's 1st christmas.

hopefully he is good with the tree.

~if hunting is a sport....i'm a athlete!~

~the day i skipped school to hunt with my dad~

chuck took brady hunting friday! and he was really excited! we let him skip school for the day to travel with his dad to go get his deer. and that he did. i usually am not invited on these trips because most the time  all the time i root for the deer. however i do get really excited when brady gets home and the first thing he does is run to get me to come outside and check his deer out! i say "nice job buddy" even though i was rooting for the deer.

next friday it's back to school to hit the books!

~talking spring & summer in november???

http://media.athome.net/2012SpringandSummer/

i know it's crazy to be talking about spring and summer already.......unless you are talking about the new 2012 spring and summer at home america catalog preview:) that's right! it's out there now. and i was up until 10:30 last night previewing it. did you know they added some things for dog lovers? otis was happy to hear that last night.

love some of the things in there and can't wait to add them to my home YOUR HOME!

1st snow & otis these days...

 well you are looking at our first snow pictures this year.

i know it's november and this is normal, but i'm not sure i'm ready.

kids need new winter coats that we have yet to get.

might try and save it for a Christmas gift. if their light coats will keep the cold out for now.

i could eat food off the grill all year long! and we do.

but it looks a little chilly now to be grilling.

i'm glad chuck is the griller in our house.

and otis.

he's not sure about the snow.

he prefers our bed and warmth.

this morning i had to bribe him with an extra treat to get him to go outside.

poor guy!

he hasn't seen nothing yet.

~so proud of mr. ron brown~

awhile ago, here, i posted on competitors for Christ and how my son was able to meet a few of these good men last year! he was so excited and ran to his room to get his football for them to sign! i was so excited for him. and yesterday as we played Penn State, Ron Brown did it again. i believe the reason my son was able to see these good christian athletes in his school gym that day is because they have a leader like Ron Brown. if only penn state had a leader  leaders like Ron Brown! it's amazing how these young kids look up to coaches. and trust them. and for someone to take advantage of that makes me sick!

i pray for penn state and for the healing to begin! one things for sure....... there is someone who IS bigger than it all!

11-11-11 Happy Vetrans Day!

Thank you to all the young and old vets out there!

and to my husband who has and continues to serve for the past 19 years

we love you!

chuck roberts with the 1074th outlaws!

~a little organized kitchen help~

DEAR PINTEREST,


I LOVE YOU!

Source: simplebites.net via Julie on Pinterest

i want to do this!!!how many times do we have to dig and dig for the right lid! so simple. wish i could have thought of this idea. a. long. time. ago.

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: s26.photobucket.com via Julie on Pinterest

this one makes be smile too. I can do something like this. again makes it easier to find the right item for the job.

Source: s26.photobucket.com via Julie on Pinterest

we have a new pantry like this. (well, with more mess) i love this idea. i've been looking for wallpaper for the pantry. i'm really not a wallpaper person but i do love this.
starting to clean my pantry out TODAY!

Source: lehiwrights.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

so cute. when you're not using your cake stand for cake, why not do this!

Source: amazon.com via Julie on Pinterest

i'm buying one or two or three of these. look how much drawer space you'd save if you store this way.

~YOU SNEAKY MOM`

i have to admit i have watched this video over and over and over again. and every time i'm more and more in love! it is the cutest/funniest thing ever!

a talk show encouraged mothers to tell their children the day after halloween that she ate all their candy.

this mother did and video taped it. and how the kids responded is too, too funny!

~brooke panther VB season 11'~

wow VB season seem to come and go rather quickly.

i'm ashamed to say i did not do well with pictures this year.

even though i was able to attend every game this year, i failed to bring the camera

i was just happy to be there!

i did however find these. of brooke.

pumping themselves up before the game.

going pink for breast cancer awareness month!

apparently we didn't get the memo that we were doing white knee pads.

oh well, atleast you can point my kid out easier.

i needed something like this in football to tell which kid was mine.

once they have all their gear on they all look like they could belong to me.

this day brooke started. at first she was struggling getting playing time

(being the "new kid" and all)

but this day she finally started and she was happy!

she said she was going to quit if she didn't play more. and i reminded her we don't quit!

WE TRY HARDER!

~happy halloween~

kind of bittersweet that my kids are not dressing up this year.

ya know the teenage years where sometimes they do and sometimes they WON'T!

anywho saw these for kids and love the ideas...

found on parenting.com

ice cream! with sprinkles!

lobster! however this idea may get heavy from going door to door.

bee! found on amazon.com

and jelly beans.

not sure where they were found but love this simple idea.

i never would of thought of something so neat and easy.

hope everyone has a safe halloween!

places and other things....

what a great idea for pumpkins

here.

and found these on pinterest. when you're ready to decorate that Christmas tree.

yes. that's right. i said Christmas tree.

can you believe that is coming up so fast.

i wish my kids toes were this little and cute again.

speaking of fast. there little feet grew fast. too fast.

but for those of you who have little ones. this is cute.

seriously if your bathroom looked like this would you ever leave.

more cute baths here.

~my momma and maine....(my home state.)

my mom is buying a new place in maine with a great view.

i love fall.

i think i've mentioned that a time or two.:)

but fall in maine is even more beautiful. endless trees changing color.

and all the different shades of color.

so pretty.

and my mom taking it all in.

breathing in the fresh air and ocean scent.

how beautiful the waters.

God's art work.

my mom had a friend visit this past week.

she's been getting out more and enjoy life more.

this makes me so happy since my mom has had it hard these

past years. real hard. and i've wanted nothing more for her to wonder out.

breathe the fresh air and take life in for just a moment.

without the rush. without the worries.

to just breathe.

and recreate her. her new journey she's on.

she'll do fabulous!

photo credit to anita a.k.a my mom's friend.