Great dentist appointment!

Kinsey went to her dentist appointment this afternoon. She didn't have any cavities and the dentist said her teeth were coming in great. All her 6 year molars are in so she shouldn't have any major activity until she's 8 or so. We go back in January to have her teeth sealed. I hope these appointments stay this great for a long time!

Tooth number 8 is out!

Kinsey has had a tooth hanging by a thread for about a month now. She had wiggled it so much this weekend that it bled a little bit. My Dad offered to pull it out but she wouldn't have anything to do with that. Sunday as we were driving home she suddenly proclaimed that she had lost her tooth! It was out. When we got home she got her tooth from me and put it in her tooth fairy pillow. The tooth fairy fell asleep early and forgot about the pillow until this morning when she was getting clothes out of the closet. Thank goodness she was able to sneak out of Kinsey's room and exchange the tooth for quarters ;-)

Kinsey has a dentist appointment Wednesday so we should get an update on where she is at as far as her teeth go. I'll try to get a new picture of her silly grin. All her teeth are coming in at different rates or just gone. It makes eating interesting.

Grandma and the Turkeys

Aren't these the cutest turkey's you've ever seen? Kinsey and Grandma made these this weekend. My Aunt Mimi saw these in a store and figured out how to make them. She shared the idea with Grandma and then Grandma showed Kinsey how to make them.
















Grandma and Kinsey with turkeys

We are home!

We got up this morning and there was a bunch more snow on the ground so we hurriedly got everything packed, ate breakfast and got on the road. Guess what?? It wasn't bad once we got into New Mexico. Know what else? There wasn't hardly any snow on the ground by the time we got to our house! Oh well, better safe than sorry.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with my family. I got to visit with my parents, see my brother and Grandmother. I also got to see a few other family and friends. It was great!

It's snowing!

We are at my parents in Texas and it's snowing! Ok, it's not a lot of snow but it did snow enough to cover the grass. I have talked to people from where we live in New Mexico and it snowed quite a bit there. That will be great for the ski resort. They had put off opening the ski resort for a week or so since it was so warm. They had been making snow but it wasn't sticking since the weather had been warm. Now I'm sure they will be able to open next weekend with all the snow they received.

We are not skiers but do go sledding. Kinsey loves sledding and we have our "secret" spot we go to. This year Neal and I invested in ski bibs for ourselves since we froze last year. We can wear his heavy Carhart coats with them. Last year Neal found a great sled abandoned on the side of the road so we should be flying down he slopes soon!

I'm tired

Well I got up at 4:30am to get to Wal-Mart at 5am for the big sale. Unfortunately the Wal-Mart here didn't have the printer I wanted. I did grab a Shop Vac for $20. I was back in bed by 5:30am so it wasn't so bad.

This afternoon my Mom, Kinsey and I did a little shopping and driving around. My Mom showed me houses she used to live in and where some other family lived. It's amazing to see how much this town has changed over the years. I remember when we used to go downtown to go shopping. There was a Woolworth's, JC Penney, Sears, Anthony's, and various other stores. Now they drive to the edge of town where the Wal-Mart is. Times change.

Turkey day

Ugh....I am so full. It's been a great Thanksgiving day. We ate to much and visited a lot.
I am getting up early in the morning to hit the sales so I'm heading to bed. Good night!

Pies, pies, and more pies

We made it to my parents around 7pm and I have been making pies ever since. I made a pumpkin, chocolate meringue, lemon meringue, and a coconut meringue--Neal's favorite. My sister gave me a box of apples so I made an apple pie using a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens "New" Cook Book circa 1976. This is my Mom's edition. I have a "newer" edition from around 1989. This recipe is called Perfect Apple Pie and it smells so good! I can't wait to try it out tomorrow.

PERFECT APPLE PIE

6 to 8 tart apples, pared, cored, and thinly sliced (6 cups)*
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
dash salt
2 pie crusts for 9 inch pie (top and bottom)
2 tbsp butter

If apples lack tartness, sprinkle with about 1 tsp lemon juice. Combine sugar, flour, spices, and dash salt; mix with apples. Line 9-inch pie plate with crust. Fill with apple mixture; dot with butter. Take second crust and cut into strips for lattice top. Weave strips criss crossing then trim ends even with outer edge of pie. Fold over lower crust, seal, and crimp edges. Sprinkle top with cinnamon and sugar, dot with pats of butter. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or until done.
*or, use two 1-pound 4-ounce cans (about 5 cups) pie-sliced apples, drained.

Over the River and through the woods..........

Actually it should be down the mountain and through the desert to Grandmother's house we go. We are going to my parents for Thanksgiving this year. It'll be a lot of fun and great food. Neal will get to go hunting with my Dad and Kinsey and I get to go shopping with my Mom! We'll also get to see some family and friends.
I'll still be posting so watch out for daily updates!

Balck Friday

This Friday is known as Black Friday--the day when most retailers go into the "black" as far as sales go. They are making money! I have been patiently waiting for the Wal-mart ad to come out so I can see what's on sale. Today was the big day! I now have a few things that I will be getting up at an un-Godly hour to go buy. Hope Mama's up for a shopping trip. Ok, it only takes 5 minutes to drive from her house to Wal-Mart but that's better than the 30 minutes from my house to my Wal-Mart...lol!

Pink eye

I am having one of those weeks. I woke up this morning with pink eye. Last night my eyes were blurry and a little itchy but I chalked it up to taking my makeup off. This morning my eyes were crusty and still blurry. When I looked in the mirror they were red. YUCK! I've been putting drops in them and hopefully they will be better tomorrow.

decorating Halloween cookies....a week before Thanksgiving

I found a cookie decorating kit on clearance last week and Kinsey has been asking to use it. She doesn't care that it's after Halloween, she just wanted to decorate. Instead of making the frosting in the box (I would have thought they would have had pre-made instead of a mix) I got out a can of chocolate frosting for her to use. She had a blast decorating.
Let me warn you if you see these kits by Wilton that the cookies aren't that great. I was thinking they would be a soft sugar cookie but they are rather hard.
Yes Grandma, that is the apron and cooking utensils she got for Christmas last year! I still can't get her to wear the hat ;-)

Blah, blah, blah

today's one of those days when I run out of stuff to post about. Also I'm tired so writing doesn't come that easy to me when I can barely keep my eyes open. I knew that I would get to a point where I wouldn't have anything to write about and kept thinking I could just post a picture. Well I haven't taken any pictures lately so there goes that theory. We are in that yucky period where everything is brown, dead, and just blah. It was cold, overcast and misty this afternoon. Tomorrow it's supposed to be warm again. One of these days we'll have winter.
I'm off to bed! Have a good night and I'll try to take some pictures and look for something to post tomorrow..........

I think she's trying to give me a heart attack

My friend/boss called tonight to tell me she had a call for someone wanting daycare. It was a woman with three kids ages 2 months, 22 months, and 3 years old...O*M*G!!! We are totally slammed right now. There are days that only certain kids can come because we have so many. It's a fine line that we walk to make everything work. There is no way we could handle that many more little ones. They were put on the waiting list that is about 5ft long now. There is such a need for good childcare in our area. We get so many calls each week especially since we also do a preschool/pre-K program.
Besides all that I can't imagine having 3 little ones that close in age. I have family that have several that close and it just boggles my mind.

Not as young as I used to be...

Kinsey and I went to the mercantile today to buy dog food. Someone was supposed to be around back to load it but he was busy loading some guys hay. I decided I could pick up that 50lb bag of dog food and load it myself. Not such a good idea. I'm feeling it now in my lower back. I remember when I could carry all kinds of heavy things.....of course that was 10-15 years ago when I was younger. I was always the one people asked to help move heavy things. Now I should be the one asking people to help me. I'm hoping a hot bath and a good nights sleep will work the kinks out of my back.

Do people teach their children nursery rhymes or children's songs any more?

I work in a daycare and it just amazes me when new children start and they don't know any nursery rhymes or children's songs. Most do at least know the ABC song but that's about it. We have circle time almost every morning and start out with about 10 minutes of stretching and exercising. Next we sing for about 20 minutes. Most of the kids now have their favorite song and you can count on them to request that song. I think doing this helps open their little minds and gets them ready to learn. We get all the wiggles out and get calmed down to learn. The ones with hand motions are their most favorites. If we don't know motions we make them up. It's a great way to start the morning!

Easy beef stew

Do you ever have those nights where you want comfort food but don't have a long time? This is my version of beef stew that takes less than an hour. I buy an inexpensive cut of steak like flank steak or round steak. You could also buy stew meat but it's a lot less expensive to buy a steak and cut it up yourself. If you don't have steak you could use ground beef.

Brown meat in a dutch oven or large pot then add a package of beef stew mix and 2-3 cups of water. Simmer over medium heat while you chop up 2-3 potatoes into small cubes. Add potatoes. When the potatoes start to get fork tender add one can green beans, one can corn, one can diced tomatoes, and one can carrots. You can vary these veggies according to what your family likes--we sometimes use frozen veggies including peas. When you use the can veggies do not drain the juice just poor it all in your pot. If you use frozen you will need to add more water. Continue simmering until everything is hot. Make a pan of cornbread and you are set for dinner!

Playing dolls with Kinsey

Kinsey has two Our Generation Dolls that she got for different occasions over the last year. These dolls are similar to American Girl dolls but sold at Target and much less expensive. Each doll came with 2 outfits and I've bought them assorted underwear/pajamas. Last night Kinsey and I were playing and we each had our dolls in ballet outfits. Kinsey informed me that it wasn't ballet time any more so we needed to change clothes. As soon as I had the pretty net skirt off my doll and was putting khaki's on her, Kinsey informed me it was ballet time again and her doll was wearing the pretty skirt. Hmmm...I think she just wanted the pretty skirt. LOL!

After playing last night I realized she doesn't have much clothes for these dolls so I went to Target.com to see if they had any clothes but they don't offer them online. My next option was Ebay where I found a wonderful "lot" of clothes for a very reasonable price. I bid on them expecting that I wouldn't win because the price was so low. I was very surprised to find I had won today! Now her dolls will have a lot more outfits to pick from. I also plan to get her the horse that goes with them. Kinsey would love a real horse but she will have to live with this smaller horse. I even found one like she wants--a brown horse with a black mane. A few more Christmas presents take care of!

My sister and I went to a great shopping experience today. It's called the Christmas Jubilee and is held at the convention center. Local stores and crafts people in the area are represented. It's not really a crafts show but more of a trade show. It's a great way to go to a lot of stores in one place. We also went to a few retail stores and a flea market type place. It was nice to shop together and visit...something we don't get to do often. Between work, kids, husbands, etc we don't see each other as much as we would like. We live less than a mile apart but some days it seems like 100's of miles.

Of course the hot water heater died today.......

when Neal and I got up this morning we kept smelling a chemically smell in our bedroom. When I opened the closet the smell was even worse. I asked Neal if maybe he had chemicals on his clothes from work yesterday--our laundry baskets are in the bottom of our closet. We finally decided to check the water heater which is at the end of my side of the closet. I took all my clothes out and we took down the panel that it's behind. There was water all over the floor. After checking it out, Neal decided we would need a new one. Thank goodness he was off today and is a plumber. He called the supply place they use for work and they said they had one and would stay open until he gets there since they closed at noon. We rent so we contacted our landlords and let them know about this. At least they won't have to pay to have it installed...lol!

Neal ended up getting a 40 gallon tank instead of the 30 gallon we had. For some reason the 40 was cheaper than the 30! Yeah, more hot water!! I have a fan running in the closet floor and the doors open hoping it will dry out soon. I sure would like to hang my clothes up again. Right now they are in the recliner.

I'm off to bed.

Slow cooker breakfast casserole

This is another recipe from my March Mommy board. I'm not sure who posted it first since there are a few of the same recipe floating around. I made it a few weeks ago when my Mom was here and we loved it. I'm making it tonight so we can eat it in the morning and will have leftovers for Sunday morning. It's great for a crowd and would be really good for Christmas morning or someday when you wouldn't have a lot of time to cook before hand. When my Mom was here I served it with a side of assorted fruit.

SLOW COOKER BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

1 bag (32 oz.) frozen hash brown potatoes
1 lb. of bacon diced, cooked and drained or 1 lb. cooked ham, cubed **
1 medium diced onion
1 green bell pepper diced
1 1/2 C. shredded cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 C. milk
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper (more or less to taste)

Spray inside of slow cooker with non-stick spray. Place a layer of frozen potatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker, followed by a layer of bacon then onions, green pepper and cheese. Repeat the layering process two or three more times, ending with a layer of cheese.Beat the eggs, milk and salt and pepper together. Pour over the slow cooker mixture, cover and turn on low. Cook for 10-12 hours.

**I'm making it with ground sausage instead of bacon.

Christmas is coming faster and faster

Do you realize that there are only approximately 45 more days until Christmas?? Where did this year go? I'm not sure how I'm going to get my shopping done this year. Last year I found all kinds of great ideas online but am having no such luck this year (so far). I have no idea what to get a few people in my family (hint, hint loyal reader). I have a few things but man I'm a long way from being done. Hopefully I won't have to do an all day shopping spree like my sister and I did last year. It was a lot of fun but man I was tired when we got home. We brought home some major loot that day. I guess I'll start checking things out and see what I can find. Happy Shopping!

Easy pulled pork sandwiches

Who knew pulled pork could be so easy. I was given this recipe on the Mommy board I belong to. This is a wonderful group of ladies I met when I was pregnant with Kinsey. Most of us have been together since we were pregnant. We share our ups and downs, our families, our recipes, and our lives. I don't know what I would do without them!! (((HUGS))) to my March Mommies!

EASY PULLED PORK SANDWICHES

1 pork shoulder or pork roast
1 onion
salt and pepper

1 bottle of favorite BBQ sauce
buns

Spray the inside of your crock with non-stick spray. Put the pork in your CrockPot, slice onion and put in, season with salt and pepper. I always add about 1/2 cup of water. Cook on low for 8-12 or on high for 4-6 hours. It's always best on low but if you are in a hurry it does work on high. When the meat is done, drain any juice (take out bone if there is one) then shred meat with 2 forks. Pour some BBQ sauce over it and mix. Keep adding sauce until it's the consistency you want. I always leave it in my CrockPot so it will stay warm.
Serve on hamburger buns and leave BBQ sauce out for anyone who wants more.

Perfect attendance 1st quarter, 1st grade

Kinsey received an award for perfect attendance today.

I'm not feeling so great or I would post more, just wanted to post this picture.

One of our favorite meals

We had chicken with honey, hash brown casserole and steamed broccoli. Kinsey loves my chicken tenders dipped in honey. It's one of the easiest things I make and she eats them with no complaint. I take chicken tenders and roll them in bread crumbs seasoned with citrus grill seasoning. I put them on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Then I drizzle a little olive oil over each one and bake for 30 minutes at 350F. Turn over half way through cooking. Serve with a little honey drizzled over each tender.

The hash brown casserole is from the back of a package of Surefine Southern Style Hash Brown Potatoes (small squares).

HASH BROWN CASSEROLE

butter
2 pounds (32oz) southern style hash browns
1 cup milk
salt
pepper
1 cup shredded cheese

1. preheat oven to 350F
2. butter 9X13 baking dish and spread hash browns in dish
3. pour milk over potatoes and season with salt and pepper
4. bake for 40 minutes or until potatoes are done and milk is absorbed. (If potatoes were defrosted before cooking, cut baking time to 20 minutes)
5. cover with 1 cup shredded cheese
6. bake for 10 minutes longer or until cheese melts.

It's a baking weekend

Since the weather has been cooler lately, I decided to do some baking. A few days ago my sister gave me a starter for Amish Friendship bread so I made 2 loaves it. They turned out ok but I forgot to add extra flour for the altitude so it didn't rise like it should have.
Last week I bought some fresh cranberries and needed to use them up. I made a double batch of Cranberry Nut Bars and used pecans instead of walnuts. They are so good. Fresh cranberries are perfect in these.
We had 7 very ripe bananas so I made a double batch of Banana Bread and threw in a package of pecans. It smells heavenly baking. Anytime I have over ripe bananas I throw them in a bag in the freezer. When I have enough I make this bread. You could also make them into muffins.
Next I'm going to make Fresh Apple Cake from a recipe I found in American Profile (small magazine we get in the paper). I made one a few weeks ago and it was so good. Recipe to follow.
I may make a Pumpkin Sheet cake if I have time. I like to bake them in loaf pans and eat it like pumpkin bread instead of cake. Most of these items I'm putting in my food sealer bags and putting in the freezer to use for the holidays. I love to bake when I have fresh items but if I keep all these things around we (I) will surely eat them all.

FRESH APPLE CAKE

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups peeled and chopped apples
1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 13-by-9-inch baking dish.
2. Beat sugar, eggs and oil together with a mixer until well blended. Mix in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in apples and walnuts, mixing well.
3. Pour into baking dish. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool.

the original recipe comes with a cream cheese frosting but I don't think it needs it. If you do want to add one, you can use the one that is with my Pumpkin Sheet cake recipe.

**note...with all my recipes I always divide my flour between all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. I also use pecans instead of walnuts in my recipes.

Library book sale today!

The sale started at 9am and I got there at 9:30 so it was already a little picked over. When the library does these sales they give you a plastic grocery bag and let you fill it for $5! I'm good at filling a bag to the brim. I came away with 21 books in my bag including 8 hardbacks. They also had a section of newer books that they were selling for $1-$4 each. I bought 2 large paperbacks--Emma by Jane Austin and Favorite Dishes which is a book of recipes from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In my bag I got part of a series by Marcia Muller. I found 10 of those then got home and found out there are about 25 in the series. Oh well, I have a good start on the whole set . I also found a Janet Evanovich that I haven't read called Manhunt. I finished the last book in the trilogy I was reading last night so now I have to decide what I want to read next out of my treasures.

Great kids recipe

At the daycare I work at I make the menus and cook the food. Pizza dippers were on the menu but I didn't feel like making the same old thing I always make--biscuits rolled out with olive oil, garlic, and cheese on top. They are sliced in strips and dipped in pizza sauce. I saw this idea on another blog but cannot remember where it was. After some research I found some other variations.

PIZZA CUPS

1 can refrigerator biscuits (not flaky)
pizza sauce (spaghetti sauce)
cheese
any additional toppings you would like

Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray. Press a biscuit in each cup so that it goes up the sides and leaves a depression in the middle. Put about a tablespoon of sauce in each cup and sprinkle with cheese--you could add your additional topping before the cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes until biscuits are done.

The kids loved them! I also read that you could use the filling for tacos, sloppy joes, or even BBQ. This would an easy thing for the kids to make and help with. They could press the biscuits in place and even add the filling. Make sure they wash their hands and have an adult put them in and out of the oven.

It's National Blog Posting Month again

I plan to post everyday in November! It may be a picture or a quick little story but I will be posting daily. Check back to see what's going on!