Wordless Wednesday: Rain!!

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. These were taken with my phone!!



Our weekend

Overall, we have a pretty relaxing weekend. Friday night, we met friends and family at The Green Door for a few drinks. It was a great time and nice to spend a relaxing evening out.

Mom and I 

My family: Tuttie, Nina, Kathy, Beverly and Mom 

My co-worker Robert and his friends 

Avari was entertaining all 

Avari trying to make Lucy laugh

Saturday, I held my first Scensy party. Afterwards, we grilled out and had my Aunts and Mom over for dinner.

Sunday, Avari attended Sunday School. This was the 4th week and every week, she says she loves Sunday School. She loves it more than her regular school! After Sunday School, we attended church where Avari and the other school kiddos sang! It was too cute! I was so proud that she went up to the front of the church to sing. We also had teacher induction and recognition and blessing of the backpacks.

After Church, we headed home for some football and burgers with Friends and then I headed out to my Granny and Papa's for a little looking around for items for my house. After trying to get cat tails out of the dried up pond and almost being killed by a cow, it was time to head back home for a relaxing evening with my family!

It was such a great weekend! I am looking forward to what next weekend has in store!!



Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Pork Chops

Wednesday: Chicken and Rice

Thursday: Avari's School Fundraiser

Friday: Burgers

Saturday: Out

Sunday: Chicken Fried Steak

Fall is in the air

We had our first "cold" front blow in last week. Although it didn't last long and we were back to 100 degree temps this week, I was compelled to start my fall decorating. I love all of the colors and smells of fall. This is by far, my favorite time of year!!

 I am working on building my seasonal decorations so I don't have much but I love it all none the less. Since getting SCAL software for my cricut, I have lots of new ideas that I will be making in the coming weeks, especially for Halloween. Here's what decorations I have up so far...

Fair Time in Washington County

This past week was the Washington County Fair. Growing up, it was something to look forward to every year. I am so glad that I now get to share those experiences that I had with Avari.

She was so excited Friday afternoon when I picked her up from school that she could hardly contain herself. We "cowgirled up" and headed out for a night of fun!!

Avari at the petting zoo!

Riding the fishies! She really was excited!

With Mommy on the Ferris Wheel.

With Daddy on the Ferris Wheel.

Avari had such a good time and she really wanted to go back the next night! Mommy and Daddy took that night as a night out for us but we still won her a prize from the carnival that is now attached to her hip.

I cannot wait until she is old enough to join 4-H and really get the experiences that showing and 4-H has to offer!

While the fair was fun, Saturday my family lost another spectacular woman. My Aunt Doris had been fighting Leukemia for some time now and she just couldn't beat it. Visiting with her and the family on Friday was bittersweet! She will be greatly missed!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Tuscan Pasta with Tomato-Basil Cream

Tuesday: Pecan Crusted Tilapia

Wednesday: Kobe Steaks

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Hot Dogs

Saturday: BBQ Chicken

Sunday: Parmesan Chicken

Mini Photo Shoot

My bestie came down and spent the weekend with me and Avari while our guys went to the deer lease. We had a great time and it is something we have needed for a long time. While she was here, we did a mini photo shoot of her little one Joseph, a few family photos of her, Joseph and her other son Steven and I tried to get a few of just Steven but he wasn't the most cooperative.

I am by far not a professional photographer but I think they turned out really good. I plan to do a little editing and I have something that I am going to be putting together for her using a photo of each of the boys. Here are a few of the pre-edited photos.

Quotes

These are just a few of my favorite quotes or sayings. They all have some sort of meaning for me, even if it is to bring a smile to my face.



Cancer is so Limited

It cannot destroy LOVE It cannot shatter HOPE

It cannot corrode FAITH

It cannot destroy people, It cannot kill friendship,

It cannot suppress memories, It cannot silence

COURAGE

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot steal ETERNAL LIFE

It cannot conquer

THE SPIRIT!

Crock-pot Meatloaf

Meatloaf is definitely a popular item in my household. Jacob will request meatloaf on a weekly basis, although I refuse to make it that often, so I figured, why not try it out in my crock-pot. I usually bake it in the oven but with the outside temperatures sweltering, I don't need another reason to heat up the house.

Ingredients

1 lb of hamburger meat (I used a pound of Kobe Beef)
Seasonings (This time I used pre-packaged but you can use any)
1/4 cup onion - chopped
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tbs. worcestershire sauce
1 cup bread crumbs (I used parmesan flavored)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese - finely grated

Topping
Ketchup
3 tbs. Brown Sugar

Line crock-pot with foil. Mix all ingredients together. Form into a loaf and place in crock-pot. Cook of low for 6-8 hours. In the last 2 hours, add you topping. Remove from crock-pot when done and serve. Enjoy!!

Wordless Wednesday - My little Ballerina

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Crock Pot Meatloaf

Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas

Wednesday: Chicken Fried Steak

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Fair night

Saturday: Fair night

Sunday: Hamburger Steak

Pinsperation: French Chicken Broccolli Supreme Recipe

This was my first recipe found on Pinterest to try and boy was it yummy. I cooked it as a main dish but really think it would be better as a side dish. Try it out and let me know what you think.

FRENCH CHICKEN BROCOLLI SUPREME

Ingredients:

  1 – lb. fresh broccoli Break in pieces, and steam for 2 minutes.
 3 cups cooked chicken breasts  – Break up in small pieces
 3 cups Grated Cheddar Cheese divided
 2 tubes Ritz Crackers
 1  stick melted butter
 1 tablespoon poppy seeds

  SAUCE:
 1/3 C. Butter melted
 1/4 C. Cornstarch, dissolved in 1/2 C. COLD Water
 1/3 C. Chicken Broth
1/4 tsp. Salt
 1/4 tsp Pepper
 2 Cups Milk
1 1/2 cups of the above Cheddar Cheese

 Directions:

In greased 13×9 pan, layer the broccoli and chicken, then set aside. In saucepan over medium heat, combine the melted butter, cornstarch dissolved in water, chicken broth, seasonings, and milk. Stir well, and continue stirring until sauce has thickened. Turn heat down to low, and add 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese. Stir until melted. Pour over the chicken and broccoli. Top with 1- 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese.

Melt the butter, and add the poppy seeds, and stir well. Crush Ritz crackers in large zip-lock bag with a rolling pin. Don’t crush too small. Add crumbs to the melted butter. Sprinkle crumbs over the top of the grated cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until hot & bubbly. 

Check out my Pinterest board: Yummy!!

Fiery Texas

Texas needs all the prayers it can get right now, prayers for our firefighters, prayers for the victims who have lost their homes and prayers for rain.

Never have a seen wildfires so bad here. I can remember watching the news when California had all of their wildfires and thinking how crazy and scary mother nature really is but you never get the real feeling of it until you walk out your front door and smell smoke.

Where I am located at, we have been lucky.....so far. We have fires burning in the counties surrounding us but currently there are none in our county. The few we have had, the firefighters have been able to control and extinguish. I pray every night for rain. Never in my life have I wished so much for a Hurricane as I know several of us are.

This picture I got off of Facebook. This is the Bastrop fire, burning about 60 miles from where we are. This fire is 0% contained has has burned over 30,000 acres and 600 homes with 4 lives lost.

I can not fathom what they are going through down there in Bastrop, I just know how scary it was to smell the smoke most of the morning yesterday and to see a thick haze across the horizon.

I do have to say a big thank you to our community for all of the donations to the fire departments fighting these fires. There have been hundreds of cases of water and gatorade donated so far and they are expecting much more. With no rain in the forcast for a long time, they are expecting things to get worse before they get better and will be making great use of all of these supplies now and in the future.

Menu Plan -- Tuesday

With yesterday being a holiday, I didn't get a chance to get my menu for this week up. I have decided to go simpler with my menu and just do the main dish of out dinner meal. Breakfast and lunch tend to change up quite a bit and I think my dinner menu is the most important one, with the best recipes. So here is this weeks menu:

Monday: Grilled Chicken Legs

Tuesday: Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Wednesday: Crock Pot Lasagna

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Crock Pot Ranch Pork Chops

Saturday: BBQ Ribs

Sunday: Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

Starting next week, I will be adding all recipes that go over good in my house!! Some of the recipes I have found using Pinterest, some I have come up with and some are family recipes.