Feeling the Itch

I'm starting to feel the itch. No, not THAT itch. Ewww...  (weirdo) The need to take down all my Christmas decorations. I start to feel the itch on the 26th. Christmas is over and I'm starting to get ready for the new year. I always feel that if I start the new year clean and organized I don't have to stress.

But I am waiting. I don't want to rush myself or SL, my hubby. However, I'm ready for it all to be gone! I have heard that it is supposed to be good luck to leave the tree up until the new year, but I don't think I can. If I take it down my two year will stop throwing the ornaments around the room.  Ahh... Peace. How long do you leave your decorations up?  Or are you that neighbor who leaves them up on your house for weeks after Christmas? 

He came to get messy.

Do you ever feel that God is nowhere near and cant understand your pain? Over 2000 years ago, Jesus, Gods Son, came into the world, not as royalty but as a baby born in a stable full of muck and animals. This video reminds us with powerful imagery of the sacrifice that Jesus made by humbling himself to become one of us. It was a dirty job and he didn't have to do it but the world is changed because he did.

So let's not get caught up in gifts we need to give, and all the things that need to be accomplished. Look at all the wrapping paper covering the floor and remember why we celebrate.

Let me know how you remind yourself of Jesus' birth this time of year. Leave comments so that all can be encouraged to remember Him.

A Christmas Punk

My little guy, so sweet, so innocent, so 2! Trying to take pictures in front of the tree turned out to be torture for all.

He loves the dogs new bed. I'm so glad it was new and still clean.

I was attempting to catch him as he popped up on the other side of the ottoman. All I got was this toy.

However, this is my favorite picture.

With all the toys he has, he has never  had as much fun with them as he did with this....

My Wreath

WOW! I am really slow. I said I was going to post this last week, and I never did. I'm a really bad part time blogger. How sad. Well, here is what I started with.

After an hour, some hot glue, and about 500 coffee filters I ended up with this.

Wow, that is a really bright picture. I really like the way it turned out. I however am not liking the ribbon attached to it. I'll have to figure something else for that.

What decorations have you made this Christmas season?

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh NO!!

I finally finished my tree. I did have my tree finished a week ago, until the accident.

Yes, I killed my tree.

I'm guilty.

We had this tree for 6 years. It was the tree we got our first Christmas as a married couple.

I thought that was a pretty good run.

I must admit. I hated that tree. It was not a pre-lit tree. I HATE stringing lights so I make my husband do it every year.

Back to how it died.

I was placing the curly things on top and I heard a loud crack in the plastic base.

It was already cracked but we put it up anyways. Try to get one more year out of it.

It didn't last.

It fell right over on to my feet as I sat watching Oprah's favorite things. (Does anyone else get emotional  watching other people receive amazing things? No? Just me? Ok....)

So to the store hubby went to get a new one. He picked a good one too. 7ft Pre-lit, beautiful. 

Oh Happy Day! 

After taking all the ornaments off of the broken tree and placing them on the new tree, this was our results. 

Tomorrow I will show you what I made out of this.....

Blackberry Cheesecake

This week is our church's Thanksgiving meal. We love to get together and eat. There is nothing more fun at a Baptist church than gathering with 6 long tables worth of food. Yummy!! So I decided to try my hand at making a cheesecake. A real cheesecake, not these Jello out of the box ones. Now don't get my wrong, I do like the Jello ones. However, my world was completely changed when I tried a cheesecake from Copeland's. This cake made my skirt fly up. It was creamy, fluffy, and rich, I didn't know how to handle myself. I made it my mission in life, well for thanksgiving at least, to make a great cheesecake.

I made it on a Saturday night, and it tortured me not to taste it. I could smell it all through the house. I have never smelled such a wonderful smell in my life. Well, maybe the smell of my newborn son was just a little bit better. I pained me not to take a little piece of it. When my hubby was not looking a took a little bite off the top. I figured no one would notice.

This was my first real cheesecake:

Yep... I just licked the screen. Hope you didn't see that.

Ingredients


Crust
■1 box Vanilla Wafers
■½ cups Pecans
■1 stick 1/2 Cup Butter, Melted
■1-½ teaspoon Vanilla

Filling
■3 packages 8 Ounce Cream Cheese
■1-½ cup Sugar
■4 whole Eggs
■½ cups Sour Cream

Topping
■2 cups Blackberries
■½ cups Sugar
■2 Tablespoons Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.


Place vanilla wafers and pecans into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until mixture becomes crumbs. Add melted butter and vanilla and pulse again until combined. Pour into a 10-inch spring form pan and press crumbs into the bottom of the pan. (If they come up the sides, that’s okay!)

For the filling, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add sour cream and mix again. Pour mixture into crust, smooth the top, and bake for 1 hour, 10 minutes. Turn off oven and open door and allow to sit in the oven with the door opened for 15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool.

For the topping, add blackberries, sugar, and water to a saucepan or skillet. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Pour blackberries over the cheesecake and place pan into the fridge to cool and set for at least 2 hours—several hours is better

Enjoy

David Crowder Band - SMS [Shine]

I love this product!

I really do love this Purex 3-in-1. I was able to get this detergent fairly cheap because I had saved some coupons. I paid less than a dollar for each one. I thought I would get it because it was going to be a cheap detergent that I could stock up on. Little did I know just how much I was going to LOVE it!  It is so easy to use that my husband has even started doing some laundry. It has the detergent, softener, and dryer sheet all in one sheet.  There is very little packaging and is great for stocking up on because it takes up very little space in my laundry area.  Let's talk about the smell, oh the smell. I am usually very picky about the smell of my detergent and softener. When I bought this I didn't really care what it smelled like because I was getting it so cheap that I told myself I would live with whatever smell it had. My first load came out and I could not stop smelling the clothes. It has such a light and refreshing smell that I have been washing everything, even my curtains. I'm not sure if I said this yet but I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!! Just try it you will too.

I have not been paid by Purex nor do they even know who I am. I just wanted to share my fascination with this detergent.

Arkansas or Bust…..

My husband and I have left Texas for good. No just kidding. We have come to Arkansas to see family and see all the BEAUTIFUL trees. We left early in the morning, and when I say early I mean 8am. We are not morning people.  My son needed a traveling companion so we picked up my husbands grandmother.

You could surely tell when we crossed over into Oklahoma. Hay bales as far as the eye could see.

We took a new way where we came to Muskogee and saw strange sights.

The back seat went frighteningly quiet. I was afraid of what I would find. I was reassured and giggled when I saw this.

My husband and I got to spend some alone time together. So we went to one of our favorite places here. The Pinnacle Hills Promenade.

The Promenade is an outdoor mall. It is so pretty at night. The pyramid in the center of the promenade is lit up and changes colors to the music.




We go a little bonkers when we are without child for a few hours. Two more days then we have to go back to Texas.

Such a fun video!!

Family Night

We don’t often get to have a night where there is nowhere we need to be. No football or volleyball games, no church functions, no family visiting. Sean was off from both jobs, which is very rare. I only work in the mornings so I was free. So we took advantage of our freedom and had ourselves a family night. We piled in the car and headed one town over to the lovely park on a lake. Our little town has a park but it is covered in graffiti and there is no telling what you will step on, or who you will come in contact with. My Son loves this park, it has a great playground and the lake is full of ducks and geese that are so much fun to feed. These are some of the pics from our Family Night.

One of my favorite pics from the night.

He decided he wanted to eat the bread instead of giving it to the ducks.

 

 

This can’t be good. That Goose was mean.

This where we have my son’s birthday parties. We just had one there this Saturday. He turned 2! I’ll post about that later.

 

We then went for pizza and pigged out. It was great.

Oh my favorite picture of the two of them. The men I love.

My newly turned 2 year old.

It is DEAD

Our awning, our cowboy awning, the awning we bought each other for our anniversary, is dead. About a month ago a storm came through and blew it around. I had it anchored to our fence which kept it from blowing completely away. When the storm was over it looked like this.

Not too bad we could fix this, and we did. Please pay no attention to how bad my backyard looks. We have had  a lot of rain lately. Well, except where the pool had been laying (the big dead circle).
Early last week a strong line of storm came blowing through. And I mean blowing. I was home by myself so I couldn’t take down the awning. So I decided to lower it all the way to the ground and stake down. I was hoping the would work. The the storm hit and the wind hit. I knew it was strong winds when I heard it HIT the back side of my house. When the storm was half way through I went to check on the awning and it was blowing around getting the back of my house. I just prayed that it didn’t hit a window. When I eventually ventured outside this is what I found.
 

Oh how sad…. it is gone for good. No repairing it this time.

Good bye to our Cowboys awning. We had such a short time with you. Thank you for the shade you provided us during this blazing summer. You keep me and my son from being sunburned as we played in the pool beneath you. One day we will replace you, but it may take awhile. You were pretty expensive for us. Good bye friend.