Life with my sister

Saturday morning we went on a breakfast date to Chick with Piper and Amie. Henry could not have been any happier to have Piper, chicken and hashbrowns . The playground was just the cherry on top. I love visiting with Amie and I do love some chicken, so we were both happy. Henry loved watching Piper go up and down the slide. He only went up once and that is because I went up with him. That child is a mess! He just cheers for Piper from the safety of the ground. He loves her. Amie had to go up and tend to the lovebirds once or twice. They are so much fun. I just love Piper and Henry...and Amie! Sunday we did church and lunch at Zaxby's as we always do. It is sort of funny that when we load Henry in the truck after church he always says "I want bies "(aka -French fries)...he knows. I will say that this Sunday I asked him what he learned about in Sunday School and he yelled with a grin "Jesus" Randall and I beamed all the way to Zaxby's . Nothing is finer than ...

We spent our third Christmas at home this year. As I have posted before, we decided we would always try to have Henry in his home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. I was always at home growing up and Randall wasn't. He said it was not enjoyable and wanted to ensure that Henry have the experience I had and the one he always wanted. I think Randall loves it more than anyone. He is finally getting to have the Christmases he always wanted. It makes my heart happy. We do love the calmness of it and the fun of getting to make our own traditions. One of those traditions is having my mother-in-love in my kitchen with me on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Randall's parents come to stay with us on Christmas Eve and wake up with us on Christmas Morning. I love having Molly help me prepare our dishes and she always praises what I serve. I love some praise and some help in the kitchen...who doesn't?! I am working on finding the recipes we like a lot and want to serve each year. ...

This Christmas cutie has lots of fun teachers and friends that needed some Christmas goodies from our kitchen. So, Mama got to work and we made some fun things to take to church and school. We made these for his friends at church and his former teachers at daycare. You take a Nutter Butter and dip it in chocolate bark and sit it on wax paper with a Popsicle stick on the back. Place mini chocolate chips for the eyes and a red hot for the nose. Break a round pretzel in half for the antlers. I put them in small clear bags and closed them with ribbon. They were so cute and so much fun! We made smores kits for his friends at school and to add to our neighbors goodie tins. The card attached said, "Have SMORE fun this Christmas! Love, Henry". We put a snowman Peep in the clear bag with 2 graham cracker squares and a small Hershey bar. I tied them off with ribbon and attached the little card by punching a hole in it and running it through the ribbon. Henry will miss his party at ...

Last night I hosted my annual Christmas Exchange. We exchange cookies and an ornament. It is always a fun, festive time with my girls. I started doing this when we lived in Mississippi and enjoyed it so much I have held the event each year since (except in 2009 when Henry arrived at Christmas). Every year I have new faces to add to the group and I always count that as a blessing. As you well know, there is never a good date in December where all invited can attend. I am always pleased with the turn out though. Small or large, sweet times at Christmas with friends is always precious. The cookies are always fun and the dirty Santa with the ornaments is always a hit. This is my signature cookie for this event. The white ones are 2 Ritz crackers with peanut butter in the middle. They are dipped in almond bark and sprinkled with peppermint The red ones are Oreos dipped in red Wilton melting chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint. Red Neck Caviar is always a crowd pleaser. The bowl is alway...

This week we had a charity event at work. I coordinated the shindig and had a ball. I love a part-a! We raised money for 5 local charities and ate real good. Leslie (in the pic with me) and I love to eat good so we enjoyed being in charge of the food. I found this cheese tray in shape of a tree on the Pinterest and insisted we had to have it! It was much better in person. This photo was taken at a bad angle, but I was too busy hosting to be taking photos for Food Friday...just sayin ! This is not food related, but this tree and I have had some rounds and I think I am finally ahead! I decorated our work tree in mid-October for a November issue of our local magazine. They did a feature story on our event and came and took photos. We moved the tree to the back of the building until it was acceptable to have a tree on display in the lobby... and it all fell apart. We brought it out last week and I redecorated it. Then, the next day the lights decided to burn out. So, I undecorated it, stru...

Creamy Tacos. They are so good. I am having a Sunday School party Mexican fiesta potluck tonight at our humble abode and plan to serve this goodness to my friends. It is a recipe that brings lots of love and memories with it. We did a family cookbook in 2004 and we had our good friends Aynn, Gay and Vicki all submit this recipe with a story of why they love it. It is goodness, for sure! Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chiles 1 pint whipping cream 1 can chili beans 1 large box velveeta fritos Preparation: Brown ground beef and drain. Put this in slow cooker/Crock Pot. Add whipping cream , chili beans, and stir. Cut velveeta in chunks and place in slow cooker/Crock Pot. Stir all of this and cook on low for 1-2 hours. Serve over fritos. Note: I also top with sour cream, black olives, onion, lettuce, and salsa. Here is the sweet little foodie eating a sucker after loosing a fight with the spaghetti. So cute! Happy Food Friday! Abby

Do you love deer chili? I do. Since my hunky hunter likes to shoot ducks more than deer, his fun-loving Uncle Tim scored me a deer. We gave him 2000 pounds of corn and in return he was to get me a deer. I texted him last weekend and asked, "you killing my deer, boy?". He responded, "I am working on it, dear!" So, this week I got the text that said, "I got your deer, woman". I love that man. He had it processed and ground up for me. Now I just have to go get it and we will have chili at our house! I cannot wait to make these. Don't they look so fun? Henry LOVES a mini Nutter Butter. When he says "cookie"this is what he wants. Don't give him a mini Oreo, Chips Ahoy or Ritz pb cracker...the boy knows! think I will make these for him this month. Maybe take them to Texas for Thanksgiving?! This is a photo off of the internet. But honestly, doesn't everyone's muffin pan look like this?! Anyway, I like the idea of throwing some jiffy c...

This pumpkin dip is so yummy. My Mama introduced me to it some years back and since then I have made an excuse each year to make it around Halloween & Thanksgiving. It is fun, easy and a crowd pleaser. It is great served with ginger snaps and apples. This would be a great weekend to whip some up! 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2 cups confectioners' sugar 1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate Directions In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving. Aren't these so cute?! I was making these for Henry's Halloween party at school, but while in Walmart gathering supplies for them the bell went off in my head and the red light beamed bright in my eyes. NO...they are made with peanu...

I just love this song. It makes me cry when I listen to it. Always has, always will. It reminds me of my bestest friend in the whole wide world and the bond we share. We were inseparable growing up and in college. Where she was, I was and vice versa. We were rarely apart. I love that girl with a fierce love that cannot be explained with words. She is the truest friend I have on this earth and I could never thank God enough for the meaningful and funny memories we share. Moving away from her 10 years ago to start a new direction in life was tough stuff. I love that our bond has not changed through the course of time and I trust it never will. We are stuck like crazy glue! Melissa and I met in Little Rock this past weekend and had a fun sleepover, eating frenzy and shopping fest. We never do anything like this anymore and I thought it was high time to kick the fun into gear. She is a mama to 3 precious boys and with me having Henry and living in a different town we don't make time f...

I am s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g trying to make this a food related post since it is Food Friday. I cooked nada this week...not a thing! It was an odd week with activities and illness in our home. Today I sat down to post this and I am drawing a blank on coming up with a good recipe because I plan to cook nada this weekend as I head out for a little girl time with my BFF. So, bear with me as I try my best to relate this post to food somehow :) This is what we ate for supper last night. (This is my attempt to make this food related, just in case you were wondering.) We had special guests over and no one cooks on Thursday nights in my house. So, Pizza Inn was on order and all our guests were excited. Pizza Inn is a family favorite and from what I hear it is becoming pretty hard to find anymore. Our special guests were Julie and her fun crew. Juju loves her Henry. He does not always show his love in the best and brightest way to her though. I am glad she loves him anyway. Poor Ju! All the way ...

In celebration of Samuel's and Aunt Babs' birthday week, we are highlighting the cake Julie made for Samuel's big day. It looked so cute and fun with the colorful candles on top. I wish I could have had a piece....maybe I will make one and celebrate on my own! Grease a large tube or Bundt cake pan with 2 teaspoons of the oil. Set aside. In a large bowl, mix the popped corn with the M&Ms and the peanuts and set aside. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter, the remaining 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and the marshmallows over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. When melted, use oven mitts or pot holders to remove saucepan from heat and pour marshmallows over the popcorn mixture. Stir to combine. Spoon mixture into the prepared cake pan. Using your hands or the back of a spoon, press firmly so that the mixture is compacted. Cover with aluminum foil to keep moist. Let sit for about 3 to 4 hours, or until firm and set. To serve, invert the cake pan onto a large plate or pla...

Pumpkin Crunch Cake This dish is A- mazing ! It is more like a custard or a ooey gooey cake than a traditional cake and it is yummy for the tummy. My little Henry ate more of it than his Daddy and me combined. He loved it. The more pecans, the better. I love fall and all the pumpkin recipes. Why do we wait until fall to eat pumpkin?! We should enjoy it all year. Ingredients: 1 box yellow cake mix 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk 3 large eggs 1 1/2 cups sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans (the original recipe called for 1/2 cup) 1 cup butter, melted Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom of 9 x 13″ pan. Mix pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Pour mixture into greased pan. Sprinkle dry cake mix over pumpkin mixture and top with pecans. Drizzle melted butter over pecans. Bake 50-55 minutes. The Pumpkin crunch cake may be supper yummy but my little pumpkin is the best pumpkin in the whole patch! I love my little...