showering....

....with love....stacy & baby carter, soon to come...

my friend chera & i gave stacy a sweet little baby shower while everyone was in wetumpka for the holiday....stacy and i have been friends friends since childhood....as i have with all these girls....we don't get together often enough~ it was so much fun to see them yesterday! brings back lots of great memories.....

stacy and her family are *huge* alabama fans ~ to say the least!! unfortunate for stacy she married a *huge* georgia fan......well, at least we know baby carter will be sporting the right clothes next season....

stacy, her sweet sister christy & precious mom ann......love these ladies!

gotta love old friends!! now that i am back settled in alabama i am going to have to be better about getting together with friends.....though stacy is in georgia....chera, jene, the others above & many more are just a little ways down the road.....no excuses!

congrats again stacy!! you are going to be an awesome mommy!!!

we gave thanks....

.....at grammy's house for thanksgiving!

thanksgiving eve all the kids piled up on the floor to watch a family favorite....

a charlie brown thanksgiving!!

we had a great thanksgiving at gram's house......it is always so much fun to have all the kids together....though we really did miss olivia!! another thing i missed.....a photo-op with grammy!! i guess either she was too busy cooking our awesome meal or the kids were too wild to stop for a pic....i will do better next time, promise!

grant & uncle michael.....not mike, michael is what he insists on calling him.....fine by me, i like it better any way :)

turkeys!!!

after our yummy meal we all headed outside to enjoy the absolutely beautiful day.....

and what thanksgiving day is complete without a little front yard football?!?!

i love audrey's stance below.....get 'em girl!

my sweet boy & i after all the kids tackled me!

i give the most thanks for these two here.....

i hope you and your family had a wonderful thanksgiving as well!!

.....................................................

Side Dish Edition...

Broccoli Salad

10 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 head fresh broccoli, chopped (just florets)
½ large red onion, chopped
½ cup raisins
1-2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing:
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup mayo

- whisk together dressing and set aside
- in a large bowl mix together:
broccoli
onion
raisins
cheese
- pour dressing over broccoli mixture & toss well
- refrigerate at least two hours
- before serving toss with bacon & sunflower seeds

…..my husband does not love the sunflower seeds in this so i leave them out for him….but they really are good in there! also, i always go with more cheese than less. i double this to feed a larger crowd.

Oriental Noodle Salad

2 packages Ramen Beef Soup Mix
1 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 bunch green onions
1 - 1lb. Bag of coleslaw (shredded cabbage only)

Dressing: whisk together & set aside
1 cup vegetable oil
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
Beef flavoring from soup mix

Layer:
Crushed UNCOOKED ramen noodles
Coleslaw
Almonds
Sunflower seeds
Green onions

- pour dressing all over on top of salad
- refrigerate & marinate at least 24 hours
- DO NOT STIR UNTIL READY TO SERVE

…..again, another easy recipe to double for a large crowd! i don’t take out the sunflower seeds in this one….brett just has to deal with it!



Corn Casserole

1 box Jiffy Muffin Mix
1 stick melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1 egg
16 oz cream corn
16 oz drained whole corn
Shredded mild cheese

-mix all ingredients *except cheese* and pour into a greased baking dish. Bake @ 350 for 45mins - 1 hour. Sprinkle with cheese the last 5 minutes of baking.

Swiss Vegetable Casserole

1 - 16oz bag frozen mixed veggies
1 - 10 ¾ can cream of celery soup
1/3 cup sour cream
¼ tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded swiss cheeses, divided
1 can french fried onions, divided

- combine first four ingredients. Stir in half ½ of onions & ½ of cheese.
- spoon into a greased baking dish
- bake covered 40-45 mins @ 350
- uncover & sprinkle with remaining cheese & onions
- bake 5-7 more mins.


.....seeing as the holidays are all around us i thought it would be a nice change to do some side dishes....these really are good & easy....

Enjoy!! Bon Appetit!!

tumbleweed thanksgiving....

.....today was our thanksgiving celebration with brett's family at tumbleweeds on the rockin' h ranch....click here to see pics from last year & my pics of tumbleweeds and uncle john & aunt cinda's ranch....absolutely beautiful....thanks again for hosting us john & cici!!

the kids were dressed in their thanksgiving best and off we went for great food & fellowship....

i thought this was too cute.....looks like lucy is sticking her tongue out at us!

ahhh.....the beginnings of fried goodness!!!

my son is definitely going to be a *man's man*.....he loves all things manly & boyish....especially uncle blake's big ol' truck....i thought this pic was too sweet....my fireman & his dream truck :)

richards' men......frying up some turkeys......yum-o!!how many men does it take to check the turkey???

hold on to your seat!!...... audrey is loving on, petting & picking up the kitten....after a hour of drama she decided that sweet kitty just wasn't so bad....whew....now, if we could just convince grant!!

sweet cousins.....

carve 'em up!!

we had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family we don't see often enough.....and our most thankful thing from the day......the sweet baby girl in cousin lori's tummy....we are so happy for casey & lori......yeah!!! can't wait to meet kate in march :)

my little turkey.....

....and her first thanksgiving program......precious!

they sang us several songs, then a video of what they are thankful for ~ audrey's was her brother that likes to play with her......and the finale, an adorable skit with THE cutest turkey.....gobble, gobble, gobble...

grant enjoyed getting in on the snacks afterwards....

yummy cranberry muffins & cranberry juice....

as if there wasn't enough going on today.....it was greek day for the 6th grade.....after audrey's program we headed down to the middle school to see our own zeus :) ..... i'm sure brett just LOVES me putting this picture on here.....oh well, what a cute indian princess & greek god!

now time to celebrate thanksgiving at tumbleweeds with brett's family.....let the week of feasting begin!

all better....

.....the teanuts are all better!.....praise, praise!

you all know me well enough now to know that of course i took my camera to the hospital.....i mean, as if :) i did restrain myself and only take pics in our little room with our little family and our little patient.....and i must brag on my little patient for a moment ~ he did great!! he was NPO (no food by mouth) after midnight but could, luckily, have clear liquids up until 10am....he only asked once at home for his *gits & eggs* and once at the hospital for a snack.....whew, that could have been a lot worse.....

he had a *bag of tricks* to occupy his time but we really didn't need them too terribly much.....by the time we got in the pre-op room things got rolling fairly quickly.....we met lots of nurses, CRNAs & anesthesiologists that were taking great care of us......after a quick wardrobe change, he got the good stuff.....

..... versed!!!!.....this is my baby on drugs.....silly boy!

i mean, just look at those thighs up there.....god love 'em!! below is him after the giggles wore off and the floppy head, relaxing set in....

honestly, they took him to surgery ~ with blankie & monkey of course!....i went down stairs to get us lunch, brought it back up.....ate our lunch, played on my phone a few minutes......and then he was back......awesome!! dr. mac came in and talked to us shortly before grant got back.....he only had a hernia on one side & it was very small & easy to fix....we even have pics of his insides, but i spared you all ~ this time :) oh, by the way.....brett says that our next date night will be the children's hospital cafeteria.....he LOVED the *blazing spicy chicken sandwich*.....it was really good, but i will opt for GianMarco's :)

here is our sweet angel boy finally resting once he got back to us from recovery......i say finally because he was a bit ill when he first got in the room.....there was no easing into waking up for him.....when they rolled him in the room he was already trying to sit up & he wanted EVERYTHING off of him!.....within a matter of 10 minutes he managed to *not so nicely* convince the nurse to take out his IV, off his blood pressure cuff & pulse ox.....he also got off his arm band & gown.....whew!! it was a whirlwind.....he also wanted the steri-strip off his belly button but we put our foot down there :) once he was stripped down he finally settled himself into slumberland for a few moments....ahhhhh....

he woke up so much better after his little nap.......we got him dressed and headed home!

daddy went to get the car and he went on a red wagon ride......the hospital is already decorated for christmas so he was in awe of all the pretty ornaments & decorations.....as we were headed out he said, "look tiger, ROAR!".....and i even got a smile.....

as i type this today he is just vegging out in front of the TV, watching a little *baby crack* & is quite content......he is a little sore, but doing great! this morning when he asked for his *gits & eggs* i happily obliged.....

we really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers & well wishes you guys poured upon us....thank you so much!!! YOU GUYS ROCK!

the teanut takeover....

....tomorrow is the takeover of the teanuts....hopefully you remember the story of the teanuts from here.....well it's time to get 'em fixed up....

grant is pretty much oblivious to the fact.....i mean really, how would you even begin to explain this to a two year old?!? i told him this afternoon that we were going to see dr. mac tomorrow....he said, "no, don't want to." ....so matter of fact.....at that point i dropped it.....why try?? i am choosing to keep him in the dark.....it will all be over so *quickly* and he won't remember a thing....

then after a day or so of rest, he can go back to reading his toys-r-us sales paper and savoring all the fun toys....

as i type this audrey is in her room making a surprise for him......precious....she picked out a monster truck for him this afternoon to give him as well.....she is so giving and caring.....we are making this as low key for her as we are him too.....because realistically in the big scheme of things his procedure is minor and really is so common & routine for the doctors, nurses & staff at children's.....and i am quite thankful they are so good at what they do and that we are blessed to live so close.....he will be bounced back sooner than me.....i'm sure of it :)

now.....the only not minor, not routine or not common aspect of this scenario is the fact that it is my son and he is the patient and i am not the nurse but the mommy.....ode to role reversal....as i have said before....i know too much.....but i also know that He will be with us tomorrow ~ keeping us safe & calm....

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." Matthew 6:34