Tasty Tuesday

Chicken Spaghetti

Chicken - cook in oil or butter, seasoned with Cavenders. Or use leftover grilled chicken

Noodles - Spaghetti noodles, cooked according to package directions

Sauce - 1/4 - 1/3 Velveeta, 1/2 - 1 can Rotel (you can use leftover cheesedip), Mix with 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix together and add milk to desired consistancy. Place in 9x13" baking dish. Bake 350* 30-40 minutes.

For all the Momma's out there...

My dear friend, Rebecca, posted this on her blog. I thought it was so true, and something that I need to keep in mind. I get so frustrated over all the little things. I want to have a perfect house, with everything in perfect order, all things in their place. Laundry always done, ironing always caught up, refrigerator free of milk drops from the twins getting their own milk cups out...and someday I will have that. And I'll be wanting it back...

 

One of these days, you'll shout, "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age!"

And they will.

Or, "You guys get outside and find yourselves something to do ... and don't slam the door!"

And they won't.

You'll straighten up the boys' bedroom neat and tidy -- bumper stickers discarded, bedspread tucked and smooth, toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now I want it to stay this way."

And it will.

You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say, "Now, there's a meal for company."

And you'll eat it alone.

You'll say: "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around. No demolition crews. Silence! Do you hear?" And you'll have it.

No more plastic tablecloths stained with spaghetti.

No more bedspreads to protect the sofa from damp bottoms.

No more gates to stumble over at the top of the basement steps.

No more clothespins under the sofa.

No more playpens to arrange a room around.

No more anxious nights under a vaporizer tent.

No more sand on the sheets or Popeye movies in the bathrooms.

No more iron-on patches, wet, knotted shoestrings, tight boots, or rubber bands for ponytails.

Imagine. A lipstick with a point on it. No baby sitter for New Year's Eve. Washing only once a week. Seeing a steak that isn't ground. Having your teeth cleaned without a baby on your lap.

No PTA meetings.

No car pools.

No blaring radios.

No one washing her hair at 11 o'clock at night.

Having your own roll of Scotch tape.

Think about it. No more Christmas presents out of toothpicks and library paste.

No more sloppy oatmeal kisses.

No more tooth fairy.

No giggles in the dark.

No knees to heal, no responsibility.

Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?"

and the silence echoing, "I did."

-Erma Bombeck column

I am determined to...

Get up earlier in the mornings...
Spend more time reading my Bible...
Exercise every day...
Eat healthier foods...
Be more patient with my kids...
Keep up with the house cleaning...
Watch less TV...
Spend less time on Facebook...
Spend more quality time with my family...

I want to be healthier, happier and more content in my life. The change starts with me, and I'm determined to make that change!!!

Tasty Tuesday

Chili

Brown: 2 lbs hamburger & 1 onion, chopped

2 cans chili beans
2 cans tomatoes
1 pkg. William's brand dry chili mix
2 t. chili powder
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all together. You may need to add some water. Let simmer all day.

This is a great meal to make and freeze!

Necklace

This is the necklace that Will got me for Christmas. For some reason, I could only find a picture of the one I got my sister. But I found this today, so I thought I'd share!

Scentsy Catalog Party

Just a reminder that you have plenty of time to order from my Scentsy party! Just click here and order from Amy & Nicole's Party!

This would be an awesome Valentine's Day gift!!!

Tasty Tuesday

Ok, so I haven't actually TRIED this recipe, but I can't wait to!!! :) My sister-in-law got a recipe book for Christmas, and this recipe was in there. I love monkey bread, and the notes say that this is even better!

Gorilla Bread
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. cinnamon
1 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar, pakced
2 (12 oz) tubes refrigerated biscuits

8 oz. pkg cream cheese, cut into 20 cubes

1 1/2 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped & divided

Mix sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Melt butter and brown sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Flatten biscuits; sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon sugar mixture.

Place cheese cube in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing dough around cheese. Set aside. Spray a 12 cup Bundt pan with non-stick vegetable spray; sprinkle 1/2 c. nuts in the bottom of pan. Arrange half the biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with half the sugar mixture. Pour half the butter mixture over top and sprinkle with 1/2 cup nuts. Repeat layers with remaining biscuits, sugar mixture, butter mixture and nuts. Bake at 350* 30 minutes. Letcool 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert. Serves 20

The Shack

Have you read The Shack by William P. Young? If you haven't, you should!

I read it for the first time not long after the twins were born, but I'm in the middle of it again.

The first 3 or 4 chapters are difficult to get through. Especially if you have a daughter. I felt sick to my stomach while I was reading it, and would dread picking up my book again. But what blessings await you once you get past it!!!

I have to admit that I've always had a pretty vague picture of what God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are like. I've always thought of God as a loving, but mean man, Jesus as a humble man, and the Holy Spirit just freaked me out. I didn't know what to think about that! ha! I always thought of God as being in control of everything, Jesus as the one who gave His life, and the Holy Spirit as floating around somewhere. I never really thought of them as described in this book. What a difference!

When you start reading the book, you will probably be skeptical. I know I was. It had been recommended to me by my Mom. I honestly thought, "What is this mess that Mom gave me to read?!" But if you have patience - and an open mind - I think you will see the blessings that can come from this book! If you read it, I would love to know what you think!

Neglected...

If my blog had feelings, I'm sure it would definitely feel neglected. I've been super busy, just like all of you! We had a great Thanksgiving with Will's family. Unfortunately, Seth got sick during the night Thursday night/Friday morning. So our weekend of festivities was cut short! But we enjoyed our big meal together, and some games. I went shopping all night with some friends from church and their family. My sister-in-law, Amy went along. We had a fantastic time, and I got a Shark steam mop on sale for $40!!!! I love it - best $40 I've ever spent!!!
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The month of December was crazy, as usual. It was a lot of fun, we had something going on every weekend. We had a lot of fun decorating cookies at our friends, Don and Heather's house. There were several kids there, and they really enjoyed pouring sugar all over Heather's kitchen - ha. Here's a couple of pictures from that:

This pic makes me laugh every time. Haven dumped an entire thing of sprinkles on her cookie. It looks like Heather's blaming Daniel for it. I looked up and saw what happened and was shocked. LOL

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We had a wonderful Christmas with my family. Way too much delicious food, games, giggles and presents! Meredith got this amazing doll house, and pretty much everything to go with it:

How cool is it that it came with boy and girl twins?!

Seth got Thomas the Train tracks and several engines, a caboose, and some bridges. It's so cool!

This isn't the exact set he got, but you'll get the idea of how cool it is! :)

Thomas

I got this beautiful watch from my parents:

I've always loved the Toy watches, and this is really similar of those. I was thrilled!!! :) Will got me this necklace that I've been wanting. I can't find the picture of the exact necklace I got, but it's the same as this, but with Romans 8:28 on it. This is the one I got my sister:

Our friend, Kate, makes these necklaces and sells them. All proceeds go towards their adoption. You should check out her shop on here on Etsy.
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Speaking of cool things to buy online, another friend of mine, Jessie, makes necklaces, personalized frames, several different religious items...lots of cool stuff! You should definitely check her Etsy shop out too!!!
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We had a lot of fun on New Years Eve. We went to Don and Linda's and stayed until midnight. My mom, sister and brother-in-law came too. My Dad was going to come, but he ended up getting sick while in TN.
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We've all been sick and fighting colds for a while now. We can't seem to get over it! Right after Christmas, I totally lost my voice. I was miserable. I got a little better for a while, but I'm sick again. Ugh. Meredith has a really bad cold. It's settled in her eyes. Poor girlie, her eyes are really irritated and has mucus coming out of her tear ducts (gross, I know!). Seth isn't as bad, but he sounds pretty croupy. Will is sick too. Fun, fun! We're a coughing, sneezing, snotty family! haha
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Today, it started snowing! We decided to go on to church, with the intention of coming home right after. But we ended up staying and eating lunch, then heading home. We have about an hour drive, it took us nearly 2 to get home. Here's what the roads looked like on our way home:

And here's outside our house:

I'm so thankful for my nice, warm house and the fact that we have plenty of food to eat. I was thinking about my Uncle Gary today. When he was homeless and weather would come through like this, it was nearly impossible to find a warm place to stay and food to eat. I'm really praying for the homeless tonight.
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I'll try to get back into my Tasty Tuesday posts, and just blogging more often. Be safe if you have to get out on any roads like ours are here!!!

Please go order from my Scentsy Party by January 22!!! Click here and then click to order from Amy & Nicole's Party!!!

Scentsy Catalog Party

I'm hosting a Scentsy Catalog Part this month! It starts now, and ends on January 22. It's a wonderful line of products, that I love!

Guys, this would be a perfect gift for your wife or mother!

Please go to https://rclifft.scentsy.us/Home and buy from Amy & Nicole's Party!