Do it yourself Candlestick idea

I have always loved candlesticks and especially the over sized ones. I do not love the price though!!!! I came across this DIY candlestick project that was to good not to pass on. This project is definitely on my to-do list. I love projects that are quick, easy and inexpensive!

Visit Katie at Impatiently Praying for Patience for her Candlestick idea. You will be glad you did :)

Happy Thursday!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I thought it would be fun to do something different, so I am joining Jamie for her...

I'm LOVING that we are getting some cooler weather in our area. With the change in temperature comes my craving for Coffee. I recently realized that my old coffee maker had bit the dust so I had to purchase another one. I decided on this one.....

I'm LOVING the fact that it is programmable and I can wake up in the mornings to the aroma of fresh coffee!

And, speaking of coffee.... I'm LOVING this Folgers Simply Smooth. This doesn't give me the tummy troubles that regular coffee does.

A cup of coffee isn't complete without a yummy creamer. I love flavored creamers and I'm LOVING this Coffee-mate Cinnamon Vanilla Creme. It is soooo yummy ;)

Laundry is an issue at our house. We have well water that loves to stain our clothes a lovely orange color. I have ruined a lot of clothes over the years since we have been in this house. I have finally found something that will get those set in water stains out as well as other hard stains..... I am LOVING this Oxy Clean Max Force gel stick!!!

It really works wonders :) I can't sing it's praises enough :)

And finally.... I'm LOVING the Bounce Dryer Bar! I would always forget to put the fabric softener in and I dislike those pesky dryer sheets. (One day my hubby went to work with one in his pants..hehehe) The first one I bought really did last right at 4 months! I love the Fresh Linen scent. Our clothes smell sooo good when they come out of the dryer and no static cling!

So there you have it.... My first What I'm Loving Wednesday! Be sure to visit Jamie to get in on more LOVING!

Happy Wednesday!

Semi~Wordless Wednesday

A girl and her Gmomma and Gdaddy =)

Backdoor Friends

We have been in our house for 4 years now. It is so hard to believe it has been that long. When we found our house, we loved it but there were a few things we wanted to change. One of the main things was to add steps to our back deck. We felt like there needed to be access out of the back of the house from the upstairs.

Last week we finally were able to add on a set of steps as well as a walk way. It really turned out so much prettier than I had envisioned. I am so thankful to have this finally completed! :)

Before:

After:

We are beyond thrilled with the way it turned out!

Now our "backdoor" friends won't have to see our yucky garage!!!!

Say Cheese!

I love to take photographs... especially of my children. Years ago I had a wonderful Minolta camera that my hubby surprised me with for Christmas. I loved that camera. One day it just disappeared.... I have no idea what happened...I carried it every where I went.

After that camera, I never really had another that I liked like that Minolta. About 6 months ago my little camera started giving me trouble. I joke with the kids, but it is sadly true, that I have no pictures of them from the past 4 years. :(

Well, a few weeks ago I decided to purchase this.....

I have had so much fun over the weekend playing with this wonderful camera! I got such a great deal on it that I could not pass it up ;

Be prepared to read posts with lots of pictures!

Have a wonderful Monday!

Wordless Wednesday

Fall Fever

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the rich colors of the leaves and the cooler days. We have felt a few cooler days here but it is now back to the 90's. I know it is coming though ;)

My dd and I did a little shopping for some new fall decorations for our house. The ones we have are things that I have had since before my kids were born. (15 years) Micheals had a great sale on all of their Fall items, so we had fun.

One of the first things I did was make a new fall wreath for our front door. I knew I wanted something simple but colorful. Have you priced these things in the stores??? They are outrageous!!!! I have made wreathes before so I decided to try again. I started with .....

this....

This is actually prettier in person..... it has some nice multicolor berries on it randomly. I was able to find this in a garland so it was easy to hot glue onto.....

A good ole grape vine wreath.... very inexpensive :)

After about 10 minutes of hot gluing.... we have this....

For a grand total of $7.56, I don't think we did that bad!

What do you think?

How are you getting ready for Fall?

Have a wondeful Tuesday !!!!

Friday Funnies

It's Friday Funnies again :) Visit Kim at Homesteader's Heart for more funnies!

After losing another tooth, young-old Timmy became more curious about the mysterious tooth fairy.

Finally putting two and two together, he came right out and asked his mother, “Mom, are you the tooth fairy?”

Assuming he was old enough to hear the truth, she replied, “Yes Timmy, I am.”

Timmy seemed to take this news quite well.

But as he headed for the door, he slowly turned back toward his mother with a curious look on his face and said, “Wait a minute mom. How do you get into the other kids’ houses?”

Comfort food......

Well, yesterday my hubby came down with his first cold/flu of the season :( Aches, stuffy nose and feeling just plain lousy. I know when I fell that way, I always want my Grandmother's yummy chicken and dumplings. So, C&D it is for supper! C&D was my favorite dish that my grandmother made, well that and her homemade biscuits and homemade peanut butter. Anyway... my grandmother was my favorite person in the whole world! My dd is actually named after her.
I have to say that my Momma and my Aunt have this recipe down to perfection just like Grandmother did!

I used Chicken thighs because that is what was on sale ;) I don't want to make a huge batch so I just used 4 thighs.

Cover the thighs in enough water to cover and bring to a boil and simmer until done.

Remove the thighs, leaving the broth in the pot. De bone and de skin then return meat to the broth.

Now here is where modern convenience comes in. My dear sweet precious Grandmother made her dumplings from scratch. I mean with four, buttermilk and all. Our generation has been blessed with these wonderful marvels.......

My Aunt and Momma who are by far the very best cooks I know, now use these jewels. I am sure that my Grandmother would have squealed with delight if she had these "back then"!

After you have put the de boned chicken back into the broth, bring to a boil and add the frozen dumplings in one at a time. Be sure to gently move them around so that they do not stick together.

Cover the pot, reduce heat and simmer for about 40 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. The broth will thicken the longer you cook it.

Let stand uncovered for a few minutes before serving so that , in the excitement of wanting to taste them, you won't scorch your precious little mouth :)

The final product.... and boy was it good :) The kids and hubby ate it up!

Happy Days :)

Willies

As I sit here typing this morning, Mr. Utilities Marking Man is right outside my kitchen window. We are have a walkway and steps added from our drive way to the back deck and need some lines marked. We don't want to be responsible for any cut utility lines!

The reason I even brought up Mr. Utilities Marking Man is because he scared the LIFE out of me a few minutes ago! I was sitting here in my pj's, wishing I had my cup of coffee (another story) when I looked up and there he was..... he gave me the Willies! Have you ever heard of or used that term? My kids use it all the time when they are scared or if something grosses them out!

Now Mr. Utilities Marking Man is leaving so maybe I can get the hair to go back down on the back of my neck!!!

Happy Thursday Friends!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Stuffed Green Peppers

Last night for supper I made these wonderful Stuffed Green Peppers. I found the recipe at allrecipes.com. You can find the original recipe here.



Stuffed Green Peppers

Original Recipe Yield 6 servings

Ingredients

6 green bell peppers
salt to taste
1 pound ground beef
1/3 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
water as needed

Directions

1.Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2.In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4.Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.


My hubby loves stuffed peppers and said these were the best he had ever had :) The kiddos even loved them... I had extra filling left over so I just put it in a dish, sprinkled some cheese on the top and they loved it :P It was really easy to make and so yummy.

Wish I had a picture for you... but we ate them before I thought about it!

Happy cooking :)

Fun times in the Mountains, Part 2

The Mountains are a very special place for my family. My parents bought their place when I was pregnant with Josh, so both kids have been going since they were newborns. One special place we always visit is the Dairy Ace. It is a small place that has been around for 5o+ years. It has a U shaped eating counter and only seats 12 at a time. The kids love to go eat there every time we are in town. They have the best hamburgers and milk shakes.

Josh, Annalee, Gmomma and Gdaddy waiting on their food :)

The Mountains are full of beautiful creeks and waterfalls. There is one particular water hole that is very popular near my parents house. They call it the Blue hole because the water is so cold. The kids have always like swimming in the deep part but this trip they got brave. They decided it was time to jump off the big rock. I couldn't believe my babies were going to do it!

Here they are looking the situation over. Do I really want to do this? I don't think it was the actual jumping off the rock... I think it was the idea of how cold the water was.... it was freezing!
Annalee jumps.....

Josh jumps......

They loved it and jumped about 50 more times!!!! We couldn't get Daddy to do it... he said he didn't have his bathing suit on..... chicken :)


My parents have a little dog that absolutely LOVES Annalee..... he follows her around the whole time we are there and wines whenever she leaves him. This is always how you found them before bed time..... precious.

Bai-lee boy

Fun times in the mountains, 2010. Hopefully we can make it back in the Fall :)

Fun times in the Mountains, Part 1

This summer has been a busy one for us but we were able to slip away for a long weekend to visit my parents in the Mnts. They live outside of Asheville, NC. The temperature is so much cooler and we always have a blast when we are there.

The trip is never complete without at visit to the creek to go "Creek Stomping". We have taken the kids to this same creek since they were babies. It is always freezing cold, but they do not care!!! They have a ball. This is also where the local churches hold their baptism services.

This is the view off of my parents front porch.... can you say "Heaven"?


Daddy and his girl taking a walk to the creek.

A little trout that was trying to hide after the kids interrupted him :)

There are always lots of butterflies at the creek drinking. When the kids where little they would catch them with their butterfly nets.... now they have moved on to this......

What is the world are they doing???? in the freezing water???

Here's Josh patiently looking... for...

This.....

A crawdad.... this is the biggest one they have ever caught.... it really looked like a baby lobster.

Here is baby girl, not at all afraid of Mr. gigantic crawdad.

Just to give you an idea of how big Mr. crawdad was.... this is my Daddy's hand holding it.

The loot.... and yes, we did let them all go..... even though Annalee wanted to keep Mr. Gigantic Crawdad. :)