Joy Bubbles Up Part Deux

Ok...it's Monday; I think I've caught up on my sleep; & all I know is the more I look at the pictures from homecoming, the more I laugh!  I don't know if the children had as much fun as I did, but a girl can hope.  I am already starting to plan for what we're going to be doing next year.  But, before 2010 is over there will be a shaving cream war rematch.  It will be BYOSC, so if they want to bring 5 cans...who am I to say no? 

Abby, Hopson's homecoming date has entitled her picture cache on facebook, 'so my hair still smells like shaving cream'.  Love it.  I wondered if it make her hair shiny & silky smooth.  Yes, I'm very weird, and my family is aware of it also.  (they are just watching for when they may have to put me on medication...just kidding)

Henry could not wait to play with the shaving cream!  So he, Abby's little sister, Riley, our neighbor, Katie & another friend's son, Woodson, had a great time the next day covering the slide in the backyard with shaving cream & sliding down.  I've included pictures at the bottom.  :)

Enough about pictures, let's get to the good stuff...the food!  We had enough to feed an army!  The kids needed to eat a lot more than they did.  (I should have gotten down my 'to go' plates & made them each fix one.)  Needless to say, I haven't cooked a few days because my fridge is full.  I told you I would post my friend, Traci's, breakfast casserole recipe.  It is sooo easy & delicious.  It's a great all purpose recipe because it can be tweaked so easily without compromising the taste.  It is also easy to double, triple, quadruple, but very easy to make each one taste differently.

Click here to see the recipe. With Thanksgiving & Christmas coming up, I'm going to be posting some old family recipes to share.  (and of course the stories that go with them.) 

I am going to workout now because I ate so much this weekend I think I gained about 5 pounds...Yikes!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Henry giving 2 thumbs up before sliding down the shaving cream slide

Riley (in the white) & Katie (in the blue) getting the slide ready. 

Riley up top, Katie in the red, Woodson in blue & Henry in white preparing the slide!

Joy Bubbles Up Part 1

First of all, let me preface this by saying I only had 4 hours of sleep last night.  Woke up at 4:45 am Friday morning; went to bed at 4 am Saturday & woke up at 8am Saturday.  Wow, sleep deprivation is a killer.  With that said, if I ramble, just laugh at me & know that when I reread this I'm going to be wondering what I was thinking.

Have you ever had an emotion have a taste?  Bitter sadness, maybe...I like delicious laughter better.  I had a huge helping of delicious laughter last night.  It was Vestavia's homecoming & after the dance we hosted about 36 teenagers for breakfast & games.  I have been posting pictures for the kids to see & they are hilarious.  I love it when you have a picture and you can feel the happiness in it.  It reaches out and grabs you & makes you smile too.  Joy bubbles up.  The next thing you know you're laughing because of their happiness.  You laugh because of your memory of what you saw and experienced.  I Love It!  It's no wonder they say laughter is the best medicine, have you ever noticed how you feel after you laugh?  I was able stand back and see memories being formed and relationships strengthened.  What a blessing for me!  It was a great night with some great kids! 

My brother, Cotton, had the idea of game playing after breakfast.  I give him all the credit, because oh my goodness...it was hilarious!!!  I am going to post a few pictures so you can share in the laugh.

There's no recipe in part 1, but I will post a wonderful breakfast casserole that my friend, Traci Parker gave me and the variation that she approved of. 

I'm going to drink something with caffeine. 

Y'all be blessed beyond measure!
~ashley

Abby & Hopson

Hop after the games

Part of the group after the games

Abby & Hopson after the games

Harry had to join in!

Sometimes it's the simple things

I should be embarrassed about posting this new recipe, but I'm not.  If you can turn on the oven you can make this chicken.

My hair dresser, Monika, who has been cutting my hair since I was 8, gave me the recipe.  She is a wonderful person and has seen my family through a lot of ups and downs.  We laugh about my mom & the things she would do or say.  My mom would go get her hair colored, and then decided she wanted it a different shade or color altogether.  Well, it would end up green, purple, orange, you get the picture, and Monkia would get a call the next day to see if she could squeeze mom in to fix the color.  Of course she would, and mom would be good for about 6-8 weeks and then do it again.  Too funny. 

Monkia has been telling me about this chicken for about a year, but I never had french fried onions when I thought about making it.  I made it tonight & every child has given it a thumbs up, including the picky one.

Click here to see the recipe.  I promise you will not be disappointed if you make this!

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Giving credit where credit is due

I submit myself to the Grill Masters....  For a mom who wants to cook something different for the fam, my ribs are not to shabby.  (Click here to see the entry.)  But, Mr. Steve & Mr. Robert are the Grill Masters.

Last Saturday Mr. Steve brought over some very yummy ribs that he made, the traditional way, and told me to 'blog this'.  Hopson thought it would be funny to tell Steve we fed them to the dogs, but in reality we scarfed them down.  They were very good.  The next time I make my crockpot ribs I'm going to tweak the recipe using one of Steve's ingredients & I'll let you know how they turn out.  I can't cook ribs again yet because it's still to soon after the last batch.  I'm trying not to have rib burnout.

Last night, Mr. Robert brought over grilled hot wings.  I have permission to give his recipe, and let me tell you, I could have eaten all of them.  (click the word recipe to see it.)  I loved them grilled and not fried for several reasons:  1.  less fat because not fried; 2.  different flavor yet very tasty; and 3.  I don't have as much clean-up.  He also served them without the sauce for the children & they were great plain too.

Thank you Steve & Robert for allowing me to taste & partake in excellence.  I bow to you 'Oh Masters of the Grill'!  :) 

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

A new look for an old friend

I love Thanksgiving & Christmas.  Not just like, LOVE.  The smells, lights, food, music, and, ...memories.

I always imagine us as being the Norman Rockwell family.  I want it perfect.  (this comes with being an extreme type A personality.)  Unfortunately, we are not that perfect family, but a girl can dream. 

I remember the first Christmas after my dad passed away, it was horrible!  I didn't want Christmas.  It was my dad's favorite holiday & it wasn't the same without him.  There were many tears shed that Christmas.  My mom's last Christmas was hard too.  I knew she was towards the end, and I tried to make it a great Christmas, but I can't remember a time in my life that I have been so tired and overwhelmed.  I still cry when I think about it.  But, thank you Jesus for the promise and hope that comes with Christmas.  I am now listening to Hallelujah (Light has Come) by BarlowGirl.  Click here to hear the song on youtube.  God did not leave me in my tired, heartbroken, overwhelmed state, but He sent His most precious possession to rescue me and set me free.  Emmanuel...God is with me.  Job knew he had a hope even though Jesus had not come yet.   Job 19:25 "I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth."  For all of  you who have had tragedy happen to you this year:  first, please accept my most heartfelt sympathies; second, the everyday sadness doesn't last forever, you will laugh again; and third, embrace your memories.  It can be so painful at first, but over time you'll be glad you did.

I still want that perfect Thanksgiving & Christmas, but one big realization I've made is that if all my family is with me, no matter their state, it's perfect.  Elizabeth, Henry & I were discussing how close we were getting to the beginning of the Christmas music on the radio & so we decided to listen to some.  Bing Crosby to you.  (it's not Christmas until I hear a little Bing.)  One of the staple foods I make for Christmas morning are sausage balls.  I'm about to shift gears a little here, but trust me, sausage balls & Christmas are involved... 

Our children are out of school today.  It is an in-service day for the teachers.  The hospitality committee at Central decided to have breakfast for the teachers.  A very nice gesture.  I thought I had only signed-up to bring doughnuts.  Luckily, I decided to read the reminder email all the way through, because apparently I also signed-up to bring 2 dozen sausage balls.  I know a lot of  you are laughing at me because 2 dozen of anything is nothing.  (big eaters at home)  It was not the amount, just the timing of everything.  I told myself to suck it up & quit being so selfish, and make the stupid sausage balls.  (The whole 'being a cheerful giver' thing ran through my mind!  Thanks God for that conviction.)  I decided to change them up a little bit.  When an opportunity presents itself....well, I had to take it.  :)  I received two thumbs up from most of the group; the picky one hasn't tried them.  Click here for the recipe.

I'm going to be posting some Thanksgiving & Christmas recipes after Vestavia's Homecoming.  I'm going to have a, hopefully very large group of sophomores over for breakfast. Sausage balls are on the food list...  Love those kids!!! 

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Here are what is left of the sausage balls that I made for the fam.



Heaven, I'm in Heaven

What do you say to your 8 year old, who still has a high voice, comes and asks you to make pancakes for breakfast on a football Saturday.  Well, you say:  "Yes, of course I would love to make you some pancakes for breakfast."  Then when same 8 year old says:  "make them the way you know, the big guy, Kalvin said to"; you say, "Well, Henry, I think that's a great idea"; and you do.  Kalvin is one of Hoppy's friends, who is ginormous.  (Or at least to our family he is.  He's a 6'4 sophomore, I think he's taller, and my kids love it when he comes over because he's a skyscraper to all of us.)  Kalvin has a warm smile and an easy laugh.  He's a pretty cool kid.

Kal gets a HUGE gold star for this little pancake secret.  I'm not going to say what it is, I want you to look at the recipe.  I am weird and like to taste batters, and this one was delish. I added bananas to the batter & they went very well with all the other flavors.  The pancakes tasted like banana nut muffins.  Well, breakfast is done, and it's 30 minutes to game time, so I have to go get my game face on.  War Eagle y'all!  Thanks Kalvin for sharing the secret.  :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley
 
ps~for my non-tech friends, click on the word recipe to be directed to the we gotta eat website where I put all my recipe.  <3