Bragging rights...

I've always known to be a very blessed woman to have such a wonderful husband and an amazing father to our children. William loves unselfishly. He cares without doubt. And when you see him with our kids, you can tell he has to be the best father on earth (o.k. so I also know that you'd say the same thing about your husband's, but I am so serious about mine) ;) -- especially to care and love and show attention EQUALLY to THREE children!!! :)

Well, I had a CPR/First Aid/AED class I HAD to take to get my certification, last night, in order to continue the employment process at my job. While I was away last night... my very awesome husband and father to our three children...

1. Cleaned the kitchen, to include unloading and reloading the dishwasher... as well as washing all pots and pans and stoneware by hand. I seriously hate to admit this, but because I was so engulfed in school work on Monday (in which I ended up going to bed at 3 a.m. on Tues. morning), I had NO time to clean the kitchen.

2. He baked, well sort of. Technically the oven wasn't involved, but the items he made were sweets. Our close friends and family know that William can bake, and they also know that he has a VERY sweet teeth!! So he made two batches of no-bake cookies and a big batch of rice krispy treats... all while including the kids!!! :) I love that about him!!!

So I just had to take a time-out and brag about my husband. I truly am a very blessed wife AND mother... I definitely do not take it lightly. THANK YOU GOD!!! :)

Wow! Has it seriously been ....

Good golly Miss Molly -- has it seriously been that long?! I'm still here folks. I'm sorry I've been away ... there were things I needed to get straightened out with work, sleep, school, sleep, and work.

UPDATE:

1. I am no longer working at Kohl's. Working into the late evening is NOT my thing. How do people do this? This whole working past 10 p.m.?! That's crazy! Well, maybe it wouldn't be so crazy if I wasn't a full time mommy, wife, homeschool teacher, student, AND trying to work to bring in some extra moolah. Yep - that's probably it.

2. I have been so tired lately. I don't know if it has a great deal of being drained from Kohl's, or just that my body is trying to tell me something. Could I really be getting old and that it doesn't like all this running around? OR - better yet, if I were in better shape, my body may not dislike all the running around so much? Hmm .....

3. I have a different job. Yes, I did decide to get a different job. If I'm going to college, I need to get started in the health care field. I am OFFICIALLY a trained and certified Personal Care Attendant -- a.k.a. home health aide. I CANNOT wait until I get my first client. I LOVE the elderly folks. They're so cute -- even the grumpy ones. :) Noooo -- I'm seriously not crazy or weird or anything like that. I really do love elderly people. :)

4. We are a-go with getting some bills paid off and getting things organized for the remodel of our master bath. I WILL DEFINITELY post a few before pics and then the after pics when we finish. P.S. The remodel probably won't be done until late February ..... just in time for my aunt, uncle, and cousins to come and visit!! YAY!! CAN'T wait for that either!!!

5. I'll try to NOT leave y'all tapping your fingers for so long while you wait for another blog. Sooo glad things are getting back to normal around here in our household!

HOPE everyone is having a great holiday season! Christmas is right around the corner now....are you ready? :)

Bite sized ... Pumpkin Pies

This mini-pumpkin-pies recipe is YUMMYTASTIC!!!

I made these one evening, all of the kids loved them - including Corey who doesn't like Pumpkin Pie?? Hmm ... I don't know about that.

Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla (I always add a little extra for yummy measure)
1 (3 1/2 ounce) box vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 pastries sheets for double-crust pie

Directions:
Roll out pastry dough to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut out 2-1/2" circles from the dough. (If you have a Scalloped Bread Tube Pan from Pampered Chef, use that, that's how I got the cute edges.)

Place each circle in a muffin cup and push in to fit cup.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, beat together pumpkin, sugar, milk, egg and vanilla.

Add the pudding mix and beat until blended.

It will thicken nicely.

Add spices.

Stir to combine.

Fill pastry crusts evenly -- about 3/4 full or just below rim.

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Cool on rack.

When cool, you can place in a rigid freezer container with layers of waxed paper in between.

Freeze until needed.

FYI: We couldn't freeze any of them. 1. Hubby took some to work which were a big hit! and 2. They were just sooo yummy we couldn't stop eating them.

Enjoy! Ohhh --- and don't forget the whipped topping!!! :)

Chris Tomlin - Enough

Random Thoughts vol. 1

Since I can't manage to stay on top of this blogging thing at the moment ... I figured I'd do something, I'll give you the random thoughts that go through my head. :)

#1: lowfat pumpkin chocolate chip muffins are YUMMY!

#2: I'd like to hang up the human body anatomy wall chart for my class, but can't because the skeletal face looks scary. lol. It feels like something is watching me.

#3: is dreaming of a white Christmas, thanks to Andrew!
                

#4: After our trip to Bass Pro Shop last night (Thursday), I'm really looking forward to moving back to the midwest -- it really can't come soon enough.

#5: being content in our current place has become increasingly difficult for me. *sigh* I'm just ready for a new beginning ............ I feel like we have outstayed our welcome. Make sense?

#6: William said to me earlier in the day through a text message: Jesus is more than enough. Now, why I can't I just learn to be CONTENT?!?! HE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Have a great weekend folks. :)

Operation Christmas Child

Please check out the Samaritan's Purse for more information on Operation Christmas Child. It's such a great ministry, reaching into the deepest parts of the world.

Reuse those shoe boxes for something that will touch the heart of a child and impact his or her life forever!

Good Golly Miss Molly ...

Good Golly Miss Molly -- where has the time gone?! I haven't blogged since Oct. 31st, which means I am late on a recipe post and some cool deals for ya. Please don't hold it against me ...

With my busy schedule the last week, to include: 4 trips to the hospital (two of which were for doc appts, another one to pic up a Rx, and the 4th one was to do some labs -- all of which were not only for me); homeschooling our three children and getting them ready for some tests; my own school work, which I'm happy to say that I've done a GREAT job this week!! :) Oh - one more: getting ready for an EVEN BUSIER week coming up: one more trip to the pharmacy; still more work in homeschool (afterall, our kids do their studies during the regular school days), EVEN MORE school work for me ... and if that wasn't enough -- 34 hours of work at Kohl's.

Definitely going to need on a vacation sometime in the future. 

With all that being said, since I don't work on Monday - if I promise to post a yummy Thanksgivingy recipe ON MONDAY, will we be okay? ;) Whew! THANK YOU SO MUCH! It means a lot!!!!