Be Ye Thankful

My pastor challenged our church to list 25 things that we are thankful for...these are a few of my choices in no particular order.
1. I am thankful for siblings...without which we would be alone in our agony!

2. I am thankful for my aunt and uncle...without whom I would not be who I am today.

3. I am thankful for my great aunt...who is one of my best friends.

4. I am thankful for my sister...without whom I wouldn't have made it through.

5. I am thankful for my brother and sister-in-law...we are so glad that they are closer to us now!

6. I am thankful for my mother-in-law...who is the greatest Nana to my kids!

7. I am thankful for my husband...my bestest of all friends!

8. I am thankful for my crazy little girls...without whom I wouldn't be a mother.

9. I am thankful for my best friends-you know who you are...without whom I would be lost.
10. I am thankful for Jesus...without whom I wouldn't be a child of God.
Thank you to everyone who is a part of our lives....we are and will always be grateful for you!

Singing in Church

Anytime you get this many 4, 5, and 6 year olds together on stage...you just never know what could happen! They did such a great job! See Emma?? She is the only one holding her "Bible." She was so funny! She did all the motions that Mrs. Kelly did to help the kids remember the words but that they didn't necessarily have to do themselves. She kept cutting her eyes at me and smiling for the camera. She is my drama queen for sure!

Monkey Bread

I love easy recipes!! Among those is the one for Monkey Bread...which my kiddos love!! Who can go wrong with cinnamon, sugar, and butter??

Here are the ingredients...1 stick of butter, cinnamon, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 tubes of biscuits.

1. Over medium heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, and 1 T. cinnamon. Doesn't it look yummy already?

2. Melt butter, sugar, and cinnamon until it looks like this then remove from heat. It will get very thick fast so you may just need to turn it very low until you are ready to pour it.

3. In another container, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

4. Tear the biscuits apart and coat with cinnamon sugar mixture. Don't be afraid to really give them a good coating.

5. Grease a bundt pan. I have a silicone one and I still haven't decided if I like it better than metal. I think it cleans easier because it is so flexible, but any will do.

I used butter to grease, but you could probably use non-stick spray, margarine, or Crisco. It has to be good and greased though!

6. After coating the biscuit pieces, place in the bundt pan.

7. Doesn't this look yummy?!? Pour wonderful gooey brown sugar and butter goodness over the pan...coat well!

8. Bake on 350 F for 35 minutes.

After it has a chance to cool just a bit, place a plate on top and flip the pan over. At this point you could top with powdered sugar or icing. You could be like me and eat it straight out of the pan too...can you see the dent towards the bottom front?? That was my "making sure it is done" piece! Enjoy!!

The Joys of Having Girls!!

I love having 2 girls!! I always wanted to have a daughter, but I have been blessed with 2! We have so much fun with painting nails, curling hair, getting all dressed in fluffy dresses for church...all of this is my thing! Dayna's hair has gotten very long...to the middle of her back. It is so long that it is hard to tie the bows on the back of her dresses. Anyway, dinner is fun because she likes to swish her hair around and it often will end up in her food, never fails. We have bath time right after dinner in order to wash out the ketchup, mashed potatoes, and other equally sticky foods...I am sure I am not the only one with this issue. Anyway, our solution to lessen the chances of half her dinner ending up in her hair is to put it up on top of her head so that she can't swish it out. We started doing this a while back and this is by far the funniest dinner hair-do yet!! Tiny neck, little face, and great big samurai hair!!! I love it!!

Fun at the Fall Festival!

On Halloween night, we went to our school's annual Fall Festival. It was an absolute blast!! My kiddos are still young, but they were just old enough to start going on some of the bigger inflatables and this slide was on the top of their list. Here is Emma on her way down. Honestly, I didn't think she would have the guts to get to the top, let alone actually go down the slide!! She is also my less-than-graceful one and tends towards accidents and injuries...she did great!!

Here is Dayna, my risk-taker, barrelling down the slide. She was the one I had to peel off to go to the next attraction! By the way, in case you were wondering...I am one of those crazy mothers who likes to dress their children alike. They might hate me later for it, but I think it is the cutest thing! The days of them tolerating it are limited so I am taking full advantage of it!!

Here are the girls with one of Emma's best friends. They have spent almost everyday together for the last 5 years and we just love her!!

Emma got her face painted...Dayna thought it was "gross"--her words, not mine!! She is 3, let me remind you!!