Christmas @ Bass Pro!!

Last Saturday we braved the crowds and had a family outing to Bass Pro Shop. Our kids LOVE to go there, it is especially pretty at Christmas!


Kaden, Kelsey, and Khara anxious to be "on the way"!!


We have arrived!!! :-)




They had a special "Winter Wonderland" area set up for kids.

Kaden, with a little help from his Daddy, target practicing.


They made candy cane reindeer ornaments.


LOVE the look on Karson's face!!

I was trying to get the kids in front of one of the Christmas trees for a nice picture, NOOO, Kaden decided he would rather hide.


Karson taking it all in. They have beautiful trees !!



Oh, and I had to include one of our baking days-- Candy Cane sugar cookies!! :-)

--Recipe for Toffee--

Super Easy English Toffee--

(esp. for Brenda, Adrian, & Missy :-)

2 c. (4 Sticks) butter
3 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cream of tarter
1 c. shopped pecans
1 1/2 c/ semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Butter or spray 15x10x2-inch jelly roll pan. Set aside.

Melt butter in large pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and cream of tarter, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 287-290 degrees on candy thermometer. (Hard crack). Quickly pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle chips over hot toffee. Let stand about 5 minutes. Spread melted chocolate over entire surface of toffee. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Press gently into the chocolate. Cool completely. Break into pieces. Store in airtight container.

Enjoy!! :-)

My first attempt at English Toffee--


WOW--we love this stuff!! Super easy to make, though it did take just a little longer than expected to cook which caused us to be a couple of minutes late to church last night.--ooops! I sent some home to my parents and hope to deliver some to my grandpa later today. I don't need a full batch of it sitting around--did I mention I really like it! :-)


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In other happenings, Mark celebrated birthday #32 last week! We had one of his favorite "cakes", Cheesecake! I still marvel at what an amazing husband, father, provider....God blessed me/us with!!






Karson, up early to say"Good-morning" before Mark left for work.


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Well, I'm off to put my nursing badge back on again. I feel like we have been hit with a plague these past couple of weeks. Khara came down with strep throat the Friday after Thanksgiving, Kaden was diagnosed the following Tuesday.

Early Saturday morning Kelsey came walking in our bedroom and let us know she had gotten very sick. To keep my readers from getting sick, let's just say I changed all the bedding, and all of her clothes around 4a.m. We had pictures scheduled for later on that day and I just knew that was off. Lots of prayers were prayed and thankfully, she never threw up anymore. I seriously feel like she was healed. We were able to go ahead with the appointment and have a great Saturday; went out to eat, watched the parade...a miracle.

Now we're on to Monday. Poor Khara must have caught it from Kelsey. I was up at least 15 times (and I'm not stretching that number) with her last night. She is still resting in bed at 12:00 and I'm hoping time and lots of rest will get her on the road to recovery!!!

If this is the last post for a week or two, you'll know I caught the dreaded bug!! AAAAHHHHH!!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, it's been awhile since I've posted-- time has a way of racing!

We had a great Thanksgiving. Mark's brother Gene, s-i-law Tina, and family came and spent a few days with us. We played tons of games, ate way too much food, stayed up way too late,...just had a wonderful time!!

I hosted the dinner at my house for the first time and besides a few small mishaps (the oven catching on fire, the pressure cooker blowing up,...just small things!!!!!) all was well. Seriously, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to doing it again. :-)

Gene--the expert turkey carver!

I brought out the "fine china" for this meal. Can't beat disposable!!

Anxiously awaiting the feast!


I was so thankful for the nice weather. The kids played outside most of the day.


Karson's reaction to the meal--all smiles!



Poor Kaden, this picture may haunt him in years to come. :-) He wanted to get in on playing dress up with the girls, we're a little short on "male outfits".


That's the wrap up! We were so glad to have Gene, Tina, and family visit!!!!!

Pleasant Surprise

Look what came in the mail yesterday:

I was happy to be the recipient!! Ever heard of "Money Saving Mom" ??? I LOVE those give-aways!!

Pictures

A couple of weeks ago our local MOPS group was having a portrait fundraising event. I didn't really want to participate (I already had a studio appt. scheduled for the family for next week), but told them if they needed another "setting" to meet the needed quota to give me a call, I would bring Kaden and Karson up. (You can photograph boys spur of the moment a lot faster than girls--something to do with hair, ribbons/bows, tights/socks,....). The morning of the event I got the phone call, 2 people had already canceled. Less than 30 minutes later, my little guys were being photographed. Karson did great, we couldn't get Kaden to hardly crack a smile. I was very pleased with the results. A postponement call has been made for our prior studio appointment. :-)



I was not sure about the crooked bow-tie and the turned up collar, but I guess that just reinforces his "100 % boy" personality!! :-)

My kids had an absolute blast Halloween evening. The weather was perfect, the treats were in abundance, and it was a FRIDAY!! No early bed times to worry about, homework, etc., it was great!!
Doctor/Surgeon Kaden, and characters from the Wizard of Oz ready to head out!!

A local department store was having a costume contest. Kaden was pleased to walk away with first prize.

How Karson spent the first part of the evening.

Somehow, he got a hold of a sucker(his first) before the night was over. His reaction--THRILLED!! Mine--BATH!!!!


Earlier that afternoon I helped out at Kelsey's 1st grade Halloween party.Cute little first grade friends!!

Congrats, Khara!!

Last week, Mark and I were happy to get a letter in the mail inviting us to the first Good Citizens assembly of the school year. This year we have some new administration on board and they decided to have the teachers choose only one student per class as the good citizen for the month. Khara was so excited to receive that honor!!!!

Khara with her teacher(L) and the assistant principal(R). Each teacher wrote a little paragraph about the student they choose and what made them a "good citizen" that was read at the assembly.

First month "Good Citizens".




In other news--

Did anyone else take advantage of the $1.00 Tee's at Old Navy this weekend?? Gotta love a good deal!!!!



Yesterday was the last Sunday in October for Pastor Appreciation. Rather than a cake, I went with something a little different this year for the "reception" part of it. I would love to know what your church did. Seems we run a little low on ideas at times.



Have a Marvelous Monday!!! :-)

A Picture Journal of Our Life the Past Couple of Weeks--

First of all, Kaden and I got the cookies made yesterday, Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal---YUM!!



They were a great dessert to this little meal I whipped up for our Monday evening.



Now, back to the previous days.

We enjoyed having Mark's parents here for several days last week.


We took in a neat festival--Apple Butter Makin' Days.
Kelsey didn't have her own sunglasses so she wore Marks.


Karson enjoying his ride through the booths, and throngs of people!! I'm not sure how much longer he will be content to ride all the time. He has already(at 7 months) started pulling up! And here I was hoping that he would be one of those who didn't walk until 14 months or so....


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Last Thursday Kaden had to have a little work done on one tooth at the dentist. He had been before for a check up but never to have anything done. I was a nervous wreck!! We don't go to one of those "fancy-smancy" dentist with the PlayStation's, green or pink fillings, etc. On our way in he guessed where we were going so I tried to prep (bribe) him as much as possible. Long story--longer, the sword and shield are what he chose for a prize. He did awesome!!


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Kaden and Kelsey found a nest outside. They thought that if they put an egg in it surely the egg would eventually hatch. (even if it's cold and pasteurized out of the refrigerator) Khara was letting me know through looks how silly their idea was. :-)


Poor Karson, Kaden shows him love in lots of different ways!!

Even with eyes closed, squints, not everyone smiling; to get all four in the same picture looking the same direction is success!! ;-)