Oh, How Cute!

I LOVE IT!

LOL!!!
They are so CUUUTE! :> )

Happy Birthday, Goose!

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth!"
3 John 1:4

I am sending out lots of ♥ and ((((HUGS)))) today to my beautiful daughter, Goose, as she celebrates her 24th birthday. Today, and every day, I THANK GOD for bestowing such a precious gift upon us..........YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEETIE!
I LOVE YOU WITH
ALL MY ♥!

You're A Blessing
Before you were born
I’d never have guessed
Such a wonderful daughter
That I would be blessed

When you were little
I’d watch you play
You’d smile at me
In your own cute way

My heart would fill
With my love for you
Without you I’d wonder
What would I do

And as you grew up
I watched you with pride
Happy was I
With you at my side

To me a blessing
You will always be
So much I love you
I hope this you see

Corn Chowder

I am a soup LOVER, but my family is not, so we don't really have it that often. When we do, it's usually homemade chicken, turkey, or taco soup. Once in awhile I'll make potato or broccoli and cheddar just for ME!

Another soup I love is corn chowder. While I was looking through my "Homelife" magazine I picked up at church, I found a recipe that just looks so gooood and so EASY that I just HAVE to try it! Since My Skippy Man will be gone on Saturday, I think I may make it then.

For this recipe, you will need:

6 pieces of bacon, sliced into thin slivers
2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 cup flour
8 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
3 cups new potatoes, diced
3 cups fresh corn, cut off the cob (or 3 cups frozen corn)
2 cups ham, diced
1 cup half & half
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Tabasco sauce to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a stock pot over medium heat, cook bacon until almost crisp. Stir in onions, celery, carrots, and bell pepper. Season vegetables with salt and cayenne, and saute 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour; cook and stir 5 minutes to full cook flour.

Slowly add chicken stock, whisk-in to dissolve any lumps. Add bay leaves, potatoes, corn, and ham. Cover pot and simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender. Stir in half & half and parsley. Simmer another 5 minutes. Stir in Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. Remove bay leaves before serving.

This recipe make 8 - 10 servings

I will let you know how it turns out! Do you have a soup/chowder/stew recipe that you would like to share with us? Please leave a comment, along with a link to your post so we can come and drool!


Photo courtesy of "Fine Cooking"

Feeling Frugal

I was surfing the net and random blogging, and found some of these WONDERFUL frugal tips!

**You know those net bags that onions, some apples, and the Thanksgiving turkeys come in? Save it and use it again. Wadded up it makes a very nice pot or potato cleaner. Or run a bit of a shoelace through it to make a draw-sting back and hang it up over the bathtub faucet and use for letting toys drip dry. Or, put a sweater in it, or panty-hose, etc, and tie it closed. Run it through the gentle cycle in the wash to keep it from snagging on something

**Take your old socks, stitch the toes together and clamp them in an old clamp style mop for a fresh new mop with lots of cleaning power

**Have a law-mower that doesn't work? Remove the motor from the base, bolt a board to the base, and you now have a dolly that does work for moving heavy items

**Sometimes your windshield wipers don't need to be replaced- they need to be cleaned. Vinegar and water should do that

**I just read about a woman who saved 30 percent of the electric bill by telling her older teenaged daughter that instead of charging her rent, she was making him responsible for the electric bill (hmmmm!) lol

LEAVE MY RUBBERS ALONE!!!!

I am tired of having to search all over for my rubber kitchen sink mats. I either can't find them period, or I find them in the bathroom in the tub, or alongside the toilet. I have asked WHY they keep being moved and the response I get is, "I don't like them!"

So, all I have to say is this:

"LEAVE MY RUBBERS ALONE!!!! If you are NOT the one who does the dishes, you DO NOT get to decide whether or not there should be a rubber mat on the bottom of the kitchen sink!"

Can I get an AMEN?

For The . . . Birds?

Did you know that birds have a sweet tooth? Many birds have a craving for the sweetness and texture of baked goods that you and I enjoy. Gratify their "sweet beaks" with some down home baking, made just for them!

You will rewarded with their company and be serenaded by their songs of joy!

Hmmm......I think I will make them a batch of cinnamon tea cakes! :> )

Don't Be Alarmed

Are you seeing different backgrounds when you refresh my page?

DON'T BE ALARMED.....DO NO ADJUST YOUR MONITOR......
YOU ARE NOT SEEING THINGS.............

I'm just messin' around with my layout! :> )

Happy Valentine's Day!

I'm Having Issues

Things here have been busy as usual, but this time we are having computer issues as well. Our laptop died last week, and getting on-line with this dinosaur of a desktop, at times, is not worth the frustration it gives me. I have been trying to post via my daughter's cell phone, but alas....my attempts have been futile. I can access facebook from there and leave comments, but that's about it, as it won't let me send private messages either!

Saturday was our church Valentine's Banquet and it was just WONDERFUL! We had, I believe, 172 people in attendance. Prime Rib or Honey Orange Glazed Chicken was on the menu. G-girl and I put together the decorations together and had some amazing ladies help us. (Thank you, L and F!) I will be uploading pics later today if my computer will let me!

After the banquet when we got home, Kiddo doubled over in pain and started vomiting. This, in itself was a milestone for him because when he was a baby, he had a surgical procedure done that makes it very difficult for him to vomit unless he is really ill. He ran to the bathroom eight times that night. I guess he was making up for 17 years prior! :> (

Today, he is feeling great and is back to his old self again. It is almost 60 and GORGEOUS here today so we are going to go out and take a walk and get some fresh air and sunshine! It will do him and my spirit good! There is nothing like talking to God on a beautiful, warm, sunshiny day, AMEN?

So, how are you doing? I hope all is well with you and that you and your family's have managed to avoid the "yuck" that seems to be going around.

Have a great week!

Blessings~
Laura

In The Presence Of Jehovah

(PLEASE PAUSE PLAYLIST ON THE RIGHT SIDEBAR BEFORE VIEWING VIDEO. THANK YOU)

Dear..................

(THIS IS A RE-POST BY REQUEST!)

To the Makers of the Belgian Chocolate Covered Mini Cream Puffs:

I feel that I must write to you and speak out for all the women in this world who love your cream puffs. It was bad enough that this evening, I had to "quick defrost" the container I had in my freezer to get to these delectable morsels in a hurry, but to then find out that not only was I SHORTED ONE PUFF, but to top it off all off, one of them didn't even have ANY CREAM in it! HOW, I ask you, DID THIS HAPPEN? This is just sooooooo wrong on soooooooo many levels!

PLEASE do NOT let this travesty happen again!

Sincerely,
PMS'ing in VA!

Happy Birthday, Kiddo!

Seventeen years ago today, God blessed me with my precious baby boy. You bring so much joy and happiness into my life. I couldn't have asked for a better son. God made you the way you are.....PERFECT!

Kiddo, you have been a constant joy in my life and I ♥ you with all my heart! Thank you, sweet Lord, for my amazing boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIDDO!

I ♥ YOU!!