Favorite Things Friday-Favorite Websites

Well a funny (or not so funny!) thing happened last week. I had my blog written, but Blogger and I were not jiving! Seems it wanted to hyperlink EVERY word I wrote. I had it all written so I thought since Ashley was coming into town on Thursday, I would get her help! We had a crazy weekend but we added that to our "to-do" list. Then on Friday, I was checking Google Reader and just started laughing. If you know Ashley and I very well, you will completely understand this next statement! WE SHARE A BRAIN!!! My entry had the same favorites as hers! SO, if you want to know my favorite website, just read Ashley's blog from last week! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

Hope your day is sweet and wonderful in every way!

Here are SOME of my sweet Valentines!

Favorite Things Friday-5 senses...5 loves!

Still on the LOVE theme...
Tell us something you love to:

Taste
See
Smell
Hear
and
Touch

TASTE:

I have to admit, I basically just love food! But I will have to say, if money was no object, I would have my refrigerator FULL of fruit, all kinds and all the time! I can't really think of a fruit that I don't love!

SEE:

Seeing these people...all 9 of them!!

SMELL:




I LOVE giving my grandkids baths. I love Johnson & Johnson Baby Products and I absolutely adore the way they smell fresh from their baths. I also love when the little guys have been out playing and I manage to get a hug from them...that sweet outdoorsy smell. I love it...and I know it goes from that sweet little smell to big boy sweat smell in the blink of an eye...that is NOT one of my favorite smells! :)

HEAR:

Hearing our grandchildren laugh, especially those first little giggles and coos, telling us a story, singing and my very favorite thing is hearing them when they pray. Oh such sweet sweet words for my ears! Can you imagine how much God loves hearing our prayers!?

TOUCH:

Hugs! Hugs from Larry AND hugs from these little ones!

A girl and her doll

When Ashley was a little girl, I think it was on her second birthday, her Nanny (my Mom) gave her a Raggedy Ann doll. Oh how she loved that doll. At a very young age, Ashley started perfected her mothering skills. She toted that doll around, cuddled it, "fed" it, put it to bed, etc. She loved Raggedy Ann. She even wanted to be Raggedy Ann that Halloween. Lucky for us, we had a friend that had a HUGE Raggedy Ann and so we "borrowed" her clothes and Ashley made an adorable little Ann! She was so excited to be "matching" her favorite doll! Ashley grew up and Raggedy Ann got stuck in a box. Recently, when I was cleaning out some storage boxes, I came across her old doll. Oh boy, was she Raggedy! Her clothes were so dirty and her hair a bit wild. However, in my heart, I knew I had to fix her up for Emma.

Two Saturday's ago, I had a day at home to work so Raggedy Ann became my project. First of all, I gave her a good scrubbing! Once I got all her clothes off, I realized she wasn't in such bad shape, her hair was easily trimmed and several dirty spots quickly disappeared. After her bath, I realized her stuffing was in bad shape, so I opened her up, pulled out all the old stuffing and gave her a new fresh body. Then it was time to address those clothes! I decided to try to "save" the dress! The apron and pantaloons were too stained! However after a soaking the dress looked great! When I began to look through my white scrap box, I came across the eyelet ruffle that used to be Ashley's dust ruffle when she was a little girl. So...I cut out an apron and some panties for Miss Ann. It was such a fun day! I loved thinking about all the good times Ashley had with that doll and wondering if Emma might soon be dragging that doll around herself! Printed on Raggedy Ann's little chest is a red heart that says "I love you" so it was then that I decided it had to be Emma' Valentine present. Since Emma is a little young to understand, I had Raggedy Ann "write" a letter explaining who she was, who used to play with her and where she had been. Maybe Ashley can read that to Emma when she is a little older and can understand. I let Ashley open Emma's gift for her and I am pretty sure she was shocked! She of course recognized her Ann right away! It was a fun moment for me!

A funny side note: If you have ever been around Ashley and I, you know we share a brain! Ha. We often will say the same thing or have the exact same thought. A few hours before I gave Ashley the gift, she told me she had been to Target to return some toys that were duplicates from Christmas and had selected something new for Emma. She went on to say she was torn between a Fisher Price Vintage Toy and Raggedy Ann. She finally decided on the F.P. Toy for now, but would get her a Raggedy Ann later. It was ALL I could do to keep a straight face!

A very fun week

Last week, on Tuesday, Larry and I met up with Ashley and Emma in Weatherford for a quick lunch and then I got to go home with Ashley! Larry returned to Abilene to work but so sweetly gave me the rest of the week "off" to play with Ashley and Emma. Oh how blessed I am!

Ashley, Emma and I had such a fun time. Ashley had scheduled several appointments she needed to take care of while I was there, so that I could hang out with Emma! David had a business trip so he was out part of the week, which though we missed him, it gave us girls time to "play". It was so fun for me to get to see Emma at home. It was fun to just be there to do the daily things...feed her cereal, give her baths, read to her, pick out what she would wear for the day and PLAY! She is getting so much personality and is full of smiles and giggles! She perfected her rolling over skills too! I can't even describe how much fun it was to just "be there". Ashley and I had some wonderful talking time, did some crafts, did a little shopping, talked about some sewing projects, shared recipes, etc. I loved loved loved my time with them.

We are so blessed! We are blessed to have Zach, Meg and 3 grandsons living within 5 minutes of us. We are blessed to share the day to day life stuff with them. We are blessed to see them and hear funny sayings of our little guys weekly. We are blessed to have Ashley, David and Emma within 3 hours of our house. Though, of course I would love it if they were 3 minutes away...I know I am blessed. But getting to go and stay in their home, watch Emma in her own surroundings was so good for my soul! Thank you Ashley and David for allowing me this time. I loved every single second and can't believe how quickly time flew! I miss you all and we are already counting the days till we see you again!

Favorite Things Friday-Valentine Favorites!

I love this weeks theme!!
VALENTINE TRADITION
Since my scanner doesn't work, I will not have a picture for this one! Zach and Ashley will probably be very happy about that! When our kids were younger, we began a Valentine Tradition. Little did they know at the time, but we started it to teach them about different elements of etiquette. To start off, I sent them an invitation requesting their presense at a Valentine Dinner. This invitation included a R.S.V.P. Lesson #1: I am amazed at how many people when they receive an invitation don't respond when a R.S.V.P. is requested! (Grr...pet peeve! If you are on the hostess end of the invitation, you realize how important it is to know how many to plan for!!! Okay I will now step off my soap box now!) On the night of the dinner, I set the table using our china and crystal and more than one fork! We have a very nice meal, including several courses which was fun for the family (I know, big surprise, I don't do that every night!!) but it also gave us a chance to talk through in a casual way which fork was used for what, etc. The sweetest memory of this year was I stated on the invitation to dress up! Ashley was about in the 4th grade and she spent a good hour in her room after school, trying to figure out what to wear. She took it seriously! She looked so cute, I think she thought being dressed up meant you had to come dressed in Valentine colors! So, she was decked out in red and white! So sweet!!! Each year after that, the kids looked forward to our special dinner. I didn't always use the china, some years it was much more casual such as a pizza bar and games. I always made invitations, which they loved getting it and the anticipation of what that year's dinner would be like. Larry and I would always try to go out to eat for Valentines as a couple but we found that Valentines weekend was so crazy and it was much more fun to spend it at home with the kids and do our date later! We tried very hard when the kids were growing up, to sit down for an evening meal together. I think this is such an important element for a healthy family. Sitting around the table, sharing a meal but more importantly hearing about each other's day, etc. really knits a family together. Our Valentine Dinner was just a time to really go all out on the decorations, meal, etc. BUT please understand I didn't spend big bucks on it...because we were on a very tight budget.

Recipe: Red Velvet Cake & The Knights all time favorite icing

This first time I made this cake was when I was dating Larry in high school. I cooked him a meal on Valentines and set up a little table for two in my parents formal living room. I fixed him pork chops, potatoes, salad, bread and Red Velvet Cake. So this tradition has been around a while!! The cake is a pretty standard recipe, but the icing is very different than most icing on Red Velvet Cakes. Most recipes call for a cream cheese icing, however our family LOVES this very easy and light icing. It is a great icing for any cake!

My Red Velvet Cake Recipe
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
Cream shortening and sugar until fluffy and then add eggs one at a time and beat well.
2 Tablespoons of cocoa
1 small bottle red food coloring
Make a paste with the cocoa and food coloring and then add to above mixture.
2 1/2 cups flour
2 ounces of water
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Sift flour, salt and soda. Add alternately with buttermilk and water to above mixture until well blended.
Then add vanilla and vinegar last and beat gently.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I spray my pans with Pam. This batter will fill two 9 inch round cake pans or three if pans are smaller.
Let cool for a few minutes then turn on to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Knight's Favorite Frosting
1-small package of INSTANT Pie and Pudding Mix. I use either White Chocolate or French Vanilla for this cake
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold milk
1-8 ounce container of Cool Whip
Combine pudding mix, sugar and milk-beating with a mixer on low until blended.
Let stand for at least 5 minutes
Fold in cool whip and ice cake.
This is a very "loose" frosting but once you get your cake iced you will in the refrigerator and it will set up more.
Store in refrigerator.
Yummy. Larry could eat this stuff straight out of the bowl!! He is for sure around to lick the beaters when I make this!

Last year on someone's blog (sorry, I don't remember who!) I found this recipe for Red Velvet Moon Pies. I used the above icing in the center and kept them in the refrigerator. Let me just say that my husband went NUTS over them!

1 Box red velvet cake mix
1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature
2 Eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix ingredients until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of cookie batter onto baking sheet about two inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Filling (this is the recipe they suggested. Don't get me wrong, we LOVE cream cheese, just not on our R.V.Cake!)
1/2 Cup butter, softened to room temperature
1 8 oz. Package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 1lb. Box of confectioner's sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
In a mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and vanilla.
Gradually add sugar and mix until smooth.
Makes about 24 cookies or 12 cookie sandwiches.

Craft:
If you know me at all, you love I LOVE cards! I could spend hours in a good card shop, love a good Hallmark store, etc. Several years ago however I vowed to myself that at Valentines I would make all my cards. It just seemed like a perfect time to be creative and it also brings back so many fun memories of school crafts...especially making our Valentine "mailboxes"! I am afraid schools don't get to have as much fun craft time as we did growing up! Larry is not really into crafts, but he loves getting my homemade cards! Last weekend, I set up shop and got all my cards made for this year, but of course I can't show them on my blog! If you know us very well, you know that we are always working on a craft! Several years ago, Ashley, Meg and I made these Valentine banners. So fun and so easy!!! For those of you who say you can't sew...don't freak out! There is very little sewing involved and you could do this with a glue gun or fabric glue if you so choose. It was really easy! Trust me, my sewing abilities are limited, but one thing I have found that is so fun is working with wool felt. Felt is so forgiving AND wool felt doesn't stretch out of shape and is fun to work with!


Last year we had the grandsons over and sent Zach and Meg off on a date! We helped the boys make cards for their parents, dipped marshmellows in chocolate and sprinkles and played games. Here are a few pictures of last years fun...we are already making plans for this year, but I will blog about that later!