Prom Scenes

Welcome to the Good Life

A quick video of our recent vacation put together by my son:

And we do have a very good life...

Christmas Tree Conundrum

Most years I don't think twice about how to decorate our Christmas tree.  But with Pinterest and a ginormous blogland to travel, sometimes I catch myself wondering if I should rethink the way I decorate it.  

Should I make it a color coordinated gradient like John and Sherry's?

Or maybe it should have a theme like this poinsettia tree.

This book tree is quite clever,

as is this wine bottle tree via Pinterest.

via www.nps.gov

Maybe just going large like the White House would be fun?  But at the end of all the "should I's" it always ends up like this.

If I made it match or gave it a theme, I would miss dragging out all the ornaments we've collected over our 20+ year marriage.  

Like the following three all handmade by my sister.

This one is a memorial to my husband's grandma who was a dairy farmer.

And this one is a memorial to my grandpa, who among other things, was a Republican and of course collected elephants of all shapes and sizes.

This one my "rock star" nephew made for us.

And this one my oldest son made when he was in grade school.  He is now 21.

And of course, Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I've linked up with Honey We're Home to show off my tree this year.

Makes You Want to Take the Back Road

You must have food in case you get lost.  First, stop for cider doughnuts and apple butter and strawberry-rhubarb jam.

Taking the back roads is ALWAYS a good idea.  You know the saying "getting there is half the fun..."

Well, in this case, what's waiting for you when you get there is the best part.

What I Love About Preschool

Grandma's Recipes

She will be 97 on Christmas Eve.

She helped raise many of her 15 siblings.

She raised 5 of her own children.

She has 20 grandchildren.

She has 29 great-grandchildren.
And one on the way.

She has never driven a car.
She and my youngest daughter share a middle name, "Lorene."

She worked for years as a cook at McCollum Hall at the University of Kansas.

I wish she would have been the cook when I lived there!

We fight over her gingersnaps, we covet her snickerdoodles, her quesadillas are heaven, chicken and noodles just aren't right without her homemade noodles, and spending the night at her house brought the extra perk of getting a fluffy pancake as big as your head for breakfast.  I'll admit I don't use her recipes as often as my family would like, but thanksgiving calls for a couple of the favorites.


Let's have dessert first, shall we?

Grandma's handwritten recipe

I usually make two; one with a traditional crust and one with a graham cracker crust.  Now Grandma makes a mean meringue the likes of which I have not mastered, and that's what she tops hers with.  I default to whipped cream.  Here is her pie crust recipe if you don't have a favorite of your own:

The story on this, correct me if I'm wrong Mom, is that my 3 yr. old self proved my excellent cutting skills on Mom's recipe card while she was on the phone.  I like to think she was on the phone with Grandma getting advice on the recipe, but I'm not sure that's true.

Okay, on to dinner.

This is my own newly married handwriting, but I promise I was taking dictation directly from her.  A few things I'd like to point out:

1. I'm sure hers was originally made with bread she had baked herself the day before, not Wonder bread that may or may not get slightly toasted in the oven depending on my mood and time constraints.
2. That means sometimes it takes a little more than a loaf to soak up enough of the chicken stock.
3. Like a good speech student of Mr. Bigham, I must remember to assume my audience has never made dressing before, and needs to be told to tear the bread into pieces and place in the baking dish.
4. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, except butter, and pour over the torn bread.  Mash it slightly to make sure all the bread is moist.
5. I always use more than 1tsp. of sage because I love its flavor.
6. I use real butter instead of margerine and I just slice the stick in pieces and place them randomly over the top before baking.

Good luck with all of your Thanksgiving cooking!

This post was inspired by 

You can find out how to participate too right here.

Where The Workers Get Distracted

What's a girl to do when there is yard work to be done?

Distract the workers of course!

Turnabout is fair play, right?

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...

Small Town Celebrations

Small towns celebrate big.  This is how we spent our Labor Day.

Waving Flags

High School Band

Flyovers

Fighting for Freedom

Patriot Riders

Waiting for Candy

Family Floats Full of KU Fans

Floats Full of Lifetime Residents

Red Hat Ladies

Cool Cars

Carnival Rides

Good Food

We have lots to celebrate in this country...God Bless America!