Tomorrow Begins July

Tomorrow Begins JULY

TOMORROW NIGHT IS PAYTON'S LAST T BALL GAME FOR THE SEASON

SATURDAY AFTERNOON IS THE MUCH TALKED ABOUT "AIR SHOW" THAT I THOUGHT I WAS TAKING HIM TO LAST MONTH....BUT SOMEHOW THE THOUGHT OF SITTING OUT NEXT TO CONCRETE RUNWAYS IN JULY 101 TEMPS

DOES NOT SOUND FUNNNN!!

BUT I PROMISED HIM I WOULD TAKE HIM!

BUT I REALLLY DON'T WANT TO GO SIT IN THE HEAT!!

SO THERE IS NO TELLING WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH THIS EVENT

Payton has been invited to a "pool/pizza" party at his T Ball coaches house Saturday night!!

I'm sure  Sunday will consist of church and then a family
GET TOGETHER
for my hubbies
BIRTHDAY

Monday is the 4th of July.  Which also just happens to be my hubbies birthday!!  There is a really really cool 4th of July show going on in Dallas that afternoon/evening that I really really really want to go to, buttttt I am not going to hold out much hope on actually getting to go because it would require me talking the rest of the family going too....don't see that happening LOL

This is the link to where I want to go :)

http://www.fairpark.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=225

Friday the 9th Payton and Jessica leave with her boyfriend and son to go to Colorado for a 9 day vacation. 

During the week they are gone Jackie and  Cody will be closing on their house and Jackie will be doing her thing at Freshman Orientation with her new job and completely miss it ha!!

I only mention that event because I thought...hey...I will have one day this whole summer with no kids
but
NO SUCH LUCK HAHAHA
Cody will be busy with that, and Jackie will be at work, so I will still have Adleigh
I'm not complaining...
I'm just sayin.... :) :)

However, Jackie did tell me this evening that since she will be busy doing Freshman Orientation she may just get off Thursday and Friday of that week
so I AM GOING TO HOLD OUT HOPE
of a few DAYS OFF WOOHOOO!!

I am planning on the hubby and I going on a mini vacation the next weekend!!  Trying to decide between New Braunfels and Galveston!!  Both would be great places to just chill out for a while!!

It will be a

MUCH NEEDED  MINI VACATION!!

MY BIRTHDAY FALLS THE NEXT WEEK!!

I don't see any

non planned week

until after the 20th of JULY haha

then it will be time to get ready for Payton

to start

KINDERGARTEN!! 

HE STARTS AUGUST 22ND

and he will also start playing

mini Tackle Football in

August as well!! :)

THEN IT'S OUR

25TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

BUT AUGUST IS ANOTHER

BLOG :)

Tell me your July plans.... :)

10:15 P.M.  HAHAHA I JUST HAVE TO TELL ON MYSELF!!  I WAS WATCHING THE NEWS TONIGHT AND REALIZED
THE AIR SHOW
IS
SUNDAYYYYY!!!
WE STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN THERE ON THE WRONG DAY!!
I'M THINKING THIS IS A SIGN
WE SHOULD NOT
GO!!

Recipe Time!! Beef Sour Cream Enchiladas

Because I just don't think I can do "Wordless Wednesday" today...I will instead share a recipe that my family loves!!  BEEF SOUR CREAM ENCHILADAS!!

Beef Sour Cream Enchiladas From the Kitchen of:  Carol

  30 min 

 1 lb ground beef 

1/2 cup chopped onion (Jackie you can leave this out) 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

Flour Tortillas 

1/2 cup taco sauce

 1 cup shredded monterey jack  cheese

 1/4 cup butter 

6 tablespoons all purpose flour 

2 tsp chicken bullion powder

 2 cups water 

1 cup sour cream 

1/4 chopped green chilies 

red chili sauce    

 Cook beef and onions until meat is brown, drain.  Add salt.  Spoon equal portions of the meat mixture onto the tortillas.  Top each with 1 tablespoon taco sauce and cheese.  Roll up.  Place seam side down in a lightly greased baking dish.  In a saucepan, melt butter, add flour and chicken bullion powder; stirring until smooth.  Gradually add water, stirring with a wisk to get the lumps out and until it is thick.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and chilies.  Pour mixture over rolled tortillas.  (Jackie you can skip adding the chilies and just add the juice out of the can, it gives it the same taste).  Top with remaining cheese and bake in oven at 400 for 15 minutes.  Yummy!!

This is actually a really easy recipe...once you cook it the first time, you will just breeze right through it the next times!!

Fires, A Gallon of Milk....and basically "A Day in My Life"

My daughter reminded me of this story the other day as we were driving past the place where it occurred.  I started laughing when she mentioned it, and I thought I had better share the story on here as well :)

It is a pretty rare occassion that I ever get to go to the grocery store by myself.  Last year I enjoyed a totally uneventful trip to a grocery store I don't usually go to, and took a completely out of the way route home as well.  Because I took the "road less traveled", which is indeed a very rural route road winding through the hills and trees of backwoods East Texas, I was out in the middle of nowhere where there are only one or two houses every mile or so.  

I was driving along and saw smoke billowing across the road in front of me.  As I drove up closer, I could see that the grass was on fire on the side of the road.  This is an alarming sight when it's next to acres and acres of timber that if a fire were to spread to would cause just sooo much damage.

I don't remember now if my cell phone was dead or I just didn't have service out there....both are completely possible!!  I had no way to call the fire department, so I had to resort to using what I had.

A GALLON OF MILK

I parked my Jeep a little bit away, walked down the road carrying my gallon of milk, and walked along and poured it along the edges of the fire hoping to wet it down enough to keep it from spreading any further!!  

I felt like a complete idiot, but really really hoped it was doing some good!!

Once I ran out of milk I drove a couple of more miles until I could find a home where someone was actually AT HOME and had them call the Volunteer Fire Department!!

They must have managed to get the fire out since I never heard of any wildfires out in that direction!!

It just goes to show, you never know what  a gallon of milk can accomplish!!

Payton's 5th Birthday Party

EVERYONE HAD SUCH A FUN TIME AT PAYTON'S 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY YESTERDAY

HE TOLD US

IT WAS THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!  :)

THE KIDS TABLE

THE ADULTS TABLE

ADULTS TABLE #2

WE DID BUG NETS IN MULTI COLORS SINCE THERE WOULD ALSO BE GIRLS THERE WHO MAY NOT WANT BLUE OR GREEN :)

BUBBLES WITH "BUGGY" PRINT

THE KIDS ALSO GOT BINOCULARS, HATS, AND MAGNIFYING GLASSES

THE SUCKERS WITH THE BUG STICKERS

SOME OF THE HAPPY KIDS

I LOVE THIS PHOTO

THERE ARE A FEW KIDS MISSING OUT OF THIS PIC...

HAHA YOU CAN NEVER HAVE THEM ALL SIT AT THE SAME TIME!!

THIS PHOTO MAY BE BLURRY....BUT I LOVE IT...THEY LAUGHED AND LAUGHED AND HAD SO MUCH FUN!!

THE HAPPY KIDDOS

HIS CAKE

LITTLE JOSEPH SHOWING ME HIS GRASSHOPPER HE CAUGHT

THE KIDS WERE PLAYING WITH WATER BALLOONS AND CHASING US ALL OVER THE YARD

WE HAD A WATER SLIDE WE GOT FOR THE KIDS...THEY HAD A BLAST AND A HALF PLAYING ON THIS THING....OBVIOUSLY SINCE THEY AREN'T MY KIDS I AM NOT ABOUT TO POST PHOTOS OF OTHER PEOPLES KIDS IN THEIR SWIMSUITS....BUT IT REALLY WAS WORTH THE WHOLE $35 WE PAID FOR THIS THING...THERE WAS A KID ON IT THE WHOLE TIME THE PARTY WENT ON!! 

THAT'S THE END OF THE KIDS BIRTHDAY PARTIES FOR THIS YEAR!! 

CAN'T WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!!

For those who follow my blog and want to know where we purchased all of his party supplies, here you go:

Pith Helmets - Amazon.com
Play Binoculars - Oriental Trading
Bug Bubbles - Oriental Trading
Bug Boxes - Dollar Tree
Bug Nets - Dollar Tree
Play Bugs - Oriental Trading
Suckers - Oriental Trading
Invitations & Lollipop Stickers - TraditionsFromTheHeart.Com
Chairs and Tables - AllAmericanPartyandTentRental
Tyler, Texas

There's Always a First Time for Storytime!! :)

Today was the first day I have been brave enough to take baby Adleigh to Storytime!!

SHE LOVED IT!! 

ADLEIGH AND HER PUPPY GOING TO STORY TIME

ALL OF THE LITTLE TEENAGERS VOLUNTEERING THERE LOVED ADLEIGH...

SHE HAD SO MUCH FUN COLORING AND WATCHING ALL OF THE OTHER KIDS BEFORE THE ACTUAL "STORY" STARTED

PAYTON AND ADLEIGH

OUR WONDERFUL "STORYTELLER" EACH WEEK...MRS. EVELYN

heehee....she soooo loved every minute of it!!

HAD A WONDERFUL TIME AT HER FIRST

STORYTIME!!

WHEN WE GOT BACK HOME IT WAS BACK TO EVERY DAY LIFE AND THE WINDOW REPAIRMEN CAME OUT TO REPLACE SOME WINDOWS!!  THE KIDS WERE SO FASCINATED BY THEM!! 

BUSY BUSY DAY BUT A FUN DAY....

THIS MIMI IS WORN OUT AND IS GOING TO

BED

Bug Party ~ DIY Drink Containers

We have been trying really hard to come up with cute ideas for a BOYS bug party...there are so many cute ideas geared towards girls that this party has been a real challenge!! 

We saw this idea used for another party but took it and added our own special touches and now we absolutely love it!!  

IT JUST TAKES SOME MASON JARS

WE BOUGHT SOME CARDSTOCK PAPER AT WAL MART FOR $5 THAT HAD THE COLORS IN IT WE ARE USING FOR HIS PARTY

MY DAUGHTER FOUND SOME CUTE BUG STICKERS

WE USED THE BOTTOM OF A COMET CAN TO TRACE THE CIRCLES lol...WE ARE PRETTY LOW TECH AROUND HERE...IT WAS HANDY AND THE PERFECT SIZE

WE USED ELMER'S GLUE DOTS TO AFFIX THE PAPER TO THE JARS...IT WORKS GREAT

WE ALTERNATED BETWEEN THE BLUE AND GREEN COLORS

WHAT THE FINISHED PRODUCTS LOOK LIKE...THEY ARE SUPER CUTE AND WILL LIE FLAT AGAINST THE JARS ONCE WE ARE THROUGH SO THEY WILL BE EASY FOR THE KIDS TO HOLD

WE ARE GOING TO POKE HOLES IN THE TOP OF THE METAL LIDS BY USING A SCREWDRIVER AND THEN WE WILL PUT STRAWS IN EACH JAR

Here's a link to our "bug" party we had on 6/25/11

http://thebesttexasmimi.blogspot.com/2011/06/paytons-5th-birthday-party.html

Happy Fathers Day :)

Today has been a pretty great Father's Day!!

Attended church services with the family and then went out to eat together as a family at the

Texas Roadhouse

YUM

During church this morning the Preacher read this poem.....mentioning how Father's should set an example to their children and how kids will look to their parents and follow in their footsteps....I liked it so much I had to find it online and post it on here as well!!

I am so proud of all of the "men" in my children's and grandchildren's life....they are all daily doing their best to give their very best!!

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat,
and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed that there was a God to talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take food to a sick neighbor, and I learned it was good to help others.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me goodnight,
and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes,
and I learned that sometimes things hurt,
but it's alright to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared,
and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked....
and I wanted to say thanks for all the things
I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.

Recipe Time!! Ham and Cheese Crusties

This is  a breakfast recipe that my whole family loves!!  I also seem to only make it when the whole family is gathered together for a Holiday, although it would be great for any weekend breakfast!!

Ham and Cheese Crusties

These things are sooooo good!!  Everyone in my family loves them.  If you have someone in your family who does not like onions, as I do, I just split the mix into two bowls, and add the onions to one and not the other.  Just pay attention to which is which in the muffin cups :o)

2 eggs ( well beaten)
2 c chopped ham ( you can buy a small bag of chopped ham chunks..that is what I do)
1/2 c onion (chopped)
2 c Montery Jack Cheese
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 c parmesan cheese
2 cans crescent rolls

Combine all ingredients except for crescent rolls.  Unroll crescent roll dough.  Cut  each triangle in half for regular muffin tins and in 1/3 for small tins.  Mash the dough into the muffin cup to make them into "rounds" where they cover the inside of the muffin tin. Spoon ham and cheese mixture into shells.  Bake at about 425 for 15 or so minutes...Just keep an eye on it, when the egg looks like it is "set" and the roll part looks brown they are done.  They pretty much cook for the same length of time it would take to bake the cresecent rolls....you may have to pull them out and poke your fingers on the eggs to see if they feel firm...if not put them back in for about two minutes at a time and keep checking them.

The Tomato Queen

Haha ok so I am not really the

TOMATO QUEEN

however,

today I did

WIN

the category of

BACKYARD BEST PLATE OF THREE

at the

JACKSONVILLE TOMATO FEST!!

I am sooooo super excited and can hardly believe that my little tomatoes won!!  I've had so much fun with my little garden this year!! :)

I won a

BIG BLUE RIBBON AND $100

and of course the honor of having the top

Backyard Gardener Tomatoes in Jacksonville

I think the people who presented the award were just as excited to give it to me as I was to get it.  I was absolutely genuinely surprised, honored, and excited to receive it!! 

What a GRAND DAY TODAY WAS!! 

MY AWARD WINNING TOMATOES WITH MY BLUE RIBBON

I brought all of my tomatoes to the contest in this red bowl....yes, I have a thing for red bowls!!  I entered two categories, BACKYARD AND MOST UNUSUAL...THE YELLOW ONES ARE PRETTY UNUSUAL IF YOU ASK ME :)

One of the many vendors there with tomatoes for sale!!

More Tomatoes

MY WINNING TOMATOES

SOME OF MY COMPETITORS...MINE ARE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT....THERE WERE ABOUT SEVEN OTHER PEOPLE COMPETING...THEY HADN'T ALL BEEN ENTERED YET WHEN WE TOOK THIS PHOTO

THE CATEGORY I ENTERED IN

THE TABLE OF THE "MOST UNUSUAL TOMATOES"....I THINK THE ONE THAT WON ACTUALLY DESERVED IT...I MEAN..HOW OFTEN DO YOU HAVE A TOMATO THAT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK??  THAT ONE IS IN THE MIDDLE AND MINE ARE ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT...

WHILE WE WERE WAITING WE WANDERED AROUND ALL OF THE EXHIBITS AND PLAYED WATER WARS....I THINK WE NEED ONE OF THESE AT THE HOUSE!!  THIS WAS A LOT OF FUN!!

PAYTON AND HIS PAPA SHOOTING THE WATER BALLOONS

Down the Red Dirt Road

I love this song because so much running around was done in my teenage years up and down the red dirt roads of East Texas.  What is even funnier is that my husband actually was raised off of Rural Route 3, lol, just not the one in the song!!  :)

I don't even remember what I saw yesterday that reminded me of this story, but I just have to share it. 

Even back when I was a kid in the 70's, life was way different than it is now.  My cousin and I , who was just a few months older than me, would spend our summer days down at my Grandmother's house on Lake Jacksonville.  Jacksonville is in the heart of the Pineywoods of East Texas.  There are many roads that wind around the lake, and there are also several red clay dirt roads once you get away from the paved roads. 

My Grandmother attended a small little country Methodist church called Antioch Methodist.  This is the church where I met my husband (I was 13 years old when we first met), and the church where we got married.  It holds very many special memories for me.  We would go to every service they had all summer long.  My cousin and I reallly looked forward to the Sunday Night singing service.  They would let us pick songs out of the hymnal to sing and then after the services were over we would go outside and play football or whatever. 

To go to this church from my grandmother's house was about a three and half mile drive.  We would wind around the lake road and then turn down a dirt road for a while and then back onto a paved road again and YOU ARE THERE LOL!!

My cousin and I had the bright idea one time to

WALK TO CHURCH SERVICES

We were about 14 years old.  It's amazing now how in the late 70's you wouldn't think twice about letting your child do something like that, and now we won't even let our kids play outside by themselves because there really are just that many mean people around. 

We left her house at about 5 and we walked.    And we walked.  And we walked some more.  We had a great time laughing and giggling and talking to each other and gossipping about boys.    Church started at 6:00.  I think we finally got to the church at 7:30 p.m. and COMPLETELY MISSED THE SERVICE....and we were soooo hot and tired.....and of course we thought it was pretty funny that it took us so long to walk what we thought would be just a short trip!!

MY GRANDPARENTS BUILT THIS LAKE HOUSE WHEN LAKE JACKSONVILLE WAS FIRST PUT IN....WAS A WONDERFUL PLACE TO COME EVERY SUMMER...IT'S SINCE BEEN SOLD AND I SURE DO MISS IT :(

(This is a photo of how it looks today 06/10/11)

walking down the lake road

IT HAS TONS OF TWISTS AND BENDS IN IT

YOU CAN SEE THE LAKE FROM THE ROAD IN MANY PLACES

this old barn has been there since the 1970's and STILL LOOKS THE SAME

THE DIRT ROAD

LOVE THIS DUSTY RED CLAY ROAD

THE CHURCH I GOT MARRIED IN