PANKO MOZZARELLA STICKS

I was telling some of my friends about this recipe that I came across the other day. I told them I would post it.... if I remembered where I saw it. Well, I remembered. Instead of typing up the whole recipe, I'll just post the link and you can see it for yourselves. I haven't made these, but they are supposed to be GREAT! However, I did pick up the Panko bread crumbs at the store, but I forgot the string cheese. So, if ya'll make these before I do, let me know how they turned out:) Here's the link: panko mozzarella sticks.

Happy Birthday to the prettiest girl in the world!

June the 3rd, 1979...that was the day that this world was introduced to a fiesty little girl, named Mindy! I wasn't there the day she was born(mainly because I wasn't born yet), but I'm sure that she came into this world the same way she's been living in it ever since, LOUD AND THE CENTER OF ATTENTION! That's one of the things that I fell in love with her for, Mindy isn't the type of person to sit in a room unnoticed. She is usually one of the ones in the center of the room that has having everybody laughing. I love to see her laugh! When Mindy smiles, her eyes shine like stars. (and nothing makes her smile more than getting gifts, I mean, it's just flip flops, and look at that grin!) That's one of the first things I noticed about her before we started dating. I'd never seen anybody look so bright when they smiled. It was like she was glowing, and I was like, that's a pretty girl right there smiling at me! She had diamonds for eyes, and it made me want to put a big one on her left hand(big is a reasonable term though, when you're eighteen!)

We were 19, and in love, just a couple of kids that had a lot of dreams and very little money. Evan came along in the first year of marriage, then Kailey, then Landon, then Sawyer, then a trip to a doctor to get that fixed! And if she has her way, we'll probably be adopting a Phillipino baby soon. Yes, life with Mindy is never dull. I thought I could wrangle Mindy, but Mindy will not be wrangled, and that's what I love about her.

(This picture makes me laugh!)

Being a preacher, its important to have a good help meet. I truly believe that Mindy has my rib! We go together like peanut butter and jelly...like crab legs and butter! She keeps my head out of the clouds when I'm flying too high, but helps to lift it up when it's sagging low. She is a great mother(hello, she homeschools four kids!), she is a great wife, and she is my best friend.

I love you with every ounce of my being, like the song says "When God made you, He must've been thinking about me" HAPPY BIRTHDAY MINDY LOU!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TOONEY SPOONEY

Happy Birthday, SUPERLAN!!!

We love you, Landon, and hope you have a wonderful 8th birthday!!!

HAPPY EVERYTHING

I was talking the other night at church about wanting one of thesehttp://http//www.cotoncolorspottery.com/Shop.idc?C=325&SA=0&RecsPerPage=all#view platters. They are called Happy Everything platter's. I just feel happy looking at it! What is neat about them is they have attachments that can be added to them and there is an attachment for everything....christmas, easter, fall.. you get the idea. The only down side to the Happy Everything platter is the price!!! They are $90!! You can purchase a year set which includes all the holidays and different things, but it's $319.95! John would absolutely kill me if I paid that for one of these! So my friend, Amy suggested I make my own. I'm just not that crafty, so I think I'm going to see if one of my friends with a cricut can do it. I'll let you know if that all pans out! What do ya'll think about the Happy Everything platter? ;)

RESURRECTION ROLLS

I came across this today and thought it would be good to do with the kids tonight. I firmly believe in letting our children know the true reason we celebrate Easter or what we like to call it Resurrection Sunday. I'm glad that He arose from the grave and is ever making intercession for you and for me.

Resurrection Rolls: "Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
Crescent rolls
Melted butter
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61

1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus and His purity.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
4. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb - pretend like it was three days!)
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)"

I hope you all have a Happy Resurrection Day and take your children to church to hear the good news!!!

He is not here: He is risen as He said. Matthew 28:6

MUD COOKIES

I made the kids mud cookies tonight for a snack...I must be loosing my mind because I'm sure they will keep them up all night! I thought I'd post this recipe because it's quick and simple. John says they are better than his grandma's, which is obviously some kind of feat for me. When he told her that mine were better, she said, there is no way!!! lol So here's the recipe for what we call Mississippi Mud Cookies....

1 stick of butter

2 c. sugar

3-4 tablespoons cocoa (depends on how chocolatey you want them)

1/2 c. milk

2 1/2 c. oats

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

In sauce pan, add butter, sugar, cocoa, and milk. Bring to a boil. Once mixture comes to rolling boil, let it cook for exactly 1 minute. Then take off of heat. Next add, peanut butter, oats, and vanilla and stir. Spread mixture into a greased cake pan . Let cool and cut into squares. (My grandma always spooned them onto wax paper, but this way is easier because the mixture sets up quickly.)

CHEESY POTATO SOUP

I wanted cheesy potato soup for supper Monday night. I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I just made up one that was similar to another soup that I make. I thought it turned out pretty good, although the kids weren't big fans, you can't win them all! Here's the recipe....

Diced Russet Potatoes (or whatever you have) about 8-10, I wanted mine with lots of pototoes, so I may have used more.

2 cans chicken broth

1 can evaporated milk

1/2 can of water

1/2 block of Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 package of bacon

Salt and pepper

Chives

In large pot, boil potatoes in chicken broth and 1/2 can of water, you may need a little more water to make sure your potatoes are covered. While potatoes are boiling, place your bacon on a sheet pan and bake in the oven on 450 until done to your liking, around 10 minutes or so. When potatoes are soft, turn down the heat until no longer boiling and then add evaporated milk and cheese. After the cheese has melted, crumble and add in the bacon. I added chives to the top of mine and John's, the kids will not eat them... if yours will add them to the pot. That's all there is to it! Hope you like it!!

LANDON AND UPWARD

Landon played basketball this year for Upward.
I would recommend this program to anyone with kids.
This is his team picture. John is in the picture on the right, he was the assistant coach.

This is a picture from the end of the year celebration. This guy is from Branson, he was the entertainment, I can't remember his name, the kids really like him. Here he is using Landon in one of his magic tricks.

Iinstead of giving the kids trophies, they gave each of them a basketball goal and basketball for their rooms. They also gave away some great door prizes for those in attendance.

This is Landon and Nancy Katherine (one of the girls on his team) after the ceremony.



Next year, Sawyer and Landon both will play. They didn't have enough sign up for kindergarten this time, so he couldn't play this year. This was the first year the Methodist church has done Upward and they say it doubles in size after the first year. So, when you see on the top picture First United Methodist Church, it's not because we are methodist, it's just where we play ball :) We are still baptist. lol


My only complaint would be that Landon had 8:30am ballgames on 5 Saturday mornings. If you know me, then you know why I have a problem with this :)

MEATBALL SUB SANDWICH RECIPE

Tonight for supper, I made Meatball sub sandwiches. They are so quick and easy and all the kids liked them....that's always a plus because it's rare for all 4 to like the same thing! I like the fact that they took no time to prepare.

I also wanted to let you know about a channel on Youtube.com that I like to watch....it's called Betty's Kitchen. It's a lady from Kentucky whose husband films her making things in her kitchen. She has lots of recipes, so I thought I would tell you all about her because I know how hard it is to come up with different things to cook for our families.


Here's the meatball sub recipe:

1 small bag of meatball (the bag I used had about 30 in it)
1 jar of spagetti sauce (your choice)
1 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 package of sub buns
(I used bollio bread? out the bakery section of Kroger..they were cheaper than sub buns and not as dense)
Grated parmesan cheese, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste


First, I cut the meatballs in half, it just makes it easier to eat. I thawed them in the microwave for a couple of minutes just to knock the chill off. Next, place your meatballs in a skillet, cover with sauce, and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Heat them until they are hot through and through. While they are getting hot, I split the bread and placed them on a plate in the microwave and covered with a damp paper towel..to keep them moist. After they are heated and the meatballs are warm, you just need to assemble. Place meatball mixture onto bun, cover with mozzarella cheese and then heat in microwave to melt the the cheese. That's all there is to it! Quick and simple, I hope you like them!!

Let it SNOW!!

Well, it has snowed 10 inches here in Dyersburg.

We haven't seen this much snow in years!

We got the kids all bundled up so they could go out and play.

Since we aren't used to this much snow, we don't have all the necessary attire to play in it.
All the kids have snow boots, but we just have regular gloves, so you can imagine how long they lasted out there playing!

Their hands were freezing.

I have got to remember to buy them some snow gloves!
I think they played for around 30 minutes and then brought all the white stuff back into the house:)

We sat our bowl out and caught us 2 big bowls of snow, so that we could make snow cream.

I LOVE SNOW CREAM!

John posted on facebook that we had it and we both had a lot of people ask us how we made it.

I figured everyone has had it.
I guess I was wrong.

Just so you'll know in the future here's the recipe I use....

Snow Cream

Large bowl of snow
1 can of Eagle brand milk
vanilla
Regular milk

I take the snow and add the eagle brand milk, vanilla, and then I just pour in the regular milk until it is the consistency that I want. If you try it, you will love it.

I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the beautiful snow.

It looks like we will be in for a few more days, since the temp isn't supposed to be above freezing until Monday.

We aren't having church tomorrow either.

I have a roast in the crock pot and the kids are back out trying to build a snowman:)

I love snow days!!


Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? Job 38:22

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN

Today is my husband's 30th birthday!

We have been together for 12 of those birthdays.

(I have stood corrected, 13 of those birthdays...ooops)

I cannot believe we are both in our 30's now....time sure does fly.

I am 7 months older than John, so I've been 30 a few months longer.

Turning 30 hasn't seemed to bother him so far.

I guess we'll see for sure as the day goes on if he has a break down over his age, but I find that highly unlikely:)

I think maybe that's more of a girl thing:)

He is a wonderful husband, father, and friend.

These are 4 of his main accomplishments in his short 30 years!

I thank God daily that He chose John for me.

I think he may be the only man that could put up with me. lol

In case some of you don't know I am very strong willed and opinionated and it takes a special person to be able to put up with all of that:0)

Happy Birthday John, I love you more now than I ever have!!

I hope your birthday is special and that God blesses you on this day!!!!! xoxoxoxo