Thanksgiving in NC

We got up bright & early Thurs. morning & hit the road about 8:30 heading for NC. We made REALLY good time until we got down into Greesboro & because of lots of new road work down there we ended on 85 heading toward Charlotte...which wouldn't have been so bad except THEN...we got caught up in traffic from a bad wreck. 4 lanes of interstate barely creeping along. We did that for a little over an hour! Even after ALL that we only ended being about 30 minutes late for Thanksgiving Dinner. It was so nice getting to see & visit with everyone! Papaw put his camera on the tripod & got some really good group pics. I had Clay take this one with my camera...that's why he's not in this pic. We're not exactly in perfect rows, but I'll do my best to put a name with each face for you, so here goes...Front row L to R:

David, Amy, Mary, Michael, Brittany, Alli, Ashley, Kayla, Granny & Papaw

Back row L toR:

Chris, Brian, Hunter, Amy, Jon, Steph, Christie, Mike & Caitlin

Friday, Brian took all the guys fishing for a few hours. They had fun & even caught a few fish too! ;-) All us girls had lunch together at McDonald's & then we split up for some shopping. Granny & Amy went off to the antique shops & Steph & I took our gang of girlies & we hit Michaels, Target, etc. All they really cared about was getting to hang out & visit. It was such a nice day on Friday....65 degrees & we just enjoyed walking & chatting all around the shopping center.

The kiddos before we all said our Good-Byes on Friday.

Caitlin, Ashley, Alli, Christie & Brittany

Hunter, Michael & Jon

Chris catching up on a little homework.

Brian...chillin' after a fun afternoon of fishing.

We hit the road around 5:30 or 6pm Friday evening. Clay had promised the kiddos Pizza Hut $5 pizzas for supper, so we headed on up the road a bit & stopped near Winston-Salem & had some supper & then headed on in. Got home around 11pm. Cold & tired, but we had a fun time!!

Recipes

Ok, Lisa asked for the Chicken casserole recipe that I fixed for supper tonight, so I figured I'd share here so everyone could enjoy!

Chicken Casserole
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg. frozen, chopped broccoli (cooked according to pkg. directions)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1c. cooked rice
1 tube Ritz crackers
1/4c. butter

Cook chicken & cut into small pieces. Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Layer cooked broccoli on top of this. In seperate bowl put cooked rice along with both cans of soup & add 1 empty soup can full of milk. Mix together & then pour over top of chicken & broccoli. Put crackers in a ziploc bag & crush with a rolling pin. Spread evenly on top of casserole & sprinkle with 1/4 c. melted butter. Bake at 375 for approximately 30 mins. until golden brown & bubbly.



And just for the fun of it I thought I'd share this yummy recipe that I found. I fixed these last night to go with our Baked Potato soup & they were a big hit. In fact I didn't have ANY leftovers.


Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits Copycat
Recipe #9494 (RecipeZaar)
2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted (my note: I used about 1/4 cup)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix bisquick, milk and cheese until a soft dough forms. Drop by spoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix butter or margarine and garlic powder. Brush mixture over warm biscuits before removing from cookie sheet.

Just Another Manic Monday

A new week ahead to celebrate with our families & be thankful for all the blessings in our lives like: a wonderful hubby, my kiddos, extended family all living basically nearby, my home, plenty of wood in my stove to keep us warm, our health, Clay's job, the opportunity that Chris has to go to an awesome school like LU...I could just go on & on, but you get the picture. I think today is going to be spent working on Christmas projects. I need to make my Christmas card list & sit down & address envies. Crochet on my hand-made gifts, oh & Ashley & I need to make a run out to the library. Already this morning I have, stoked the fire, fed the cats, made tea & coffee, baked some blueberry muffins & pulled the chicken out to thaw for supper. I'm fixing my 'Ritz Cracker' chicken casserole tonight.

Saturday Projects

Yesterday was a LAZY day for us....just enjoying being home & hanging out with my kiddos. Chris got in about 6ish Friday evening...he's still fighting a cough that he's had for over a week now. So, Fri. night he took some Nyquil & went to bed & I just let everyone sleep as long as they wanted to yesterday. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, they played lots of video games together & I did a little bit of scrapping. I think I've decided on the pattern for my Christmas cards this year...just need to run by ACM & pick up the papers I want to use. Gonna use some Basic Grey...Love their Christmas papers! I did this one yesterday just using some scraps that I had. I hate the way it looks when I scanned it....a little off to one side & it seems more washed out than it does IRL. Oh well....at least you can kinda get an idea.
This is another of the page kits I had put together for our scrapping day at Sarah's this past week. Again, my scan is a little off to one side & those buttons....wow, do they look bright! They match so much better IRL. Ashley took all these pics of Alli one day back in the summer...she was outside drawing with her new sidewalk chalk. I just loved the close-up shots...especially how it caught her LONG hair.

Scrappy Day

The girls & I met Sarah & kids for lunch at Wendy's today & then we all went back to her house to scrap for the afternoon. We had a really fun time.....the kids played & watched movies while we chatted & scrapped. I was pleased with what I got done....my page planning sure helped. I was able to get 3 layouts done.Here we have a couple of OLD Halloween pics.....from 1988! Clay & I lived in Asheboro at the time & he managed the K&K Toy store at the mall while I worked at the Only $1 store. The first pic is two of his employees & the other one is me....pregnant with Chris!
OK, so this one is even OLDER! These are pics from my First Grade Field Day at Timberlake Christian School. My teacher was Miss Truxell.

These pics are Sarah in the fall of 1983...she was 6 years old. I was playing around with my new Cannon AE1 that Maw & Pop had given me for graduation. Love that bottom pic...Pop was burning leaves down by the road & I think it's so cool how I captured the smoke in that one.

Busted!

Just a little background info here...we are HUGE MythBusters fans around here & watch it ALL the time! So, the other day at Daniel's BD party David was telling Anna to be careful & don't drop those batteries because you will ruin them. I didn't say anything, but was thinking to myself.....what in the world did he mean 'ruin them'?? Hmmmmm......well, someone else spoke up & asked the same thing I was thinking. He said if you drop a battery, it's ruined....won't work anymore. Several people said they had never heard such a thing before & my kids were over behind me about to bust a gut whispering about all the times when they were little that batteries had gotten dropped or thrown or even shot from a sling shot & still worked fine. So......of course when we got home, my 'MythBusters' didn't waste any time testing this myth! They were throwing batteries as hard as they could on the floor & then sticking them back in the toys, walkie-talkies, etc. & they worked just fine. So, I guess we can say this myth is BUSTED!!

I feel like a hearty woman this morning.........

Besides the fact that I'm reading these wonderful books about the frozen Arctic, I've had to don Clay's boots & cover-alls & do all the outside chores this morning....and it's just now 32 degrees at 11am. I must say it was kind of invigorating....feeding all the cats/dogs, hauling water for them & checking on the baby pup & making sure they had plenty of hay in their dog house & then bringing wood in for the day. I don't consider myself lazy or spoiled, but it's just the fact that the boys usually do all the outside chores & with them gone, it falls to me & the girls...but like I said.....I kind of enjoyed it this morning. Not that I'd want to have to do it ALL every day plus all my other chores, but it does make me feel good about myself to know that I CAN do it, if need be! Gotta LOVE the good ole country life!!!

New Stamps

Well, my day yesterday took a twist when the boys came in from hunting telling me that they were going to be heading to the hunting cabin with Mason around 12:30pm! Talk about short notice. Now, I knew there was a possibility that they might go one day this week....but I had been gone most all day Monday for Daniel's BD party & had done NO laundry that day (heaven forbid I should ever go a day without doing laundry!)....so here I was running around like a crazy woman yesterday trying to help them get all their stuff together & washing up what they needed. I think they actually made it out the door by around 1pm....not too bad. After that, the girls & I settled in for the afternoon & I played some more with my new stamps....making a few more Thanksgiving cards. Below are a couple that I made....
We had a true 'Girly Night' last night. Blueberry pancakes, bacon & Hot tea for supper. Then the girls played video games together for a while & after Alli went up to bed...Ashley & I watched 'Kate & Leopold'. Tonight, we plan to watch 'Sabrina'......all these Girly movies that we wouldn't normally get to watch with the guys here.....always hogging the TV watching their hunting shows! ;-P (we don't have to mention how I sometimes find myself sucked into watching those shows with them....especially if it's 'Gettin Close' with Lee & Tiffany....LOVE watching their show!........but Shhhhhhhh, don't tell the boys that.)

Party Pics

The Birthday Boy with his Batman cake....didn't Sarah do an awesome job decorating this cake?!
You should've seen all the kids with their blue frosting lips...too cute!

Goodness, does this not look like a little 'Pop'? I sure wish I had one of those pics that Maw has of Pop when he was a little boy......Daniel looks SO much like him!

Carol, Paul (David's mom & dad) & Paul's mom

Carol & her mom....don't they look alike?! Both so pretty!!

We had a really fun time...a house FULL of family & friends...what could be better?!

For those who might be curious

Sandee commented once that she'd like to see where I kept all my many scrapbook albums...Here's two of my shelves. I still have more albums stuck here & there & a STACK of pages on my other shelf that need to go in page protectors & be put in actual albums.

Happy 4th Birthday

...to my little nephew, Daniel. Well, not so little anymore...he's growing so big! We are heading out a little later to go to his BD party this afternoon. It's gonna be a doozy of a shin-dig....with the whole Bennett clan from NC up for his party....Grammy, Pop, Mamaw, Sarah (David's sister) & her three kids.....plus me & my kids, Maw & a few of his friends from church too! The above card is his BD card that I made for him last night....He loves Po from Kung Fu Panda! I'm off for now, to finish my muffin & coffee & get things together before we leave. Will post some party pics later on!

Just a Few Cards

I played around this afternoon...making a few Fall/Thanksgiving cards. The top two were made the new stamps that Maw picked up for us this week from AC Moore.I also started crocheting on a new afghan last night...picked up some yarn that was on sale yesterday at Michael's...another Christmas gift. It's called the '5 1/2 Hour Afghan' & I got the pattern from the Lion Brand newsletter. It really is going pretty quickly...I got quite a bit done last night while we watched 'Get Smart'. Will try & get a picture of my progress here shortly.

Another Present Finished

It was a rainy yucky day today, so I spent the afternoon watching TV with the girls & finished putting this afghan together. Another Christmas present checked off my list. I love how this turned out...the colors are so yummy & it's so soft & snuggly. It's made from Vanna's Choice yarn. I can't wait to use this same pattern for another afghan!
One of these days I'm gonna make an afghan for myself!

A Daily Bath of Joy

And be thankful. Colossians 3:15
Do you keep a little notebook of positive sayings and encouraging quotations? Here are some for today: William Arthur Ward said, "A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition." An anonymous wit once quipped, "Your day usually goes the way the corners of your mouth are turned." Wheaton College professor, Russell Mixter, often said, "Life worth living depends on the liver" (you have to think about that one). And Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote, "It is worth a thousand pounds a year to have the habit of looking on the bright side of things."


Of course, the greatest quotes about positive joy and thanksgiving are from the Bible, which tells us to serve the Lord with gladness and to rejoice in the Lord always. Jesus frequently told His followers, "Be of good cheer." And in 1 Thessalonians 5, we have a wonderful little triplet: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We can't always be "happy"; but we can always choose to be thankful and joyful whatever the circumstances. That is God's will for us.
We just need to sometimes remind ourselves.


People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing. That's why we recommend it daily. ~Zig Ziglar

Scrap Projects

Just thought I'd share a couple of layouts that I worked on yesterday & today. I LOVE this first one! My best friend from HS...Julie.....this is her little girl, Nan & Chris when they were both about 2 1/2 years old. Now they're both in college together at Liberty. How cool is that?!
This one is me when I was 6 years old. I won this bike in a coloring contest. I loved that bike...thought it was SO cool with it's banana seat with groovy daisies on it & also on the basket & those awesome handlebars! ;-)

Well, Michael shot another deer this evening...a small 4 pt., but he didn't kill it. I almost think Clay was more disappointed than him. There was alot of miscommunication out there between Clay, Mason & David J. And because of that, they ended up spooking the deer & he ran off. So they never found him. Oh well...I guess that's just all part of hunting.

Michael's Lucky Horse Shoe

Michael has been about to have a fit to shoot a deer...especially since they just seem to be drawn to Jon for some reason. Anyway, we've been teasing him telling him he needs to be sure & eat his Lucky Charms in the mornings for breakfast before he goes hunting & all. Well, this afternoon when they were getting ready to leave, he came running out of the old smoke house waving an old horse shoe at me. I giggled & told him I'd take his picture when he got back....of his deer & his horse shoe........................ Proud Papa & Michael with his Lucky Horse shoe
And Michael with his very first deer! WTG Dude!!

Jon with his SECOND 5 pt. buck that he shot this past Friday morning. Clay said he's gonna send this pic in to Primos since Jon used the Primos can to call his buck in. ;-)

My Hunter-Men!

5 Point

WooHoo...Jon shot a 5 point this evening!! WTG, Dude!

Yesterday's List

Yesterday was another gorgeous Fall day...in the mid 60s. We all enjoyed being outside. Ashley laid on her quilt reading & Alli watched the boys out in the front field playing ball. They cracked my up...all afternoon they kept telling me they were going to 'Agitate the gravel'. Now, your guess is as good as mine as to what this means....they didn't even know. Just something they heard on Sponge Bob & for whatever reason they got started saying it & they thought it was hilarious! So, they 'agitated the gravel' all afternoon yesterday. ;-P I had made myself a small list of things I wanted to get done & was pleased that by last night & had checked them all off. I folded up all the clean laundry, got all the kids' math planned out for the week & I finished up another pair of fingerless gloves...so that's another Christmas gift marked off my list. Maybe I should make myself another list for today too.

New Puppies

Elly had SEVEN baby puppies this morning when we went out to feed her! Everyone seems to be doing fine. They are SO adorable!!

Yippy Skippy

Another Christmas present finished! I just finished this nifty pair of fingerless gloves a little while ago.

Frito Lay Tour

Frito Lay in Lynchburg was celebrating it's 10th anniversary by doing Family Tours of the plant. It was 10 years ago the last time I toured the plant & only Chris was old enough to go then...kids have to be at least 6 years old to go...so, Clay, Chris, Pop, Sarah & I went while Maw kept the little ones. This time she was able to join us on the tour. It was really cool for them to get to see everything & it was made even better by having one of Clay's good buddies, Mike Jones, help to lead our tour group. He took extra care to point out stuff to my kids....like where Chris worked & all the different jobs & places back there wehre Clay has worked. Of course we weren't allowed to have any cameras IN the plant so I had to settle on one from the outside. The sun was so bright that I had a hard time getting a good shot, so I just took one & figured it would have to do. I have some better pics of the plant from years back, so............
As we were heading down the expressway on our way home, I happened to glance in my rear view & saw that there was a Frito Lay truck following us, so I had Ashley snap a picture. Just thought that was kind of cool.

Later that afternoon the guys were out here sighting in their guns & getting Michael a little target prcatice in before Sat.....Opening Day of Muzzle Load.

I thought this one was so cool...how I caught the smoke & all when he shot! Look at Michael holding his ears. ;-) They're actually up in the woods right now as I type......just pray that Michael can get his first deer this year. That would be so awesome!