my blessed life

We only have basic cable at our house, mostly because we have our internet service through the cable provider and that would cost us twice as much if we didn't get some cable, too. Crazy, I know. But that's the way they suck you in... So whenever we are on a trip (i.e. at a hotel or somewhere with LOTS of cable channels) I love watching The Food Network. I think Vince secretly likes to watch it, too, although he always says he's only watching it with me. But a couple of weeks ago~while at the hotel in El Dorado, AR~he got inspired to cook again! This time it was something I just wasn't sure about: shrimp & grits . Now don't get me wrong, I love shrimp, just about any way you can fix it. But grits? I do have some texture issues and grits falls into that gross texture category for me. But Vince likes grits and he was just drooling over this recipe (from a Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode). So last Saturday he made us some. Chef Vince his cast of characters maki...

Ahhh...Monday morning. Time to get my dinner plans for the week finalized. It's so nice not to have to go to the store today, since I did that at the end of last week after getting home from our trip. Tonight we're having friends over for dinner and we are looking forward to that! The nice thing about having to keep the house clean all of the time for showings is you don't have too much to do in the way of cleaning when you have friends over. Monday: PW's pot roast with all the fixin's Tuesday: baked talapia, baked potatoes, veggie Wednesday: country fried steaks w/gravy, mashed potatoes, veggie Thursday: beans and cornbread Friday: homemade pizza Saturday: picnic at the park with our small group Sunday: overnight bbq beef Now I've got to get busy for the day! Our Spring Break is officially over and now it's back to homeschool today.

When we came home from our trip this week, our yard was blooming out! I love this time of year! Happy Spring!!

I've been meaning to show you this since Christmas! I got a wonderful little gadget that I've been wanting for the longest time: an embosser!! We have quite a few books in our house and I've always tried to put our name in the front cover~ just because I like to put my mark on things:) Sometimes that doesn't seem very attractive though, thus the embosser I've had my eye on . This is such a neat and clean way to make sure those-who-may-borrow-your-books know where they got them. Just find the best spot (I've been sticking with the top right corner) and make your impression. I know this may be a little hard to see, but the impression says: From The Farrell Family Library and it has a little drawing of a book. I've got a ways to go yet on getting all of the books in our family library stamped (it's a little bit of a workout for your arm!), but I'm getting there! For more Show & Tell visit Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home.

We got home tonight from our trip to Arkansas. And, yes, we're exhausted. It was good to get the kiddos tucked in and crash on the couch for an hour with Vince while we watched LOST. Now I've got to unpack the cooler, the suitcases, finish the grocery list for tomorrow, assimilate all of The Princess' birthday gifts into her room~all the while keeping the house *show ready* for realtors-ha! And I'm really just wanting to sit down and catch up on my blog reading...and I will soon! Probably with that wonderful cup of coffee early in the morning. Good Night...

Well, I made my first cupcakes from my new book: Hello, Cupcake! We really loved them and thought they turned out great! I took a risk and let The Princess choose whatever she wanted out of the book for her birthday. I thought she took it pretty easy on me when she chose this one: And she really did, these are probably the least complicated in the entire book~thank goodness. Although putting it together was the challenge! Vince and I nearly came to blows in the kitchen trying to get it just right-ha!! First I gathered my *stuff*: cupcake papers, cake mix, candy decorations, cookies, frosting ingredients. Then we got started. I went with the *Funfetti* cake mix, which is just white cake with sprinkles mixed in. As you can see in the photo from the book they used different brightly-colored cupcake papers for each tier with white cake. I couldn't find solid bright cupcake papers any where so I decided to use white paper cups and food coloring gels to dye the cake mix. It was a prett...

Happy Birthday to our little Princess!!! It's hard to believe that you're 6 years old already! Enjoying a birthday surprise!

Well, it's a rainy Spring morning here in Arkansas. Yes, we're here again~thus the busy week I was talking about earlier. We came to celebrate The Princess' birthday with our family. So far it's been a good trip. We detoured through El Dorado , AR on Wednesday because Vince had been invited to speak at a church there that evening. It was a very long day for the kiddos and I ended up staying at the hotel and putting them to bed early (after a swim in the indoor pool though:). We had fun! Did I mention that Mr. B has a corneal abrasion? Early Monday morning he came and crawled in bed with me complaining that he'd poked himself in the eye, but he went right back to sleep as soon as he crawled in and even seemed fine when he woke up. However, in just a little while he was seriously complaining and I could tell he was in some pain. We weren't able to get into the doctor till late that afternoon and he spent pretty much the whole day lying on the sofa keeping his eye ...

I recently finished reading this book and just had to tell you about it. If you're a mystery lover like me, then you'll love this one! It's one super thick book (probably a couple of inches) and it's chock full of short stories. They are by Agatha Christie and feature four different main characters in solving crimes. Of course, I was familiar with Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, but there were two others that I had not yet been introduced to. I really enjoyed *meeting* them! The biggest reason that I loved this book is that it was perfect for getting my crime-solving fix in just before going to sleep at night. The stories are so short that I could solve the mystery in 30 minutes or less and go to sleep without still wondering what's going to happen:) Of course, it's Agatha Christie so the stories are very cleverly written! I just love her versatile style!! She's an amazing mystery writer! So pick this one up and ENJOY!!!

For some reason we had an unusual abundance of fruit in our house this past week. Plus there was all that whipping cream leftover from what I used for Vince's birthday cake. So...I decided to whip up some fruit salad and some fruit salad dressing~my grandma's recipe yet again. Fruit Salad Dressing (my grandma) 2 eggs 4 Tbls. flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 cup orange juice 1/4 cup lemon juice 15 oz. can crushed pineapple, juice reserved 14 oz. can fruit cocktail, juice reserved 1 cup whipping cream ~~~~~ Mix eggs, flour, sugar and all four juices together in a saucepan; cook well, stirring often, until mixture is thickened and starts to bubble. Set it aside to cool. (You can even do this step a day ahead). When juice mixture is cooled, whip the cream until stiff; fold in the juice mixture. In a large bowl, combine the crushed pineapple, fruit cocktail with all of your favorite chopped fresh fruit; serve with the dressing. Delicious! I'm sorry that I haven't been posting as regu...

Since we've lived in Alabama we've been introduced to things like White BBQ Sauce , mustard slaw and chicken stew . These are all things we've grown to love! Well, this past friday at our small group meeting I introduced these Alabamians to Cincinnati Chili~which I grew up on and just LOVE ! I think it was a hit! They said they really liked it and there wasn't much in the way of leftovers. Have you ever experienced Cincinnati Chili? It's very unique to that region. There are even a couple of restaurant chains that specialize in it: Skyline Chili and Gold Star Chili . It's a style of chili created by Greek imigrants in the Cinicinnati area. Very different from traditional style chili. It's usually served over spaghetti (yes, I said spaghetti !) which is so yummy! Coneys are just as delicious though. How ever it's served, you have to top it off with fresh chopped onions and shredded cheese. Cincinnati-Style Chili (from Taste of the Midwest) 5 bay leaves 1...

Don't forget to wear green:)

Last Tuesday ( or what-turned-out-to-be-the-last-pretty-day-for-the-rest-of-the-week ) we had a field trip to Tishomingo, MS to the state park there. It was a lovely drive there on the Natchez Trace Parkway , the weather was really perfect. We enjoyed a simple picnic of sandwiches, chips and Little Debbies:) Then we took a walk over a swinging, suspended bridge built in 1939 (it has a 5-person limit). Then we tried a little kite-flying. The wind was very inconsistent though, so we'll have to try that again soon on a better kite day. It was a fun first run with the kites though! Finally, we did a little exploring at an area with an old cabin, a waterfall and a pond. It was very picturesque. The kiddos really love old cabins~they have a lot of fun imagining living in one. This is a beautiful state park, if you're ever in the area check it out! I imagine in a few more weeks it's going to be beautiful in its Spring glory!