Growing up Fast

In one week, my baby will graduate Kindergarten. I know it's just a simple milestone, but for some reason today it's hitting me hard. In the hustle and bustle of our crazy life, I feel like I haven't done enough! I know we stay busy and do everything for the kids, but we have gotten so involved that we forget to enjoy. I think back and it seems like just yesterday Trace was starting PDO in the 3s class, and now in 1 week he will graduate Kinder. He is soo excited. Tonight he will be getting a "big boy" bed, no more toddler racecar bed (yes, I'm fully aware we have held on to it far too long), and next week he will walk proudly across that stage and except his diploma from Ronald. Don't tell him I said this, but I kinda miss him crying for me every morning, that's probably why I let him sneak in the bed everynight. I know in no time at all he will join Meg in the too big for Mom role...but until then I want to hold him tight, enjoy the snuggles, and savor every sloppy kiss. He is my baby..and he is growing up.

This isn't Trace's 1st day (I couldn't find that pic ;() but this is his 1st PDO Feild Trip. Old McDonald's Farm.


These are just a few pictures I snapped this week for his graduation. He is soo proud and excited!

Robert and Nicole

Well..things are still CRAZY bust around here...It's All Star Season, enough said. With both kids making All Stars there is not a moment to spare (BTW I'm not complaining, super proud, just SUPER Busy). But I did find time to take Robert and Nicole's engagement pics. It was sooo fun, and something I'm really enjoying playing with. I have always loved taking pics, but this is something new. Anyway, I thought I would share some of the pics. Hope ya enjoy.

What we have been up too....

Well as you can see I haven't blogged in a while ;(..How sad, I was on quite a roll. Well I'm afraid to say life has just caught up with me, or more importantly baseball/softball, LOL. League is in full swing here in Tarkington, which means things are CRAZY. I know that sounds like I'm complaining, but I do LOVE most of it. My kids and the hubs love it, so therefore I love it too!!

Great news for me and those of you who read this, lol.. I got a new camera ;). I have been wanting one for a while and finally just did it. I'm soo glad I did. I LOVE IT. So now instead of just reading my ramblings you get so actually see some of my joys too ;). So instead of just rambling on today, I thought I would post of the pics I have taken since Thursday :: Hope you enjoy!!

Scrap Night Recipes

Oh my!! Baseball season is in full swing here at our house, what a blessing!! We love it, but it keeps us busy and gone. Hopefully I will make myself stop and catch my Blog up, LOL. First off SCRAP NIGHT!! OMG, what fun!! Literally, I'm not trying to be funny here. I love my ladies!! We get together once a month, create master pieces, eat great food, gossip and giggle. This past Friday night was my night to host. LaJeania created a wonderful Boy Layout for us, it was great and I can't wait to put pictures of Trace on it. Anyway, I promised I would share all my recipes so here goes:

Pizza Dip
This was actually the 1st time I ever made this or tasted it. Thanks goes to Sharon Woods for sharing ;) I think my proportions are a little different (she prepares it for a PDO class, and I prepared it for a party of adults. So this is how I did it:

2 bricks Cream Cheese (softened)
1 Jar Pizza Sauce (I used Ragu)
4 Cups Mozzarella Cheese grated
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)
Pizza Toppings (I used mini peperoni, black olives, and mushrooms)

In a 9x13 pan, spray cooking spray and spread out the cream cheese. Then layer the pizza sauce. Sprinkle on the cheeses and other topping of you choice. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve hot with chips, crackers of your choice.


Pizza Rolls
1 pkg Frozen Rolls (I use Rhodes-orange bag)
1 pkg peperoni
1 pkg sliced Mozzarella cheese

Follow defrosting/rising directions on the roll's package. Using hands (or anything you want) spread out the dough, spread 3 peperoni and 1/4 piece of cheese. Fold dough around the stuffing and follow the cooking directions on the roll package. My kids LOVE these and they make a great pre-game meal.

Potato Soup
Ok, I'm going to be honest every time I make this, I add or do something different. Apparently Friday Night's versions was good, I got tons of compliments on it ;). So here is what I did Friday Night.

2 pkg small red potatoes
1 small pkg Owens Sausage
1 onion
3 cans cream of mushroom with roasted garlic
1 block Velveeta cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Rinse and chop potatoes into bite size pieces. Boil until tender, not too tender though, you don't want them to be mashy. Drain some of the water, I leave about 1 inch above the potatoes. In a small skillet brown sausage and onions, then add to potatoes. Add soup, Velveeta, and salt and pepper. When all the cheese is melted the soup is ready. Save your leftovers, I think it tasted better the 2nd day ;) Enjoy

Make it Monday - Valentine Love Potion

Ok, while looking through all the blogs that I love I found these super cute Love Potions. Here is a super cute alternative to the traditional candy and card valentine that the kids pass out at school. Check them out:


They were really easy and fun to make. The kids loved passing them out. ;) I found them on the Blog Tatortots and Jello (you should look it up, she has FAB ideas!!), there is a link at the bottom.

Look at that signature!! I love it! I don't know why, but I just think it is the best embellishment for this tags.

Meghan aka Snagz. She is such a goob (I mean that affectionatly, LOL). She said, "Mom everyone knows that is my true name" LOL. I hope she still likes when she gets older, she has written it everywhere ;)


http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2011/02/guest-project-love-juice-valentines-day.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FOivM+%28Tatertots+and+Jello%29

Wordless Wednesday- Snow Day 2009

Schedules - WHAT???

Ok, so as I have recently fallen in love with "Blogging" or as we would say in East Texas 'Bloggin' LOL. I have found several different ideas on how to do this. One is to have a schedule of topics: Make-it Mondays, Wordless Wednesdays, Throwback Thrusdays, etc... Ok, I'm not sure how it's gonna work, but I'm going to work on a schedule and try to stick to it ;)

Here is what I have so far:
Mondays - Make-it Mondays - either I will show how to make a craft, or I will cheat and make something off of another blog (see previous post LOL)
Tuesday - ??? Leave a comment of suggestions
Wednesday - Wordless Wednesdays - pictures that I love!! Captions aren't even necessary.
Thursday - Not sure what I want to do here yet - I know Throwback Thursday is always an option, and I just might use it ;)
Friday - Familiy Fridays - I plan on telling a little about my family unit, either stories for my kids to be albe to read or just something fun we are doing.
Saturday - ???
Sunday - ???

Ok, I'm not making any promises that I will completely stick to this schedule, but I will try. Hope you enjoy!! Salina

Make It Monday - Valentines Candy Dishes

Ok, I found these on a super cool Blog and had to try them myself. Both of the kids teachers will be getting one for Valentine's Day next week (Shauan and Sam you can't copy, LOL) . Check them out:




If you loved them and would like to make them yourself here is the Blog and complete direcitons.
Hope you ENJOY :)
http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2011/02/valentine-candy-dishes.html

By The Way:
I got all of my supplies (except Candy) at Hobby Lobby on sale today ;). Yep, this is a super cute craft that also can be cheap ;).

What we are Reading

Ok, well since I'm all about sharing these days. These are the books we will be reading while we are "Snowed In" tomorrow.


Trace - Little Jake
These are super cool books for little boys (I guess girls could like them too). Trace LOVES them and has the entire collection. He can't go to sleep without reading at least one Little Jake Book every night. My friend Deana G. told me about them, and we have been hooked ever since. Hope they write some more before next Christmas. Now they are not only our favorite book, but also our favorite Birthday gift to fellow hunting boys ;) They are books about a little boy (Little Jake) who hunts. He does it in very safe, law abiding, and adventurous way.

http://www.littlesportsman.com/

Meghan - Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls or Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo Series

Meg is def her mother's child. She LOVES to read, I am soo blessed. She got both of these series for Christmas, it's like 30 something books in all. She loves to pack them for tournament days or hunting trips. She will def get some good reading in tomorrow ;) These are both series for young female readers. They are really upbeat and tell about all the drama young ladies face these days (boys, pets, moving, friends, brothers, parents, etc...). Meg Loves them, and therefore so do I!!


Ronald - Raising Dad
So, I really don't know what Ron will be reading tomorrow, he usually reads his Bible around here while studing for his lessons. He does most of his reading while trying to sleep at the Lodge, LOL. But he did get this book for Chirstmas ;)



Me - Elizabeth Noble's Things I Want My Daughters to Know
Ok, first let me say I got a Nook for Christmas, I have books downloaded on it. But I just can not make myself read from it. I know it's weird, I'm sure it's an amazing gadget. I'm just a creature of habit. I plan on reading all the books I have in real book form, then starting to read books on the Nook. Or that's the plan anyway. I just started Things I Want My Daughters to Know, and so far it is really good, kinda sad but really good. I will give a full review (not many people know this, actually no one does, but I really would love to write book/movie reviews. There just isn't really a market for that here in Tarkington Texas. LOL)

Wordless Wednesday :)

Studing Spelling Words ;)

Ok, I'm sure my house is like yours: WE HATE homework!! LoL, please do not tell any of my kids teachers. But we do, and what is really sad about that is: I used to be a teacher!! I do understand and appreciate that we have it, but I really don't like it!! Anyway, as you have seen in some of my recent post I am going to start sharing some of the crazy things we do around our house (ex: throwing Koozies together in 1 night, spending an afternoon with a sick kid making 100 day Mats, etc..). One of the fun things we do is Study Spelling words. I know right, how is that fun, we here at the Shirley house we make it fun!! We do a different "Out of the Box" way to study them every night.

Tonight we "Powder Sugared" our words. I take a cake pan, we used circle, you can use what ever size or shape you have. I do recommend one with higher sides, you don't want the powdered sugar to get everywhere. Sprinkle in some Powered Sugar and let the kids write the words in them. I call the words out 1 at a time, the kids have to say the letter as they are writing it. When they are finished if the word is spelled correctly then they get to lick their finger ;). Give the pan a shake and start on the next word. This also works well with flour, shaving cream, or foamy soap. My kids love the powered sugar, and they love spelling their words correctly LOL.

Other things we do:
*magnetic letters - on the fridge, or a cookie sheet.
*markers/special paper - who knew markers were so fun to study with, LOL.
*Shower Doors/foggy mirrors - the only way to take a shower and study at the same time ;), this also helps with congestion too LOL.
*Loose letters - if you have a cricut, or you can buy Poster Letters ($2-4 @ Walmart or Dollar General) they love to rearrange the letters to make their words
*Dry Erase Board or Chalk Board - you can buy a small on at WalMart super fun ;)
**And the list can go on and on. The key is just to not get stuck in the same old boring homework routine. Make it fun! and surprisingly the kids will love it, and learn it!! Feel free to add more in my comments, I will as I think of more to add ;)

Snagz concentrating on spelling her "big words."


Tracer getting through the list.

Trace got one right :)

100 th Day of School

Today Tracer's Primary school is celebrating the 100th Day of School. How exciting, it is to be in school 100 days!! I miss teaching and getting to count to 100 at least 1,000 times today. He is sooo excited. In his backpack today is: 100 pennies for class activities, 100 Fishin Worms as his 100 Collection, A 100 Piece Puzzle as a surprise for the class to work on today, and a box of Cracker for 100 Day Snack. I'm not sure about this year but in years past the school has had a drawing for prizes every 100 minutes, with at least 100 kids winning things. When I was teaching we would measure 100 steps, write 100 words, see what we could color in 100 seconds. We would do everything 100!! Such a fun unexpected day!! I love and miss it!! I pray his class has a very blessed Fun 100th day of school!!



Last week while Trace was home with a stomach bug, we made his class 100 mats, to help sort all the things they will count today. He LOVED helping me make them, and was a very proud boy to take them to his teacher.

Team Mom Fabulousness!!

Ok, it's no secret my kids love sports!! I love to watch them, and love to be their "Team Mom." So with all the sports we have going on, I decided to share some of my FABULOUSNESS!!

Our 1st weekend of Xcel volleyball was super exciting. We had no expectations and had a wonderful time. It was really a great day! But our girls got thirsty and they didn't have a way to tell where there drinks were. They all got mixed up, and we didn't' know ours from the other teams (some of the girls aren't as wonderful and they didn't pick up their mess, like we do). Anyway, to solve this "problem" I made the girls Koozies! Check them out, they match there uniforms and were the hit of the gym. None of them are perfect, but the girls were proud and loved them anyway ;)



How to make them:
*You need a koozie (Walmart has some, but usually not enough, I got mine at Dollar General for $1 each)
*Fabulous Material :) I made 10 with less than 1 yard
*Wonder Under (I'm sure it has a different name now, but I still call it Wonder Under, LOL)
*1 - 2 types of trim

Basic Materials you prob already have:
Iron & Ironing board
Glue Gun
Scissors & yard stick or measuring tape
Creativity

1. Wash and dry material. Following "Wonder Under" directions and attach it to the material. Let the material cool completely (2-5 minutes) before moving to next step.
2. Measure and cut the material to fit around the koozie. Mine were 4 inches high. So I cut my strips 4 in by 12 inches.
3. Iron, yes I said Iron it to the Koozie ;). I know this is weird, but it was super quick and easy. I just tilted the iron, and put my hand in the koozie and worked the material around it.
4. Now is the fabulous part. Attach your trim. I used hot pink feather boas and black sequins. Use the glue gun and have fun!!

I've been told it's the Best Potato Soup Ever!!

So my wonderful Hubs and Mrs Jenny both agree that this is the "Best Potato Soup Ever!!" And since it is "Soooo Good" I thought I would share the recipe ;) Here it is, hope you enjoy!!

1 Small Bag red potatoes (I like the tiny ones, no peeling, just rinse them)
3 Cans Cream of Mushroom (I like the roasted garlic kind)
1 Small Block Velveeta
1 lb pan sausage
Ranch Dressing a shake (not a whole bag)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Salt
1 Medium Onion

Ok, this can't get any easier. Boil your potatoes, brown your sausage and onion in skillet. When potatoes are tender drain, leave just enough water to cover potatoes. Add all ingredients including sausage and onions (I don't drain mine, which make this a very healthy recipe, LOL). After the Velveeta is melted it's done. Ron loves it!!

We are sooo Blessed!!!

Ok, so I know we are totally blessed!! My family wakes up every morning in cozy beds (most of the time mine, LOL), we have clothes to wear, food to eat, more LOVE than you can imagine and an Amazing God that is always GOOD. I list these things because today my sweet heartbroken daughter came to me upset. One of her New Friends at school has been talking to her lots and telling her about her life. This little girl, just moved here after Christmas, she has only been here for 3 weeks. She is already moving, because "Her mom can't afford her." So she is moving to Anahuac, then Alaska with her Dad. She has also told Meg how she doesn't have food at night to eat. My sweet Meggie is just upset and totally doesn't understand and why would she, they are only 8. She is so upset her new little friend is moving, but more importantly she is upset because she doesn't understand. We are soo lucky we can talk openly about life with our kids, and the power of prayer. Meg asked if she can give her friend a good by gift, we said yes of course. She packed her a gift bag with books, bows and a picture of herself. I made sure she wrote down our phone numbers for the little girl. Ron coached Meg in how to pray with her tomorrow at school, before she leaves. I know tomorrow will be a hard day at school for Meggie, saying good bye is never easy. But hopefully this little girl will feel loved, even if it is by friend she might never get to see again. I hope she is as touched by Meg's love as Meg is by hers.


I know this isn't a recent picture of her...but I just wish she could stay this young and innocent forever!! I pray that her heart is always open and ready to Love big!!

Fun times with Fun Famiies

Well this weekend was all about hunting!! It's amazing, I really don't like to go "hunting" I just like to ride around and take pictures, but none the less I had a blast. We went to our Lodge in on the River Bottoms with 4 other families, the Lamberth's, Hollingsworth's, Boody's, and My Brother In Law Rob and niece Bekah. There were 9 kids and they had a blast!! Everyone, got along soooo well and just played and goofed off. We started the afternoon on Friday (I checked my kids out early shhh), then headed down. Trace was sooo excited, and Meg was a little, even though she had to miss a birthday party. We unloaded the cars and groceries and hopped on mules and left. The kids were all smiles the entire time!! Such a blessed weekend! Saturday night the kids played until they just couldn't anymore and the "grown ups" sat around and told stories from our younger years. We all laughed soo much and just had a great time!! Sunday was bitter sweet, we all packed up and went our separate ways. Well not really, we saw the Lamberth's a few minutes later at Church ;), and everyone else we got to meet up with at the Baseball fields. We are soo lucky to have such amazingly fun people around us!! I'm blessed!!

Snagz, I just love to look at those eyes!! I just wonder what she was thinking ;)



Ron = the big Bow Hunter!! (BTW he was showing off, and missed ha!! ;)



Trace and his "Did I get it" moment. I love the expression on his face ;)




All in all they killed 14 hogs. We will all be eating pork for a while now ;)

Wordless Wendesday ;)

Just a few more Christmas Pics :)

New Traditions

Ok, so I have already mentioned we had the flu at Christmas, and how it was actually not that bad. But I haven't had a chance to tell about our amazing trip to The Ranch. Usually we get to go with Ron's family. It is always fun! My kids LOVE everything Del Rio has to offer!! We love staying in the old house, walking around the rocks, riding in the jeeps, feeding the animals with Mr Raul, eating something delicious every night!!!, and just being away from our busy crazy lives. But this year it was the funnest!! Since we missed the family trip (they leave on Christmas day and we were sick) we got to go out with some family friends, The Rouses. It was a blast!! The kids (especially Meg) has soo much fun just being kids. We road around in jeeps everyday exploring the Ranch. I took Trace and at least one of the Rouse girls "Dove Hunting" every afternoon. We slept LATE everyday. Meghan got a video camera and they taped themselves "remaking" The Wizard of Oz (I will post the videos later when I figure out how, LOL). We saw tons of deer and who knows how many miles of Del Rio scenery. We truly had an amazing time. Anyway, starting some new traditions turned out to be a total hit and hopefully next year we will be able to go back with Rouses again!! not to mention Ron and Shane already have some fun trips planned for us this summer..camping,and at least one trip to The Bay (my kids LOVE LOVE the Bay House).

Just of few of my fav pics from our trip: