Merry Christmas 2017

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas day! We had a nice relaxing holiday with snow falling outside and the kids running around with their toys. I had worked the night of Christmas Eve, and during my drive home in the morning there was heavy snowfall so my usual hour drive was about an hour and a half. But I finally made it home, and Nick had all the presents waiting under the tree!

 
We divided them into piles then let the boys tear into them. They loved their gifts from Santa and family and got right to playing with their favorite toys of the moment.

I made our traditional biscuits and sausage gravy breakfast, then after that I finally got to lay down for a short nap!

We also got a Sega Genesis console, so Nick had to try it out!

For dinner I made chicken enchiladas, quesadillas, refried beans, Spanish rice, and this delicious cherry cheesecake trifle!

Sausage McMuffin Casserole

Today I tried a new recipe from here on Pinterest, and it was a keeper!! We had it for dinner, but it would be perfect for brunch or breakfast. I doubled the recipe and we had seconds! I served fruit on the side. It is supposed to taste like the popular McDonald's breakfast sandwich. With some syrup on top it tastes like a McGriddle. This is how I made mine!

(For 9x13 pan)
1lb breakfast sausage
6 English muffins
8 eggs
2c milk
1c shredded cheddar
S/P to taste

Cook sausage in crumbles on stove. While cooking, spray pan. Tear into small pieces 3 muffins and layer on pan. Next, layer half of sausage and cheese. Tear up last 3 muffins and repeat layers. In medium bowl, whisk eggs, milk, and s/p the gently pour evenly over pan. Cover with wrap and refrigerate at least 1h (you can up to 12h).

Set oven to 350° and preheat WITH pan in the oven (remove plastic wrap!) and bake 45min. Cool for 5-10 min, then slice and serve with a drizzle of syrup!!

This was a big hit with my whole family, even a picky 2 year old and my hubby who hates sausage! If you have guests for breakfast, you could make it the evening before and pop in the oven for a super easy premade meal. Yum!

Family Pictures

I promised you family pictures last post, and here they are! I did them in the backyard with my handy dandy tripod, then edited them a little on the computer. I chose my favorite of the 4 of us for our Christmas cards, and they are on their way to family right now.

 

In other news, we have been very busy trying to get more done on our kitchen remodel! We received our 21 new cabinet doors, and the hardware for them has been ordered as well. We are now in the process of painting the doors and frames, and it is a PROCESS let me tell you. We have done this once before on our kitchen in Norman, OK (read all about that HERE) completed in January 2014, so we remember very well how tedious this is to do. However we also remember how much $$$ we saved by DIY'ing it! I will post pics of our progress soon, check back!

Hello and Goodbye November!

How has a whole month passed since I last posted??!! This time of year just flies by, especially when you add in kiddos, a full time job, and house projects. Thanks to a camera phone, I can fill you in on the highlights...

I caught this beautiful sunrise on my way home one morning:

Shortly after Halloween, I put my scary things away and put up the pilgrims!

I finally bought some new art for my dining room:

My littlest wanted to show me his truck...

And my big little took such a handsome school picture!!

The boys playing nice together

The day before Thanksgiving I had to take Brad to urgent care for a severe cough that he couldn't shake... Which turned out to be his asthma! I thought we had left that in Oklahoma, but I guess his sinuses triggered it again.

And our Thanksgiving was so chill, that the only picture I took was of the pumpkin cheesecake I made!

We have been working on getting our Christmas decorations up, and trying to get caught up with life before the end of the month! Brad is doing better with his asthma, but has a follow-up appointment tomorrow to make sure.

I just did some quick family pics in the backyard yesterday, so once I get those edited I will post those! Check back soon ❤

Halloween in Albion

Hopefully everyone had a fun and safe holiday today! We've had a great time celebrating our first Halloween here in our new town.

Last Friday was "Beggar's Night" downtown. They had the roads closed, and all the businesses were handing out candy to the kids.

Tonight we had the traditional pizza for dinner, then Nick stayed home to hand out candy while I took the boys around the neighborhood. The weather worked out good! It was cold, but dry and still. South of me they got snow! I bundled the boys up under their costumes and we headed out.

We made one round and filled their buckets, then we headed back to the house for a break. Jacob stayed home with Daddy to get ready for bed, and I took Brad out for one more go! We were tuckered out by the end and they had a great time. Nick and I spent the rest of the evening watching scary movies!

Fall Fun

On Saturday Brad got to go to his first birthday party for his new friend Jack! They ride the bus together and are the same age. He had a blast of course!

Our weather has still been unusually warm, so we've all been trying to enjoy the outdoors while we can.

This was a beautiful sunrise on my way home from work the other day.

 Brad picked out colors and I made him a new hat for the winter!

And tonight we carved Jack o lanterns for the porch. I saved the seeds, and will roast them tomorrow! I'm also going to save some for planting next year.