Winterjam Tour

Friday night we jammed out in DesMoines at the 2011 Winterjam Tour.

It was the boys first concert and they were in ahh of the flames,volume,broken drum sticks, number of people,and realizing you can't judge a Christian by their looks.

The tour consisted of approximately 9 different bands with a variety of music types. The group RED left a lasting impression with their "heavy" sound and flame show. *you could literally feel the heat* , David Crowder was Dan's favorite. They're a group from TX with a lil' bluegrass tone to their music. To me they look like Amish in English clothes. One of my favs was Francesca Battestelli- checkout her song called This Is the Stuff on itunes, it's an instant sing along. Other groups rating high on my list were Kutless, Sidewalk Prophets and Dawson's favorite...the Newsboys. He loves the song titled One Shot.

We didn't hear much of the Newsboys as we departed the concert at 10 sharp to head for home. Anyone that knows me realizes I like to rise and settle down with the sun...crawling into bed at 12:30 at night isn't on my like list. Regardless of the late bed time it was a fun evening. If you ever have the opportunity-GO! What other concert can you go to for a $10.00 admission fee?

Country Breakfast Bake

Fix this for a scrumptious breakfast over the weekend, or supper.

Who doesn't like breakfast for supper?

I'm sure many of you have favorite breakfast casseroles but mine has a secret ingredient that makes it extra, extra tasty!

Country Breakfast Bake

3c. onion and garlic croutons

2 c grated sharp cheddar cheese

1.5 lbs sausage, cooked

5 eggs

2 3/4 c milk

1/2 tsp. salt

3.4 tsp dry mustard

1 can cream of mushroom

1 lb. frozen hash browns

Grease 9x13 pan and pace croutons to cover the bottom. Place 1.5 c of grated cheese over croutons. Layer cooked & drained sausage over cheese. Mix 5 eggs, 2 1/4 c milk, salt, dry mustard and pour over sausage layer. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Next morning: Dilute cream of mushroom soup with 1/2 c. milk and pour over. Layer hash browns over soup layer. For top layer sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 c cheese. Bake 1/2 hours @ 300*. Let set 10 minutes and slice.

**that is if you can resist picking off one little hash brown square-I never can**

stranger

Saturday Dexter and Dawson stayed home alone.

We were gone to cheer on Jaxson and his teammates at their basketball game.

I trust those boys home alone and often have memories running through my head of the days when I stayed home by myself....or with my sister and brother.

Oh how we would fight.....

I used to spend hours locked in the bathroom, sitting on the vanity, as my sister jabbed her tap dance stick under the door trying to poke my feet. I must emphasize this was not a gentle poke, it was fierce stabs at my feet with great attempts to draw blood...

You're forgiven...love you sister ;-)

There was no fight Saturday...at least not to my knowledge.

But we did receive a phone call during the middle of the game that a stranger was at the house.

A stranger that made the boys' hearts pound with fear.

A stranger that drove the boys to hideout underneath Mom and Dads bed.

A stranger that had pulled into the driveway, got out of his car, and entered the garage.

A stranger that pounded on the entry door into the house.

A stranger that cracked open the house door and threw something inside.

A stranger known as...........

THE MAILMAN!

buzzing with excitement

I am officially signed up for a beginners beekeeping class.

I'm TOTALLY, TOTALLY PUMPED UP!

I will be counting the days until my

G R E A T..... E D U C A T I O N !

I attempted to recruit a learning partner amongst the Herd, but as of now, I'm going solo.

Unless YOU would like to join in my sticky, hopefully limited stinging, adventure?

Let me know!

And I'll let YOU know, later in the year, when I have scrumptious honey for sale!

If I don't eat it all first:D

SUGAR

It's been obvious to me for sometime now that cowpoke 1 has an extreme sweet tooth. The boy loves, loves, loves his sweets. It's not one thing specific that he craves, he eats all things with sugar: ice cream, butterfingers, Hershey's kisses, Mike-N-Ike's, slushies,

chocolate chips, cookies, candy canes. You get my drift.

He recently admitted that one day he was in such a sugar fit that he unwrapped and popped in his mouth what he thought was a piece of candy, covered in red shiny paper.

It didn't take long for him to realize that it was NOT candy!

It was beef bouillon!

hahahahaha

Nothing like ending that sugar crave.....I can't imagine what that would have tasted

like sitting on the tongue.

Ewwwwww.

It just confirms my thoughts that cowpoke 1 has a real problem with the sweet stuff!

cowpoke 1

Oldest cowpoke was hired over the weekend for his first on the clock babysitting job. He was thrilled to be offered the position, as he adores young kids. After learning from the BEST ( We LOVE you Jackie!) he packed a bag for entertainment and was fully prepared for his responsibilities.

Besides this new experience of late night babysitting I encountered a couple of other parenting firsts over the holiday break. We were hand delivered homemade cookies by senior cowpokes special friend and he was invited on an outing with her and her family.

The last 2 encounters hit me fast, hard and without warning.

Ohhhhh my baby is growing up!

New Years

Oh how the times have changed.....Dan and I made fun of ourselves the entire night last night. Things we joked about are...

You know you're growing older when

• the average age at your New Years party is 10
• you're brewing coffee at 6:15pm in hopes of making it to the New Year
• the main ingredient in your drink of the night is...raspberry sherbert
• you crawl into bed, read the clock:12:34am, giggle and thank the Lord the bed isn't spinning
• Sheraids is the funnest game played- and your belly hurts the next morning from laughing with the crowd.
• you can sing along with The New Kids On the Block on Dick Clarks Rockin' Countdown.
• you actually watch Dick Clarks Rockin Countdown
• you fill your late night munchy craving with pie and coffee...whoa that one screams old at me:)
• you welcome the New Year in your sweatpants, hoodie, Wigwam socks, pony tail and little makeup.
• the next day you think that was the BEST New Years celebration ever!

HaPpY NeW YeAr-2011!