HELP!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE, somebody help me with my spacing. It rarely looks like how I type it in the box. I will space between paragraphs but when it posts it all runs together. Help me please!?!?!?!

If I Can Make It, You Can Make It Monday - Evening Edition

For my birthday, belated, my mom made me Banana Split Cake. I love this dessert. She made it at my house and while doing so we realized that the filling does not have to be beaten by hand for 20 minutes, but that my mixer does the job just fine (you'll see)!

Banana Split Cake (sorry, no picture)

Two pie crusts (Pillsbury works just fine)

2 sticks of butter

2 cups of powdered sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

2 eggs

1 20oz can of crushed pineapple

3 or 4 bananas

1 medium container of Cool Whip

Maraschino cherries

Line 9x13 dish with pie crusts. Bake according to directions for pie shell. Let cool completely.

Cream together butter and powdered sugar. Add vanilla and eggs and mix for 15-20 minutes until the consistency turns more custard-like (this is where we used to do it by hand, whew!)

Spread mixture over pie crust.

Drain pineapple and spread over mixture. Slice bananas and place on top of pineapple.

Spread Cool Whip on top.

Top with cherries.

Let chill for about two hours.

ENJOY!

NOTE: Of course you can add more or less of the fruit, depending on your taste.

Thank-full

I have so much to be thankful for on a daily basis. To name a few:

God

My salvation

My family

My friends

My church

The fact that we're all healthy

My job (even though it's not what I want to be doing, there are so many people without employment that I am grateful to have a job)

Good food!

Yesterday we had a great and relaxing Thanksgiving. It was nice for all of us to be home together being a family. Rondell has been working a lot at Best Buy and he was tired so I let him sleep in. He has done that for me so many times, it was time for me to give back. The kids and I played and Jamison helped me make cornbread dressing. We watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and just relaxed.

For dinner we went to Rondell's mom's house. My mom joined us and I was thrilled to have her there. There weren't too many people and it was relaxing to just sit and enjoy each other's company (and the wonderful food!). I was also very thankful to Rondell's aunt, Aunt Peggy, for cutting up my turkey (Rondell's stepdad deep fries turkeys and they are so yummy, so he did one for me to take home so we could have leftovers...and it's A LOT of turkey!).

Aunt Peggy and my turkey

The girls: Jamison, Quinelle, and Ni Ni (these are Rondell's cousin's girls and Jamison LOVES them)

Maw Maw (Rondell's mom) and her babies

After dinner we went to Rondell's dad's house to say hello. Caleb is named after Rondell's father. Only Caleb was with us because Jamison was still at Maw Maw's with her cousins...of course. By the time we got to Ron's dad's everyone had gone home so we were really able to have a nice and quiet visit.

Overall it was such a nice day. Today I took the kids halfway so that they can spend the weekend in Cleveland. Jamison was beyond excited, Caleb not so much, but he's fine now. On Sunday Rondell and I go up there for the Browns game. I am so excited about going to a game even though it's going to be freezing. I'll post pictures from that event tomorrow (or the next day depending on how tired I am!)

School Friends

Hannah, Jamison and Allison

These are two of Jamison's school friends. For some time now Jamison has talked about eating lunch with Allison. Everyday she eats with Allison and then they play at recess, she says. What's funny to me about this story is that Allison is in the other Kindergarten class and so she and Jamison hooked up on their own. That is so cute to me!

Jamison and I talked about having Allison over, so that I could meet this new best friend of hers. She then told me about Hannah and how Hannah eats with them too (Hannah is in Jamison's class). So, I decided to have a little playdate and have Hannah and Allison and their moms over for pizza. It was postponed twice because of Caleb's stomach flu, but they were finally able to come over. It was nice to meet two of the kids that Jamison likes to play with at school. It was also nice to sit down with the moms and get to know them too.

The girls had a really good time, having a picnic and then playing in Jamison's room. I tried to be creative and attempted to make hand-turkey cookies but it didn't work so we just had plain sugar cookies and then decorated them with icing. They girls enjoyed doing that and they were quite tasty.

I'm sure they'll be over again soon.

If I Can Make It, You Can Make It Monday

Toffee Sugar Cookies

1 cup sugar
1 cup of butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package of English toffee bits (you can also use chocolate covered if you really like chocolate)

Combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla and beat until creamy.
Add flour, baking soda and salt and beat well at reduced speed until well mixed.
Fold in toffee bits by hand.
Roll dough into balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

Note: I sometimes sprinkle sugar on top right when they come out of the oven.

ENJOY!

Sigh

I need to see less of this:

And more of this:

I don't mind the cold so much, but the gloomy, cloudy skies have got to go! Not to be a downer but I'm really missing the blue skies...come back blue skies!!!

Linens & Things

I am not the best at finding a deal, but I saw on an email that Linens & Things is closing. I went on its website and they have a lot of sales. They are all final so make wise choices.

I just thought I'd share that tid bit of information.

Have a good weekend. We have nothing planned...NICE!

Wordless Wednesday

Remembering Fall

(this is the tree in my front yard!)

Question?

So now that there is snow on the ground and the high is only supposed to be 33, do I take down my fall decorations (sniff)?

Note: I've done a few posts in the last few days so be sure to scroll down.

If I Can Make it, You Can Make it Monday

Lasagna

1 box of lasagna noodles
1 lb of ground beef
1 lb of ground Italian sausage
2 jars of spaghetti sauce (I usually use Ragu Robusto)
6 cups of mozzarella cheese
1 package of slice provolone cheese
1 container of small curd cottage cheese (any size depending on how much you like it. You could also use Ricotta)

Boil noodles according to the package
Brown ground beef and sausage together (I usually also add some garlic powder or salt)
Drain noodles and set aside
Drain meat and then put back into skillet
Add 1 1/2 jars of the sauce to the meat mixture and set aside
In a 9x13 size dish add a small layer of the sauce and meat mixture (this will stop the noodles from sticking)
Then add a layer of noodles to line the dish
Add 1/2 of the meat mixture
Add all of the cottage cheese
Add all of the provolone cheese
Add two cups of the mozzarella
Add another layer of noodles
Add the remaining meat mixture
Add two cups of the mozzarella
Add another layer of noodles
Add the remaining 1/2 of spaghetti sauce
Add the remaining mozzarella cheese
Top with foil

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes
Allow lasagna to sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes for it to settle (or it will be runny like mine was last night because we were so hungry that we ate right away)
Enjoy!

NOTE: Of course you don't have to do the layering like I do, it's just what works for me. Add as much or as little cheese as you'd like. It's really an easy meal and makes for great leftovers. Add a salad and some garlic bread and you've got a complete meal.

Oh, also last night I thought that if I put toothpicks in before I put the foil on the top layer of cheese won't stick to the foil. I will have to try that the next time because the cheese always sticks.

I WON, I WON!!!!!

I entered a contest recently and when I went to the site today, I read that I won runner up. I'm not sure yet what I'm getting but I'm sure it'll be something exciting. YEAH!!!!

Shout Outs and a Weekend Run-down (no pictures, sorry)

We had a great weekend, well Jamison and I had a great weekend. On Friday, Renee and Toshianna were in town for Toshianna's gymnastics meet. Toshianna has been doing gymnastics since she was 4 and she has natural talent. I don't say that just because she's my sister and I love her, I am always amazed by her when I watch her.

Anyways, while we were waiting to leave for dinner Renee told me that she has Browns tickets, club seats, and would Rondell and I like to go. Rondell LOVES football and has never been to a game so I jumped right on that opportunity. THANKS RENEE!!! I thought about surprising him but I know I would not have been able to keep that secret for two weeks. I put them on top of the entertainment center thinking that I could still surprise him when he got home from work, but I feel asleep and the giant that my husband is saw them because the top of the entertainment center is eye level. Oh well. He's still excited.

We went to dinner, Renee, the kids and I, at Carrabba's. We joined Toshinna's teammate and her family. They were a fun bunch of people. After dinner Jamison went to stay with Toshianna and Renee at their hotel. She was so excited about that.

Saturday when I woke up and went upstairs (I have had a bad habit of falling asleep on the couch) Rondell informed me that Caleb had been throwing up. Great (grrr). Rondell stayed home with him while I went to Toshianna's meet (bless his heart). Toshianna did great. This was her first meet at Level 7 and she placed 5th overall. Her floor routine was so adorable. It was to the theme music for Inspector Gadget.

After the meet we all went to Mimi's Cafe. If you have not been to this restaurant and you have one near you it is a must. Their food is so yummy. We went with two of Toshi's teammates and their families. The younger girls, including Jamison, sat by themselves at the booth behind us and Jamison ordered her own meal. While I missed Rondell and Caleb, it was nice to hang with just us girls.

Later that evening I went to dinner with Jodie. We haven't gotten together in a while so it was nice sit down and chat with her for a bit. She even made me sugar cookies with yellow frosting. So thoughtful (my favorite color is yellow and I LOVE her cookies.)

Sunday Caleb was still kind of sick so Jamison and I went to church alone. It was nice spending the weekend with her. After church we stayed home and then I made Rondell a lasagna (which I will post for "If I can Make it You can Make it Monday" a little later) because he stepped up when I couldn't.

How was your weekend?

My Happy Place

I know that it is not even Thanksgiving, but I LOVE Christmas music. This morning as I was driving to work I got a feeling of needing a pick-me-up. Then I remembered that a station here plays Christmas music a little early. I turned to the station and BAM, I was in the middle of my happy place. Christmas music just makes me happy so now I have it on at work (turned down of course so I'm not made fun of too often!).

Where is your happy place? Another one is Destin...is it time for the countdown yet?

Cool GiveAWay

Happy Friday! Go here for a cool giveaway. These bowls are just adorable and her blog is really fun to read.

Good luck, well kind of...I want to win too. HUGS!

If I Can Make It, You Can Make It Monday

I decided to start adding something to blog to keep things interesting. So, I came up with "If I can make it, you can make it Monday." Each Monday I will post a recipe that I make all of the time or a new recipe that I've recently tried. The following recipe is one that I got from my friend Lyndsey. Now I make it a lot when we have appetizers (have I mentioned that I LOVE appetizers). My mother in-law has even requested that I make it for Thanksgiving. I'm honored!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

3 or 4 chicken breasts shredded (I usually boil mine for about 20 minutes and then shred)
2 blocks of cream cheese (softened for easier mixing)
1 container of blue cheese crumbles
4 oz of hot sauce (you can use more if you like it really spicy)
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese

Combine chicken, cream cheese, blue cheese and hot sauce in a bowl and mix well

Pour in a oven safe dish (I use a casserole dish)

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes; then added cheddar cheese and bake for another 15 minutes

Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy! *(or you could just eat it with a spoon like Rondell!)