Russell Family Blessings

What a blessed Christmas we had today! A wonderful time was had by all as we celebrated the birth of Jesus. Time with family is always a treasure and today we were indeed rich! We began our day around 6:45 am opening presents and seeing what Santa left during the night. Eli and Max were excited to see just what they had asked for. Eli, a 20 gauge shotgun, Max, a Nintendo DS and Oki, a play kitchen! Oki was so fascinated with her kitchen that we could hardly get her to open her presents. Christmas morning picture...We could not convince Oki to release the phone from her kitchen! Grammie and Uncle Matt came by to bring presents and check ours out. Next, we were off to Aunt Missy and Uncle Terry's house for breakfast. (Thanks Aunt Missy for preparing such a great breakfast!) For lunch we zoomed down to Blue Springs to have lunch with the Russells. Pa and Granny Russell were so gracious to prepare a great Christmas lunch for us. Granny Russell with Eli and Max...Oki running by their d

Ok, I know I have been a complete slacker when it comes to blogging lately. I (like everyone else) have been so busy. Hopefully, after Christmas, I will have some time to post! For the time being, I'd like to share a recipe for one of my newest favorite snacks...Sugared Pecans. Sugared Pecans Ingredients: 1 Egg White 1 Cup Brown Sugar 1 Tbs. Flour 1/8 Tsp. Salt 1 Tsp. Vanilla Flavor 2 1/2 to 3 cups pecans Beat egg white until foamy. Mix sugar, flour and salt together then add to egg white. Mix well. Add vanilla flavor and pecans. Bake at 250 degrees 45-60 minutes. Stir 2-3 times during baking. Mmmm mmmm Good...Enjoy!

We need your help! Wayne and I are thinking about the possibility of purchasing a digital SLR camera. I know a few of my blogging friends have one, so here's a chance to give us some advice on what to buy. Don't worry, we do plan to do our own research...but, we would like to hear from you. Thanks in advance for your input...

Several people have asked for the recipe for the cake I made for Wayne's birthday. It's not the easiest thing, but it is definitely worth the effort! Happy Cooking! Perfect Chocolate Cake From Southern Living Ingredients: · 1 Cup Cocoa · 2 Cups Boiling Water · 1 Cup Butter or Margarine, Softened · 2 ½ Cups Sugar · 4 Large Eggs · 2 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour · 2 tsp. Baking Soda · ½ tsp. Baking Powder · ½ tsp. Salt · 1 ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract · Whipped Cream Filling · Perfect Chocolate Cake Frosting COMBINE cocoa and boiling water, stirring until smooth; set aside. BEAT butter at medium speed with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. COMBINE flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl; add to butter mixture alternately with cocoa mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Do not

We had a great day at home today. I was able to convince Wayne that he needed a little R&R, so he stayed home, too. The fact that it was his birthday helped. Wayne and the boys spent the majority of the morning "sighting in" Eli's rifle. I have some cute video clips, but I'm too technically challenged to figure out how to post them! Pictures will have to do. Today, I did some of what I enjoy (spending time with my family, sewing and cooking) and some of what I loathe (laundry and cleaning). Receiving instructions from Dad Eli and Max preparing to fire... My Men! Wayne spent the afternoon hunting. When he got home, he found a nice birthday supper of venison, broccoli casserole, sweet potato casserole, corn on the cob, rolls and this cake... From Southern Living: "The Perfect Chocolate Cake" (If you want the recipe, I'll share!) Saturday, I enjoyed a day of sewing with my friend, Valerie. Our children were absolutely great and we were able to sew a lo

I'm sure you've guessed from my lack of posts that we've been extremely busy. Between fall festivals, revival services, church, work, trick or treating, birthday parties, etc...we've hardly had time to breathe! I have managed to get some cute pictures of the children that I wanted to share... Oki reading to her baby...teachers, notice her tracking finger! My Papa, Eli and Max after an afternoon of fishing... Oki after church one night...Can you tell she dressed herself? Eli, Max and Oki with Grammie (Wayne's mom) on her birthday... Look at my handsome young man! Our church had a pumpkin patch...these are pictures I took there... For Halloween, we went to Andalusia and visited the Square with my sister and her son, Trevor...he's the storm trooper in the picture...In case you can't tell :-), Eli is the pirate and Max is the Hulk... Oki loved being a cat. She's still talking about her "cat face"... We attended a birthday party for Oki's frien

It's hard to believe, but our sweet "baby Max James" is seven years old today! I can hardly believe it! For his birthaday, he asked to go camping instead of having a party. To that end, Wayne (along with some reinforcement from a friend) took Max and two of his friends camping at the hunding club Friday night. At the hunting club they walked around in the woods, found a place for a tree stand and rode the golf cart. Wayne took them to a food plot before dark and let them sneak up to look for deer. Too bad they didn't see any! Finally, they grilled hamburgers for supper before turning in. Camping Boys: Drew, Clay and Max Notice Max's binoculars...a present from Grandpop and MeMe After church we went to Grammie's for lunch and birthday cake. Overall, I think Max had a great day...It's still hard to believe...

Ok, I admit it...I'm addicted to sewing! Today, Kristen came to our house to sew. With her she brought her two girls, Riley Grace and Maggie Ruth. We had a delightful time sewing and the girls enjoyed playing together. Oki wasn't the best "sharer" but we made it! Thanks to Riley Grace for doing an outstanding job of entertaining Oki and MR. I did a little embroidery this morning and over the course of the afternoon I completed the outfit below...

I just wanted to inform all of my friends of a great deal I found this evening. I have been looking for a new pair of Keds for Oki. While shopping today, I found a pair of Keds in the style I like, Katie. They were on sale at Belk and I almost bought them, but was a little unsure of the size. I am so glad I waited! When I got home tonight I found them on Shoebuy.com for $29.00, but I got $10 off and free shipping, so I managed to get the shoes I wanted shipped to me for only $19.50! I don't know if you're a bargain shopper or not, but I LOVE a bargain. I think the $10 off is only for today, but you can click on the following link to check it out: Shoe Buy If you enter the following code at checkout, you will get $10 off on orders of $50 or more... RM00877877640419 Happy shopping!

I thought I'd share this wonderful recipe with you all. Eli and Max love for me to make them because they're so delicious and easy to warm up. I like them because it gives this busy mom a good feeling to know that I can provide my family with a decent breakfast. As you see in the picture, I bake them in cupcake papers so that they are easy to manage. They are delicious alone or with grape jelly on top! Sausage Muffins Ingredients: 1 lb. Pork Sausage 1 can cheddar cheese soup 1/2 cup milk 3 cups Bisquick 2-3 Tsp. rubbed sage **I use Sausage with sage instead of adding sage separately Brown sausage. Drain. Combine soup, milk, sage and sausage. Stir in Bisquick until moist. Drop into muffin cups. Bake @ 400 degrees 15-20 minutes. Makes 4 dozen mini or 2 dozen regular muffins. I always allow the boys to eat a few and then I drop the rest in a gallon freezer bag and place them in the freezer. The muffins are easily thawed in the microwave after only about 45 seconds!

We had a very busy, but fun and relaxing weekend. It all started with a little fun on Friday afternoon. My grandad picked up the boys from school and took them fishing. They didn't catch anything, but they enjoyed themselves. Papa wasn't too happy with them, but he's always "fussing" about something. :-) This is what the Eli and Max looked like when they got home...Papa did think it was funny that they were so dirty! We had prayer breakfast at church Saturday morning at 7:00am. Eli went home from there with a friend and was gone all day Saturday only to call that evening and ask to spend the night. Needless to say, when I saw him Sunday morning at church he was exhausted from such a fun day with his friend, Talon. After prayer breakfast, Oki and I went to Valerie's house to sew. Presley and Oki played as sweetly as little girls can. :-) My friends, Kristen and Sandra with their daughters, Maggie and Emily came to sew, also. Oki in Presley's big chair..