It's Girl Scout COOKIE time!!!

If you haven't already had the pleasure of a cute little girl knocking at your door with cookie pre-sales yet I'm sure it's only time! I think I love cookie sales just as much as Celeste does! She's such a go getter and oh how I enjoy watching her confidence soar as she walks up to doors and people within our community; to see her eyes light up as she introduces herself and "sells" the real meaning of Girl Scout cookies. Yep, there's ALOT more to it than just a box of cookies from a girl...

The Cookie sales are more than just a fundraiser, it's a fun way for girls of all ages to earn the money that fuels their dreams and troop activities throughout the entire year. It's also a powerful, hands-on leadership and entrepreneurial program. Celeste will learn to inspire change with donations made through this season, DISCOVER how her sister Girl Scouts can make a difference right now in our ever changing world, CONNECT with people in her community, and TAKE ACTION not only in her own neighborhood but far beyond with the amazing donations made by our friends, family and community! She will learn responsibility, communication skills, financial and math skills, self-confidence, teamwork, honesty and integrity through the next couple of months and will spill over into the rest of her life. Celeste has set her personal goal of 500 boxes in lieu of a week of Girl Scout summer camp as well as $50 to spend at the Girl Scout store. Last year her troop donated almost 500 boxes of cookies to Operation Cookie Drop a Gift of Caring to our military troops overseas. This year our Troop (#871) will be donating cookies to the Ronald McDonald House of Pensacola, FL http://www.rmhpensacola.org/.The general population may not know that with one box of Girl Scout cookies ONLY 28% goes to the cost of the cookie...the other 72% ALL goes back to the Girl Scouts through camps and out of this world programs! No one is getting a pay check out of cookie sales, no money is going to anything BUT the girls!! So, if you get that knock at the door or you see those cute little girls at their colorful table in all sorts of weather....support our Girl Scouts...our future girls with courage, confidence, and character, who are striving to make the world a better place. http://www.girlscoutcookies.org/

Pensacola Beach

Today the family was able to venture down to the beach. It was in the high 30's but with the wind...WOW...you could say COLD! That didn't stop our fun! The kids were still able to fill their buckets with shells...we have brilliant white shells and a sink full of sand to prove it! We chased the birds and they did some serious dive bombing us for food at times..and we didn't even have any! Guess even the birds can hope! We walked the super long, very windy, unbelievably cold pier. Celeste loved that she was "in the water" and Lance thought it was scary...course he did find something interesting at the end...

The best part of the afternoon was that we were all together....and it didn't cost a dime!! Even FREE can be fun when you're with the most important things in life! Now I have my moments of "ugghh" due to the military but oh how lucky are we that the Navy takes us places with amazing views like these!

Christmas Day

Gosh..what an amazing day. We started off with breakfast around the table Bible study and reading from Luke and Matthew about this special day. Since we're leaving for Texas tomorrow I decided yesterday morning I would go ahead and prepare our big Christmas meal. Truth be told there's nothing better than leftovers...yum, yum...and this gave us the chance for just that!! So...today was easy..heat and eat kinda day. It sure gave me the luxury to slum around the house and just enjoy the family. Makes me kinda wanna prepare the meal every Christmas Eve. Of course we ALL did what we normally do...we eat so much of the "can't live without" spinach dip that we're full before the main meal is ready!But then there's always room for dessert....and a one of a kind dessert it is...Course we all had a great time opening presents too...A GOOD DAY! MERRY CHRISTMAS YA'LL!!! :)

I Give up....

So I keep waiting to post current things in our lives until I catch up on the blogging past. I've come to the conclusion that it AIN'T happenin'!!! So...instead of just getting further and further away from EVER posting I'm diving in and keeping you in the loop! Hopefully...in my dreams...I'll back track at some point and fill in the blanks!

Fall is Upon Us....

So many of my friends are pulling out the fall recipes...soups and crock pot yummies. Got me thinking about this one..one of my all time favs! I like to use this on day 2 of leftover Thanksgiving turkey then we can't make ourselves eat another cold turkey sandwich. It's also REALLY good with chicken...all over rice....yummmmmm!

SOUTHWESTERN TURKEY

1 Tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1 1/4 pounds turkey breast tenderloins, cut into 1-inch cubes.
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with Mexican seasoning, undrained (I use ROTEL)
1/2 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 Tablespoon chili powder
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook turkey in oil 4 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown. Eliminate this step if your using your already cooked leftover Thanksgiving turkey. :) Place turkey in 2 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker.

2. Mix remaining ingredients; pour over turkey.

3. Cover and cook on low heat setting 4 to 6 hours or until turkey is no longer pink in center.

*I add one can of southwestern corn.

1 Serving: Calories 125 (Calories from Fat 20); Fat 3g (Saturated 0g); Cholesterol 60mg: Sodium 350mg: Carbohydrate 5g (Dietary Fiber 1g); Protein 23g.

ENJOY! :)

We've BRIDGED to the next step...

Well after 5 months the mid-evil lookin' contraption is out of Celeste's mouth! HOORAY! She now has a fancy retainer she wears at night...of course none other than hot pink with black glitter molded into it...who knew they could get so fancy!She was sooo excited to finally get it out!! Of course I guess she needed a reminder of what it looked like cause for some reason it came home with us!!! WHY IN THE WORLD do the techs ask children if they want to keep those things!?!??!So...step one down! Now we're ready to bridge over to the next money pit...retainer for a few years then braces. I know I'm just getting started, but I have a feeling that it's never ending with kiddos!!! GOOD TIMES! ;)

Jam, jam, jam!!!

Even after 3 years I'm still floored on all the wild blackberries that grow here in Washington. I remember the first trip we made into the mountains just about two weeks after we moved here. The weather was cold compared to the 103 degrees we had just came from but gorgeous none the less. People were out everywhere! Apparently everyone else had the bright idea to head out of town too. The little two lane State highway was backed up and at many times at a dead stop. Every time we would come to a halt I would jump out of the car and fill up this water jug we had with as many blackberries as possible. I'm sure I stood out like a sore thumb as a "tourist" but we were just amazed at the blackberries...I mean, right there lined up on the road side just 8 feet away from the car door!!! Well, we STILL love the blackberries just as much now. Last year the weather didn't quite cooperator with us and we didn't have a super productive berry season...this year has been a whole different story. I had already warned the family that we would be doing some SERIOUS picking this summer as to stock up before we transferred to Florida in November. Well guess what we've done two days this past week? Yep...some 25 cups of blackberries....all waiting for a yummy dish. Most of it has gone to blackberry jam and some is waiting for a bowl of vanilla ice cream and others are waiting for cobbler!!! I need to grab a towel and clean up the drool now...

Of course picking berries sometimes comes with casualties!!! And YES my neighbor has already pointed out my lovely fashion statement in the making!

It REALLY did hurt...and it was WAY worse than what this picture is showing! OUCH! Love the stained berry hands...not sure which is berries and what is blood!

My mouth was already going crazy smelling it!!! Good thing the cook gets to sample!!

But of course the end product is the BEST! Canned and ready to head to Florida (or where ever the Navy decides to send us)!!! And more importantly these berries were picked with love and will be eaten...all with love!