day 26.....

i saw this quote the other day on Lynette's blog and LOVED it.

never mind the fact that the Narnia movies are my favorite movies of all time.

i just LOVE the truth of this statement!!!

He's the King and He's SO good.
my niece, Taya bought me this super cool dry erase board. (thanks Tay) so pretty.

this quote is a great way to break it in....more great quotes to follow!!

the best money, my parents ever spent on my children. no really, the best money.

who would've thought $16.00 could bring SO much joy. HOURS of joy. on night, long after the boys were in bed, i caught the hub playing.

(so, my hub thanks you too)

he looks so old, this half asleep, middle child of mine.

my parents were kind enough to let me borrow their house while they were in China.
ok, they didn't technically give me permission but i knew they would. plus, it's attached to my house so i guess that gave me a little less guilt about barging in there. it just seemed easier to lay it all out on their floor to separate it before putting it all back up in the attic.
this year, for the FIRST time in the history of my married life, i organized my Christmas stuff before storing it away. i mean, CRAZY lady organized. i wrapped each and every one in tissue paper. when i ran out of that, i improvised and used coffee filters. hey, it worked. yup, it did.
i was a little obsessed over this. all like colors must go together.
red.
silver.
green.
and of course the boxs & boxs of ornament's that have been hanging around for 15+ years,i'm sure they've never felt like they mattered to me. after all, they're part of a hodgepodge, so i must not love them like i do my pretty stuff. well, it's kind of true. i do like my pretties. still, there is something to be said for old, sometimes ugly ornaments. let us not forget the whole sentimental value. cuz they've got that.
any who...my point being, i love all my Christmas stuff but come Dec. 26, i'm ready to pack um up. this year i sorted, packed (properly!!) and boxed them up. my crazy organized sister would be so proud.
i can tell i took my sleeping pill about 15 mins. ago because i'm starting to rabble on about stuff that will make very little sense in the morning. maybe i better stop blogging now for the night?
oh, what the heck....this could just be getting interesting.

for you,miss janice...

i know you're checking my blog,miss janice. (thanks for not giving up!)

you've been ridiculously patient waiting on this recipe so this ones for you!! :)

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Enchilada recipe!!!!!

1/2 lb. ground beef

1/4 C. chopped onion

2 T. chopped green chili's

1 small can tomato sauce

1 can (i use the packets instead) mild enchilada sauce

1/2 C. sour cream

2 C. shredded cheese

8 soft tortillas

In a large skillet, brown hamburger, onions, and chili's until hamburger is cooked & onions are transparent. Stir in tomato sauce & 1 C. of the shredded cheese. Place a spoonful of the meat mixture in the center of each tortilla, roll it up, and place in greased backing dish, seam side down. Pour enchilada sauce over tortillas; sprinkle with the rest of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins (or until bubbly).

Serve with a dollop (good word, huh?) of sour cream over a bed of shredded lettuce.

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There you have it. you've been patient and i thank you.

try and keep up....

this is my boy, who was NONE to happy about having his picture taken.
 he may LOOK like he's giving me a genuine smile but he. is. NOT. 
but, it was his birthday and he is 9 now so i guess he can make his own choices. 
mercy me. 

after his big birthday dinner, jack chose to go see the new Narnia movie.

                                                                                           OH MY WORD.
                                                           one of the BEST movies i have seen in a LONG time!
     my boys understood the spirtiaul significance of it, which lead to many questions and some great discussion.

every year, for the past 14 years, my hub has brought me roses for our anniversary.

back in the day, he'd spend the bank on them.

now, thankfully, he stops off at Safeway on the way home from work.

i love that he's not only thoughtful but he's dutch.

it's such a sweet sentiment that i can always count on.

i love you babe.

my brother, brady is a strange and wonderful creature. he is also the MOST random people i know.

there is NEVER a dull moment when brady is in the room.

Christmas day, he found a bag of popcorn in my pantry.

his favorite kind of popcorn i might add.

so, not wanting to share, he writes, with a Sharpie on the side of the bag.....

"these are gross. you DON'T want to eat them".

ha.

he continued to eat it, alone.

growing up, one of my best memories was hanging out in the basement of the church while all the mom's made homemade 'pig-in-the-blankets'. i'm assuming it's a east coast term since i've never seen them around here.

anywho, i got a wild hair and decided that we MUST make these on Christmas Day.

so, my mom,myself & my brothers went to making these bad boys.

it was a long process but oh, SO worth the labor!

it was a blast baking with my brothers again.

just like old times.

oh, sorry, we've never actually cooked together.

it just sounded very 'Cleaver family' to say that.

here's to new traditions.

next year we're making grandmas date cookies.

stay tuned.

this is my dad. i love his smile.

this is my older brother. i love him just because he's my older brother. (and a few other reasons.)

this is lisa.

 lisa is fun.

SO glad that my older brother, whom i love just because he's my brother, choose her to join our family.

she's awesome.

this is the DARLING apron that my sister, who is also awesome, made for her for Christmas.

really, too cute to see in a picture.

it was SOOO lisa!

this is my mom.

i love her too.

this is a beautiful teacup that her and my sister have been passing around for years

i lied.

it's not beautiful.

it's ugly.

no, really, it's ugly.

the toy of the season....'Hex bugs'.

plastic little bugs that move.

gross?

not even a little.

weird?

a little.

the WII.

don't think i need to say anymore.

i forgot to take a picture of my Christmas cards while they were hanging up.

duh.

here's the stack. we were blessed with SO many great cards this year.

(thanks to all  119 of you who sent us one!)

just not as prudy as they were hanging.

still, i like me my Christmas cards.

my bud, max loves to help me in the kitchen.

 i usually need to give him the boot...he likes eating the frosting more than he likes decorating.

go figure.

this is one of my best worldly possessions. i got it for my birthday, back in July and i still love it as much as the day i got it!

the new case is compliments of the hub.

well, kind of.

he bought me one.

it didn't fit.

he returned it.

i bought another one.

so, merry Christmas to me. thanks babe.

since my folks were heading off to China, we wanted to give them a proper send off dinner.

in our home, it's the 'party grill'.

it's a hodge-podge of food.

like i said, it's a party.

sam wanted to make sure we heard him.

yes, son, we always hear you. :)

below is picture of the hub's matchbox car collection that we found at his mom's the other day.

they don't make um like they used to.

35 years and still going strong.

although, i would be too if you stuck me in a box, up in the attic for 25 years.

decluttering maddness!!

the sad before shot....

 most families have one junk drawer.

 i've even heard that there may be a family out there that doesn't have even ONE.

 gasp.

 must have just been a rumor.

but here at the liks, we like junk drawers.

we like um so much we need two.

not really NEED but, ok, we NEED two.

i won't even tell you about the room in our house that we call an office.

in reality, it's just one big junk ROOM!

no, really, it's all true. that room will be saved for a whole nother blog post. i'll post that one when i have a little of my pride back. after all, i did show you my two junk drawers.

my pretty after.....

 i love mugs.

i especially love Starbucks mugs.

love the different shapes, sizes and colors.

i love that a company can come up with really cute LIME GREEN mugs!

Wednesday was my stay at home, purging ALL day, day.

you have no idea how much i love those days.

i covet and appreciate them.

my cup cupboard was high on the 'must do' list.

so the best way to organize is to take EVERYTHING out, then put back in only what you NEED.

just for the record, i put them ALL back in. every girl NEEDS 35 mugs, right??

 one of my favorite parts of my Starbucks mug collection is my stash of City Mugs.

lots of these cities i have never been in. (i have nice people pick them up for me when they're someplace i'll probably never get).

here's what i have....just in case one of YOU nice people want to send me a mug! :)

MEMPHIS

LAS VEGAS

WHISTLER

MAUI

PHOENIX

ORANGE COUNTY

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

CHICAGO

CANADA-OLYMPICS

SAN DIEGO

 here's the whole team!

 mother, not that you haven't already put a big dent in my collection but since you're there, i thought i'd remind you of the ones you've already bought me, JUST IN CASE you were thinking of getting me another one.

tiny, little  hint. i'd LOVE another one. :)

 DONE. DONE. DONE. DONE. DONE.

 snicker doodles! my fams fav!

 recipe book, shopping list & the stack of coupons that will probably never make it to the checker.



purse cleaning. yes, most of this was actually in there. except for the laptop, of course.

and the plant.

and the green tray.

and the bench.

and the chair...

ok, just the papers came out of there.

dang, i need to go to bed.

good night.