1st day of Pre-School

I'm a little late getting these pics posted but better late than never, right?  Winston has been waiting anxiously all summer long for his first day of school.  He was so excited to finally get to go.
 

He picked out what he wanted to wear the night before and had it all laid out - ready to put on as soon as he woke up.  When it was time to leave he was even telling me to hurry up - a first for him (I'm usually the one telling him to hurry.)  I love watching him grow up and seeing him feel so proud.  He makes my heart smile.  :)

Chex/Graham Mix - a Family Favorite

This is a recipe I gained/inherited from Brad's mom.  It's a favorite of their family - she made it every year for Christmas.  It's a favorite of our family too but we make it all the time - it's too good to only have at Christmas time.  Another plus - it only takes about 15 minutes to make two cookie sheets full of wonderful deliciousness.  Don't you just love an easy and super yummy recipe?  Me too!  :)

Chex/Graham Mix

Mix together in a large bowl:

1/2 box Rice Chex

1/2 box Golden Grahams

1 1/2 cups shredded, sweetened coconut

1 1/2 cups sliced almonds

In a sauce pan, combine:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup light Karo syrup

Stir over medium to medium high heat until mixture begins to boil.  Bring to a full boil and boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla until well mixed.  Immediately pour over the cereal mixture and stir until well coated.  Spread  mixture out on two wax paper covered cookie sheets to cool.  Enjoy!

 

10 Day Challenge - Day Ten

And last but not least day ten: Ten Secrets

1. I'd LOVE to be a stay at home mom while Winston is still young.
2. I wish I could work from home.
3. I want to go back to school and finish my degree.
4. I love my boys more than I can say and wouldn't trade them for anything, but I do wish I'd been able to have a daughter or two.
5. I'm very shy and more often than not feel extremely awkward in social settings.  I also wish I had more really close friends but the shyness is always holding me back.
6. I'm looking forward to having grand children someday. (no rush though!)
7. I'd love to travel and am looking forward to the day when Brad and I can travel together - just the two of us.
8. I'm a terrible procrastinator and always have been.
9. My house is more often a clutterly mess than not.
10. Sometimes I long to have a day where I could sleep in, lounge around half the day with a good book and spend the other half watching some good chick flicks all by myself.

Well, that's the end.  It's been fun to share a little about myself these past 10 days.  :)

10 Day Challenge - Day Nine

Wow, on to day nine already:  Nine Loves

1. Brad - my true love & best friend.
2. My boys - all three of them!
3. Being a mom - the most satisfying and enjoyable job/work I've ever done.
4. Chocolate Fudge ice cream from Baskin Robbins.
5. Water skiing on a calm, hot day at Lake Powell.
6. The smell of cottonwood trees in the rain.
7. A good book.
8. Fall drives with Brad to see the beautiful leaves.
9. Our Heavenly Father, my faith and beliefs.  I love the hope and peace they bring to my life.

10 Day Challenge - Day Eight

A harder one today - Eight Fears:

1. Not being able to fully enjoy Winston's childhood.
2. I'm very afraid of heights.
3. I'm also quite claustrophobic.
4. Losing one of my children.
5. Losing my health and not being able to be here for my family.
6. Having financial problems.
7. This one's irrational but when we go to a movie, I worry about getting lice by sitting in a chair that's been infested.  YUCK!
8. Injury - to me, Brad or one of our boys.

10 Day Challenge - Day Seven

The days are going by too quickly!  Seven Wants:

1. I really want to be 12 pounds lighter!  Sigh!!
2. I'd love to have more time to read - uninterupted time!
3. A Dunford Chocolate Donut - Mmmm! (I never do get these because of #1)
4. A week long vacation to Lake Powell starting tomorrow - wishful thinking!
5. A pedicure and glitter toes - actually, why stop there.  A whole day at the spa getting the works done from head to toe.
6. More time with my family.  :)
7. To be better organized - my life has gotten too clutery lately and I could use a good spring cleaning!

10 Day Challenge - Day Six

Day six already:  Six Places - in a random order:

1. Hawaii - I've never been & have always wanted to go.
2. Lake Powell - One of my favorite vacation places.
3. The Redwoods and Sequoia National Park - during the summer & again in winter for the Christmas Festival.
4. Europe - specifically Italy, Germany and Greece - gorgeous countryside and lots of history.
5. Home - with my family around me.  :)
6. Somewhere in the Caribbean - any island with white sandy beaches and a full service hotel will do.

10 Day Challenge - Day Five

Five Foods - don't you just love good food?

1. German Chocolate Cake with that delightful frosting.  Mmmm
2. My mom's crescent rolls - a favorite since childhood
3. Warm Cinnamon Rolls with lots of cream cheese frosting.  Ahhh!
4. My Mint Chocolate Brownies - one of my all time favorites and I can never eat just one. 
5. Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie - the hot fudge and caramel drizzled over vanilla ice cream and the cookie is pur bliss for my tastebuds.

Wow, it's hard to stop at just five when I could go on and on and on ...

10 Day Challenge - Day Four

Four Books:

This one is tougher - I love to read and have many favorites.  I'll just pick four- not necessarily my four top favorites.

1. Pride and Prejudice - This is probably my all time favorite book and I read it once a year.
2. My Dog Skip - a wonderful compilation of stories
3. My Antonia - Another favorite I reread every few years
4. The Help - I'm half way through this book right now and am really enjoying it.  Also, it refers to another favorite of mine - To Kill a Mockingbird.

The satisfaction gained from a good book is truly a pleasure.

10 Day You Challenge - Day Three

Three Films:

How to pick just three when there are so many great ones?  Hmmm...

1. Pride and Prejudice - the BBC one with Collin Firth
2. Sleepless in Seattle - I love the soundtrack too!
3. Charade - I love Aubrey! Hepburn and Cary Grant

10 Day Challenge - Day Two

Now on to day two:  Two Songs

For right now, two songs I love listening to are:

1. In my Daughter's Eyes by Martina McBride
2. A tie between The Way Love Looks and Roll with It, both by Easton Corbin

I guess that's cheating a little since I kind of picked three.  :)

P.S.  I forgot about a new song by Rodney Atkins -Take A Back Road which I'm really diggin' right now.   

10 Day Challenge - Day One

I saw this on another blog and thought it sounded interesting so I've decided to give it a try - here goes:

Day One - one picture of myself.

This picture of me and my little buddy is from a few weeks ago.  A friend of Brad's offered us tickets to a demolition derby.  I've never been to one before but have always wanted to.  It was a lot of fun - really!  We had a great time in spite of a massive thunder storm. I'll post about our adventure another day.