Good Morning!  Only one more week until Christmas!!  I did some baking this weekend.  Had Ben help me, which was a huge help, he’s a natural, must be all those cooking shows he watches.  Wednesday they will be done with school.  They did so much better this semester, learning how to plan and do things on their own, which was wonderful as I had been working more.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week, and a very Merry Christmas!!

 Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

RECIPE I WANT TO TRY:

I love Andes mints, this looks delish!!

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNET:

Amazing!!

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

Not much other than getting ready for the holiday weekend.  I have all my shopping done, I look forward to wrapping gifts.

I had entered the November Word Weaver Contest, and Sunday the finalists were listed, and I’m on the list!!  Just don’t know what place I’m in.  Dan decided to do this different this time, and not announce the winners all at once.  Each day he announce a winner until the top spot is revealed.  I’m excited to see how I did this time, I submitted one of my favorite stories.

QUOTES:

ON MY PLAYLIST:

Good Morning!  I’ve been MIA the last couple of weeks.  Not much going on other then the bookkeeping projects I’m working on, but I’m enjoying the work.  We got our first snow this past week, maybe an inch, still some lingering on the grass.  Ben looked up the weather the other day on his tablet, and was so excited because he found that the south and the east coast have been hit by Winter Storm Benji, he was hoping it would come our way, but it didn’t.  Yep, that’s my son, loving that snow! Only two weeks until Christmas!! Hope everyone is getting into the holiday spirit.

 Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

RECIPE I WANT TO TRY:

This looks pretty yummy, not sure I’d do it for a party, but something I’d like to try as a side with lasagna or spaghetti for dinner.

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

FAVORITE VIDEO FROM THE INTERNET:

This is a video that my oldest son co-produced with one of his friends.  He also did the lighting for it.  What’s fun for me to watch is seeing a couple of his friends as the actors, and some of the video was shot in town.  The guy who plays the “bully” is Josh’s friend he grew up with (he’s really a nice guy, lol), I have known him since he was 10, so I consider him as one of my kids.  I’m able to watch it and see the different details that went into it, knowing they did it on their own.  I’m just excited to see a group of young people working together on a fun project, not to mention the song is the type of music I would have listened to “back in the day,” who am I kidding, I’m still enjoying it today.

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

We were able to do our decorating the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We had a nice warm weekend, so I put the lights up outside.  We didn’t officially turn them on until December 1, when our town did their holiday parade and tree lighting.  It’s the same floats each year, but it’s a fun tradition.  I always meet up with my sister and her grown kids.  Our town hall is decked out all in lights again this year.  A lot of the shops in town have decorated their windows for a window contest; some very beautiful displays.  My friend Kathleen owns the t-shirt shop, so they did a clever social media display, where you can go and take an “elfie” with Santa.  So I did that after the parade.  If you then post it, she enters you into a drawing to win a gift card.  A couple of the shops stayed open late after the parade, so Liv and I did a little shopping.  Well she did, my shopping is done.  The other day it was like a conga line outside my house, with the UPS, FedX and USPS trucks lined up to deliver my packages. Okay, maybe not exactly like that, but close. #onlineshopper

Friday night the kids and I went to the “newlywed’s” house, my nephew and his wife, for a Christmas movie night.  We watched The Muppets Christmas Carol, had pizza and holiday snacks with hot cocoa.  Even though we have seen these movies before it’s a fun time enjoying it with family.

FAVORITE PIC(S) FROM THE CAMERA:

This is one of our newest decorations.  We have these built in little nooks in between the living room and dining room.  My mom loves the movie Polar Express.  Livi gave her the tickets for her birthday back in November, and the train was my dad’s.

Even though I have been working a lot.  My little corner in the kitchen is full of holiday cheer, so it’s not so bad working.  Plus this little guy keeps me company, sitting on my laptop.  Livi got that for me when we were out shopping the other night.  Polar Bears and Snowmen, my two favorites!

QUOTES:

ON MY PLAYLIST:

Good Evening!!  It’s late, but it’s still Monday. 😀 I have two big bookkeeping projects I am working on, so that is what is occupying my time.  Along with planning for Thanksgiving, and figuring out when we’ll get the Christmas decorations up, once Thanksgiving is over.  Looks like Friday will be in the 50’s, so since I am in charge of exterior illumination, I need to take advantage of the nice weather.

Wishing everyone a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving!!

 Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

RECIPE TO SHARE:

This is one of the side dishes I make for Thanksgiving day, that my kids absolutely love.

Homemade Mac-n-Cheese

3 T buter

¼ c flour

1 t. salt

½ t. dry mustard

¼ t. pepper

2 ½ c milk

2 c cheddar cheese

1 c mozzarella cheese

1 box elbow macaroni (16 oz.)

Cook macaroni per box instructions.

In large saucepan, melt butter over low hear.  Stir in flour, salt, mustard and pepper until smoth; take off heat.  Little by little, stir in milk until smooth.  Stir constantly for 10 minutes on heat until thick.  Lower heat stir in cheddar cheese, velveeta cheese, and mozzarella cheese until melted.  Mix in cooked macaroni.

Pour into greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle paprika over the top.  Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

LOL CHUCKLES AND GIGGLES:

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

I have also been working on two of my stories.  There’s another Word Weaver Writing Contest for November.  Since I couldn’t decide on which one to choose from, I will be entering both.  There’s still time, the theme is “Relationships.”  Yep, right up my alley 😀  If you’re a writer, this is a fantastic opportunity, there are some really good prizes, and working with Dan is a lot of fun.  He has also added two more “celebrity” judges.  You can find all the information here.

QUOTES:

ON MY PLAYLIST: