Piano Recital

The girls had their Christmas Piano Recital a couple weekends ago.  As my sweet girls played their beautiful Christmas songs, I was encouraged and amazed at how much they have learned.  My oldest daughter started piano lessons in the First Grade and has been through three teachers in five years.  Her first teacher went off to college and her second teacher taught her one semester and then closed her piano studio. Their current teacher is amazing.  She loves the Lord, is so very patient, and such a sweet young lady. 

My youngest daughter began in First Grade (last year) and loves it!  She is learning so much so fast.  When the girls get discouraged I tell them to keep practicing because right now they are learning fundamentals and soon they will get to play fun songs that they know and enjoy.  My oldest daughter is almost there, she loves to sit and play through her piano book.  My youngest is still tinkering through, although she loved her Christmas Piano Book, because she could play and sing along. Such a sweet sound that brings tears to my eyes!

So very thankful for our amazing piano teacher and her love and patience with my children.

My Girls!

Every year we try and go to my mother-in-law's house to decorate her house for Christmas! We put up the tree, set up the Nativity, and dress up the mantel.  We turn on Christmas music and enjoy our time together singing and sharing wonderful memories of the past and making new ones with our girls! 

The girls are growing up too fast!  I remember the days of potty training and temper tantrums. I thought that those days would never end. But they did and we all survived. Now, here we are my oldest will be in 6th Grade next year and my youngest will be in 3rd Grade! It is really hard for me to believe!

Now we have new hurdles to jump over as they get older and I will trust in the fact that God will see us through them as he did when they were little. They are truly blessings from Him and it is my prayer that we will guide them and instruct them according to His will!

Chick-fil-a Nuggets

I got another recipe of f of Pinterest that I made again!  We LOVE Chik-fil-a, so I had to make these nuggets!  They were pretty good, but they were not Chik-fil-a's nuggets! My family enjoyed them!  That is what matters the most!  The recipe came from this blog and I followed it exactly!

Don't forget to soak your chicken pieces for 2 hours in the refrigerator before you toss them in the breading!

 

I was a little skeptical about using a zip loc baggie to coat my chicken pieces, but it worked great!

I used Peanut Oil to fry them and it worked great!

Here they are on my plate, ready for me to enjoy!!!!

Here is the recipe and cooking instructions from that blog:

Sweet Chicky Nuggets 
2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts 
1 cup milk 
1 egg 
1 1/4 cups flour 
2 TBSP powdered sugar 
2 tsp salt 
1 tsp pepper 
peanut oil (is best) or canola oil 

In a medium bowl whisk the egg and stir in the milk. Trim any fat away from chicken. Cube chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken in milk mixture,and cover. Let it 'marinate' for 2-4 hours in the fridge. This will make the chicken very nice and tender. In a gallon size resealable baggie combine flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper. Seal and shake to combine. Place about 2 inches of oil in a medium deep pot. Over medium high heat (more towards the high side) heat oil until hot. If using a thermometer let the temperature reach 375°. If you don't have a fancy gadget like most people, I always test my oil by dropping a few drops of water into it. You want it to sizzle and not pop too much. Adjust your heat if necessary. Using a fork or tongs remove cut chicken from milk mixture and place in the flour mixture. Seal and shake until nuggets are completely coated. Place about a 6-8 nuggets into hot oil and let them cook until golden brown, turning half way through once the edge of your chicken starts to turn white. About 1 minute each side. Always double check to see if any chicken you make is cooked through. I always just make a tiny cut to see if it's pink. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked.

Crock Pot Egg Brunch Casserole!

I found a yummy breakfast recipe on Pinterest the other day and made it for my family. It is called Crock Pot Egg Brunch Casserole!  It was was a little involved, but it was really good. I made mine a little different from the recipe that I found, but you can find the original recipe at this blog.  

My Ingredients:
6 to 8 strips of bacon  (I bake mine in the oven at 350 degrees)

One onion peeled and chopped (I used half of an onion)

One Garlic Clove, peeled and minced (I used minced garlic that I bought at the store)

2lb. bag of Frozen Hash Browns

1 1/2 cups of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

12 Eggs

1 Cup of Milk

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Pepper

• Spay Crock Pot with Non-Stick Cooking Spray.
• Cut cooked bacon in 1/2 inch pieces.
• Saute the Onion and Garlic.
• Place 1/3 of the Hash Browns in the bottom of the Crock Pot.
• Then layer with Bacon. 
• Then layer with Onions & Garlic.
• Then layer with Cheese.
• Repeat layers 2 more times ending with cheese.
• In a large bowl mix Eggs, Milk, and Salt & Pepper.
• Pour over the top of the ingredients in the crock pot.
• Cover and turn on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge

This photo was entered into the I Heart Faces photo challenge - www.iheartfaces.com

Focus on the Family

I started getting the Thriving Family magazine from Focus on the Family in August of this year! I have no idea who may have started this subscription for me, but I love it! Thank you to whomever got this for me! I got the December magazine in the mail yesterday and opened it up today and the first thing I open up to is this little advent calendar book! I am so excited about it because we have been searching for something we can do each day with the girls that would put more focus on Christ's birth and less focus on presents and ourselves this Christmas season. Each day we read two scriptures and then we have a little activity to do with the girls! I can't wait to start this with them.

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Daily/Weekly/Monthly Chores

Ok, so I have decided that I am not the organizing guru that I have claimed to be.  That or I am just a poor manager of my time. If only I could get by on a couple of hours of sleep, I might be able to cross off some things on my list.


My To Do List:

• Repaint the Playroom
• Reorganize the Playroom
• Clean out Spring & Summer clothes in the grils' closets
• Scan/File the girls' school work or projects 
• Update filing system (remember that I mentioned I had a new system, I haven't started)
• Paint Chalkboard on back of door leading to the garage
• Clean out basket filing system (a project that my bff and I did)
• Organize Scrapbook Supplies
• Create Photography Website
• Create Business Cards
• Organize Stock Pile
• Organize Storage room
• Finish Christmas Shopping
• Keep up with daily/weekly/monthly chores
• Edit Pictures
• MOPS stuff (if varies each week)

So I have created and will share my schedule to help me tackle this overwhelming list. I just hope that I can stick to it and that it helps me!