Happy Happy Birthday!

To my Beautiful Mother!

Thank you for all that you are and for all of the ways that you bless us daily!

We love you very much!

Meet Mo!

Introducing the newest member of the Cruson family!

Mo!Santa was good to us this year!

We are so excited to have this new baby as a part of our family!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy Happy New Year!

My Favorite Christmas Recipe!

NeNa's Homemade STRAWBERRY BREAD!

(that's NeNa in the middle)

This is my FAVORITE Christmas Recipe and the ONLY thing I can make from scratch...seriously!

It's is my sweet little Nena's recipe from a long time ago. I still have the original recipe that is written in her handwriting and I still use it when I bake this at Christmastime, it still makes me smile everytime I pull it out.

It is so yummy, I just had to share it! So get out those pencils and recipe cards and get to crackin'!

Nena's Homemade Strawberry Bread

Mix:

3 cups of flour

2 cups of sugar

1 tsp soda

2 tsp cinnamon

Then add:

4 eggs

1/2 cup cooking oil

(2) 10 oz. pkg. of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Mix well. Bake at 350 about 40 minutes.

It makes 3 of the big aluminum bread tins or around 7 of the extra small tins.

(And it's REAL good for you too!!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

It's Been a While......

......Since our last official Family Photo.....almost nine years to be exact.

This family photo was taken one month after we nearly lost Hallie. It has always meant alot to me and has always hung in our front entryway. It is a constant reminder to me of the gifts that God has so richly blessed me with and allowed me to keep. I will forever treasure this portrait as it captures a time in my life that I never want to forget.....

a time of darkness and fear,

a time of completely putting myself at the feet of my Lord and begging Him to heal my baby,

a time of absolute trust in the Lord as He worked in our lives,

a time of actually feeling His arms wrapped around me and my child as she struggled,

and a time of Rejoicing as He has made His presence known in so many special ways.

This portrait will always be our "first Family photo" and will always hang in our home, but over the years.... WOW! how we have changed and when a very special lady http://www.mycharmingkids.net/ who went through her very own struggles of nearly losing a child, announced she was visiting Texas to do photoshoots...I knew it was time.

I can not wait to meet MckMama in person in the morning and have her share her incredible talent with my family!

39.....

FOREVER!

Today I turned 39.

It will be the last official birthday that I will ever be celebrating......

(with the exception of receiving gifts, this I will allow to continue).

Thankful for.......

Sweet hugs.

Precious children.

Amazing family.

Great friends.

A Wonderful life.

Wishing everyone the Happiest of Thanksgivings this year!

My Attempt at a Fall Photoshoot.....

The girls and I went out yesterday and just drove looking for fun places to stop and take pictures. We had so much fun! Here are a few shots from my amateur photoshoot....

Not a tough job at all when your subjects are so cute!!

Thursday's Menu: Buffalo.......

So you obviously know what comes to 4th grade Social Studies the week before Thanksgiving! Why the study of the Pilgrims & Indians, of course.

Hallie was beside herself yesterday as she danced, giggled, and announced........

"I can't wait until Thursday!" she joyfully exclaimed.

"Why?! I anxiously asked.

"Because we get to eat BUFFALO BALLS!" she said with uncontainable 4th grade pride.

"Whaaaa?" I nervously questioned.

"BUFFALO BALLS! You know B-U-F-F-A-L-O meat rolled into a B-A-L-L!" she spelled out ever so sarcastically, because good grief, what else could I be thinking!?

Hello!? Hence the name BUFFALO BALLS!

"OH! Buffalo Balls, of course...Yum, I wish I was in 4th grade!"

My question is.....when the teacher told them what Thursday's "palate-friendly" lesson would hold, how did she do that with a straight face?

Little Piece of Heaven on Earth!

Have you ever had a Sprinkles Cupcake? If you haven't, you MUST! They are a little bit of Heaven here on Earth!

Don't they look delicious!?

THEY ARE!!

ModgePodge Remodel...

Kellyskornerblog.com is hosting "Show Us Your Life" and today's featured room is the BATHROOM! Since I just redid the girl's bathroom last summer, I thought it would be fun to participate.

I always loved this bathroom, but the girls began to complain that it was a bit too "Blahhh"....I had to agree, so we decided to add some color! I took some "Blahh Before" pictures, before I went MODGEPODGE NUTS on the place.

Here are a couple of befores..
I know, Blahhhh! huh?

and here are some AFTERS....

This wall shelf needed its own little makeover...

So BEFORE:

and now AFTER: TA-DAAA!
The cabinets were for sure in need of some fabulous color....

and now I love me some BLUE cabinets!

I call this the ModgePodge Remodel, because after this bathroom redo, I should own stock in Hobby Lobby and it's ModgePodge aisle.
It was a messy project, but lots of fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Squirrely Kind of Love.......

Yesterday, while sitting in the car waiting for my oldest daughter to come out from a friend's house, I noticed Hallie sitting very still watching a squirrel scampering around in the yard. After a few moments of silent squirrel observation, she said, "Oh yea! Look at that little guy, he is DEFINITELY lookin' for a lady!"

Not real sure why she thought he looked like he was in need of a "lady"??

What I saw was a squirrel running around chasing his nuts....

(my apologies for the play on words, but seriously he was!)

I guess she saw something different.

Meet Khloe!

Khloe is the newest gal on my Pepa's farm! Isn't she pretty! She is might fiesty too!

The girls named her after Khloe Kardashian, of course!

Happy Halloween!

From our Creepy Clan to Yours!!

Come On Now!!!!

Get those ANTLERS UP!

We may have lost Game One, but isn't Game One like just a practice round anyways!?

Let's Go RANGERS!!!

IT'S TIME!

Rangers FEVER!

Everyone has caught the TEXAS RANGERS FEVER!

WORLD SERIES 2010!!

Antlers UP!

RESCUED!

What an amazing testimony to the human spirit and NEVER GIVING UP!

So happy for these 33 amazing men and their families!

The Flood of 2010!

Up until September 8th, 2010, I had never seen this much rain in this short of time.....

Luckily, we survived without any damage.....
Well......most of us did!

This poor little gopher guy...not so lucky!

On September 9th, 2025....

You'll be 55...I'll be 53....Riley will be 28...Hallie will be 24......and....

I'll be in love with you as much as I am today and then some!!

Happy 15th Anniversary to my best friend in the whole world!

9/9/95

A School Packed September!

Back to school! We started our last year of Middle School for Riley! gulp! She'll be a Grapevine Mustang next year at this time!

Hallie started 4th grade and is rockin the grade book as we wrap up the 1st 6 weeks ALREADY!! She LOVES the 4th grade and is looking forward to next year when she will be a 5th grader who rules the school!

Speaking of "rulin' the school" I had a BLAST with some old high school buddies as we welcomed TROY home from Washington (even if it was just for a bit)!

SO GREAT to see some old friends in REAL LIFE and not just on FACEBOOK!!

Never Forget.......this day

This picture was taken in 1998.
I didn't know at the time how special it would be to me in 2010.

Remembering 9-11-01,
Praying for our country that seems so lost, and
Flying my flag a little higher than usual today.

Wrap It Up Already......

Sheeesh!! I gotta wrap up this trip already! Good grief it's already September and it looks like we are still on vacation in Colorado! I gotta catch up!

So.....the vacation was great....we headed back home to 110 degree weather...blah blah blah...

The End!

There...now on to the here and now!



Happy September to everyone!

Estes Park & Ghost Hunting!

Today we traveled up to Estes Park. Estes Park is home of The Stanley Hotel.......

The Stanley Hotel is over 100 years old and is host to many "spirits" that have checked in over the years. The hotel is also famous for being the setting of one of the most chilling horror movies ever written..."The Shining" by Stephen King. While The Kings were visiting Estes Park, the idea for the film came to him as he was roaming the halls of The Stanley Hotel.

We didn't catch any glimpses of any ghosts...until...I developed the pictures!! (take a closer looooook....) BOO!

We spent the rest of the day playing cards and feeding chipmunks by a gorgeous lake and caught these two beauties having a snack on the side of the road. It was an absolutely wonderful day!!

Bigger Hiking!!

Today Tori took us on a REAL hike!! and I officially crowned myself the SLOWEST HIKER ever!It was tough, but so much fun looking at the gorgeous scenery!! Seriously, you have to believe in God when you see such a magnificent portrait that He has painted in those mountains!! (and you have to BELIEVE when you're praying hard that you'll survive this hike!)



It was fun, we saw beautiful flowers, an amazing waterfall, took tons of pictures, and were blessed on our way down from the hike by the most beautiful rainbow you have ever seen! I took it as God's way of saying, "Thanks for coming!"
Tomorrow we go GHOST HUNTING!