Cinnamon Rolls

I decided to pull off my own Pioneer Woman blog. If you don't know what that is, check out the http://www.pioneerwomancooks.com/ it's a woman who makes recipes and photographizes them! I am trying out a recipe of Aunt Debbi's today for Luke's party on the 15th. I didn't want to do a new recipe without trying it out first. These Cinnamon Rolls are supposed to be like Grandy's so enjoy the pics! I'll post later on how delicious they are!!!





The dough after you knead it for 5 minutes.



Aunt Debbi's recipe



It's doubled in size



Roll it out into a rectangle

Spread dough with butter and cinnamon and sugar and pecans.

Roll the dough into a log and use floss to cut it into rounds. Let rise again and then bake!

Christmas is finally here!!!

The trees on our kitchen table!

Thanks mom for these reindeers!

The tree in our bedroom. I knitted some of these!

Outside decor. It's prettier at night and we even have a blow-up reindeer.

Christmas is here!

Even the dogs need a tree! George loves to climb this one!

This is in Ginger's room. Don't know what to call the room anymore since she's not here, but I like this tree too!

This is the living room tree. Looks like ornaments threw up all over it but that's ok. It's our gingerbread/travel tree.

My glass Gingerbread stuff

The rest of it!! See what I mean??? They are even behind the loveseat!

Here are some pictures of the Christmas we have spread all over the house! Luke is so sweet to deal with it everywhere....but I think he enjoys it as much as I do! My Gingerbread men have been mulitplying in the attic because I don't remember having THAT much last year. Oh well! There's always room for more! My pictures aren't that great but at least you get the idea!

Fall Trip

This past Saturday Luke and I went with Mom and Dad to the northern part of the state to check out the fall color. It wasn't as spectacular as last year but pretty none the less. We stopped by Petit Jean and then headed north. We ate a picnic lunch at Rotary Ann. I think Luke must have eaten a dozen eggs on Saturday between the deviled eggs and his breakfast sandwiches!!! We finally ended up at Maplewood Cemetery in Harrison. The trees were so pretty. I did feel a little weird taking pics in a cemetery, but oh well. I think they turned out pretty good. We stopped at TCBY for some yogurt and even had time for a scrapbook store. Our last stop was Gilbert, where Sadie experienced the Buffalo River for the first time. That was pretty fun!

My ENT Appointment

I met with Dr. McGhee today to see what is up with my left ear. Well, it's what I expected... I have a hole the size of a penhead in my left eardrum. I go back in 6 weeks to see if it has healed up...and we'll decide what to do from there. The good news is he doesn't want to do a Tympanoplasty if he can help it!!! I had this done on my right ear about 10 years ago and have a rare thing where your jugular bulb rests in your middle ear...and normally you have a bone that protects that...well of course, I don't! So we don't want to deal with that again if we can help it. We'll just pray it heals and I can get some of my hearing back!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Bye Bye Fall....and HELLO CHRISTMAS!!!!

My stylish work outfit!

Mr. Attic Man

All our Christmas stuff!


Ok, so you think I'm nuts...but Luke helped me get the Christmas down yesterday. He decided that I was SO stylish in my "work" outfit that he wanted to take a pic...so I let him. Go ahead, laugh, but I was ready to work! It took me most of last night to get the mantle and my Gingerbread men all out. I'm still not completely done with it, but I'll post pics when it's finished. For now, enjoy looking at all of our junk!!!

Branson here we come!

Luke and I had the best time this weekend in Branson...my most favorite place in the whole world! We left early on Saturday morning and dropped Madison Murphy off at Dr. Mike's. (Uncle Nick stayed with everyone else, but she's a little special so she goes to Dr. Mike's). We stopped at the Gilbert Cafe in Gilbert, AR. I, of course, had to pet the dogs outside which was great! I had the Catfish Po Boy and Luke ate the Smoked Turkey Sandwhich. We even shared a bread pudding for dessert. It's to die for!

Then it was onto Branson. We went to the Tanger Mall, the Red Roof Mall, and then checked into our hotel. We decided to rest for a bit and then head on down to Branson Landings. They have a great Mexican Restraunt there we were wanting to eat at again. We waited for over and hour and a half to sit down, but it was well worth it. I didn't think I could take all the noise with my ear still acting up so we ate outside on the patio. We were able to watch the water show while we ate which was cool.

Sunday morning we finished up our shopping and going back to the Landings. We got a great deal at Belk and bought Luke 3 pairs of jeans for 35 bucks! We also went shopping at Lids...a hat store. Luke has such a big head (not his ego at all...yeah right haha!!!) that he has a hard time finding a hat. He has a hat right now that was Alabama, but he really wanted an Arkansas one. He found the one he wanted but it was 25 bucks! So because it had a sticker on it to "Buy 2 for 20 bucks) we looked and looked and LOOKED for another hat. Well, I don't really wear hats, but I did try on a Georgia Dawgs one for Jaime Deen. Which was kinda funny considering I was wearing my Paula shirt. Of course, the Dawgs didn't have the sticker deal so we found another one. Only it's not the Dawgs, but I'll just say it is because it has a dog on it! Oh to save a few dollars for Luke!

We stopped in the Bass Pro too! Well you can enjoy the pics. We had a blast. On the ear note, I go to the ENT on Monday, October 29th to see what he has to say. We'll see!!!

A Happy Cookie Accident

I was in the mood to make some cookies to take with us this weekend. So what did I grab?? Well the Paula Deen Baking Magazine of course. I spotted these Butterscotch Cookies that sounded good and I did have all the ingredients...so I went to work. While mixing up the batter I thought it was kind of thick, but it still tasted ok. Well it was thick for a reason...it called for 1 CUP of butter and I only put 1 stick. (that's only a 1/2 c.) So I baked them anyway and they are more cake-like but still good. Mom reminded me of how many calories I just saved and how Dad would probably eat these too! Thought I would share the recipe:

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies
1 c. butter, softened (I only used 1/2c)
1 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. quick cooking oats
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 pkg. butterscotch chips
1 c. chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add flour, oats, soda, salt, and beat together til mixed. Then stir in butterscotch chips and pecans (might have to use your fingers if you don't add the whole stick of butter).

** They are cake-like cookies, so if you like a soft one make it with one stick. If you like a crunchy one, I'm sure 2 sticks would do that for ya!

Enjoy!