The Kindgom is coming....

Walter with Mr. Jim

Everyone was SO excited Walter was playing the part!

Giving his testimony

Mr. Sharepoint himself! LOL!!! LONG STORY!!!!

Me and Mom

Dad and Jon our Minister of Music

Luke with Mr. Jim...AKA Tomb Man

The group!

Mom and Mr. Jim



We have been working for months on the Kingdom production already. We had our first meeting this past Tuesday in the conference room at church. Last night, the production was introduced to the choir. I think we had about 150 sign up to sing....that's not including the main cast! Walter Moon (the guy who plays Jesus) gave his testimony last night. It was just a constant reminder that we are important to God....and He loves us unconditionally!!! Enjoy a few shots from both nights....I'm still trying to get used to my camera so some of these are blurry!

Lasagna Soup

So I have a little extra time before Luke gets home from work....and I had to share my new recipe for tonight! Lasagna Soup!!! It's from Paula's Quick Fix Meals magazine and it's really good. I for one HATE regular Lasagna....too much cheese and gackiness for me. I hate the smell of it and everything. But, I have to say this soup is GOOD. I've already sampled some and it tastes really good....and it doesn't have all that nasty cheese!!!

Here's the Recipe:

Lasagna Soup:

1 lb. ground chuck

1 onion, chopped (I used half an onion)

1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used half a bell pepper)

3 cloves garlic, minced (just buy the jar stuff and put 2 small spoonfulls in)

1 (32 oz.) box Chicken Broth

2 (14.5 oz) petit diced tomatoes

1 (15oz) can tomato sauce

1 T. firmly packed brown sugar

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 t. salt

2 c. broken lasagna noodles

1 (5 oz can) Parmesan cheese (I only used a small spoonfull!!!)

Brown your meat with your onions, bell pepper, and garlic. Then add all the other ingredients. I also added 1 small can of chicken broth because I wanted it thinner, and since Luke is working late...it will have more time to cook down!! She has it in her recipe to put it oven proof bowls and top with Italian croutons and cheese....I'm not messing with all of that. We are going to top it with either Parmesan cheese or Cheddar Cheese. We also will have French Bread to go with it! This recipe is good!

Ok, what not to make and what to make!!!

I decided to use the leftover rice from the night before to make a rice pudding. So who did I turn to??? Well Paula of course....don't DO IT!!!! The rice pudding turned out GREAT! It was fluffy and beautiful (no I didn't take any pics....but trust me!!!) it just didn't do much for Luke and me. I have never had rice pudding before and didn't care one bit for the texture of it!!! I'll go ahead and give you the recipe anyway...just in case you are wanting to try it for yourself!

Paula Deen's Rice Pudding
1 cup cooked rice
2 1/2 cups milk
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch glass baking dish.
In a large bowl, stir together first 7 ingredients. Spoon into prepared baking dish. Place baking dish in a large pan; pour water into the pan to a depth of 1-inch. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, or until lightly browned and set. Combine cinnamon and nutmeg; sift over top of pudding. Cool slightly and cut into squares to serve.

Now you may be thinking....well what "to make"??? Lemonade Chicken that is!!! This is a recipe that Mom put in a cookbook for me for Christmas. It's one my grandma used to make that my PaPa never did like!!! I LOVED it. Luke liked it too but he's not one for Chicken on the bone. It's really good. I think next time I won't serve rice with it but taters. I'm not a fan of rice since we had a Homeless retreat with Dave Hughey in the 7th grade and that's what we ate for 2 days!!! I can't stand the smell of it!!! But with a little gravy on it I like it...go figure. Well enjoy this recipe, it's a keeper!

Lemonade Chicken
6 oz. Frozen Lemonade Concentrate
1 c. Water
2 1/2 lb. Fryer cut up (I used 3 leg quarters for us)
1/4 c. flour
1 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper
1 c. vegetable oil
2 T butter melted.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix lemonade concentrate and water in a small bowl. Pour half of this mixture over the chicken and marinade it for up to 2 hours or longer. Drain chicken. Place the flour, salt and pepper in a big baggie. Toss chicken in the flour mixture. Use the 1 c. vegetable oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken on both sides. Spray a 9x13 pan and place chicken in the pan. Coat chicken with melted butter and the rest of the reserved lemonade mixture. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Baste chicken every fifteen minutes.

*** You can take the drippings and make a sauce out of it. Just drain off that juice into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Take cornstarch and COLD water and mix together and add to the saucepan. Stir until desired thickness.

New Pics from my Camera

Samson...I really like this one.

Snoopy howling again!

BJ really didn't want his picture made.

Alyeska...what can I say!

Look how clear the picture is!

Stormy really wants out of her bed.

George is stretching. I never noticed his nose is 2 colors!

Madison Murphy

This is what Stormy does all the time....BARK!

I love it! These pics are great! I've watched my DVD and now I'm all ready to go! Enjoy!

Oh my goodness!

Ok, so I had to let the battery charge for a little bit and then I couldn't wait any longer. I took a few pics...I'm going to have to learn what all this bad boy will do. I don't think I'm going back to my smaller camera! Thanks Luke!!!

Happy Early Birthday/Merry Christmas to Me!

This is my Christmas/Early Birthday present from Luke. We used my Christmas money and some extra money and bought me this COOL camera! I can't wait to play with it tonight and hope to have many more pics to share! Now if I can just get it out of the box!!!! I'm so happy!

I'm coming out!!!

Ok, so I've kept this a little secret since before Christmas....and I've decided to let the world know!!! I'm a High School Musical Junkie!!!! Luke and I put both of those movies on our netflix and I LOVE them! They are too cute and WAY clean and G rated and wonderful. And of course, that Zac guy would be all over my room if I was still a teenager. Don't laugh girls....you know we posted pics of guys all over our rooms back in the days! My friend Melissa and I had TONS of pics of Jonathon Brandis and Andrew Keegan. In fact, I think I still have my first BOP magazine in the attic....do they even make that anymore? Oh well! So if your kids want to watch a good movie with catchy tunes...High School Musical is great. Our kids need something decent to watch anymore! Just had to share! Now off to go walk!!!