Merry Christmas to all . . .

My Kaylee girl just has it all figured out -

she told me that Santa is just a normal guy when he takes his clothes off

and

also that he rides a 4-wheeler because we don't have any snow for his sleigh. :-)

Kaylee - 3 1/2 yrs

Matthew - 2 yrs (almost)

Erin - 4 mo

(I just had to add the traditional 'compare this year to last year' picture.)

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family!!

God bless you and yours during this holiday season!!

A New Recipe - yum, yum, yum!!!!!

This year at Thanksgiving I decided to try a new recipe for PUMPKIN CUSTARD PIE. It was soooooo delicious!!! It is much lighter than regular pumpkin pie. I got this recipe from all recipes.com. There were several other version that were similar, but here is the one I tried.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (9 inch) pie shell

1 cup pumpkin puree

3 eggs

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teasponn ground cinnamon

2 cups milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine pumpkin, eggs, flour, sugars, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and milk.

Beat until smooth. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate.

Bake for 50 mins or until set in center.

Here's a picture of our dessert spread for Thanksgiving diner. This was only about half of the pies everyone brought. We had almost as many desserts as we had main foods and salads.

Thoughts of a three year old . . .

We have two dogs in the family - one called Peanut and the other Turk (sometimes affectionately call Turkey).

Kaylee was quite concerned when I told her that we would be eating turkey for Thanksgiving diner.

One day after visiting Grandma's house, Kaylee came home and sadly told me that Grandma was going to make 'Peanut' into peanut butter.

Talk about traumatizing a child. . . :-) Needless to say both incidences took some explaining!!

In the mood for Christmas . . .

Just feeling a little bit in the mood for Christmas - how about you?? I'm not interested in rushing the season like most retail stores are doing. I was in a WalMart store back in late October, looking for fall decorations and everything was Christmas then. It's like they just skipped over Thanksgiving completely.

But now that Thanksgiving is past - I am ready for a little Christmas. Kaylee has been ready for Christmas since the middle of October. Almost every day she wakes up saying 'it's Christmas, it's Christmas.' And just how do you explain to a 3 year old that Christmas is a long time away, when she has no concept of time?:-)

Giving Thanks With a Grateful Heart . . .

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Today has been a good day here in Mid-TN. We were blessed with 40 somethin' degree weather, which made it feel very much like Thanksgiving weather from the north. We were also blessed to have 36 of our family and friends here in our home for Thanksgiving diner. It was a house full! The food was great and the time together was wonderful! I AM TRULY BLESSED!

I am very thankful that I discovered the blogging world. It is so neat to be able to keep in contact with many friends from over the years. The social life in 'this part' TN just isn't quite what I was use to, being raised around PV, but your news and your pictures have made me feel closer to home. And to those of you spread 'round the world - I have been reminded to pray for you more often.

I give thanks to God, for all He has blessed me with - a wonderful husband; 3 healthy, beautiful children; and the love of family and friends.

I am very thankful for many more things - but the list is too long for me to post here.

Happy Thanksgiving to all - from our family to yours!!!

Pastor appreciation . . .

October is pastor appreciation month. I wanted to express my appreciation for our new pastor and wife, Wesley and Joy McDonald. I appreciate their spirit of love and caring for the church. It has not been an easy year for the McDonald family. In March, Rev. Smokey McDonald, was killed in a tragic accident. Then in August, Wesley and Joy lost a baby boy named Nathaniel John (at 34 wks). Through it all I have watched them keep a positive attitude, a sweet spirit, and their faith in God.

I am excited about the new things that have been happening around our church. There has been a renewed interest in the youth group and also in our missionary society. Recent 'Rally Days' have been an encouragement for everyone to invite and bring others to church.

Wes & Joy - thanks for all you do for our church! We deeply appreciate you!

Events of the past month . . .

I haven't posted in awhile and since I don't have anything to blab about I thought I'd share a bunch of pictures.

We finally got a swing set purchased and assembled for our kids. Thanks to Papa John, Uncle Tristan and Daddy for putting it together. Kaylee & Matthew love it!!

The circus came to town!!! It was definitely a small town circus, but the kids were fascinated. We saw horses, ponies, camels, tigers, lions, and the elephants.

Ready for church!!

My three babies!

"Busy Britches" getting into trouble in mommy kitchen pantry. Boys sure do like to climb!!

Baby Erin - two months old already. She's got a lot to think about.

So, I've been tagged . . .

I'm it! I've been tagged. It is now 1:15 am. I am awake to feed Erin and can't think of anything better to do at this time of morning than blog. This tag thing is pretty crazy. Normally, I don't respond to emails or other chains like this, but this time . . . I guess I will.

1. A Bible verse that means a lot to me is . . . Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass (Psalms 37:4 & 5). In the disappointing times of life, this verse has been a great encouragement to me.

2. My greatest desire in life is to raise my children to love and serve God with all their hearts.

3. My biggest encouragement as a parent is the quote - " You don't have to be perfect to be a successful parent, you just have to be genuine."

4. My favorite food - TACOS; favorite color - PURPLE; favorite season - SPRING.

5. I am the world's worst at spelling. The only time I ever remember cheating in school was on a spelling test (not something I'm proud of). :-)

6. Presently looking for a way to work from home. Any suggestions, anybody??

7. Someday I would like to pursue further education and a career in the area of bookkeeping/ accounting. I love working with numbers!

More pictures . . .

September 14 - one month old

Nana & Papaw Gordon's Visit

We were thrilled to have Nana & Papaw Gordon come to visit. Their main reason for coming was to meet their new granddaughter, but we made sure they stayed busy while here.

Papaw worked hard installing extra shelving in Dawn's kitchen pantry and also painting and wallpapering Kaylee & Erin's bedroom. Thank you, Papaw for your expert advise and excellent work. (We made sure that he also had time to read a book or two :-) )

Kaylee & Erin's new bedroom.

Nana's project while here was to spoil the grandkids :-) She spent lots of time tending to Erin which was a big help to a "very tired mommy". Kaylee and Matthew got their share of attention, too. The list of other things that Nana did is too long to mention here.

THANK YOU, Nana for all your help. You were wonderful!!!!

Please come again soon!!!!

Baby Erin Michelle has arrived . . .

Baby Erin Michelle Stinebrickner arrived on August 16, 2007 at 4:34pm.
Weight 8lbs 11oz. Length 21 in.

Lots of hair - color brown/red????

Mommy and baby are both doing fine (and even Daddy is doing great after the trama of another child birth :-).

Interesting fact of the day - Aug 16, 2007
**Tropical Storm Erin slammed Texas with lots of rain and flooding.
**Hotest day on record in Tennessee for the month of August - 106 degrees recorded in Columbia, TN (town where Erin was born).

Aunt Paula introducing big brother Matthew to Baby Erin

Kaylee and Matthew - "What do you think?"

Grandma Stinebrickner - awe!!!!!!

Tired Daddy!!!

Going home from hospital.

I had to add this picture. This is Matthew going home from the hospital (Feb 2006). Is there any question who Erin looks like?

Addition to our family . . .

No, no! This is not about our baby girl (I only wish it was!!)

Yesterday, Todd's most recent purchase of 8 calves arrived. This is a new interest/hobby of Todd and Tristan. We plan on raising them and selling them later this year. They are already proving to be a hand full. This morning, Todd and Tristan leaving at 6am for work, counted 7 calves missing from the pasture. Thankfully, they were all found at an neighboring Amish farm. After 2 hours of searching, fixing the fence, and making sure all was in order - the work crew finally left around 8am.

Some of our calves.

Kaylee and Matthew watching the new cows

New to the blog world . . .

Hello everyone! Thanks to the inspiration of my dear sister and also many others who are faithful bloggers, I have decided to join the world of blogging. So, where to start?? I guess I will begin with our family.

Todd and I have been living here in Tennessee for 5 years now. The time has really past quickly, as have the seven years we've been married. Todd owns his own construction business with his brother, Tristan. 'T & T Construction' works all over the middle-Tennessee area and also some in Northern Alabama and Southern Kentucky. We are privileged to live next door to Tristan and Paula and only about 1/2 mile from Todd's parents. I have been working as a CNA for the past 5 years (4 years in a local hospital and 1 year in home health private duty).

Adding to our busy lives are our beautiful children: Kaylee (just turned 3) and Matthew (18 mo). On this blog spot, you will no doubt see many pictures of these two because I must admit I am mighty proud parent. Oh, and in case you didn't already know - we are expecting our 3th (a girl) to arrive any day now.

I am looking forward to sharing news of our family on this blog and I hope that many of you reading this will sign in and let me know you are out there. Friends and family are spread around the world - but it is indeed a small world with the use of technology.