Mother's Baked Beans...

For every family get together that we have my kids want me to make baked beans. In September, for Labor Day, I decided to surprise them by making a Crock Pot full of Great Northern beans. I love white beans. My grandmother used to make them and call me to come eat with her and take home the left-overs. She would always say nothing tasted good if she tried to make it for one person, so she would make a whole pot. Well, after Labor Day, to my surprise, the kids informed me that they wanted me to stick to the baked beans. Even my newest son-in-law requests the baked beans.
My husband's family is having their Christmas party tomorrow night, so in the morning I will get up and make baked beans. Sunday we are having Christmas at our oldest daughter's house, so Sunday morning I will get up and make another pot of baked beans.
When I first got married in 1975 my mother-in-law shared her recipes with me and this was one of her recipes. I call it Mother's Baked Beans. I get so many compliments on these beans that I thought I would share.

MOTHER'S BAKED BEANS

 

• 1 can of Van Camp Pork & Beans
• 2 ribs of celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 bell pepper, diced
• 2 T of prepared mustard
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces 

Mix all ingredients together and pour into baking dish. Cook 3 hours at 250 degrees. The last two years I have used the Crock Pot to cook them. I put the pot on low and let it cook for about 6 hours. It works fine.

 

This is the original recipe. I have never made it using only one can. I use 6 cans and it fills my Crock Pot. If the beans have a lot of liquid in them I will partially drain because the Crock Pot seems to create it's own liquid. If you are using a baking dish you may not need to drain them. I don't care for too much celery, so I just guess at the celery, a couple of ribs may be all I use in the whole pot. When it comes to the onions I cut up two or three medium to large onions. I cut the bacon into 1 inch square pieces. It will seem like a lot of bacon, but when it cooks up it isn't too much. I follow the recipe x 6 for the rest of the ingredients.  

 

My mother-in-law with my kids in 1987. She was a good cook and we enjoyed many wonderful meals prepared in her kitchen.

 

Enjoy!!!

Have a nice weekend!

Happy Birthday Party...

Happy Birthday, Little Lawly!!!



This past week was our little Lawton's 3rd birthday. I think the last time I blogged about him he was a newborn.

 His mom threw a great party. We had all the taco salad and tacos we could eat. Afterward, we had cookies and cake with little Lawly being the center of attention.

 He loves Mickey Mouse, so of course, that was the theme of the party.

Blogger won't let me upload anymore pictures, so

Have a great rest of the week!!!

 

 

 

Winner of the GYB giveaway...

Have been waiting on the two week mark since the GYB post. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and to those who decided to follow. I visited many, many blogs and hope to visit more in the future. I will reveal the winner at the end of the post.

I've been babysitting two of my grandkids a few days a week since Christmas while mom and dad work on the building of a new house. They are four and two. Four is a very fun age. They can say the cutest things while being perfectly serious. One evening I told them, "Let's go to the kitchen it's suppertime." Fuzzy, the four-year-old, threw his arms in the air and shouted, "Yes, it's suckertime. I love suckers." When I told him I didn't say suckertime he said, "Next time say it's foodtime and I'll understand." Luckily, I just happened to have two suckers, from Lord knows when, in the pantry, so it all worked out. I also learned something about myself. According to Fuzzy, I look better with my glasses on. I thanked him for the tip and wondered silently if pulling my glasses on and off in public was a good idea or not. Here is a "selfie" taken on his mother's phone and sent to me as they were driving home.

Selfie

 

The two-year-old had to have glasses last week. While I was keeping him I noticed his eyes were crossing. After his mother picked him up she called and said she had noticed it too. It was rather severe. She immediately called for an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmologist.

 

 

 

After a few days of wearing them he refused to let his mother take them off when it was time for bed.

 

WINNER OF THE DRAWING IS:

ALEXIS BOORSBOOM

 

I will contact via email.

 

Thanks again to everyone who visited.

Have a great week!

 

 

My Dad 1927-2014...

My dad passed away on July 7th, 2014.

One day as we were discussing death and funerals he said, "When I die I want to be at home, on my couch, watching T.V, and just go to sleep." That appears to be exactly how he went. He was almost 87, still living by himself, and as sharp as a tack. My nephew who found him said his hands were folded in his lap just like he always kept them.

 

It's been a hard month. It doesn't seem possible that he's gone. It feels like I can pick up the phone and call him, or drive up and get him for breakfast, but I can't. I realize that death is part of life and it is all part of God's plan. God is good.
 

 

The last song played at the funeral was his favorite fiddle tune.

His two sons, four grandsons, and two granddaughters were among the 20 plus musicians that played  

"Florida Blues"

 Just for him.

He will forever be missed. 

 

 

The Spa Treatment...

This is going to be one lazy week. I hope I don't gain 10 pounds.

I am being totally pampered and this includes back massages, someone to prepare the meals, snacks offered every few moments, a chair to prop my feet upon, a large comfy couch complete with blanket and pillow, hugs and snuggles, and sno-cones prepared especially for me.

Where am I? 

At an exclusive spa, perhaps?

In Beverly Hills, maybe? 

On a Caribbean cruise? 

No, I'm staying with the grandkids while their parents are away.

Brown Hawk gives the best massages around and he cooks! He made chicken Taquito's for lunch and a cherry sno-cone for dessert.

He says he's making chicken nuggets and pizza rolls for supper

 while Moon Daisy makes brownies.

Crazy Hair can eat more snack food than ought to be allowed by law, but always offers to share.

Yes, I can tell this is going to be one lazy week.

And I can't wait.

Hope you have a great and lazy week too!!!

It's A Boy...

Saturday was the big day. We gathered at my daughter's house. Her hubby grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. Afterwards we cut the cake.

Anticipation

It's a boy!!!

Even our son in Utah was able to participate.

It was blue inside, so if the good Lord's willing we are going to have our 5th grandson. Our only granddaughter just turned 13, so most of us were hoping for a girl, but we'll certainly take another precious little man.

Jesse Lawton is due November 16, 2012.

Have a great holiday week!!! 

Very Entertaining...

Today was my first day alone in 10 days and I can tell you entertaining a seven-year-old doesn't leave much time for blogging.

Endless games of Skip-Bo,

Chess, Scrabble, and Boggle,

 coupled with hours of "Adventure Time" cartoons, popcorn, cosmic brownies, and

coffee, cause that's what you do when you come to Memaw's house,

 Blizzard's from Dairy Queen, burritos from Mexico City Cafe, and

balloon animals

can cause one to forget about blogging altogether.

And while feeding the giraffes at the zoo was a hit,

all three of us squeezing into one kiddie car was an even bigger hit.

He chose rocks for his souvenir

and played ninja in the Pampas grass.

We ate at Cracker Barrel and went to see Jaws on the big screen.

I didn't have time for blogging this week, but had a lot of fun with my little Crazy Hair.

Have a great week!!!

Graduation 2012...

Graduation is upon us once more. I am usually late getting my cards out and I mean late. Late as in December or the next May. The last few years I have been buying extra graduation cards because once it's over the cards disappear from the store shelves and if you procrastinate like me you are out of luck. This year I have already sent the cards out and have one to spare just in case.

 Hubby and I have three nephews graduating and we are proud of all three of them.

Joey from University.

Gage from High School.

Cash from Kindergaten.

Don't you just love the cap and yarn tassle he made at school?

Congratulations Sweet Boys!!!

Aunt Kye loves you!!!

Sex Party...

O.K., I'm on the computer just now trying to decide what to blog about when my I-phone pings, meaning a text just came in. I look at the text and see that it's from my youngest.

She writes:

 Do you want to come to a sex party on June 30th?

A SEX PARTY?

 

I've never been invited to a "sex party" and if I had been I'm sure as heck it wouldn't have been an invitation from one of my kids.

Turns out my middle daughter is going to find out what she's having on June 29th. The sex party involves a cookout, a cake baked by youngest that is either pink or blue on the inside, and nobody(except youngest), not even pregnant daughter finds out what sex the baby is until the cake is cut.

O.K., I must admit, this sex party is starting to sound exciting. Oh, and did I tell you it's a "surprise sex party".

 

Have a great rest of the week!!!

Happy Easter & Happy Birthday...

We had a successful egg hunt yesterday despite the 2.5 inches of rain we were blessed with. We huddled under our umbrellas and waited on the clouds to break.

It didn't happen,

so, the eggs were hid, and the hunters hunted,

and prizes were claimed under a covered bridge.



 Afterwards, we celebrated Fuzzy's 2nd birthday and Tallfeather's 7th birthday with a family party at "Texas Roadhouse."  

The birthday boys.

The presents.

Happy Birthday!!!

It's hard to believe my little "Fuzzy" is two.

Have a great week!!!



It's A Nice Day For Your Feet...

I have a most precious little great nephew. He's in kindergarten, very shy and very red-headed. His Papa (my brother) calls him "Rooster". He is the only red-headed person in our family. His three siblings are either blonde or brown. He's a miniature of his daddy, except for the hair. On Valentine's Day his mother posted this on Facebook:

If you go outside, take off your shoes because according to Cash,

"It's a nice day for your feet!"

1st day of Kindergarten 2011

siblings

I am never going to experience a warm day again without thinking, what a nice day for feet.

I hope this week is feet weather!
Have a great day!!!
1st five photos taken by Liz (mom).

Family History...

I recently attended the funerals of two of my cousins. If your family is like mine, funerals, while devastating, are also family reunions. We exchange memories of childhood adventures, reflect on time spent with grandparents, take pictures, make promises to get together, say our goodbyes and wait until the next funeral to gather again.

After returning home I went through some old family photos and posted them on Facebook. This instigated lively debates in trying to decide who, where and when. I wish I had asked more questions while the older generation was still around. Hind sights twenty twenty, right?

As death begins to claim my peers it makes me aware that my generation is in charge of the history making now. I don't feel that old. Where has the time gone? Just yesterday I was raising a family and now I'm the family matriarch. I'm not sure how I feel about that title, but then the choice isn't mine, is it?  As Scarlett O'Hara said, "I won't think about that today. I'll think about that tomorrow."

Today, I'm going to call my siblings, give my spouse a hug and count my blessings.

 

 

Have a nice day!!!

Wordless Wednesday...

Brotherly Love

My sweet little great-nephews. Photo taken by their mother.

Thanksgiving Has Come And Gone...

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We had a truly wonderful holiday with much to be thankful for. Twenty-two family members gathered at my dad's house on Thursday for turkey, dressing, ham, potatoes, baked beans, corn, yams, deviled eggs, banana pudding, apple pie and a host of other goodies.
We come from a family of musicians that love to play "Texas 42", so after feasting comes great music and then games of "42" that last into the wee hours of the morning with champions that have bragging rights until our next family get-together. Here is a clip of my oldest brother playing an old fiddle tune called "Billy in the Lowground" and across from him is my youngest brother playing guitar.

On Friday we gathered again. This time at my daughter's house for a feast that rivaled the one from the day before. We took the annual photos of the grandkids.

This will be my last post until Dec. 5th. I will not have internet access until then.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday.   

Unexpected Events Make An Eventful Week...

I hope this week turns out to be a little less eventful than last week. As most of you know Hubby came home last week and brought Crazy Hair with him. We had a delightful weekend filled with homemade pizza, Root Beer floats, movies, snacks, reading, and a giant box that Crazy Hair wanted to spend the night in.

The big box is the reason for my story. The big box was delivered on Friday afternoon about 3:00. Inside the box was a very large, very heavy Bar-B-Que grill. It was supposed to be a Father's Day present for Hubby, but it took him until now to figure out exactly which grill he wanted. I finally convinced him he needed to figure it out and get it ordered because his birthday, anniversary and Christmas are all coming up in that order.

He arrived home Friday night and immediately began putting the grill together. By the time he completed it several hours later his back was hurting so bad he could barely walk. The rest of the weekend he took Hydrocodone and stayed in bed. He couldn't walk, sit or stand. By Monday it was obvious it wasn't getting better. I called the doctor and he ordered a Cortisone injection for Tuesday. This is not Hubby's "first rodeo". He has had two back surgeries, and previous injections. You would think he would learn, but do men ever learn? I kept telling him not to pick up those heavy pieces.

O.K. rest of story. I took him to Dallas Monday night, stayed in a motel,  and went to the doctor Tuesday morning where he received the injection.
Wednesday we stayed in Fort Worth and had supper with my dad at Cracker Barrel. I planned on leaving for home Thursday. Thursday morning Dad called. He thought he was having a heart attack. I took him to the ER where we spent 6 hours before they decided to admit him and another 6 hours before I left him there in good hands.

Friday morning I went back to the hospital until 1:00pm at which time I left for home leaving Dad in sister's capable hands. He is now home from the hospital and doing well. Hubby is going to try to go back to work in the morning. All is well. I just hope this week isn't as eventful as last week.

Have a great week!! 

Happy Birthday Daley...

Our youngest

25 years

Since her birthday is October 29th she loves Halloween.

Happy Birthday. Love ya little Daley.

Have a great day!!!