While I was Sleeping...

So these past four days I've been at the annual Cotton Shop quilt retreat.  It was a great time and I just can't say enough about all the gals that come there.  They are all so special!!  I wanted to take a catnap so I could stay up and sew a little more before I went to bed.  All I can say is I love my sister and my friend Julie...these girls.......

Some of these pictures remind me of the movie, "Weekend with Bernie", where they were hauling around the dead guy....LOL!!  What can I say?? I have awesome family and friends!!  :o)  There will be more blogs coming this week about the retreat, or as Trish calls it, "quilt camp"...and whoever said quilters where boring, never spent a weekend with all of us!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

This is my oldest son, Jesse.

 

Today I have to tell you how wonderful he is.  This is a busy time of year for me.  I work full time and am a member of our local fine arts group.  We are getting ready for our annual dinner theatre in March.  So, I've been busy practicing.  I'm what you call a HiLiter.  This group is your wait staff for the dinner and then we do about a 1/2 hour singing and dancing performance before the play starts.  I also work one Saturday a month at the quilt shop.  A girls gotta support her hobby!  LOL  I worked at the quilt shop yesterday and came home, pretty tired.  After working all week and having practice, then working at the shop, I was wore out.  I walked in the door last night and Jesse asked if I wanted to go out for supper - just the two of us (my husband is working nights this weekend).  How could a mother refuse such an offer?  And what was even sweeter - he drove AND bought dinner.  We had such a great time.  He let me know how much he appreciated how his dad and I were always there for him.  I can't even begin to tell you what that meant to me.  How many 22 year old young men would take their mother out for supper on a Saturday night?  LOL  At the very top of my grateful list this morning at church when I give thanks, is going to be Jesse.   So, Jesse, if you read this blog, I want you to know how very proud, and grateful, I am that God blessed me with you as my son.  I am so thankful to have you in my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

xoxo

Our Outdoor Adventure

It was a great, sunny, Saturday morning today.  My husband and I went to Wild Cat Den to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air.  This has been a long, gray winter, so we were thrilled when we saw the sun!  Though there were a few clouds in the sky the sun peaked out enough to just put a smile on our faces.  I thought I would share some pictures from today.  Enjoy!!

Tuna Burgers

As promised,  here's my tuna burger recipe.  It's great for a quick, weeknight supper.  I hope you enjoy it!

Cindy's Tuna Burgers
2 lg cans tuna in water (drained)
Juice of 1 lemon
1-1/2 tsp dill weed
2 small eggs (or 1 X-LG)
3/4 cups plain bread crumbs (more or less, depending on how moist your mixture is)
Red pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1 tsp)
Salt & Pepper
Mix all ingredients together and form into 8 equal size patties.  Heat skillet with butter and olive oil. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until nicely browned.  Serve plain or on a bun with your favorite toppings.  Enjoy!

Lots of Good Stuff!

It has been an absolutely WONDERFUL week!  On Thursday, my sister and I went to Common Threads to Party with Patrick.  If you've never been to one of these parties, I HIGHLY recommend them.  We had SO much fun!!  I can't WAIT to go back!  If your local quilt shop doesn't do this, just click on the link for information, take it to your shop, and ask them to sign up.  You won't be disappointed!   Here are some pictures from our fun afternoon:

 

I have to tell you that I absolutely hate having my picture taken, but we had to document this fun day!  Can you guess which sister is older?  LOL  I'm not going to tell you!  We could have gotten the borders put on, but we did gab a lot with everyone that day (imagine that!), so we didn't get that part all done.  I just LOVE them.  Get it?  LOL

The next great thing of the week is our sister (Amanda) moved back from Germany with her son and daughter.  Her husband is now in Iraq for the next year (please keep all the soldiers in your prayers), so she moved back to be close with family while Jay is in Iraq.  Since we couldn't be at the airport with everyone else when they arrived (because we were 'partying'...LOL), we went to see her during lunch time Friday.  And here are some pictures of Amanda and her family:

 

My niece (Haley) is the taller girl on the right.   Vinnie (my nephew) said to me after I took his picture and looked at it, "Wow, that's perfect!".  It just doesn't get any better than that!  LOL  It's so nice to have them home.

I hope you all find a lot to be grateful for today and everyday!  Until next time, keep smiling!!  Tuna burger recipe will be coming up in the next blog!!

My New Project

I decided I'm nuts.  I know...I know...you all already knew that, but I've been having a hard time coming to terms with how crazy I really am.  I'm already busy and what did I decide to do?  Join in the fun of an online quilt group to make a pinwheel quilt (link on the right side of my blog).  But Rachel, who is the 'leader of the pack' seems like so much fun and this quilt is AWESOME, so I just had to jump in!  I hope you like the fabric I picked out for it!  I'll keep you posted on the progress with pictures as the quilt takes shape. 

Okay...now for some fun stuff...and my husband is probably going to kill me if he ever reads my blog, but I just can't pass this up!  (love you honey!!)  I downloaded Photoshop Elements 8 trial version to see how I would like it.  Well guess what...I'M IN LOVE WITH IT!!  I've been having so much fun!  I would share a picture I did of my sister, but she was giving the camera a naughty gesture and I just shouldn't post it.  :o)  So, with that said, my husband gets to be the lucky victim!  Here is is with my youngest son's (Justin) girlfriend.

Yep...he looks like a stinker.  So I couldn't let this go.  I had to do this:

 It's just never a dull moment in the Smith household.  Someone's always stirring up something...good or bad.  But just so my sister doesn't feel left out, I did want to share this picture of her dressed like a 1970's Mary Kay lady for a party I had:

Yep...I'm proud.  And the gal in the pink is our cousin, Mary.  Do you think she looks a little scared?  She's also one of our quilting buddies.  Well that's all for tonight!  Hope you had a good chuckle.  I'm going to go to bed with a belly ache, because I kept cracking up loading these pictures!  Hhhmmm...I better make sure no one gets a hold of a bad picture of me......oh boy..........

Cindy's Tuna Casserole

Here it is!  My very first, original recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it as much as my family does!  This recipe makes quite a bit, because my family likes leftovers to take in their lunch.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3/4 c sour cream
1 cup half & half
1 large can of tuna in water - drained
Juice of 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp dill weed
1 TBS red pepper flakes (more or less depending on desired hotness)
1 1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese
1 lb egg noodles - cooked & drainedFresh mozzarella cheese
Keebler Club Crackers - I crush enough to cover the casserole. For this recipe it was just about 1 1/2 packages from 1 box
4 TBS melted butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix first nine ingredients together then pour over noodles.  Once noodles and mixture are folded together, place into two casserole dishes.  Cover each dish with the fresh mozzarella then the crush Keebler crakers.  Drizzle with butter and bake for 45 - 55 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. 

Here is the finished product!

If you try this, let me know what you think!  It's not an every day meal, but for a comfort meal on a Sunday, it's great!  Enjoy!