In the middle of the night

Some times in the middle of the night, I wish we were all under one roof. Then when I couldn't sleep, I would know someone else was also awake to talk to.

Feel the Love!

The Twins went to their "last" UIL meet a couple of weeks ago. When they came home I told them I wanted to get a picture of them together. Of course, I did not get a serious picture. Here are the two "best" pictures that I got. Oh, the two of them!!!!

Sister love!

A friend posted this picture on Facebook and I laughed hard. I guess being the middle sister a least lets me be the boss of Bette! Hehe, love you both!

Family Time

Had a wonderful time with everyone today. I so enjoy our kind of crazy!! Love you all.

As I get older...

I've alway known what an extraordinary person our mother was. I honestly did not always appreciate it though. However, as I get older & reflect on how wonderful she truly was I wish to myself I was a fraction of the person she was!!

More "Last"

Well it has been another busy week around here. It has also been another week full of last. I know I keep saying this, but when I thought about this year during the summer, I knew that I would be facing so many "last" with Cotton and it being his Senior Year. I never thought about it also being so many "last" for Aspen and Mason.

Aspen played her first basketball game of the season this week. She doesn't really like basketball. Volleyball is her sport and she is so good at it. Her team is so good. They are one of those teams that you watch in Jr. High and can't help thinking, "Wow, they are going to be awesome when they get to High School." They played their last volleyball game two weeks ago. It was wonderful because they won and that made them have an undefeated record for the year. Each of the girls gave their coach a rose before the game. Their coach is Amy Hand (Murphree). She is great with the girls and especially Aspen. It was a bitter sweet night. They did wonderful, but next year will bring many changes. It was the "last" game of volleyball with Coach Hand, the "last" game of her 8th Grade year and her "last" game in Jr. High.

 

Now Aspen was quite happy about it being her "last" first basketball game. :} She was not going to play this year. She decided that she would rather go to off season than play. Now to really appreciate that you have to understand that off season in Jr. High is running bleacher laps. (That is scary because she is as coordinated as her mother and I could see bad things happening.)  Well Coach Hand told her, "No!". She made Aspen play basketball. She is not bad, she just doesn't enjoy it like volleyball. So this "last" wasn't as bad as the rest.

Mason had his "last" football game on Thursday. He has said all year that he did not want to play next year. I am fine with that. The only thing I know about football is that Mason is number 80. (Go Mom!) This year has had ups and downs. (Ok, more downs, but there were a few good moments.) They lost every game. So in Jr. High, they only won 1 game and tied 1, and that was last year. I am very proud of Mason though. He played offence mostly, but had to fill in many times when other players were out hurt. He even played defence on the line one game. That was not his mom's favorite. I like it better when he plays out on the end so I can see him and he is less likely to get hurt. For the "last" game he even got to be a co-captain. I was really proud of him.

So, with it being the "last" football game, of course there had to be a "last" pep-rally. Again, that was ok with me. I HATE Jr. High pep-rallies. Ok, I hate all pep-rallies, but our Jr. High one's are the worst. I have taken the time this year to take lots of pictures at the pep-rallies. I have some with Aspen in the stands, but I have so many of Mason and the team. They are great kids, with a lot of heart.

Now, Mason has to get ready for basketball. The Coach says that he is only going to have 10 on the team. I do think that Mason is ok with being on the "B" or "combo" team. I am ok with that also. We will have his first game on Thursday. That is only one week of practice. He is planning on playing basketball next year if he can so it won't be a "last" for the sport. It will only be a "last" for Jr. High.

Cotton had a few "last" this week also. As you all know he is big in FCCLA. Each year they are big in the Veteran's Day program. This year his job was to go around and take pictures during the program. He was dressed in one of his suits and looked very handsome. I didn't realize it was a big deal for him, but he came home and told me, "Well, that was my "last" Veteran's Day program." I hadn't planned on that one.

The High School also had their "last" pep-rally. Again - I hate pep-rallies, but I went to take pictures. It is so different than when we were in High School. He just hung out and had a good time. Cotton always does.  

Crazy Weather and Great Food

Have you noticed that the majority of our post are about food? It is a BIG part of our lives. We plan holidays around it, travel according to where the best places to stop and eat are, have ask for and given it as gifts, .... Some may say we have issues, we like to believe it is a common bond we all share.

So, last week here in the Texas Panhandle, it was cold. Ok, cold for us, as in the 40's and 50's. Now I know it is late October, but we still think that it should be in the 70's. Mason had a football game on Thursday and that was suppose to be the coldest day of the week. His games don't start until 6:30ish. We have been known to have a game last as late as 9:15. For us old people, that is past our bedtime! Since that night I have started making supper before we go to the game. It makes it a little early, but I can handle that better than eating at 10:00 at night! With it being cold, I decided to make something in the crockpot. After I checked out what I had in the freezer, I decided on Posole! Yum! Now if for some reason you do not know what Posole is, I feel sorry for you. It is a Mexican soup that is wonderful. In my family, everyone but Cotton really likes it. I made a big pot of it and we were able to eat on it all weekend. (even better) I decided that I would post the recipe that I use so that you could give it a try. Now of course it is 80 degrees today, so you might want to save the recipe for a cold day. Then again, it is so good you could still make it tonight!

Posole

 

1 lb pork cut into small cubes

1 onion chopped

1 teaspoon garlic powder or 5 cloves garlic peeled, diced

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon group cumin

½ teaspoon oregano

¼ teaspoon cloves

4 green chilies, chopped

2 tablespoons oil

2 cups dried hominy or 3 cups fresh

½ teaspoon salt

 

Heat oil in skillet.

Saute meat, onion and garlic until meat is brown.

Cover meat with least 2 inches of water.

Stir in salt, cumin, oregano, cloves, pepper & chilies.

Add hominy.

Simmer for one hour.

Serve with chopped fresh onion, sliced lime and corn tortillas.

 

Enjoy!

Mom

Dawn pinned this on Pinterest and I loved it. Thought it would work well here. Love it, Love her!!

Cross Country

Well, Aspen is finished with Cross Country "forever!" This year was a weird year for her. She only ran three races because of scheduling conflicts. She ran a great race the last time she ran and her goal today was to get a medal. She started off good, but about half way through the race twisted her ankle and lost her shoe! No she did not stop and pick it up. It was a race. She was a true sport and kept going. She finished in the middle of the pack! Notice her feet in the picture of her running. I stopped and bought her a medal that says "Winner" on it. Anyone that finishes the race with one shoe deserves a "medal". Way to go Sas!!

Breakfast Biscuits

Being the breakfast people that we are, I came across this recipe on pinterest and just had to try it. Well, this one is GOOD and freezes great!

Breakfast Biscuits

Ingredients

Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits - I used 2 1/2 cans out of a small 4 pack

Shredded Cheese (I had Mexican style on hand)

Frozen Shredded Hash Browns

1 package of Cooked Bacon

6 Scrambles Eggs

One Egg for top of Biscuits

Cook your bacon until crisp so it will break easily into pieces. Cook your Hash Browns.

Cook the eggs and have the shredded cheese ready.

Stretch out one of the biscuits, don't be afraid. Make them flatter and bigger about 2 1/2 to 3 inches side to side. 

Put a little bit of Hash Browns, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs and Cheese on top. 

Grab the sides and start pulling them to the top and then pinch to close.  Don't be afraid to pull out those sides and up.

Turn pinched side down on a greased pan. Beat one egg and add a Tablespoon of water. Brush tops of Biscuits with egg to give it a nice brown to it. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook at 425 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Every oven varies so I would check at 8 and if they aren't brown yet wait and check again until they are done. 

The leftovers were put in a storage bag and in the freezer they went.

Dates, Games and Trophies!

This week has been a little crazy around here. It was Homecoming, Maize Days, Mason's first football game and Olton volleyball tournament. That is a lot to fit in on top of a trip to Snyder for me. We started our week with a volleyball game in Littlefield. The girls were ready to win because Littlefield is the only team that was much competition for them last year. It did not start off good. The first game Littlefield beat them, or really, they beat themselves. They acted like they had never played before. Thank heavens they woke up and the next two games looked like a different team had stepped on the floor. They felt good walking away with a win.

This week was Homecoming. I did not have to worry about the twins going because they were both grounded. Cotton surprised me when he came in and ask where he should get a mum. He had a date. He had ask Maegen Davis to go with him. ("Just as friends") He bought a mum. He even dressed up a couple of days for the theme days they have. WOW! Senior year and he becomes participatory. Maegen came to the house Friday morning to get her mum. (They don't have any classes together and she has first period. He doesn't.) So of course I took pictures.

Thursday was Mason's first football game. They played River Road here. Mason plays Receiver this year too. I am good with that because he is on the outside. I can watch him and there is not too much action on the outside. He also plays backup for another boy if needed. Of course, I don't know that position. As luck would have it, the other boy got hurt and Mason had to play for him. That meant he was in the middle for the kick off and he was maybe Safety for defence. I was not so excited about that. He had a wonderful hit though. The guy was going for a touchdown and Mason hit him and made him fumble the ball. Go Littlebit!! He was so tired and beat up when he got home he could barely move. (I really don't like football!)

Saturday was Maize Days. Mason wanted to put his car in the parade, but it is still in the shop. They took it before school started to get a few things done to it and the guy said it is taking longer than he thought. Mason was sad, but he understood. Aspen had a volleyball tournament in Olton. She started at 10:00 so for the first time in several years we missed the parade. I know it is not much, but when it is all you have you hate to miss it. The tournament was all day Saturday. The team did great! They are really good together. They are only in the 8th grade, but I know that they will only get better. They are one of those teams you can't wait to watch in High School because you know they will be so good.

Their second game was the same time as the 7th graders second game. Our Coach is Amy Hand (Murphree). She is really good with the girls. The other coach, Coach Bueno, was there also, but she is the B team coach. Amy had to decide which team to coach. She talked to our girls and told them that they had more experience so she was going to coach the 7th grade team. Coach Bueno wasn't familiar with our plays so she ask Kendall, Kim and Aspen to help her out. I was really proud of the girls. They all worked together as a team. They even made sure to substitute in the girls that usually sit on the bench and don't play. Everyone played and they still won! It was great to watch. It was also Aspen's best game of the day. In the first game she served 10 times in a row. The last serve didn't score and the other team served and Friona scored. They switched sides and started the 2nd game of the match. Aspen is first server. She served 8 times before the other team got the ball. 18 times in a row. WOW! I couldn't have done that.

By their third match they were all getting a little tired. They played the same team this year as they did last year for the Championship. Of course they had to take it to 3 games, but they won in the end. 

One of the team posted a picture of them this year and last. It is funny to look at the way they  have grown in a year.

Next week is the Bushland Tournament. Those teams are a little tougher because they come from bigger schools. It will be fun to watch.

"She Acts JUST Like You!"

One of Mom's favorite things to do was to rub it in point out how much Aspen was like me. I won't say that I never saw it, but I will say that the older she gets the more I see it. (I am sure that just thrills her.) Her latest act - Saturday was her first volleyball game for the season. I showed up about 15 minutes into the 7th grade game. Two of the eighth grade players were serving as line judges. When the game ended and the players changed sides, two different 8th grade players came in to be the line judges. With this being the first games for the 7th grade players, it was sort of a scrimmage. They had the girls play a third game, and you guessed it, two more 8th graders stepped in as line judges.

Aspen never once even pretended to have an interest in being line judge. The players that had served as line judges were the ones that Aspen calls "Coaches Favorites!" Later when I ask her why she didn't help be a line judge her response was, "I have better things to do than shag balls for the other girls!" Oh my goodness. Yes, she is mine. Guess I have to love her.

I saw this on one of my friends facebook page the other day. It is so me!

Pictures!!

Here are some great pictures from our day of shopping!!

Girl's Weekend Recipes

Ok, for everyone who wanted to know the recipe for the yummy Southwest Chicken and Cornbread Salad, I am finally getting it posted. As a bonus for you having to wait so long, I am posting all the recipes we tried that weekend. Bette made a wonderful Chicken Pot Pie on Saturday night, but she didn't leave the recipe. Guess you will all just have to Facebook her and tell her to give it up!! I will let you know how I liked them and the others can add their comments as well. If I left any out maybe someone else will remember it. Hope you all enjoy, I know we sure did!!

Southwestern Chicken and Cornbread Salad

 

Ingredients

•           6 cornbread muffins, very dry, coarsely crumbled, divided

•           1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced ripe olives drained

•           1 (16 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

•           1 (11 ounce) can whole kernel sweet corn, drained

•           1 cup Hidden Valley® Spicy Ranch Dressing, divided

•           1 cup bell pepper, diced, assorted colors

•           2 chicken breasts, grilled*

•           1/2 cup red onion, diced

•           1 cup tomatoes, seeded and diced

•           1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded

 

Directions

 1.         In large clear salad bowl or trifle dish, layer half of the cornbread followed by olives, pinto beans and corn. Top with 1/2 cup of the dressing. Layer with bell pepper, chicken, onion, tomatoes, remaining cornbread and remaining dressing. Sprinkle with cheese.

2.         Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

 

Chuy's Jalapeno Ranch Dip

feeds a crowd
 

8 ounces mayonaise

24 ounces sour cream

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup tomatillo salsa

1 handful of cilantro

3 ranch dressing packets

1/2 cup pickled jalapenos 

Combine all ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.

 

Guacamole Salsa
 

1 lb. tomatillos (or more if you want it thinner)

1 jalapeno pepper (or more if you like it spicy)

1/3 bunch cilantro

1 thick slice of onion

1 garlic clove

1 avocado

1 tsp. salt

 

Peel and wash the tomatillos - they are usually found over by the cilantro & peppers, and have a husk on them. Cut them into quarters and put in the blender. Follow with the jalapeno, cilantro, onion, garlic, avocado & salt. Be sure to put the tomatillos in the bottom of the blender and not the avocado so it doesn't stick to the blade. You might have to help it start by shaking or using a mixer at first. But, once it gets going the juice from the tomatillos will help move the other ingredients around.

 

 

Strawberry Sauce

From - http://www.ourbestbites.com

1 pint strawberries

1/3 c. white sugar

1 tsp. almond extract or vanilla extract

Wash strawberries and remove stems. Place in a sauce pan on medium heat. When mixture begins to boil, stir occasionally. Boil 5 minutes. Place in blender and blend until smooth. Use on ice cream, pancakes, or in Strawberry Limeades.

Pickle Dip

Ingredients:

• 2-8oz packages cream cheese
• 16 oz sour cream
• 32 oz jar Gedney Jalapeno Babies, finely chopped (*note: Wal-Mart does not carry these)
• ¼ to ½ c pickle juice
• Garlic salt to taste

Directions:

• Cream sour cream and cream cheese together.
• Add pickles that have been finely chopped to creamed mixture.
• Mix in 1/4 to 1/2 c of the pickle juice from the Gedney Jalapeno Babies (amount depends on how “soupy” you want your dip).
• Add garlic salt to taste

 

Yellowstone - Here we come!

Chicken fried, fruits and veggies washed and packed and ice chest full. One thing is for sure, we won't go hungry! LOL - that is how Mom did it! I am ready to hit the road and waiting for everyone else to get ready. Who knows what we will find but I bet we will need it. Any way, four little kids and four adults in the RV and several states later, I hope the grandkids have wonderful memories.

Arriba World!

I tried to post this pic in a reply to Bette's comments about Mamaw's hot sauce and alas I FAILED! I'm not worried though, because I have delicious carrot infused hot sauce to comfort me:)

Summer

Well, school is out! As tradition would have it, I have a long to do list for the summer. My list includes some traveling, sewing and knitting, and of course cleaning and organizing. What my list doesnot include that I find myself missing is: going to the lake with our people. You know, not the blood relatives but the ones we chose to be famil, working in the garden (I miss this a lot less than the lake), and eating fresh vegetables. When I was younger, summer lasted longer and didn't seem to be so hot. Watermelons were also sweeter. I think maybe we should all have a slice of watermelon and sit in the sprinkler. And then I will start that to do list.

The Twins get a little older.

Can you believe it!? The twins will be 14 tomorrow. I can not believe it. They had their birthday with friends this weekend. Aspen had friends over Friday night. They cooked pizza on Girl Scout can stoves. Then they wrote on t-shirts with glue. When it dries we will dye them with Rit then wash then to dissolve the glue. Aspen saw it on Pinterest.

Next they put on Strawberry Chocolate face mask and set in the hot tub. When they came in they each had a eye mask that lit up with glow sticks. Those are the pictures that I put on facebook. They also had white balloons that they put glow sticks in.They slept in the tent.

When they got up they made pancakes on their Girl Scout stoves. They topped them with berries, syrup and whip cream. At noon the boys arrived. Bruce took the boys to eat at the cafe. Cotton took the girls and met them. They all went to the draw to trap shoot. None of the other kids had ever shot a gun. The boys say they "won", the girls say they "won". Who knows.

The girls went home when they got back to town. The boys stayed to play x-box. They cooked on the Girl Scout stoves. They were all excited about it. After they finished cooking their pizzas I ask one of them what they thought, he told me it tasted like butt as he finished it up. Oh my! He had burned his really bad.

They wanted to sit in the hot tub too and decided to sleep in the tent. They wanted to put glow sticks in balloons and play. They were funny. They may be 14, but they are still little.

Well there was one Redneck Birthday they won't forget.

Now they want to know when they get to have their Family vacation. :)

Got to love them.

As usual, I'm the latest of us all...

Hello All! Hope everyone is doing well. I am enjoying a couple of days off (finally). I thought of you all as I made fried chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. I didn't get the ability to sew like Mom but I sure can make her fried chicken. Needless to say, Keaton, Rod and I made ourselves sick eating. But it was just too good to stop.

As Mother's Day & May 11 rolled around I too found myself thinking of our ol' Mamma Jamma. I use to love to call her and pretend I was a telemarketer. She would get so "flusterated". Bahahaha!

Love to all!

I am even later than Shana - but Happy Birthday Mom! Yes, she did have to share her birthday with Mother's Day. However, Mom met every holiday with the same saying - "As long as we have each other and something to eat, that is all that matters." Oh how true those words are today!

How about -
Do you want me to stop this car and pull my shoe off?
As fast a horse as you ride, no one will notice.
Don't start anything on a Friday you can't finish or you will never finish it.
If a frog had wings, it wouldn't hit its --- well you know:)

As I sit here typing this, I have to laugh at the stack of papers, magazines, mail and books here beside me. Yes, I too am my Mother. I personally think that is not such a bad thing.

Momasita Rosarita

In true Gibson form, I am a day late. Why mess with tradition right? Yesterday was mom's birthday. I always felt bad that her birthday was so close to Mother's day. That has to stink in so many ways. She always had to celebrate Mother's Day and her birthday together. Not fair. You should get two times to celebrate, but we were lame.

So to honor mom this weekend here are a few things that were just so Mom.

I never understood how she could:
- Cut up everything perfect in her hand no cutting board needed
- Run on three hours of sleep
- Know how to make anything taste wonderful
- Be so creative

Momisms:
- Stop crying before I give you something to cry about
- How did I get so dumb in my ___ years and you get so smart in your ___
- Spit in one hand and wish in the other and see which one gets full the fastest
- Everyone needs a little walking around money

Mom's was always best:
- Fried chicken
- Hugs
- Vinegar cobbler
- Laundry

Those are a few of mine. What are your's?

You know you are getting old when....

You know how there are just times that you really feel old. I don't mean the aches and pains that we always complain about, I mean you look over and realize, Wow, how can I ... I'm not that old! I have been having those a lot lately. Maybe it has to do with the fact that in less than a month Cotton will be a Senior! Maybe it is because in less than a month the twins will be in the 8th grade. (How did that happen? I just took them to Preschool at NCA in August?) However it has happened, it is happening too often.

So this morning I am making my 2nd run to school to drop off Aspen. When I drop her off I always turn there in front of the church and head back toward Main street. So there I sit in my caddy SUV (that Cotton swears is a station wagon) waiting to turn onto Main when Jeff Procter, aka Little Jeff, turns in front of me to go take his daughter to school. He is in a light blue Mini Van. Really? When did this happen? It was just last weekend that I was driving the Chevette and he was driving his old Pickup and we were passing each other on Main street because we were all down there dragging Main! I did laugh a little. Kind of one of those - if we had know then moments., It also made me a little sad.

It is official - I am way old!! Maybe I should go lie down and take a nap!

:} Love you all,
Shana

Sew... Here we go!!

I have a really good friend who is having a baby boy in September! Inspired by my "this took two years/12 days of Christmas quilt" (no really it took two years and the combined efforts of my mom and aunt), I am moving on to a quilt that has a much more definitive timeframe. A few months ago I was at the world's greatest quilting shop, aka The Cabbage Rose, and I saw a pattern for a block quilt. This pattern boasts that it is suitable for beginners (that would be me) and so I figured I would give it a try:)


Recap of the pros and cons:
1. Simpler quilt than the 12 days of Christmas quilt
2. Quilt needs to be completed by September


According to my calculations I have approximately 135 days during which I can gaze adoringly at my beautiful fabric (pictured below), 4 days of gathering and regathering supplies, 3 days of actual frantic sewing, 1 day of making multiple repeated trips to Joann's and Hobby Lobby to purchase the supplies I actually needed AND 22 hours of phone time with my mom ahead!! Sounds like a plan to me:-)


Sew.... here we go!!

Wish me luck! 

Julie

This weekend!

This weekend was great. I wish everyone could have been there, but I understand. I dropped Mason and Brandon off in College Station and headed to Austin. Dawn, Jay, Libby and the kids picked me up Saturday morning. I was told later that Jay made a "rude" remark about a very large black woman in house shoes being me! Thankfully, the kids defended me.

We had a great time at the Country Living Fair. Libby made a lot of good contacts and we saw some neat things. Most was way out of our price range, but we got a few really good ideas. The girls went to the mall afterward and the boys went swimming. We all met back up for supper. I took a couple of pictures of the girls at the fair.

Don't you just love their pre-teen attitude! It is so funny when it is not yours doing it!

I then went back to College Station on Sunday and watched Mason at camp a little. He seemed to have had a really good time. There is a contest in July that I hope they go to. They also said that there would be another camp in the Fall that will be on techniques. I am excited for them. So is Mason can't you tell ....



Yes - he made sure to wear Texas Tech shirts all weekend. You have to love him.

Aspen and Cotton spent the weekend with their Pa. They really enjoyed it and he loved that they were there to spend time with him and most of all cook for him! I am so grateful that they all enjoy each other.

Well here is the latest. Let me know what you are doing.
Love ya,
Shana

Ta Da!

Well, here it is. The "family" blog. You ask for and you got it. Now I do expect you all to contribute to it. I have invited Dawn, Bette and Julie to be authors. So basically the three of us and the only other one I thought would want to contribute. If the other children decide they want to be part I will add them as well. You can add post, pictures comments, ... It is ours and we can do whatever we want. I have not "decorated" it. I will try to get to it, or if one of you want to feel free. I hope this works as well as we wanted. I can't wait to add what I want and not worry about it being "good". So there you go. Love you all!