Friday Photos: Fall, Family, Food, and Fun!

Good morning! This was our delicious and good-for-you breakfast one day this week. Avacado toast on whole grain bread topped with an egg is my favorite, and Steve has actually seen the light that is the goodness of the avocado! Not pictured is my junk breakfast that I have other days because even as a middle-aged woman, I cannot pass up some of my favorite childhood treats. 

Remember these? Franken Berry was always my favorite. This Carmella Creeper is new; honestly, they all taste the same. So, this year, I got this one! 

Do you have a favorite from your childhood? 

Or now???

In other news, I posted this picture before but forgot to mention that I took it because Madison texted to ask me what I was doing that night. When I sent her this picture with the strings of lighted leaves, she sent me this.

She was also watching TV with her string of lights glowing, too! And then Peyton, who is also in that text, sent this.

Same! That made me so happy! And longtime readers may recognize the little witch next to Peyton's TV from years and years of Halloween in our house! As I get older, I like to give special things to each child as a memory of their childhood and a way to carry a piece of it with them forever. 

We get pictures from the girls almost every day. I am so thankful because it is almost like we are there. Madison sent us this picture of a dinner party she and Nicolas had with Peyton and Christopher and a sweet picture of their pup, Draper! Peyton sent us these pictures of her and Christopher out for a walk to show us the leaves around her house back home. I was happy! 

Peyton also shared a recipe with me that she made and loved, and I thought it sounded so good I made a big batch, too! It is a good, hearty, cozy meal, and we all agreed it is a keeper. It is a one-pot, easy-to-make meal too! I served it with Caesar salad and fresh bread.

Want to hear a weird story? Madison is getting our mail while we are here, and she texted me this, showing me this book that came in the mail addressed to me. I admit my memory is not as good as it used to be. However, I didn't recall ordering that book! We checked our Amazon orders and any other place we could think of. No record of such an order. I thought about a book-purchasing app I have, but I have deactivated it since we came here. I checked it, and...nothing. I checked my Visa statements and my PayPal account. Nothing. Granted, it is a book I would order, but what the heck?! Finally, I contacted the help center on the app, and they looked into it. They responded a few hours later with this.

June 2022?! No wonder I couldn't remember buying it! LOL. And that mystery is solved. I am so glad I watched all those episodes of Scooby-Doo. I will leave you with some photos of the life and times of Mocha, an eight-year-old Yorkie who has me wrapped around her little paw.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends! I will be around visiting this weekend and will be back here Monday. Finally, I saw that one of my blogger friends answered questions from comments in her posts, so I decided to give it a try! Thank you, happyone!

Mary ~Thank you! I am tidy and minimalistic by nature, but I do have help! My kids help me, and I have a very good friend who is the world's best housecleaner, too! 

Jennifer ~ Our World History is The Story of The World. It is awesome. 

Sheri ~ I get most of my candles from Yankee Candle or, for more personalized ones, Etsy. 

Judee ~ Teaching Textbooks is an excellent math program. It is online now, but you can also get books. One of the things about it is that it applies the lessons and skills taught directly to real life. Following the unit on percentages, for example, there is a unit on ways it is used in life. Flynn learned about profit margins, sales tax rates, sales commissions, and interest. And somehow, they manage to make it fun!

If I missed anyone, I'm sorry! 

Thanks for visiting!

BillieJo

Images, not mine, are from Google.

Homeschooling And No Bake Granola Bars!

 Wow. My post titles are surely getting lame, aren't they?? Or, perhaps...more direct. In any case, I am sharing some of our little homeschool space here today. This is the view from my desk. It is beautiful and peaceful. And the perfect spot to wait for the leaves to change. Still waiting. Still.

This is where Flynn and I spend our afternoons. This little space is in the open area on the second floor, so we have a cozy spot without much distraction in which to work. Flynn is in eighth grade, and honestly, I thought years ago that I loved the elementary years the best. I still hold a special place in my heart for those precious days of colors, numbers, shapes, and songs. Yet, I am finding the middle school years to be great in a different way. Flynn and I talk about things as we learn, and we both feel enlightened and excited when we explore something new. She enjoys World History a great deal, and I do as well. We are using a curriculum that takes an entirely chronological approach, and currently, we are studying the Mughal Empire in South Asia. She also really enjoys and excels in Geometry. Knowing my limits, I am using an excellent math program called Teaching Textbooks, now online, which allows her to bypass my areas of comfort involving math! Even as an eighth grader, she enjoys listening to some of our favorite Halloween books, the same ones I used to read to her as I sat in a rocking chair with her on my lap. 

I'll leave you with a favorite snack idea that we all love. I thought I shared it before, so apologies if I have. I got this recipe from Peyton's husband's mom, who made a batch for us once. So easy! So good! Enjoy!

No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Click on the link for the original recipe. Clearly, we add some extra chocolate!

Well, I am off to start my day! I hope you have a cozy, lovely October day, my friends. Thank you for visiting!

BillieJo

Favorite Recipe Friday

Hello! And Happy Friday! I am snuggled under a throw with my pups and my coffee, and although it is only 10:00, I have already returned from my doctor's appointment, showered, and unloaded the dishwasher. It was a regular checkup, and thankfully all went well! Except for the fact that the scale there is different than the one here. Hmmm. I always schedule the earliest appointment for a couple reasons. First of all, the office is usually empty and super clean, and in addition, I don't have to sit and wait all day to go. I can go, come home, shower, and be back on the couch before Steve leaves for work! 

Winter apparently got the memo and is making up for lost time here in Pennsylvania. We had snow earlier in the week, are supposed to see a storm today and possibly another Monday. My weekend will consist of cozy clothes, books, and coffee. Yay!  

Our favorite meal of the week was an old favorite, Grandma Flo's Lasagna. It is Steve's mom's recipe and his very favorite. There are many ways to make lasagna, and this one is straightforward. But it is so good! I shared the recipe once before and will add the link to that down below. We serve it with fresh bread and sometimes a salad.

Have a nice weekend, my friends. I look forward to visiting and catching up with you all. And don't forget to turn your clocks ahead! Leaving you with a quote that popped up on my phone because sometimes we need a reminder!

Billie Jo

Grandma Flo's Lasagna

(One change I do make is I use 2 pounds of ground beef and 2 jars of Ragu Pasta Sauce with one box of lasagna noodles.)

Friday Photos And Favorite Weekly Recipe

Well, Happy Friday, my friends! I hope your week was happy, healthy, and a little cozy too. We had snow one day this week, and Flynn and I watched someone kayaking on the lake the next! Let's see; what else did my week include?

Coffee every morning.

Healthy lunches for the husband.

A Penguin hockey game for the guys and a movie night, complete with Titanic and Mcdonald's for the girls! 

The favorite meal of the week, besides the gumbo, was simple chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese. I shared the chicken tenders recipe before, but I will link it below, just in case!

Have a cozy weekend! Thanks so much for visiting, my friends. I am always happy that you do.

Billie Jo

Macaroni and Cheese

Chicken Tenders

Favorite Recipe Friday and a Giveaway!

Hello! And Happy Friday, my friends. I hope you had a lovely, cozy week. We passed a touch of something around here this week and therefore spent an inordinate amount of time sleeping. The symptoms were mild: a quick bout of sweating, dizziness, exhaustion, and a stuffy nose. Thankfully, we all feel better, no doubt in part to the excellent care we experienced. Rhett's girlfriend Kyrstin made us a delicious dinner Monday night, and Madison brought another delicious meal for us on Valentine's Day. And now, the windows have been opened, the sheets changed, and the Lysol sprayed. 

I'm sharing this recipe from a couple weeks ago, and I may have shared it before, but it is easy and delicious. It is Enchilada Casserole, and I will link the recipe down below. 

I also wanted to share two beautiful books I recently read and loved, written by two lovely Blogging friends! Each of these books is beautifully written and filled with helpful advice and heart-touching words that you will reach for again and again. 

Mrs. White has a beautiful blog right HERE. I have been a reader and friend for years.

Debbie is a new blogging friend I am so happy to have met. Her beautiful blog is found HERE.

I would like to gift two of my readers a copy of both of these books. Please leave a comment below letting me know you are interested, and I will draw two names from that list and announce the two lucky winners Monday! 

Well, Mocha and I have a few things to do today. First, though, I am pouring another cup of coffee. Have a cozy weekend, and thanks so much for visiting. I am always happy you do!

Billie Jo

ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

Monday Morning Coffee Talk

 

Good Monday morning, my friends! I am settled in my spot on the couch; the house is quiet except for the dishwasher humming in the background, my coffee is hot, and the fireplace is lit, adding some warmth to this cold room. I snapped the above pictures right before I sat down, just as the lake woke up. I hope you had a lovely weekend, whether cozy and warm inside or fun and cold outside. Some of us snuggled in for mass and football, while others, Peyton and Chris, skied on the freshly packed snow. 

I am happy to report I also did some much-needed bathroom scrubbing on Saturday. As I age, I have to be in the mood to clean. I am slow getting started, but I always feel so good once I do it. I love the feeling of having super clean and sparkling bathrooms. Even if that feeling lasts all of an hour or so! Today will be a relaxing day with homeschooling, laundry, leftovers for dinner, and The Bachelor this evening. 

Oh! Thursday, January 27, is National Chocolate Cake Day! As you know, we love to celebrate all things holiday, so why not celebrate cake? This easy cake is a favorite in our house, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you, just in case you want to celebrate chocolate cake too.

The cake is known as Depression Cake. The recipe I use is right HERE. I double it and bake in a 13x9 inch pan for our family. The frosting recipe I like to use is a sour cream chocolate frosting that pairs perfectly because it is not too sweet. I found it in an old cookbook called The Cakemix Doctor. Just combine 1/2 stick of butter and 3 oz. Semisweet chocolate chunks in a small saucepan. Melt over low heat for about 3 minutes until smooth. Let cool and stir in 1/2 cup sour cream. Put this in a mixing bowl, and on low speed, mix with 1 and 1/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar and a tablespoon of hot water. (I always sift the powdered sugar!) Then add 1 more cup of sifted powdered sugar and 1 more tablespoon of hot water. Beat until it is the right consistency, and then add1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat a bit more until smooth. We like to refrigerate this cake and set it out before serving. 

Well, that is about it for this morning. I hope you have a wonderful day doing whatever you have planned. Thank you for visiting. I am always happy that you do!

Billie Jo