Family Favorite Recipe

Don't say I NEVER cook...I do!  When i cook I do really cook.  If truth be known I HATE to go to the grocery store.  If we had a grocery store fairy I would cook a lot more often.  Chris says I can't cook anything simple.  He thinks it always has to be a big deal, and that is my problem.  I don't hear him complaining too often.  At the holidays, my family always requests "Becky's Potatoes."  I get a little bored and try new things usually every other year, but always come back to old trusty.  It is pretty high maintenance as most ingredients are cooked, combined and then cooked again.  My family thinks it is WORTH it!

HOT POTATO SALAD CASSEROLE

8 med potatoes (i prefer Yukon Gold)

32 oz mayo

1 pkg bacon cooked & crumbled

1 yellow onion finely diced

3/4 Big block Velveeta cubed

1 pkg mild cheddar cheese

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 glass dish.  Clean potatoes & peal some skins off.  Boil them until almost done (about 8 min, need to be firm enough to cube).  Set aside & cool.  Place Velveeta, half bacon, mayo, onion, half cheddar and mix in pyrex.  Add cooled cubed potatoes.  Add salt & pepper.  Add remaining cheddar then bacon.  Cover with foil and bake 350 for 45 min.  Remove foil and cook additional 5-10 min.  Add 15 min to cooking time if prepared ahead and cooked directly from refrigerator.

Christmas Card 2011

I try really hard to be creative in selecting a Christmas Card every year.  It could be a reflection of the year, places we have been, things we have done, a fun memory, but always something personal.  The last few I have tried to make you laugh. This year was the roughest.... toughest... hardest year at the Schiller house.  To top it all off our Sooners did not end with a strong winning season.  With all that being said we thought this was the proper way to top it all off.

Front:

Inside:

Not so perfect 1st visit from the TF

Cash has been talking about his loose tooth for a week now.  I didn't know how this was all going to go down.  Twice this past week I have asked if his tooth is getting any loser?  He wiggles it and reluctantly lets me.  He has told me, "Mom I want you to pull it."  I can help anyone else pull a tooth, but truth be known for some stupid reason it makes me nervous for my own!  I wimped out with W and took him to my office for assistance.......
The result was all smiles, a like for dentistry & even a pose with the forceps!  (Since I just started blogging....you will often see me backtrack to mention things with #1 I am currently mentioning with child #2)  I just got super lucky on this deal!

Last night, while in the car on the way to Tulsa, Cash decides it is time.  W really wants to pull his lil bubs tooth.  He gives it several tries, but is limited with how much time Buttercup lets him stay in his mouth to try.  I glance to see bleeding and realize I need to suck it up.  From the front seat, I turned around leaned back and gave it one good yank for success!  He was in amazement that it was over and didn't even hurt.  Not the picture perfect first tooth pulling picture I had imagined.  No fancy video camera, no batteries charged for the Canon and mom leaning over the seat to pull it????? To a dental hygienist mom this TF stuff is a BIG deal!  Meet "Toothie" our TF pillow SuperHero delivery agent.  Buttercup named him all by himself.  FYI:  #o is out and #p is slightly loose.  He doesn't want to lose the other as he says that is the tooth he eats all his steak with!

The night before we went to take the annual Santa pics at the mall.  I told Santa before the boys entered this little one of mine has been bad....get him!  I think Santa took it a little far.  I don't think his father will ever forgive me for this one!


So between mean Santa talks and weird Willy the Elf nightly moves, Buttercup is a little spooked that a Tooth Fairy will be flying into his room while he is asleep tonight.  We caved and allow his to sleep in our bed between us.  Shouldn't this make it easier on us???

I texted Chris from my bed that it is time.  He came in with the money, I handed him "Toothie", and he took the tooth, and put the money in.  I placed Toothie back under the pillow and fell asleep.  This morning I sprinkled the fairy dust by the door TF probably entered.   I proceeded to wake Cash up.  Finally, he was up and looking in the pocket on Toothie's back.  "Mom she took my tooth and there is no money!!!"  Chris looked at me as if it was MY fault?  We checked, stripped our bed, made our bed, looked under the bed....no money!  I loved handing out Father of the Year points to Chris as he so quickly hands such Mother of the Year points to me when I mess something up!  Was there a TF burglar?  Was Chris still mad about losing his breakfast money for the morning?  Did W come take it?  Is Cash outsmarting us all and the gig is already up before it begins?  Chris puts him in the shower and puts some money under the bed to be found.  IN OUR CLOSET ON THE FLOOR WAS THE $5!  How in the world?  How did it get there?  My mind is too tired to figure it out.  Just a day in our crazy life...

Time for Thanks

Baby Chelsi is now all married, and we have to share her & Jim during the holidays with the Wallingfords in Ohio.    In remedy, we decided to change Watson Family Thanksgiving to a different day.  This is the 2nd year we have elected to gather together on the Saturday before.  I really don't care what day it is as long as we can all gather together.  Since Grandma Vauda has passed, Kelly has stepped up and done most of the cooking.  This year she had to be in Tulsa all day testing for her new job.  Chelsi and I had to tackle this....

      

We really did make EVERYTHING from scratch except for our place cards.  Bernie at CookieDoodle made these adorable personalized cookies.  Dad (John) was our turkey.  He also cooked the turkey for us.  It was fried.  I love it that way!  This may be the last year for it though.  An innocent bystander said, "There were grease, water & flames....He about burned the whole damn house down."  The Schiller boys were appropriately the indians.  Kelly & Becky were the pilgrims.  G, Caroline & Lily were pumpkins.  Chelsi & Jim were corn for Ohio.  Last was Barry the scarecrow.  Scary Barry?  

We began cooking on Thursday and finished 30 minutes before our planned time.  I was pretty proud of that!  Our menu included.... Pioneer Woman Soul Sweet Tators (they were a new addition & a hit!), Amish Dressing, Hassleback Potatoes, Vauda's Brisket, Fried Turkey, Green Beans, Broccoli & Cheese, Sweet Potato Biscuits & Wheat Rolls.  We topped it off with Chocolate Pie, Pumpkin Pie & Apple Pie.

I had really good intentions of taking pictures of my family at our pretty table, but it did not happen!  Oh well.....Thank you Lord for all my many blessings.  I won't forget them!

What is Wrong With This Picture?

Is it just me or is there something wrong with this picture???

Pretty day in November....no work, no football, no soccer....let's be smart and put up the Christmas lights BEFORE it gets cold, BEFORE we pay someone & BEFORE Thanksgiving.  I have to be careful with the great ideas I come up with.

He is telling me all about his back surgeries for the 50th time right here. Why he should not and can not get on this ladder.

This should probably be the last time I climb a ladder this high and expect myself to balance at the same time!

Curb-Side Delivery

I have been mad, and then there are times that I have been MAD.  Unfortunately today was one of those few MAD days that happened.  We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new beams via freight delivery to be able to move back into our house.  Three days later than scheduled they arrived.  The lady who called to arrange delivery asked where they should be unloaded.  I replied the front door.  I paid for CURB SIDE delivery.  In the past that means the driver takes the items off the truck and sets outside the house at the designated door.  When he arrived, he asked me where my crew was to unload.  I told him he was looking at it.  He scooted each box to the edge of the semi and made ME lift everyone of them out.  I told him I would be glad to help and he told me I would have to do it myself!  I laughed and he said seriously lady if you want them you better get them.  Keep in mind that most are 16 feet long and one was over 30 feet long.  I had no shoes on and unloaded every beam myself.  Several were too heavy for me to get in the driveway.  I don't think anyone has ever treated me as rudely as he.  I felt like a dog.  Well our dog gets treated better than that even by me!  He got in the front of his truck and left me...beams and all....some in the street.  Not good.  Not good at all!  I didn't cry in front of him.  I waited until he left, and I haven't quit!  Then for the first time I allowed my husband to call and give his appreciation.  Lesson learned:  get in writing what kind of delivery you are paying for.  It's a good idea to have a copy of that with you.

Visits from Our Pumpkin Fairy

   When W was four, thanks to our preschool education, he became really into seeds.  He wanted to plant any seed he could find to see if it would grow.  Some of the main things he planted were apple & pumpkin.  It should also be mentioned that he would NOT eat anything with a seed on it (still won't) as he is very concerned about what will grow in his stomach and possibly out his ears!  This means seeded buns, stawberries, oranges, etc.
   My Grandma Frances really encouraged his seed planting.  She liked to agg him on.  I think she loved the idea of random things popping up in my manicured yard.
   One day she was at the grocery store when the pumpkins arrived for fall.  She kindly bought me one, and left it in my flower bed by the door we use on the side of our house.  She thought it would be a FUN surprise to welcome fall into our yard.  Little did we know...W had been seed planting.  He was shocked and amazed when we pulled up to see that a pumpkin had grown in our yard!  She called the next day to see if I liked my new pumpkin, and I told her of the impression it made on W.  I, of course, continued to let him think that this was a pumpkin that grew from his planting.  This absolutely thrilled her.
   Every week new pumpkins would magically appear in our flower beds.  For kicks even a sack of oranges was once there!  He quit planting seeds yearly, but the pumpkins still grew.  The seed planting evolved into The Pumpkin Fairy must have come to our house.  This went on for 5 years until this year.  Sadly our Pumpkin Fairy passed away December 2010.  Even two months before she passed, ill with cancer, she insisted on one final flight to our yard.

   This fall W said, "Remember when lots of pumpkins use to show up in our yard?"  I was taken back, smiled, and had the pleasure of sharing the real story of our Pumpkin Fairy.