Do you remember....
SLUMBER PARTIES????????

Well, I sure do! And let me tell you something, I don't think any were ever as fun as the one I had this past Friday night with the gals from church....all adult women. The oldest 2 there had been friends for over 55 years!!! Now that is devoted! They had us laughing so hard it was not funny...I nearly wet my pants! We played all kinds of silly games...that were really fun! We talked until 3:00 a.m. before heading to bed. We arose to the glorious sight of KY lake right out the back picture window---Thank heavens one of the girls' husband surprised her with his plan for buying a cabin on the lake this past Sept! (and that she wanted to share it with us!)

Our theme for the food was mexican and I made the coolest new dish..I had to join a mexican food yahoo group just to find something good! :) Let me tell you how simple it was and then let me tell you what I would do differently.

BUSY MEXICAN CASSEROLE

Pkg of 10 frozen burritos
1 pint salsa
1 lg can red enchilada sauce
1 lb sharp cheddar cheese
--throw all but cheese into a crockpot for 4 hours to cook...during last 30 min. throw on the shredded cheese to melt. EAT well! I LOVED IT and so did several of the others who tried it...my family was much less thrilled as were the 5 girls who spent the night with Jen on Sat. night for her birthday slumber party. I brought home the leftovers and gave tastes to everyone....they tried to be gracious...but they didn't like it. Of course, I wonder if it could be that it was already a day old?

That easy? Yep it sure was! BUT, let me tell you what I would do differently: More enchilada sauce (but that could be because I had an extra 4 burritos in the freezer to add to the pot), less cheese...cause a pound of shredded cheese is waaaaay too much....it formed a nice thick layer on top of nothing but cheese which is ok but I thought less in this case would be more! OK...then I thought of another great idea...just spread out the burritos in a baking stone (9x13) and pour on the toppings and bake for a while..then add the cheese to melt. REASON: In the crockpot it was just a huge 'block' of stuff and I really think a flat dish would have been a better look and easier to dish out. THEN I thought, since my family didn't like it...I can certainly make it for me by just popping 1 burrito in my small deep dish baking stone and pouring over some of the salsa and enchilada sauce...baking it for a while then topping with some shredded cheese. MMMM...great idea for fixing while at work too!

Slumber parties...
I remember how much fun they were for me as a kid! My first one was when I was in 6th grade and about 10 girls came over. Can you picture this bunch of girls crawling across floors in the middle of the night to sneak into my parents bedroom and scare my parents??? Sneak, right! We made it to the bed and just as we were about to round the end of the bed, my dad rounded the end on his knees and scared the heck out of us! I literally peed my pants that night!! It was so much fun!

I mentioned that Jen also had a party this weekend too...for her Sweet 16th birthday. We had a good time. I had to 'help' them with some games...so being fun...I bought balloons. Can you imagine how many games you can come up with in a pinch using balloons that can keep 14 to 16 year old girls busy? I had them back to back locking arms with each other trying to pop them between them, stomping them, sitting on them, passing them from their knees to each other with no hands, then passing them from under their chins with no hands...then having to die laughing when part of the girls thought that 'this ain't right' as it looked like they were almost kissing! OH and then there was the passing them from knees to elbows to under their chins without hands...talk about not right! It was fun though! Popcorn, chips, dip, music, cake, candles, gifts and loads of laughter!

This was truly an exhausting weekend!

Snap Shots of October...

A very busy month indeed...and this was not even all the photos! I was the coordinator/planner/executioner of the family picnic for work...which was a blast! I actually worked with the screenprinter to design a t-shirt for us, worked with 2 catering companies on food...and finally I left the annual softball game to the fellas! (Who, I might add, didn't realize they were supposed to do anything in advance! hehehee!) We almost didn't have any gear for playing ball! MEN...sometimes you just gotta wonder!

Work also had a special outing for those of us who wanted to participate....a TITANS football game. All expenses paid! (can't believe we didn't have more to go than we did!) We chartered a bus, invited 1 guest per employee and took off. Seems the Titan folks do special 'corporate' tailgate parties and we got in on the fun. Of course, we had seats next to the sun! It was hot that day too....must have been in the 90's! I took Zach with me...he had so much fun and so did I. He got to meet 3 of the cheerleaders!

We also had a halloween costume contest at work! I won 2nd place! Perty cool! Every year since I started there (3), I paint that web design on my right eye...wear regular clothes and go off to work. I have a blast with it cause no one else ever dresses up or anything...but this year somehow someone thought of a contest!!! I expounded upon my 'web' theme and became a "Spider Bride"....made my own costume and had fun! The 2nd place prize was $50 and they hid $20 coupons (5) in the office and if you found one you had to redeem it with the office manager...I found the first one and cashed in! What fun! Afterwards, we left work early to go to the courtsquare for the annual trick or treating...businesses set up around the sidewalks in front of stores and hand out candy for the kids...uh...well, some where adults who trick or treated us! Since we are a trash company...we had to have Oscar the Grouch on site! Plus we had to decorate our pop-up tent! That stuff is always fun, you know? Guess who made the front page of our local newspaper????? If you guessed me...YOU ARE RIGHT! ehheheee! What a surprise to see me in my costume handing out the candy on the front page of Thursday's paper and IN COLOR!

We also had a harvest fest weekend @ church that was a blast with music, hayride, jump-a-lines, rock climbing, trick or treating, baptisms, outdoor services and a chili cook off that I am so proud to say....CHARLIE won for the 2nd year in a row. Grand Champion Chili Chef! It was a tough competition....against about 30 or so other pots of chili. Hands down, they say, he won. He is so thrilled! It was an incredible weekend. For the record, he actually does make his own chili and it IS good!

We have also had a bi-monthly tech team family gathering, we are both on the tech team...he is with the Lighting Team and I am Creative Arts Director. Over 40 of us gathered for good food, fun and planning. Our church is growing by leaps and bounds and with that, the tech team demands. It is great fun though!

My Beth Moore bible study came to a close this past Tues. and what a major study this was....and soooo rewarding. We had an incredible group this time. Our group had the opportunity to go to a women's conference yesterday in Paducah where the featured speaker was Jennifer Kennedy Dean, awesome author of some wonderful bible studies---Live a Praying Life is the one that I have taken this year. Our Praise and Worship was led by none other than MANDISA herself. What an incredibly talented woman! I was so blessed by her testimony, incredible voice and her story of her American Idol experience! She is such a blessing and what a powerful voice!

October, glad it is over...glad to have the memories....and glad to share with you!