my holiday...

Hello All... I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas!
Even though mine was stressful and exhausting trying to juggle a fussy one month old
and keep the holiday spirit, it was a good one... but I'm glad it's over.
I even took the tree down yesterday... and I'm usually one of those
who leave it up throughout the New Year celebrations.
I don't have a lot to say or even a good recipe to share (didn't do any holiday baking
or cooking this year) but wanted to share some photos with y'all.

A few nights before Christmas we got together with JB's family to celebrate
the holiday, as well as, JB's moms birthday... it's on the 21st.

Here's JB's oldest brother, Mike, with his youngest son.

JB's mom (we call her Momma B) with her new hubby, Jim.

Here's Jason... He's the oldest son of Jeff. JB's other older brother.

Here's Jeff with his wife, Elaine, and their youngest.


This is Brittney. She's the daughter of Mike.
Her and Billy are expecting their second baby due next month... it's a boy!

This is Brittney and Billy's little girl... isn't she adorable!


This year we got together at a nearby Italian restaurant...
it wasn't far from my home which made it nice for travel with baby Jude.

On Christmas Eve, after several hours of shopping and traffic
we came home to find this on our door step.

Our good friends who live in Chicago sent this to us.
They are originally from Kansas City.
JB had helped them out with some computer issues over the phone.

And this is how they thanked us... Thanks guys! That was mighty fine of y'all...
and it was a nice treat to not have to worry about dinner on Christmas Eve.

Baby Jude waiting on Santa...

Christmas morning!
It's the hat!

All better.

This is the jacket Haley bugged me about every day for two weeks...

Since we did most of shopping online this year,
she didn't think we ordered it before they ran out of her size.

The boots and the jacket were the big things she asked for...

I'm guessing she was happy she got them.

Now for a few unexpected gifts...

A few things the whole family can enjoy.

I love this smile!

My Rock Stars!

Haley gettin' some love from Mae Belle... ewwww!

I finally caught a smile!

Lil' Christmas Angel.

JB couldn't resist being a rock star too!

Mae Belle after lovin' on Haley...
I'll tell you why I think it's "ewwww" at a later date.

Then Kacie came over for presents and
breakfast and hung out most of the day.

I caught my lil' neighbor riding her new bike that Santa brought.
She even took her new baby on a ride!

After presents and some singing it was time for the best part... mimosa's!

And a little breakfast!

Well, thanks for stopping by.
I'll be taking the rest of this holiday break to
hopefully get some much needed rest.

Much Love,
Ralonda

milk drunk...

Remember this holiday season...


Please

Don't drink and drive!



Have a great weekend y'all!
xo
Ralonda

snow day...

The other day we got snow and freezing rain here in Dallas.

And although it was just a dusting, it was enough to wreak havoc on our major freeways...


and cause a lot of delays and school closings.

This doesn't happen very often in Dallas, but when it does it's a big deal.

I'm one of those that doesn't leave the house.

Even if school is open, I usually let my kiddos stay home and have a "snow day"... because it doesn't happen very often.

See, I grew up in Indiana and I remember the snow. Oh how I miss the snow.

I also remember that it had to be a blizzard for school to be closed,

because people knew how to get out and drive in the stuff...

and if you could get out, then you could drive, go to work and go to school.

And that's the difference between getting snow in Texas and in Indiana... people can't drive in the stuff down here... it's actually pretty scary.

I have to giggle about it every time.

But you can bet I'm giggling in the safety of my home!

xo

Ralonda

dump cake...

Dump Cake two ways...

Here at my house we have a cherry lover (me) and a blueberry lover (JB).

The other day I had a craving for dump cake, but wanted to please everyone who lives in my house (especially me). So, as I stood in front of the canned pie filling at the grocery store it hit me... divide the cake mix, make two smaller cakes and make people happy.

Here's how I did it...

I bought one can of cherry pie filling and one can of blueberry pie filling.

I bought one box of "Butter" (Yellow) cake mix.

I bought one can of crushed pineapple.

I used two sticks of butter.

I used two round cake pans.

I opened the cherry pie filling

and poured it into one of the cake pans.

I did the same with the blueberry pie filling

and poured it into the other cake pan.

I opened the crushed pineapple, divided it between the

two cake pansand mixed them together.

I then opened the dry cake mix and evenly divided it

among each fruit mixture. (Do not mix together.)

I cut up one stick of butter on top of the dry cake mix in one pan

and repeated it on the other.

I placed each cake mixture in my preheated 350 degree oven

and baked them for about 40 minutes.

And there you have it!
Blueberry Dump Cake for JB...

and Cherry Dump Cake for me!

Happy people!

Enjoy!

xo

Ralonda