What's the deal?

You can just call the 'Morgan' household an Orthopedic Hospital! Really.

Brent was out playing Lacrosse with some neighborhood kids a couple of weeks ago, ran and slipped off the curb, and sprained his right ankle. His ankle hurt him bad enough and looked disfigured enough that he made a trip to the ER thinking it was broken. X-rays revealed no fracture, thankfully.....but a sprain can hurt just as bad if not WORSE!
He was bedridden for a few days, then retreated to wearing the ankle brace/boot in order to get around
(Thanks, Emily and John!)

Brent and the boot

You can see the boot better here...

Just as Brent's ankle starts to feel better, what happens?
Well, last night I was out running and tried to jump up on the curb in the dark...not a good idea. I twisted my left ankle. Thank God Marcy was with me!
So today I am the one bedridden with an ankle injury.....Ownership of the ankle brace/boot now belongs to me!
The position I've been in for 99% of the day!


Brent, nor I, have sprained an ankle in over a decade....and here we are spraining ankles within 10 days of each other. Ironic, don't you think?

I'm smiling...

It's 7:30a.m., I'm sitting on the recliner browsing through a book with Ashlan. After a few minutes, Ashlan gets off the recliner and heads to the library. She comes back with the Bible in her hand.

Me: "What do you have Ashlan?"

Ashlan: "the Bible"

Me: "What are you going to do with it? Are you going to try and read it to me?"

Ashlan: "Mommy, I'm just going to open it and let God talk to me."

Makes me smile...

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Cupid made a visit to our house! He left some goodies on the table upstairs, and even left some items on the front porch!





Brent woke up to find Reasons Why I Love Him on the bathroom mirror. The big white heart in the middle says, 'Reasons Why I Love You'. Then all the small red hearts have reasons on them... I had so much fun doing this for him! And most of all, he really loved it!


Hope YOU are having a fantastic Valentine's Day!
I thought this would be an appropriate picture to end this post with...
I'm blowing YOU a Valentine kiss!

A 'Sweet' Gift

I found this recipe for Chocolate Tea Cake in a Country Living Magazine. I thought this looked like a good recipe to give out as a Valentine gift to my parents and my in-laws. The recipe makes two 9x5 inch loaf cakes, so it was perfect for the two families I wanted to make it for!


Here is my finished product of the Chocolate Tea Cake. I have no idea why my icing looks so much lighter in color than the recipe picture above...but I'm going to chalk it all up to the lighting the magazine uses for their photo shoots. The recipe states you can sprinkle toasted almonds, cocoa nibs, or toffee on top of the icing. For my cakes, I decided to crush up a Toffee Heath Bar and sprinkle that on top! Looks yummy.



Now, I need to package the cakes and make them presentable as a Valentine gift, right! This is where it gets fun for me! I happened to come across these Valentine bins at Hobby Lobby for 40% off. I really wish they had red bins, but they only had pink and purple. Still, they were perfect to package the cakes in!



I wadded up some white tissue paper and placed it in the bottom of the bins because I wanted the cakes to stick up over the edges. Then I wrapped the cakes in saran/plastic wrap, and placed them on top of the tissue paper in the bin. Add a little plastic wrap around the entire gift, tie around a matching bow, and add a gift tag with your recipe name....and there you go...
A 'Sweet' Valentine Gift!


Only problem is - I'm giving something edible as a gift that I NEVER even tasted myself... Hope it's good!

Valentine Cards

Next to Christmas cards, I love getting Valentine cards in the mail! They have some of the cutest Valentine cards out there right now.
We have opened a few of the cards we've gotten in the mail while some haven't been opened yet. Kate won't be here till Friday afternoon, so the cards she has received haven't been opened yet....I can't wait to see them though!

This card was to Ashlan from her sweet friend, Madi. Thank you, Madi! We LOVE this card!


Don't you love the vintage look of this card!!


Here are a few cards displayed on the table! I just love Valentine's Day!


I got this card from my Daddy, which has a sweet note inside to me!


My Daddy is the best!


I've got the kids goodies ready for Valentine's Day and I'm in the process of getting Brent's surprise ready! I hope he likes it!

This came in the mail yesterday....Isn't it cool! It's a dual iPhone, iPod charger, player, radio, and clock. I love it and it works out great on my nightstand! Brent said this was my Valentine present! Now isn't he a ROMANTIC! All joking aside, I love the dual player and it was his surprise to me. I never asked or hinted for it! Romance to him is anything technological!
I love my husband!


Hope you are getting excited about Valentine's Day!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I love to cook, obviously. And I love to share a good recipe when I come across one. Tonight was one of those nights, so allow me to share with you:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
6 slices Swiss cheese
6 slices ham
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon paprika
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup dry white wine (Chardonnay)
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup heavy whipping cream


Pound chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. Fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks.


Mix the flour and paprika in a small bowl, and coat the chicken pieces.
Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides.


Place chicken in a baking dish. Cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Add the wine and bouillon into skillet. Heat and stir

Blend the cornstarch with the cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the skillet with wine/bouillon mix.

Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.



**I actually doubled the sauce, which meant doubling the wine, bouillon, cream, and cornstarch**

This is certainly a recipe I will make again!

P.S. Thank you Carolyn (my mother in law) for helping me out at the grocery store! I can always count on you!

Break out the Band-aids!

With Brent and I both being in the medical field, it shouldn't surprise you that we have a fairly comprehensive First Aid Kit. The interesting thing is - we have never had to use it on ourselves. Seriously. Our First Aid Kit gets more use from bruised/bleeding neighborhood children, than our own.

Yesterday was the exception. Ashlan walked through the front door limping and crying...
She had her first scraped knee. Brent disagrees with me and says this wasn't her first... A mom would remember if that was the case, right? I still say this was her first scraped knee!


So now we were able to actually use our First Aid Kit....not that I'm proud of this. I don't wish injury on any member of my family. But I am pretty proud of our Homemade First Aid Kit.
Here's Ashlan cleaning her battle wound!


Nothing that a little peroxide, ointment, and band-aid won't fix!


And she's ready to head back outside and continue playing....


**I must add a note that we did use the First Aid Kit a few months ago when Brent decided to nearly cut off his finger while cutting an onion... When we look back at that incident, we should have retreated to the nearest Emergency Room rather than our little First Aid Kit. Oh well... Apply enough pressure and it'll eventually stop bleeding!**

Junk into Treasure

I have been waiting for a special delivery in the mail for about 6 weeks now! It finally came in the mail this week!

I found this talented lady who makes amazing treasures out of junk! Literally! Whether it be scraps of metal off an old house, or an old medicine cabinet found in a landfill - she turns those old, unwanted items into treasures!

You must check out her website, Salvage - Style

She made this tin 'A' for me out of scrap metal! It's done in the colors of Ashlan's room and I love it!


The 'A' is actually raised from the backing about 2 inches!


Isn't this so cool and vintage looking!


And it works perfectly in her room!


Thank you, Salvage-Style! I can't wait to buy another treasure from you!

A Child who loves Coffee

“Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee” - Stephanie Piro

If the quote above is true, Ashlan will be quite the successful woman! She is starting on coffee VERY early in life!



On the way home from school, our conversation today was as follows:

Ashlan: "Mommy, can we stop and get a coffee?"

Me: "I guess so. Do you want a drink from Sonic or do you really want a coffee"

Ashlan: "I want coffee"

Me: "Okay, let's stop at Saxby's and get a coffee"

(I turn right to head to Saxby's and Ashlan notices that Starbuck's is to the LEFT)

Ashlan: "Mommy, you went the wrong way. The coffee place is back there!"

Mommy: "We aren't going to Starbucks. We are going to Saxby's because it's cheaper"

Ashlan: "Mommy, cheaper doesn't mean it tastes better!"

WOW!