Cupcake Time Again

The girls wanted to do some more cupcake baking/decorating this weekend, so we broke out the mix and sprinkles again. This time we just got out what Halloween cupcake decor and sprinkles we had on hand and just did what we wanted. The girls had a fun time and were finishing decorating the cupcakes and eating them in no time!

Let the icing and decorating begin...

Ashlan becomes quite the perfectionist when she is decorating a cookie/ cake/ or cupcake.

And Kate has multi-tasking down to a tee!

And here is what the girls produced! Cute! And yummy!

Party at the Stables

One of Ashlan's sweet friends celebrated her 7th birthday at the horse stables this weekend! Of course, Ashlan loves parties, but she was even more excited that this party was spent with and around horses! Ashlan had a fantastic time at the party and enjoyed riding on Dusty during the party!

The Horses


She meets Dusty for the first time. This would be her horse during the party.

What a sweet horse for her.

Here is Ashlan in the arena getting familiar with Dusty and he getting familiar with her.

Let the riding begin!

She did great on Dusty! She worked up quite a sweat under that helmet too!

One of the many party favors! Cowgirl Cookies in a jar. Cute idea, Jamilyn!


Happy Birthday, MaKenzie! What a great party!!!! Thank you for inviting Ashlan!

Beer Chili and Beer Margarita's

During football season, I try to make a new chili recipe each Sunday! (and sometimes I even take it as far as making a new cornbread recipe too) Of course, Brent is a big chili lover so he almost never turns his nose up at the new recipes each week....BUT rarely does he get super excited about a new recipe, meaning he always loves the chili I make but never raves on and on about any certain chili recipe. Until TODAY! I made a new recipe called Beer Chili and he LOVED it! In fact, we had another couple here watching the Cowboy game with us and eating chili and everyone raved about it! So, after an empty crockpot and satisfied bellies, I decided this was a chili recipe I must share!
*Just a small note here - I have made so many chili recipes over the years and I know I've made beer chili before in some sort of way, fashion or form....but I guess there was something about THIS recipe that made it so yum (maybe it was the Guiness beer I used, or the honey it called for)*

Here is the recipe you MUST make if you or anyone you know loves chili!

Beer Chili

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion diced (vidalia onion if available)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5-2lbs ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes
1 cup beer (dark preferred) *I used Guiness beer
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp curry powder
3 Tbsp hot pepper sauce
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg (10oz) frozen corn
1 can (15oz) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup diced mild green chiles
3 beef bouillon cubes
1-2 Tbsp flour, to thicken
Garnish with cheese, sour cream, etc..

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes
-Add beef or turkey to skillet. Cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Drain fat and discard
-Pour into crockpot. Add remaining ingredients, stirring until mixed.
-Cover and cook LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH 4-6 hours.

And then I found this interesting drink while I was browsing through a cookbook. It's called Beer Margaritas. Let's just say I'm glad I was curious and made it. Can you say YUM! Four of us drank two pitchers worth!

Beer Margaritas

3/4 cup thawed limeade concentrate
1 bottle (12 oz) beer *the recipe suggested Corona and that's what I used. I highly recommend using Corona too!*
6 oz vodka
6 oz water
ice cubes

-In a pitcher, combine the limeade concentrate, beer, vodka, and water
-Serve over ice

Plano Balloon Festival

The Plano Balloon Festival is an annual event! And this event takes place literally about 10 minutes from our house! It's so much fun each year! The event lasts an entire weekend with a balloon launch every morning and every evening, as well as Balloon Glows each night. We went to the Balloon Glow last night which was so beautiful! Then this morning we watched the balloons fly over our house and we chased a few too! Check out the fun we've had this weekend with the balloons! Turn up the volume when you watch the video below!

Photo slideshow made with Smilebox

Ravioli-Sausage Lasagna

I love my Betty Crocker Easy Family Dinners cookbook! I'm always finding recipes out of that book for meals! Tonight was no exception! I thought this Ravioli-Sausage Lasagna recipe sounded yum.....and well, it was! That's why I'm sharing it with you!

Ravioli-Sausage Lasagna



-1 1/4 lbs bulk italian sausage
-1 jar (26-28oz) tomato pasta sauce
-1 package (25-27oz) frozen cheese filled ravioli (I actually already had frozen tortellini, so I went ahead and used that)
-2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
-2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350.
Cook sausage on skillet until no longer pink, then drain.
Spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce in ungreased 13x9x2 dish/pan.
Arrange single layer of frozen ravioli over sauce
Pour 1 cup pasta sauce evenly over ravioli
Sprinkle evently with 1.5 cups sausage and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese
Repeat layers with remaining ravioli, pasta sauce, and sausage
Cover with foil and bake 45 minutes.
Remove foil, sprinkle with remaining 1.5cups mozzarella and parmesan cheese
Bake about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and lasagna is hot in center.

So yummy! I had only planned to serve this dish with caesar salad.....but thanks to my in-laws, they surprised us with a fresh loaf of french bread! They must have had some intuition that we were having italian food for dinner!

Cute Find!

I came across these super cute Fall themed cloths pins at World Market the other day! Not sure what I'm going to do with them. Maybe put a Fall treat/snack in a brown bag and clip it shut with these cloths pins.... Who knows what I'll do. But either way, I thought they were so cute and just had to have them!


The owls are made of wood. The leaves are felt. I went ahead and bought these, BUT seriously, they would be so super easy to make!

A Sweet Treat for a Sick Girl

I love it when I'm shopping and I find 'baking kits'. You know - those kits that have the mix, icing, cupcake muffins, sprinkles, etc all in one bag/box.




I love these and I'm always buying them. And of course, they came in handy this weekend when we got holed up in the house due to Ashlan's little 48 hour cold.

We got out one of these baking kits and started baking!

Ashlan is the queen of cracking eggs!

And here are the results from our baking kit! Yummy Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes!