Kaycee's Easy Cheesy Potatoes, Beef, and Green Bean Casserole

This is one of my family's favorites. It's one of my favorites because it's so easy to make. I got the recipe off a box, but I have tweaked it.

One box of Au Gratin Potatoes (I buy Kroger brand)
1 lb ground beef
1 can french style green beans, drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
shredded casserole cheese

Brown your ground beef, drain

Prepare your au gratin potatoes according to the oven directions on the box. Mix in soup, green beans, and ground beef.

Sprinkle cheese on top for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. I add about a cup of cheese - that's where the "cheesy" comes in. :)

I'm sure this is supposed to serve 6 or 8, but we rarely have leftovers.

Christmas Festivities and Band Christmas Concert

Well, the Christmas festivities are in full swing. We have had the Church Holiday Party and the youth Holiday Party. My work has had their holiday party and we are having a party for the kids at Happy Times on Friday. This Saturday is our first family Christmas Party - then it's to Lena's on Christmas Eve, my Mom's on Christmas day, and My Grandmother, Dad, Sister and her family, and brother and his wife are coming to my house on Sunday afternoon the day after Christmas. Hopefully we will all be well in time for Christmas. Seems like Megan has spent more than half of her Christmases sick.

I finally finished all of my Christmas decorating. I have most of my Christmas shopping done. I just have to pick up a few stocking stuffers and last minute items. And, I have TONS of wrapping to do! I think that might be one of the girl's jobs this year. I'm really excited about Christmas this year. I can't wait till Christmas morning! I love to watch the girls open their gifts! I think I get just as excited as they do.

We have also had the pleasure of attending Taylor's first band concert! The Riverton Intermediate School has 70 kids in their band -and that's only 6Th graders! They played Jingle Bells, Up on the House Top, and Santa's Noisy work shop. They have only had one of the pieces of music for 2 1/2 weeks and I thought they did a great job! These kids just picked up their instruments less than 4 months ago! Then, the Buckhorn Middle School bands played (they have 3 bands) and Buckhorn High School played. I really enjoyed it! I'm not sure that Jonathan and Megan enjoyed it is much as I did though. It was unbearably hot in the school gym and Megan wasn't feeling well. So, much to my disappointment we left before getting to hear the Buckhorn High School Band. We ordered a recording of it all so I will get to listen to them when that comes in. We also got Taylor a neat trumpet ornament. It looks just like her silver trumpet! But, I'm making her wait till Christmas.

Recipe for Chess Cake

I have already made one batch of Chess Cake so far this season. Only 2 more to go! It seems that this is the item that I get requested to make the most, so I thought I would post the recipe.


CHESS CAKE

1 stick butter melted
1 egg
1 box yellow cake mix

Mix together and press into cake pan. You will have to get your hands dirty on this one!

8 oz cream cheese softened
16 oz powdered sugar
2 eggs

Pour over first part.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 or 45 mins. You'll want to let it brown a bit so that it won't be too gooey. I have a 10 inch Pampered Chef stone baking dish that works really well for this because it tends to get too done on bottom and not done enough on top.

Halloween Candy

This morning the first words that Megan said to me were "STAY OUT OF MY CANDY!!!" in a very nasty voice. Apparently, the reason she jumped out of bed so quickly was to check her bucket of candy to see if anyone had eaten any while she was asleep. I proceeded to tell her that is was my duty as a mother to get into her Halloween candy. (Insert evil look from Megan) Then I asked her who bought the candy to hand out, who took her to the store to pick out a costume, and who helped her get ready on that night. (Insert a silent child)

I am a firm believer in letting my children eat as much Halloween candy as they want for snack when they get home from school. That way, all of the candy that they like is gone within a week, I can throw away the rest, and we can get on with the rest of our lives! ;-)

How to get your kids to talk to you

A few weeks ago, I posted on facebook that I was glad that Taylor (being a tween) would talk to me about boys and how she was feeling, etc. A friend of mine was asking how I got her to talk to me, and while I don't claim to be an expert, we have started a new bedtime routine that has made a difference. Some of you may have already heard other parents talking about this, but I remember when my children were really young, some of my friends with teens were talking about sitting with thier children at night and talking to them.

It has been a couple of years since I have really read bedtime stories to Taylor or Megan since they are older now and enjoy reading to themselves. So, I recently decided that I would sit with my girls for at least 5 or 10 minutes each when I go to tuck them in at night. Megan doesn't want to talk about school when she gets home in the afternoon, she is tired of school and wants to wind down. But, at bedtime she will tell me about her day and really enjoys the one-on-one attention. Megan is still not super open with me about her feelings, but she is opening up to me more and more during our talks at night. On the other hand, Taylor will start talking as soon as I enter her room and would go for an hour or two if I would stay and listen! That's just the different in their personalities. But, I have really enjoyed this new bedtime routine just as much if not more that my girls have, and we have gotten to know each other better than before. So, I encourage you to carve out a little one-on-one time just to talk with you children. There is no telling what you might find out!

Birthday

So, I'm gonna be 35 tomorrow. Have I really been around that long? I actually had to think about it for a minute to remember how old I'm gonna be! I think the fam and I are going to see Ramona and Bezus tomorrow and probably get some ice cream or something yummy like that. I might even talk them into squeezing in a little shopping. Thinking of another birthday makes me think of birthdays when I was a child. Our Mother always made a big deal out of our birthdays and it was the most exciting day of the year! Okay, my birthday and Christmas were the two most exciting days of the year! I think my most memorable birthday was my sixteenth birthday. I had a big party and it was the only one that I got to invite boys to! I didn't receive a shiny new car. What I did receive was a shiny new silver trumpet! I had been borrowing the school's old beat up trumpet and I was so shocked and happy to get the most beautiful trumpet I had ever seen! Yes, I was a total band nerd. I still have that trumpet and I will be handing it over to my 11 year old daughter on Monday to start band. I am hoping that it will bring her as much joy as it did me.

The Cast is OFF!!!

After 4 weeks Taylor finally got to wash her arm! I think that is what she was looking forward to most. I was looking forward to not having to tape on the trash bag and wash her hair every night.

So, the cast came off without incident and she has it sitting in her room right now! I think it's a little gross, but whatever. It actually wasn't as gross as I thought it would be. It didn't smell too great and her arm is peeling now, but all in all it wasn't too bad. There was one particular signature that she didn't want to throw away, but I promised I wouldn't put any names online. ;)