Baby Cora Is Now In The Loving Arms Of Jesus...

and her parents need our prayers more than ever. If you could spare the time, please say a prayer of comfort for them during this very dark and sorrowful time. It is so hard to believe that less than a month ago, their life was so very normal. They had a beautiful baby girl and now, she is gone. Taken too soon...

Please Remember Baby Cora And Her Parents In Your Prayers

While I was reading one of my favorite blogs, I came across this prayer request. After visiting their blog, I had to write about this beautiful baby.



Sweet Cora is not even a year old and she was recently diagnosed with Neroblastoma.



She just finished up her first round of Chemo.

Please add this little baby and her parents to your prayers...and leave them an encouraging comment if you have the time.

Getting Over My Rant...

Sorry to subject you all to that...worked out my frustration and anger by cooking and baking. (Maybe I should change my name to Betty O'Crocker?) Thought everything turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. Nothing fancy, just playing around with some of my Tastefully Simple goodies. This stuff is so incredibly easy to work with and really makes me feel so creative in the kitchen!

Let's see what did I make...

Savory Wheat Beer Bread



This was so easy. There were 3 ingredients...the Savory Wheat Beer Bread mix, a 12 oz. bottle of beer, and 3 tbsp. of melted butter. Just whipped the mix and the beer quickly together, poured it in a loaf pan, poured the melted butter on top, and plopped it in the oven for 55 minutes. The house smelled fantastic!

***

Cheery Cherry Crisp Mix



I made things a bit more complicated with this item. Tried out the Chocolate Cherry Crisp recipe that was also printed on the box. Just this mix, 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal, 6 tbsp. butter that was melted, and 2 tbsp. water.

I just opened the cherry filling mix and spread it in a greased baking dish. Covered that with the chocolate chips and followed that with the oatmeal and the dry crisp topping mix. Then I combined the melted butter and the water and drizzled that over the top of the oatmeal mixture.

Popped that delicious looking concoction into the oven and ended up eating almost all of that by myself! Wicked goodness, I tell you!

***

Cheesy Nacho Beef Hash Brown Casserole

I really went a bit crazy with this one. Just needed some comfort food. So, I used some ground beef and crumbled that on the bottom of a baking dish. Covered that with some Onion Onion Seasoning Blend,



some Garlic Garlic Seasoning Blend,



and some Seasoned Salt.



Then I covered that with some diced fresh onion, a can of Nacho Cheese Soup, some shredded Colby jack cheese, and frozen hash brown potatoes. Put that into the oven and baked it for an hour.

Can I just say that Bry ate two helpings! That girl loves her meat and potatoes!

***

I also made another dessert

Sliced Almond Bundt Cake With English Toffee Mocha Cream

Another really easy goodie. Just mixed the Absolutely Almond Pound Cake Mix



with 1 1/2 sticks of butter that was melted, a cup of water, and 1/2 of sliced almonds. Poured that into a bundt pan and baked it for 55 minutes.

While that was cooling, I mixed some whipped cream with some English Toffee Mocha mix.



Put a nice "plop" of that on top of a slice of the warm cake...

Maybe this isn't such a good idea for me to sell this stuff. I am going to gain too much weigh! Maybe I need to find a personal trainer for a client, then I can trade product for service?

This Makes My Blood Boil And My Heart Weep...

From the day the story of Baby Grace broke the news in late 2007, I have been drawn to this case. The idea of someone doing such a hanis act of putting a child's body in a storage tub and tossing it in the water is just unfathomable to me. Where were her loved ones? Were they tirelessly searching for her? Wondering where she was? If she was safe...warm?



When I read later on that she had finally been identified, I wept for joy that she could finally be lain to rest...a beautiful cherubic angel.



How awful it was, the morning that I read that her mother was charged (along with her step-father) with her very violent beating death. Again I wondered how a mother could beat her baby to death...I drew my daughters close to me in a tearful hug.





Now her murderers are on trial. They blame each other for her death. Both of them are guilty! Both of them are responsible for extinguishing the life of this precious child of God.

Do you know why they did it? Why she was beaten for who knows how many hours until she was so weak and in pain that she couldn't stand or try to block the painful blows...because the 2 year old forgot to say "Please" and "Yes, sir".

These two worthless examples of human beings gave her a day long "disciplinary" session where they beat her until she was black and blue, her legs were too weak to support her! They held her head under water, pulled her from room to room by her hair or with a belt looped around her neck. She was threw to the ground so many times that she suffered multiple skull fractures...factures that ultimately caused her excruciating death. Her step-father even verified that he took the day off of work to make sure that she learned her lesson about being disrespectful to her parents!

As a mother, I cannot understand how her horrible example of a mother could sit back and watch her baby being murdered...especially when I read that at least one time during the prolonged violence, Riley reached out to hear saying "I Love You"...(I weep gut-wrenching sobs every time I picture this...a tiny precious baby terrified and in pain, just wanting her mother to comfort her and make it stop and that mother does nothing, but let in continue and even join in the beating!)

After she mercifully died, they put her in the tub while they purchased a storage container at Walmart. Her tiny body was placed inside and forgotten in a back storage shed until several months later when they drove to the water and tossing her away with the hope that their awful crime would never be discovered...

Thankfully they are on trial...this worthless piece of crap mother (who by the way is pregnant!) and this awful, brutal pig of a step-father. And I just have to wonder...how can this woman smile?



I just want to reach into the tv screen and strangle her with my bare hands...

Dear Lord please forgive me for my thoughts...but I cannot help the hatred that I feel for these two.

Why didn't they just let Riley go back to her father and grandmother who loved her and miss her terribly?

Sorry...I just have to get this off my chest...I cannot think of anything else...

Back From The Face Of The Earth...

and boy do my arms hurt from pulling myself back on! I know...bad joke...but what can I say, it's 1:00 am and guess who is still wide awake...

So sorry that is has been 20 days since my last post. Just had alot of things going on...the biggest one being my new venture...check out my sidebar...

Anyone want to buy any Tastefully Simple products, host a party (on-line if you are not lucky enough to live in Sunny, FL), or learn more about the business?



I'm having my "Kick Off" Party this weekend...so wish me luck!

Maybe if I get enough "Comment Love" for all of you, I can be convinced to put together my first Give Away and share some of the wonderful goodies that Tastefully Simple has to offer...

[And I have not forgotten about my promise to post photos from our Disney / Sea World trip or Christmas. To be perfectly honest, I have over 300 photos to review and determine which ones are Blog-worthy. Not sure about the rest of you, but just the thought of that makes my mind go numb... Would you all really hate me if I just did a Wordless Wednesday Post and just listed my favorites? You could leave comment requests with explanations?]

The Trophy Is Ours...

And the Gator Nation celebrates...



What a great way to end the College Football Season...

Thank you Tim Tebow



for being a man of your word.

It's going to be a long 7 months until the season starts again...

~~~

Keep Chris Rainey is your thoughts and prayers.



That was one nasty looking injury and he was obviously in a lot of pain.

Now one more time before I head off to bed...

"IT'S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!"

I Was Trying To Put Together...

my Disney / Christmas post...but my mind is on the game!!!





GO GATORS!

(Can you believe that I have to go to a Girl Scout Leaders Meeting tonight!!! Don't they realize that I am going to be missing Pre-Game?!?!? They have me until 8...and then I'm out of there...)

I Am So Very Sorry.

It has just been brought to my attention that some people are receiving a somewhat annoying message box that pops up whenever they access my blog. I too have received this pop-up, but thought that it was isolated to my computer only. As soon as I learned that it was also happening to others, I took the time to find out where the problem was originating from and performed the necessary steps to eliminate this distraction from happening again.

Again, please accept my apologies...and I will be posting a huge update e-mail with tons of photos from our Disney visit as well as our Christmas celebration.

My 13 Month Old Daughter Just Gave Me The Greatest New Years Eve Gift Ever!

She slept from 9:30 pm until 9:30 am! First time ever!!!

Yeah for me!!!

Still Celebrating

with my family and friends...but I will be back with some great photos and stories about our time at Disney.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are safe during tomorrow's New Year's Eve celebrations. We are planning a kid-friendly Fondue and Wii Party, so that should provide more opportunity for more photos and stories.

Many blessing for a wonderful 2009 from the Scarlet O'Kara Family.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night. I Hate To Go, But...

we're heading to the Park that the Mouse Built!



We are so outta here! Catch y'all in a few days!

Kiss, Kiss...

Wordless Wednesday - Here Comes Santa Claus

Head over to 5 Minutes For Mom to see more Wordless Wednesday entries.

Yet Another Example Of Why Things Happen For A Reason...

Remember this post and this post about the birthday party that Ky was not invited to...

Well I just learned that all of the children who attended the party have Strep Throat! (My niece KK has a mild case...)

And now we have discovered the silver lining behind all the heartache and pain...

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday - The Best Mashed Potatoes EVER!

My dear friend and neighbor shared her favorite family recipe with me before Thanksgiving and it was such a hit that I have to share it will all of your for this latest installment of Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.



Best Mashed Potatoes EVER!!

5 lbs. potatoes

1 stick butter

1 tub (pint) sour cream

1 brick cream cheese

1/4 tsp onion salt

1/2 tsp garlic salt

seasoning salt to taste


Boil the snot out of the potatoes (skins on or off), drain and mash.

Combine with all ingredients. Place in casserole and broil for 5 mins to brown the top.

Yummy! Also great leftovers…they reheat wonderfully!

She warned me that these potatoes were so good that there would be no need for gravy. Did I heed her advice? No. So after Thanksgiving Dinner, I threw out almost all of the Turkey and Pork Gravy...because no one wanted to "ruin" the taste of these heavenly spuds!

Hope you all take my advice and try these taters...but learn from my lesson and let them stand alone...no extras needed!

For my great Tempt My Tummy Tuesday entries, visit here and here. There is even a giveaway that you can enter!

How Can You Tell When Your Mind Is Distracted By The Pressures Of Creating A Perfect Christmas For Your Family?

When you peel a banana for your hungry 13 month old to eat



and hand her the peel while you throw the fruit away!

Not good...Not good at all.

Family Moment Monday - Christmas Traditions

So, I was just cruising around Bloggy Land reading some of my favorite blogs and I came across this one from Motherhood For Dummies. My family loves traditions, especially Christmas traditions...so you know I had to join in the fun!

~~~

Some of my favorite Christmas traditions date back to when I was a little girl. We would enjoy a Christmas Eve party at a dear friend's house. They lived in a neighborhood that was known for their decorations. People would wait for hours, just so that they could drive thru the development on Christmas Eve. Santa Claus was a special guest at the party and my sisters, brother, and I loved being his helpers as he greeted all the children in the cars that slowly drove by. After the party was over, we hurried home to set out milk, cookies, and carrots for Santa and the Reindeers...then we had to go to bed in our matching Christmas PJs.

When we woke up early Christmas morning, our overflowing stockings where laid across the foot of our beds. Excited, we would grab the stockings and all four of us would sneak into one of our bedrooms to open the gifts together. We were not allowed to wake up the grown ups until 6am...so we had to be really quiet...even though Mom & Dad knew that we were up. As soon as the clock struck 6am...we all shouted "MERRY CHRISTMAS" at the top of our lungs...and kept shouting it over and over again until a groggy Mom & Dad joined us. They would invite us into their room so that we could sit on their bed and help them open the fun gifts that Santa left in their stockings. We would all giggle about the "gross" things that Daddy received from Santa...Smoked Oysters, Escargo, Pickled Herring, etc.

After all the stocking goodies were opened, we had to take turns in the bathroom washing our faces and brushing our teeth & hair. During that time, Mom would head down stairs to put the Caramel Sweetrolls in the oven to cook while Dad made sure that everything around the Christmas Tree was just perfect for our first glimpse. It seemed to take forever before they told us that we could come out...and one of them would always take a photo of our excited faces as we got the first look at all the Christmas goodies.

All of us enjoyed these traditions so much that they continue today with the next generation. This year will be the 20th anniversary of our attendance at the Christmas Eve Party...and our children cannot contain their excitement because they get to help Santa before he leaves on his whirlwind trip around the world...

Here are a couple pictures of the four "big" kids at last year's party...





We have also continued with the other Christmas Eve tradition of hurrying home to await the morning excitement, only now we all gather in the same house. All the children have a slumber party in Bryleigh's bedroom while Mom Mom & Papa sleep in Kyla's bedroom. The other grown-ups get to sleep where ever they can find a comfortable spot to catch a few precious moments of shut-eye...





before the 6am "MERRY CHRISTMAS" wake up call...and the stocking gift opening frenzy that follows.







We also have to take a few photos of the Christmas Morning Gift Splendor before the Children see it...













As well as the "First Glimpse" shots...





Hope you all enjoyed this little glimpse into my favorite Christmas Traditions...and please share some of yours with me, as well as Motherhood For Dummies.