Infamous Pumpkin-Pecan Pie!!

Here it is!! I'm giving my secrets away! When there's a pie THIS good, it's hard to keep the recipe quiet :O) Yes...you can have the BEST of BOTH worlds...and obviously Hannah Montana knows that, too! ;o)

Pumpkin-Pecan Pie:

3 eggs, slighty beaten
1 150z can pumpkin puree
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
In a medium bowl, whisk together above ingredients.

1 cup pecans
1 unbaked 9 inch pastry shell

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

I like to make my pie crusts from scratch, just because I LOVE pie crust and I think it's much better homemade :o)

Roll out your dough


Put your dough in a pie plate and trim off excess from sides


Make it pretty and crimp the edges :O)


Pour in the pie mixture and decorate with pecans! I leave the decorating up to Caleb...he has too much fun!!




**Optional pecan topping**
I stumbled across this topping by accident, and I must say, it's my favorite!! I now use this pecan topping for my pie :o)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix above ingredients together and crumble over the pie mixture. I've noticed with this topping, there tends to be a longer baking time...about 10 minutes more.

I hope you all enjoy this pie as much as my family!!

Zippy...Our Elf on the Shelf :o)

Meet zippy!! Our Elf on the Shelf!


This new member of our family has become a new Christmas tradition for us :o) I have my cousin, Cheri, to thank for this!! She familiarized me with this cute, little Elf story. The book's authors, Carol Aebersold & Chanda Bell, summarized their book with this...

"This charming tradition began for our family when my children were very small. Like most children, they wanted to know how Santa really knew who was naughty or nice. Their answer came in the form of a small pixie elf. The first time the elf arrived at our home, my children officially adopted him by giving him a name. Each year he would arrive around the holidays, usually after Thanksgiving. His sole responsibility was to watch the children's behavior and report it to Santa each night. The next morning, when the children awoke, they discovered the elf had returned from the North Pole and was now resting in a new and different place. My children would race each other out of bed to try and be the first to spy him in his new position. To preserve the elf's magic, the children were not allowed to touch it; however, talking to the elf was encouraged. My children shared many secrets with their elf; and while he was under strict orders not to talk to them, the elf was under no such orders where grown-ups were concerned. Unwittingly, the tradition provided an added benefit: it helped the children to better control themselves. All it took was a gentle reminder that the 'elf was watching,' for errant behavior to be modified."

The last part is true!! I've already used the "elf is watching" numerous times!! ;o) This really is the cutest book! Corban loves looking for "Zippy" every morning and reminding him redundantly what toys he wants for Christmas! ;o)

Hallmark carries the kits of "The Elf on the Shelf," which includes the book and the elf!! Happy reading and tradition making!

Much love,

The Winsett Family

What we're thankful for!

Being that it was Thanksgiving week, I decided to ask Corban what he was thankful for! Honestly, I couldn't wait to hear what he had to say...there's no telling with him!! I knew I wouldn't be able to write everything down fast enough, so I recorded it on my phone :o) Here's what he said...

"I'm thankful for Jesus and God because they hold onto me when I'm in my booster seat and they love me and they forgive me when I'm naughty. And I'm thankful for lizards because they stick out their tongues, but I'm not suppossed to stick out my tongue because it's naughty. And I'm thankful for Macen and Alec and Caleb and Maddox because they are my friends. I'm thankful for everything in my bathroom and my bedroom and the living room and mommy's pictures and the Christmas tree and the big TV."

Oh goodness, this kid makes me laugh!! Cruz was agreeing with Corban, saying "yeah yeah." Haha!! I'm definitely thankful for my two, sweet boys! On the topic of Thanksgiving, Corban "participated" in his school's Thanksgiving program. "Participating" is probably an overstatement!! Many of you might not know this, but there are 2 sides of my dear Corban!! Most of you know his side #1!!

Side #1--->Crazy, ornery, spitfire, talkative, silly, happy, random, and all the other synonyms for these words :o)

Side #2--->COMPLETE OPPOSITE...shy, still, quiet...in other words, *good* Haha! ;o)

So, it really wasn't a surprise for Caleb and I when Corban decided to stand still and not sing a single word at his Thanksgiving program at school!! Haha!! But, you better believe, as soon as we got home, he started singing at the top of his lungs all of his program songs with all of the motions!!

His silly, goofball face...:o)


"We are pumpkins big & round, big & round, big & round. We are pumpkins big & round. We grow on the ground."


"We are carrots orange & long, orange & long, orange & long. We are carrots orange & long. We help to make you strong."


I hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!!

My little George Strait...;o)

I think it's safe to say that I've done some MAJOR slacking on my blog posts...! However, I have managed to snap a couple photos of my favorite country/western singer :O) A twangy singer at that!! This cool, little dude loves to serenade anybody AND everything with his musical talents! He's always strumming that guitar and singing whatever words come to his mind...half the time they don't make any sense :O) During this instance, Corban is serenading our dog Abbee...


Stay tuned for bookings, concerts, and CD signings...;O)

!!CiRcUs!!

CIRCUS? Sure! The fact that I'd never been to one, I was really excited to go!!! Last Tuesday, the Carson & Barnes circus came to the Shawnee Expo Center, and Nana treated Corban and I to the circus! :O) First, we started off with a pre-show snack...


Then, we enjoyed what we payed for! :O)


Wow!! This guy was balancing on 5 cylinders...Nana and I decided that he probably has some pretty nice abs...!


And...of course, a trip to the circus is NEVER complete without an elephant ride!!


This elephant ride was quite a big deal. If you know Corban, then you are probably aware that he DOES NOT like larger animals(ie. cows, horses, big dogs, pigs...)!!! So, with a little bit of coaxing, he decided he would ride this gigantic pachyderm...with mommy, of course! :o)

Cruz's 1st BIRTHDAY BASH!

I cannot believe that my baby boy is already 1 year old! Time goes by way too fast with kiddos around! Cruz celebrated his 1st birthday, Dr. Seuss style :O)


Everything about it was precious...from the kid, to the cake, to the decorations! I have NEVER seen a kid destroy a birthday as much as he did!


Mmmmm...that was yummy :O) Can I please have more?!


Cruz had prior practice unwrapping presents the week before...thanks to his big brother!! Now, Cruz is a pro :O)




Cruz's Nana, the art teacher, made him this wonderful Dr. Seuss desk! She painted everything and she did an outstanding job!




He loves to crawl through it!




HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY BOY! DADDY, MOMMY, AND CORBAN LOVE YOU TO PIECES! YOU COMPLETE OUR LIVES :o) THERE'S NEVER A SECOND IN THE DAY THAT GOES BY WITHOUT A SMILE ON YOUR SWEET FACE!



Some of your FAVORITES:
1.) Big Brother, Corban!
2.) Eating!
3.) Playing with/tearing up brother's toys!
4.) Eating
5.) Tickles on your back :O) You get that from mommy! We both love our backs and arms tickled:O)
6.) Eating!
7.) Making a charge for the hallway when you notice the baby gate isn't up!
8.) And, of course, mommy kisses ;o)

Your MILESTONES:
1.) "Cruzing"...not walking yet...I'm totally fine with that! Take your time, please;O)
2.) 4 teeth
3.) Gasp! 24.3 lbs & 32 inches?!?!!!!
4.) You can say:
*mama
*dada
*bubba
*buh-bye
*nana
*uhhhhh-ooooooooo...that's your most favorite of all! You repeatedly drop things, just so you can say uhhhh-oooooooo :O)

Your NICKNAMES:
(or what mommy calls you all the time!)
1.) Sweet face
2.) Preciousness
3.) Tiny Hiney
4.) Lil love bug
5.) Honey bunny
And yes, I will still call you all of these when you're full grown and married :O)

Your STATS:
Birth date: September 30, 2009
Weight: 7 lbs 7oz
Length: 19.5 inches
Time: 11:37 am(thanks to your rapid descent, mommy got to eat a cheeseburger shortly after! That will always be our little joke!)

Why did mommy & daddy decide to name you 'Cruz'?? Well...it was a lengthy process coming up with your name, little man! At first, mommy wanted 'Chett' because it had a nice ring to it when combined with your last name. But, big brother couldn't pronounce it quite right...! Therefore, 2 months before you were born, we decided on Cruz or Coby. We liked them both...we really did! It wasn't until after you were born, that we finally decided on 'Cruz.' You rapidly descended(causing mommy to dilate from 7cm to 10cm in 10 minutes), causing slight bruising on your sweet face. We thought you were "Cruzin' for a bruisin!" And that's how you got your name :O)

WE LOVE YOU CRUZ! HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY!

**a special thanks to Tabitha Steward who made his lovely Dr. Seuss cake, and to Ashaley Crawford who generously took these wonderful pics!

1st SOCCER game!

It's official...I'm a soccer mom!! All I need now is a minivan:O) Corban is on a YMCA soccer league with a couple of his friends and they all have so much fun together! There's nothing better than watching 3 & 4 year olds running wild on a soccer field trying to play "as a team" because, of course, they ALL want the ball...! Corban's team, The Wizards, had their first soccer game on Saturday and it was a blast!!! All the moms and dads were cheering for their children and screaming "No! Run the other way!" Haha!! I think the score ended up being -1 to 8...good thing it's non-competitive:O)

Here are some action shots!



I think I must be that annoying mom that keeps cheering & cheering & cheering...so Corban must have been annoyed by my constant, "Go Corban!! Kick it in the goal!", that he just decided to pick it up and run with it to the goal ;O)


Cruz is already practicing his soccer sliding skills:O)

Thomas the Train

They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight
Shunting trucks and hauling freight
Red and green and brown and blue
They're the really useful crew....

This song has been stuck in my head for 2 days!! Why you ask? Welllllllllll...

Thomas the Train made a visit to Oklahoma City...and guess who wanted to see him?!?!! Corban!! So, we decided to make it a family of 4 trip and headed to the Oklahoma Railway Museum :O)




Poor Cruz...he's such a good natured little baby!!



Corban loooooooved it!! He had tons of fun playing with all of the Thomas toys provided :O)



All aboard! After lots of playing, it was finally our turn to board Thomas!


Thomas will be giving more rides next weekend at the Oklahoma Railway Museum! Go here to get your tickets:
http://oklahomarailwaymuseum.org/

Happy 4th Birthday, Corban!

Corban,

Mommy & Daddy cannot even begin to tell you what a joy you are to us. You've enriched our lives in so many ways in these sweet, perfect 4 years!! You bring so much joy, laughter, happiness and animation(I could really go on forever with adjectives!)into our everyday life :O) I can't imagine going a day without fart talks, watching your "favorite movie of the week" 5 times/day, telling you a million times a day to stop calling your Elephant "Boobies"...since his real name is "Boo Boo", watching you run around the house saying "here comes Bullet", or holding you down and giving you kisses until you've had enough or squirm out of my arms(whichever comes first!)!!! These are the days I live for! These are your silly, little quirks and that's what makes you perfect in every way :O) I don't know how God decides to make kids and their personalities, but when he made you...he went to extraordinary measures to make you flawless and impeccable...and then I'm sure he had to have a day of rest...;O) We love you SO much! Happy Birthday, buddy! Here are some of your favorites:

Favorite song: Eyes Wise Open(aka Your Love is a Song)by Switchfoot.

Favorite drinks: Chocolate milk and sweet tea.

Favorite food: Anything that comes with a toy :O)

Favorite movies: Cars, Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon, Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and Lion King.

Favorite books: Bible, Little Boy, I'm a Big Brother, Big Book of Animals, Goodnight Goon, and Dr. Seuss.


Since you couldn't make up your mind about what kind of birthday party you wanted, you got all 3...Cars, Toy Story, and How to Train Your Dragon! What a great birthday party it was!


Your cake...half Cars, half Toy Story...


Your cupcakes! They're supposed to look like Viking helmets for How to Train Your Dragon!


Your party favors...a dragon mask complete with a Piston Cup :O)



HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, CORBAN!!

Date of birth: September 17, 2006
Time: 6:28am
Weight: 6 lbs, 12 oz
Length: 19 inches

Cowboy Up!

Boots and hats & orange and black! Yes...those are the best types of Cowboys :O) The county fair came as fast as it went, but not before some special boys' took part in the annual pee wee tractor pull! I don't know who had more fun...the pee wee tractor pullers or myself watching them! Those kids are so cute! I didn't think this night could get any better until.................................................the Hawkins family showed up! Caleb Hawkins and Corban are very good friends, to say the least :O) Caleb and Corban's little brothers(Tyson & Cruz) wanted in on the action, too!


My little COWBOYS...


So proud of these boys! Out of 15 contestants, Caleb placed 2nd and Corban placed 3rd! They had the pedal to the metal...


Tried & true, die hard cowboys...

AND...let's not forget about those OSU COWBOYS!

I would say that Corban's a fairly seasoned OSU football fan! He's been attending the games for half of his (almost) 4 year life :O) He looooooooves watching Bullet and Pistol Pete and the baby dancers(cheerleaders)! However, he is not "Corban" at the games. He tranforms into Brandon Weeden! "No, I'm not Corban...I'm Brandon Weeden!" Haha! He insists on orange hair, OSU tattoos on at least one cheek(face cheek, that is....), and his OSU shoes! Well, we can't have Cruz slackin' on us, so he's a BIG fan as well...!

It's really hard work being Brandon Weeden...

P.U.S.H

PUSH

{pray until something happens}

As I sit here at home, instead of being at my weekly Wednesday Bible study(thanks to strep throat), I have found myself embracing my current read. I love everything about this book and, in my opinion, it's a book everyone should read!

REASONS I LOVE THIS BOOK:

1.) It's written by Craig Groeshel, who is the pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Edmond. When Caleb and I started dating, we attended the LifeChurch campus in Stillwater every Sunday(well, almost every Sunday)! This was waaaaayyyy before they built their nice, new, awesome building in Stillwater! We ARE OLD! We attended LifeChurch when it was held in a school cafeteria!

2.) Reality check! It's amazing how many of us are Christian athesists...myself included. I kinda just "mentally" rolled my eyes when I heard the title of this book. I thought "this can't be me, I'm a great Christian." I thought I'd give it a try and boy, was I WRONG! This book really delves into the root of all of our everyday issues and uncertainties; whether it be worry, faith, forgiving the past, or giving.

3.) Many of my new favorite quotes and inspirational sayings came from the book :O)

4.) And did I mention Craig's an Okie...more inspiration to read it! Cool!

Some of my FAVORITES:

"God is interested not only in our actions but also in our hearts-in particular, our attitude toward him."

"PUSH. pray until something happens." I had never heard of this acronym before until I read this book. I just love it! I think I'll stick random post its in my house to remind me of this! We need to keep praying, no matter what. "God is far more patient than we are. He has eternity, so he's in no hurry. When we don't see immediate results to prayers, our tendency is to take back what we gave to God."

"When we live by faith, we believe that God has everything under control. But if we start to worry, how we live says the opposite."

"Worry is the result of trying to carry a burden that never belonged on our shoulders."

"Fear doesn't come from God. It's a tool the evil one uses to distract us from our true purpose here."

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything." Philippians 4:6-7

I still have 4 more chapters to read, so I'm sure I'll be updating this...stay tuned...! :O)

JESUS FREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a VERY proud mommy moment this past weekend!!! I'm sure daddy had a proud daddy moment, too:O) Sometimes, I wonder if Corban is really paying attention/listening to me...I'm sure every mommy often wonders this! Before bed, Caleb or I always read the Bible to Corban. At nap time, he has the choice of reading his Bible, or a different book. Most times, he chooses the Bible...*BONUS #1* :O) When I read to him at nap time, I feel as though sometimes, I'm the only one hearing my voice. Here comes *BONUS #2*............

This past Saturday, Caleb's dad(Papa)called and asked if he could take Corban to the Honda motorcycle store. Every Saturday, the Honda store always cooks hotdogs and they have somewhat of a customer appreciation day. Caleb and I(and Cruz!)needed to pick up a few things at Lowe's, which is right by the Honda store, so this plan worked out perfectly! Papa and Corban did their thing, while we did ours! While they were at the Honda store, a man from a motorcycle ministry was passing out flyers that asked if people knew how to get to Heaven. Corban was quick to the punch with his answer!! Corban told the man, "Jesus died on the cross for us. And the soldiers came and took him away. Jesus wore a prickly hat that made him bleed and he has holes in his hands from the nails. And then Jesus died and went to Heaven. I wanna go to Heaven and give Jesus a hug." OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He does listen! When Papa told Caleb and I this, I felt my heart grow wings :O) I love this kid SO much and I'm SO thankful that God put him in our lives! I'm eternally grateful that God is working through Caleb and I to raise such a Jesus Freak!!! We are beyond blessed with Corban and Cruz! At this rate, Corban will be a pastor by the time he's 10!

mini monet

These were the words of wisdom given to Corban from his Nana(Caleb's mom). We were all driving in the car and I kept saying this quote over & over to myself because I loved it so much!! This is how the best art is created! Nana was the Bethel School art teacher for 25 years, before she retired due to health reasons. She loves everything about art! She won several awards, including the 'Oklahoma Art Educator of the Year'!! On her 50th birthday, when Corban was just 10 months old, he "painted" a canvas for her! Here's the proof:



We decided to continue this tradition for Cruz! Last weekend, Nana celebrated another birthday! We had Cruz "paint" his canvas for her :O) Cruz enjoyed his "Monet moment" so much, that he decided to use his ENTIRE body to paint!



And here's the finished product...Cruz, of course! Bath time immediately followed :O)



Naturally, we couldn't let Cruz have ALL the fun, Corban made a mess as well :O)



Here's to you, Nana! Happy Birthday with many more to come! We love you!

Theta Pond

We had quite the adventure on Wednesday! Caleb was judging 4-H speech contests in Stillwater that day for the state convention, so the little boys' and I decided to tag along! We had about 2 hours to "play" while Caleb was busy, so I took the boys' to Theta Pond. Oh Theta Pond, how I've missed you:O) It actually almost looked like a swimming pool. It was blue...not greenish/brown with algae and other yucky stuff! Leads me to think that if someone "accidentally" fell in these days, they might live...;O) Haha! Corban had SO much fun!! Actually, that's an understatement!! He loved feeding the ducks...and squirrels...and birds! Yes, we had a lot of company! I really think all of the critters enjoyed their Gerber puffs, too!