Weathering the storm

Just like most places across the south over the past few days we have had amazing storms. I love thunderstorms, but I do get nervous in bad weather. That only started after I had children.
It always amazes me what beauty that wrath can bring. Join me in Praising God for keeping us all safe and the spectacular scenery he provided after!

These were taken from the front lawn of my home

Such power!
Be blessed Y'all

What a weekend!

We had an amazing weekend!
First Chief and GrandMaMa came for a visit and that is always something that we adore! Then we had an Easter Egg hunt. It was so much fun and we were amazed at the friends that showed up! So many surprises, friends we had not seen in a very long time.
So here is, as usual, the weekend in pictures!

Olivia was the Princess as always and
Orren was quite excited by the "hunt"

Joe and Orren out front looking for eggs

Orren playing on the front lawn with Chief

GrandMaMa helping collect eggs

This was before the other children.
He couldn't wait, so we had to re-hide several eggs.

My two O's
How precious they are and such blessings to us.

Olivia looking for eggs

Showing off partial loot She had over 80 eggs!

Orren kept giving his eggs away and "re- hiding" them

You know that if my children are involved there will be sidewalk chalk!

Olivia as the outgoing Chaplin passing on the Chapter Bible.
She is now second Vice President of the Chapter!!!
The vote was Sunday,
we are so proud of her

My beautiful, patriotic Princess!

We are so proud of the children's involvement with the Children of the American Revolution. It gives them a sense of patriotism and what it means to be a citizen in this Greatest of all Nations!
There are tons of pictures from today, I just had to share a few of my favorites!

Foodie Friday

Welcome all to this weeks Foodie Friday!
Our hostess the lovely
Gollum

This week we are making Crawfish Etoufee!
This is my Aunt Beth's famous and quick recipe
she handed it down to me when I first got married!

Our Shopping list:
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of celery
1 small can tomato sauce
1 lb of crawfish tails ( I use the frozen when fresh isn't available, it is just as good)
Cajun seasoning to taste ( i.e Tony Chachere or Luzianne)
salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco to taste

chop and sautee pepper and onion
add the soups

and tomato sauce
add crawfish
season to taste

simmer for about 45 minutes

serve over rice!

YUMMY!!!
As soon as Lent is over I will be sharing some amazing hamburger recipes!
We are almost there and still not one bite for the Brelands
YEA!!!

Thrifty Thursday, Tablescape Thursday

You want to be sure to see my Thrifty Thursday
scroll all the way down!

Our Hostess for Tablescape Thursday today is Susan @
Between Naps on the Porch

When I entertain for large groups I love to have" stations"

Cake station

Panini Station

Drink station

Our hostess for Thrifty Thursday is Leigh @ Tales from Bloggeritaville

This is something that excited me beyond words! I entertain a lot, so I am always looking for something beautiful and functional. This particular quest has been YEARS in the making. I thought I had always wanted a glass hexagon shaped drink dispenser. You know like this

From Sur la Table ( one of my favorite catalogs)
But something always held me back.

But then by chance, I found this

I adore it and way more than the other!
I love the finish and I love the solid brass spigot
It holds 2 gallons

the other one holds 3 gallons.
plastic spigot
That one $ 70.00 (without stand) add another $18.00 for the stand

Now here is the best part

mine under $10.00!!
reasonably priced to begin with and totally worth it.
But then mispriced!

The lady said she had to give it to me at that price. I was so lucky!
So I truly feel I had an awesome Thrifty Thursday!
Good things come to those who wait!

hounds tooth, Thank You GrandMaMa!

As Y'all know I am a Bama fan and have been all my life. Even though I went to Southern Miss. I love my black and gold to, but Crimson and white is my passion. Regardless though, I adore hounds tooth and always have. I had hounds tooth when it wasn't cool. LOL It thrills me to see it available in so many things now
So in keeping with that,
here are the children's spring outfits!
My Mother made them and they are adorable!

Jumper for Olivia and John John for Orren

Monogrammed @ Sew What Helena, AL
I cannot wait to get their pictures made together!!!

They will wear them for a photo shoot, the C.A.R. officer instalation this weekend, and the
A Game on April 18!
What do you think?

No Sleep in Helena Alabama : The Events of Helena Alabama: City Council meeting, and helping Helenites

No Sleep in Helena Alabama : The Events of Helena Alabama: City Council meeting, and helping Helenites

Hewy supporting us in the contest on his blog! Thank you Hewy! You are the best!!!!

The two O's are not feeling well!

Both children are ill and this is what happens.

Mommy and Daddy's bed is the only place to be! Olivia came down to sleep with us as well, but we knew no one would go back to sleep if we did that so we sent her back to her bed. Which broke my heart. It is the only time (in 10 years) she has ever been sick that we have done that. Hopefully when Orren gets a touch older it won't be an issue for them both to be with us.
Hopefully everyone will be better soon!

Time to vote!

My Children are in a photo contest, I need your help so we can win!

See the entries

Both of my children are entered
Orren is number 3
Olivia is number 4
YES, I have my children competing against each other... I am winning this! ; ) Better chances with two!
Voting will begin Monday, March 23, 2009 and will end on Friday, March 27, 2009 at midnight. All votes must be emailed to emilyhorndesigns@hotmail.com with the contestants name and number in the Subject Line. (The vote will not count unless the name and number are included in the subject line.) The contestant with the most votes will win. Only one vote will be allowed per email address. Please go vote now!!! Thanks Y'all are the best!

Guess who came to visit!

We had a great weekend visit with our family from Mississippi. Joe's sister Christy her son Dawson and daughter Kayla came to visit. Kayla brought her new baby Blaze to visit as well and I got baby love! He is so sweet!
We had such a great time. We went out to the airport and had lunch at The Hangar, it was amazing! We ate outside and it was right next to the runway! The children just squealed every time the planes landed or took off. Which was about every 3 minutes. I will have pictures of that up soon!
Then we went shopping and came home for a huge BBQ. Potato salad; Dale's Chicken; ribs; corn on the cob; and strawberry trifle
Dawson and Olivia rode scooters and painted with sidewalk paint and chalk. We all talked and laughed. We miss them already and cannot wait to see them again soon!

Orren was a little jealous when anyone held Baby Blaze.

Olivia and Dawson play so well together and love each other so much!

Orren thought Blaze was a really cool toy!

Aunt Christy brought Orren another frog! He loved it so.

The guest room was ready for them, chocolates on the beds

water on the night stands

I will post more pictures of the weekend up through the week. I have already prepared Foodie Friday and I am working on Tablescape Thursday so be sure to stop back by!

Another PBK decorating class

Y'all know that decorating is my passion and PBK my weakness! I had such a good time and got some great ideas! This is such a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

Foodie Friday

Our Hostess is Gollum

Here at the blog plantation we are on spring break so this one is easy and not as many pictures. See ya next week!

Our Shopping list:

1/2 lb. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
5 eggs
3 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 c. sour cream

Cream butter; add sugar gradually.
Add eggs one at a time.
Sift flour, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add to batter.
Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla,
1/4 teaspoon almond extract.
Add sour cream and blend well.
Pour into greased and floured 10-inch pan. (I prefer to use the large "cake liners" like cup cake liners only for cakes)
Bake at 350 degrees. About 45-50 minutes.
Cake will pull away from sides of pan when done. (unless you use a liner then you will need to use the blade of a knife to check when it is done.)

Dust with confectioners sugar and enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Hope Y'all have a great St. Patrick's day! Don't forget to wear green, pinch someone who isn't, and eat some cabbage (hot slaw would be a great dish!)
*Top it off with a little Irish Coffee
It is Spring Break and we have guests in and out all week!
My postings will be light and interjected with pictures and highlights!!
Next week I will be back to full blogging!

The Weekend Review

Ameer was so proud of his Sponge Bob cake

THE WEEKEND REVIEW!

Our weekend was so full! Saturday, we were out and about. Sunday, we celebrated Ameer's birthday on our "family day" with the ElFallahs. It was a great day full of four wheelers; cake; stew; a Lebanese desert (I won't even begin to try and spell); Southern Belle Tamale pie; movies; and great friends! Here are some pictures from the celebration. The cake, strawberry cake from Edgars is wonderful and preferred by grown ups. So it was tweaked by Michelle and I to represent
Ameer's love of Sponge Bob.
Enjoy!

All the children gathered for cake!

Make a wish Ameer!

We turned this gourmet cake into a child's in a snap! LOL
Made the grown ups and children happy!

Easter Egg gone wrong?

Can You Guess What This Is?

Does this help?

What about this?

Surely this is a clincher

Still no?

Let me explain

This is a design I found on my carpet

This is the Easter Egg shaped sidewalk chalk my son threw a fit for in the party store

This is my 21 month old "decorating" for Easter



This is where you hear the words
" Well, I think someone was supposed to be watching me!"

Hope Y'all Have a good Weekend!
We are bound to with the rain, cold, and sidewalk chalk!