It's Fall

Fall is my favorite time of year to start baking up goodies and we celebrate lots of birthdays starting in October. (Jeff for starters....) My favorite flowers are mums and if you cut them back early spring, they will bloom during fall! Love them.... Halloween time, gives me an excuse to dress up & be crazy! Fall is a fun family time in my kitchen, Brooke helped with dinner this week and wanted to share this recipe! Enjoy, it's one of her favs! SOUR CREAM NOODLE BAKE

1 8 oz. package of noodles

1 lb. ground beef

1 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 16 oz. carton sour cream

6 green onions, chopped

3/4 cup shredded cheese
Cook noodles according to package. Rinse and Drain. Brown meat and drain off fat. Add pepper, garlic salt and tomato sauce and simmer 5 minutes. Next, chop green onions. (Brooke's favorite part)Add green onions and sour cream to your noodles. Layer noddle mixture and beef.Top with Cheese and Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350.

Boys Working Hard

I am really excited about this post because it means that I can finally say those words I've longed to hear myself say....our fence project is underway. Yes, even with all the long hours/hardwork/running back and forth, we cannot wait for the end result!

Blaine is at his comfort zone when he is with his daddy, busy in the dirt. Blaine loved breaking open the bags of concrete. I was the supervisor (aka - driver and I cleaned up their mess).

Can't say enough about my brother & friends for lending their expertise and time this past weekend to help get this all started!!

School "ROCKS"

After hunting Miley this morning.....it's an every other day thing with her as she likes to run and chase the birds/rabbits/trash blowing in the wind.....we headed to school 5 min. before 8. Love small town Bushland USA, takes 3 min to get to school!

Blaine's first day in Kindergarten went very well. We are both in LOVE with Mrs. Riggle. Blaine gets his stitches out today! YEAH! My little Blaine is not so little....stop growing so fast please!

Brooke just shines around her friends and cannot wait to see her grow even more in 4th Grade! It's her last year in Elementary, glad that she & Blaine will be at the school together this year...my little girl is growing up!

She told Jeff to wake her up at 6 so she could do her hair. After flat ironning, we ended with a side messy bun and head band. I do not have any opinion on her hair or clothes...it's all Brooke. I miss those days but can't complain at her independence! Very proud of her!

Team #8

What a weekend of wonderful blessings all around us! We couldn't get to everything and the next two weekends are just as full!

Xcel Lineman's Rodeo started out Thursday afternoon preparing for Cooking Team #8 to STOMP the competition! We had over 150 lbs of potatoes for Jeff's homemade fries. They started at 4:30 AM Friday and starting cooking fries from 3:00 to 9:00. I had to show up TWICE during the day just with ice or other items we ran out of. It was worth it all as the guys WON 1st Place and the "TAILGATE TITLE". Already planning for next year to stay CHAMPS! This event is new and will be open to the public so hopefully everyone can come next year and cheer them on!

While we were busy with the competition, Kevin Henry was awarded his Diploma from Wayland Baptist University. We were sorry we couldn't be there but already seeing wonderful things happening for Kevin and this is one more accomplishment to be proud of!

Lastly, Saturday from 9am to 10 pm we held the 100th Year Anniversary of the RUTHART FAMILY Reunion (now "officially" the "RU" UNION). I've had the pleasure working on the reunion committee for two years now and it was another successful reunion with over 75 people attending in Canyon, TX. We even held Minute to Win It games for the kids to challenge the adults. It was an hour of fun the kids were very proud to participate in for prices!

Lake Fun

My kids are a little wild on the lake, that doesn't surprise me any.....Jeff and I are a little more careful now, my body just doesn't "recover" as easy as it used to! Had a blast at Lake Texoma for the 4th with Josh pulling the kids on the tubes! He has an awesome ski boat! Mom & WD's new Pontoon was like a PARTY on the water and provided plenty of SHADE. It was a hot July 4th!

Blaine & Breanna on the "HOTDOG" Tube (yes, Blaine is standing up)

Brooke's Cake Boss Party Pics

Saturday night we celebrated Brooke's 9th birthday with a CAKE BOSS Party Theme! We used the kitchen island for our different icing / decorating "Stations". The girls were great little bakers and decorators! The glitter icing didn't harden real well so we won't recommend that next time. Funny though, one of my favorite ones decorated by Maddie was white with pink icing that just said "HI". I ate that one! We used Strawberry Cake and Confetti Cake with cream cheese icing for our cake balls. YUMMY! We made two batches, the first one for all the party guest and then the last batch was for the girls to take home in their own goodie bags! We didn't get finished with our 2nd batch until 2 am...we had to stop a few times to dance as the girls put on a NEON DANCE-A-THON at midnight! What a fun age for a slumber party and I can't wait to do it again!

Sunday was Father's Day and Jeff was called out to work at 5 AM so I lacked a little sleep...but once the girls all got up, I had them pick out their favorite treat! We wrapped each one up so they could write a note and give to their Dads! They were so proud!

Making the Bed

So the kids are starting to make their beds in the morning and Blaine really takes this seriously! Over the past few weeks, I've discovered Brooke just throws her bed together....litteraly...she is such the Pre-Preteen! Blaine, however, takes about 15 minutes and makes sure his sheets are straight and this morning cracked me up so I just had to share!

Alex is his White Tiger that is blind and missing a nose. HE ADORE's this little guy and this morning he was part of his "make the bed" routine!

I love this guy! Makes my heart smile....