When our family went to Branson for an Old Time Christmas we stayed at the Eagle Bunker Condo's which is part of the Payne Stewart Golf Course in Branson, Mo.

 We normally stay in a condo on Lake Table Rock at Indian Point, but thought we'd try something new and heard that these were fabulous.  Let's just say, they are beautiful...

Just in case your ever  heading to Branson and need a place to stay -- check out these condos. They have 2 bedrooms & 2 full bathrooms and are completely stocked with everything you might need except FOOD! However, there are several restaurants very close by along with a Super Target & a pharmacy. Plus, the beds are heavenly!

Till next time...See ya! :)

Craving CHOCOLATE...here's an easy recipe.

Last Sunday afternoon was a lazy day.  Hubby was gone for 24hrs at the fire station.  The kids and I did absolutely nada except watch movies all day long by the fire.  It was wonderful.  However, you can't watch movies without good snacks and we were craving chocolate.

Running to the store was totally out of the question since I never changed out of my pj's or ran a brush through my hair all day.  I told you we were lazy!

Here's what we made...

 YUM!

1 roll of pillsbury crust

roll out the crust & smear some butter on it

sprinkle crust with sugar & cinammon

drop a few milk chocolate chips & marshmallows down the center

gently pull the sides up & overlap them just a little to seal

brush crust with  whisked egg (1) & a little melted butter

sprinkle with cooking sugar (bigger granules than reg sugar)

then just a tad more cinammon

bake at 350 degrees till the crust is golden, slice & enjoy!

Hope your family likes it as much as my kiddos did!

Hand Painted Gifts!

I used to paint ALL the time.  I really enjoy painting ALOT.  Painting walls, trim, signs -- anything really it's like therapy for me.  Painting relaxes me and when I'm done I really feel a sense of accomplishment.  I don't know about you but the normal day to day stuff never leaves me feeling like I did much because all the same "jobs" start over again the next day.   It's been such a long time since I've painted something other than a wall that I wasn't sure how long these would take or if they'd be "good enough" to give as a gift.

 
I think they turned out GREAT!  Trying to get 9 done before our church staff Christmas party in two days was kinda hectic, but I did it!  I spent so much time trying to figure out what to get everyone that would be meaningful was stressing me out and I was running outta time.  I stole got the idea from Susie Harris's Blog.  Please go check out her blog, right now!  She's awesome! I'm glad I did these now, it feels so good to give something that I made instead of something that was bought.  I painted the raw pine a dark brown, used crisp linen on the letters, sanded over everything with a hand sander, sealed them with a clear sealer & tied them all up with red tulle.


Hopefully everyone liked the gift I made them.  I wasn't even at the party, our family took a last minute trip to Branson.  We went to Silver Dollar City's Old Time Christmas -- it was wonderful!  Can't wait to share some pics soon.  Happy gift giving!