Christmas in July...It's a Party!

Mele kalikimaka! (a Hawaiian greeting from Coastal Georgia!)

Feliz Natale! (Thanks for the Portuguese, Delima Dilemma :o)Feliz Navidad! Froeliche Weinachten! Joyeux Noel! Christmas Alegre! Buone Natale!

Веселое рождество! メリークリスマス! 圣诞快乐!

... in other words...Merry Christmas!

There's a wonderful bit of Christmas Cheer going around. So, I'm glad you stopped by...

I'd like to share a picture or two...well, actually quite a bit more than that...so come on in and take a peek.

"Maligayang Pasko!" (coming from you straight from the Philippines...it's mini me at age 1!)

...Here is my mom and I (age 3yrs old) all nice and toasty inside, while it was super chilly on this Massachusetts' Christmas!

Meanwhile, in the beautiful tropical weather of Hawaii...a couple of years before I was even born...came a wonderful (10 pound +) Christmas gift...that I claim would be all mine... Mr. B! He was a Christmas baby...born on December 25th! (also, he was the 3rd generation born o Christmas baby...his Auntie Florence..and his Great-Auntie Maggie).

Mr. B with his big brother looking at what Santa brought...

"Hey, does he come with a horse or a tricycle?"

...1 year old

He's not looking to sure about the guy with the beard & big belly...

He never was short-changed on the gifts and birthday cake! :o)

What a handsome Christmas boy!!

2 years old!

I love this one of him and his brother... (see his hand? he was always pretending it was a plane and he was flying it! hmmm...his dream to fly would become reality as a helicopter pilot for the Army :o)

"Howdy & Merry Christmas!"...from our oldest daughter (who at birth, weighed 8 lbs. 2 oz.) aka theluckiestmrs. at the age of 17 months.

Our little "Kewpie doll" is dressed warm for the unusual snowfall that came down in

San Antonio, Texas that year!

"Merry Christmas, y'all!" from the newest member of our family...here in Ft. Rucker, Alabama.

Our little (9lbs. 2oz.) baby doll was only 16 days old at Christmas...

(If she had followed the family tradition of one born on Christmas...she says she could have been 10lbs. 2oz! ...um, no thank you :o)

...and it's back to Hawaiian-style... "Mele Kalikimaka!" from our handsome keiki kane (baby boy) and his two sisters.

Our little man was 7 months here... (since I mentioned the other's birth weights...he was 8 pounds even...thank goodness! I was not looking forward to that "1 pound more" trend that happened with our girls.) I love this photo taken in Hawaii when they were little...now these 3 beautiful kiddos are grown, in college and left my hubby and I as "emptynesters".

...I'm so happy you stopped in! You're welcome here any time!

Please leave a comment whenever you do, so I know that you were here.

...I'm leaving you with this drawing of Old St. Nick.

It was drawn for a customer, entirely with her unique name "Alpha".

***For all those that leave a comment...I'd like to give a little gift for each of you...10% off any drawing ordered from now to the end of August.***

Be sure to go to"Just Add Glitter and Stir"

for more Christmas fun!

Blessings & Aloha!

(...remember the reason for the season:o)

We are spending this last weekend with our daughter before she has to fly back to college...

so I'll try to finishing making my rounds to all the wonderful Christmas in July parties and meet all you wonderful hostesses!

Thank you for stopping in!

*don't know how to get this to quit underlining?*...oh well :o)

Monograms are forever classic...

These two photos were taken of a Personalized Sketches drawing of this very sweet couple's monogram and given to me recently so that I could show it here... It was great to learn that she displayed her drawing in her entry way and is seen as soon as you come into her very lovely home!

I have another monogram drawing that was just completed, but will wait until it is received to post the photo of it that I took before shipping it out today.

So...I am getting a better handle on the blogging and blog reading...now if I would just quit finding so many great new bloggers, so that I constrain myself from adding yet another to read! (I can't help it, I do enjoy reading all the blogs that I follow-although I may not list all of them on my sidebar, I se them on my dashboard and really do read them all! oh and I do tend to comment often...this too is something I need to limit or risk seeming too "stalkish-like"! Please just know, I will try not to comment too frequently :o)

But please DO comment-everyone-on mine as much as you'd like! I love it!

Blessings & Aloha!

Tastes of 2 momma's recipes...

For this week's blog hop...it's all about recipes...

Mr. B's mom (Lorain) and my mom (Remie) were wonderful cooks! So, I thought I would pick one recipe from each. (It was hard, since we have quite a number to choose from, so I thought I would pick two quick & easy recipes).

Lorain (of Portuguese descent) was born and raised in Hawaii. And one of the things I remember when I first met her as her newlywed daughter-in-law was the amount of food they make for get-togethers! Since they were not able to be at our wedding in Wisconsin, when we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon, they gave Mr. B & I a Hawaiian style luau inviting family and friends. I have never seen such HUGE pots and baking pans! And it was complete with a huge pig that was roasted in a pit dug into the ground.

Lorain's Corn Meal Cake

1 block of butter

2 eggs, beaten

3 tblsp yellow corn meal

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 cups Bisquick mix

1/2 tsp bking powder

1/2 tsp vanilla

~>cream butter & sugar~>add eggs & blend~>add corn meal, bisquick, bking powder, milk & blend well with rotary beater.

~>pour into buttered square pan and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 30 miinutes.

~>Spread top with 1/2 block butter while cake is hot. Serve warm.

Remie was born in the Philippines and married my dad, who was in the Air Force. About every two years, we moved and she made every place we lived ~ Home :o) She amazed me in that no matter what, when, where or who...she always had a delicious meal ready. Everyone was welcome. She did love to try new recipes. But often she would "create" to taste.

Remie's Panfried Beef & Onions

beef roast (thinly sliced)

1/2 cup flour

1 Tblsp garlic powder

1/4 stick butter

1 sweet vidalia onion (thinly sliced)

1 lemon

1/4 cup soy sauce

~>coat thinly sliced beef roast in the flour & garlic powder mixture (you can do this in a gallon zip lock bag)

~>pan fry breaded beef in melted butter (may need to add more butter-I'm estimating amount)

~>add onion slices and continue pan-frying until meat is cooked through and brown.

~>squeeze lemon all over beef and onion

~>add 1/4 cup soy sauce to pan

*serve over hot rice*