Cattlebarron's Ball and my wonderful husband!

This year Richard chaired (in charge of) the Cattlebarron's Ball for The Woodlands.   For those of you who don't know it is a fund raiser for the American Cancer Society, ACS.  The previous 2 years he chaired Relay For Life (another fundraiser for ACS) which somehow "qualified" him to chair this ball. 

It was tons of work and hundreds of man hours went into the planning it but with the help of his excellent committee it went off with a bang. 

A week before there was a VIP party for the key contributors of the ball hosted by La Trattoria Tuscano an awesome little Italian restaurant here in The Woodlands.

The awesome committee that worked oh so hard!

Richard giving his thank you speech.

The Cattlebarron's Ball was hosted by Buck Grass Stables in Magnolia and the actual ball was in the horse arena! Greg Dugat from Prestigious Events http://www.perentals.net/ pulled off a very elaborate cowboy sheik ambiance.  Mary Kristen Photography provided her services and excellent eye for ALL the photos taken here!  http://www.marykristen.com/

There was a green screen where you could take pictures with western theme's behind you.

A little square dancing.

Richard's big speech.

The horse arena that doesn't look so much like an arena anymore.

Pretty cool emblem on the ground.  By the way the entire arena was covered by plywood and hay.

Our Edward Jones friends Darwin and Leah Presley.

Photo booth complete with a little entertainment.

The band- Chris Braade.

There wasn't enough parking so Prestigious Events offered this cool limo from the parking lot to the arena.

Let me tell you how much anguish went in to dressing cowboy sheik.  Richard's parents mailed us their boots, Maurice's had the perfect dress and some leftover beads from the flea market in Santa Fe (so dangerous for me- thank goodness it's very far away) completed the look. 

I was so very proud of Richard as he coordinated this elaborate event and how he always manages to juggle 800 balls in the air all at once.  He is an awesome talented man!

Christmas is coming! How to make signage.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our home this year and I was in heaven.  Richard not so much.  He does enjoy cooking elaborate meals but add in the extensive decorating and it was a little much.  I love how everything turned out - much thanks to pinterest.com. 

While on Pinterest I found out how to make awesome signage here....http://thatsmyletter.blogspot.com/2011/08/p-is-for-personalize.html.  It's super easy and the possibilities are endless.  I tried to link this image to pinterest from facebook with no luck so I decided to do a post about it and be able to link it.

This is one I will do for Christmas for sure!

Shepherd's Pie

I'm throwing a quick meal together for tonight since it will be rather hectic around here.


1 lb hamburger
1 can tomato soup
1 can of green beans (somehow I don't have any canned gb but I did have corn so we're going w/that)
1/2 onion chopped
1 T Worcestershire sauce
3 c. prepared mashed potatoes
1/2 c. cheese

Brown hamburger and onion, drain fat.  Add tomato soup, 2/3 of the juice from the beans and worcestershire sauce.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Put beef mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish, top with beans (draining the rest of the juice out), top with potatoes and cheese.
Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sour Cream Enchiladas- It's what's for dinner tonight!

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   Ingredients:

   Boil chicken breasts - then cube or shread.  I actually threw them in the crock
   pot

   1 dozen tortillas

   1 cup grated cheese- your choice- I'm doing a colby-cheddar mixture

   Ingredients for the Sauce:

   2 cans of cream of chicken soup -undiluted

   1 pint of sour cream

   1 small can of diced green chiles

   Mix together sauce ingredients.  Put some sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 dish

   Take flour torts put meat and sauce in the center, roll and place in dish.

   Fill pan with enchiladas, put sauce on top, add grated cheese on top. 

   Bake 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Crock-Pot Chicken Alfredo

Apparently this is not a new recipe but it is new for me and will be a frequent flyer in our house!

Crock-Pot Chicken Alfredo
1 cube of butter (not margarine)
1 pkg of Good Seasons Italian Salad Dressing Mix (or off brand is good to and I went to make it once and found I had no Italian mix so I added real Italian dressing and it too was yummy)
2 chicken breasts

Cook on High for about 3 hours.

Add to the butter sauce:
Cubed Chicken
8 oz package of cream cheese
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup of water.

Heat and serve over fettuccine noodles.

So easy and so yummy!