Recipe by Peaches Smith (Katherine’s Grandmother)

• 1 (15 ounce) box Raisin Bran
• 1 Cup Melted shortening
• 3 Cups Sugar
• 4 Eggs, beaten
• 1 Quart Buttermilk
• 5 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 5 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 Cup Raisins
• 1 teaspoons Ginger
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 Cups Applesauce
• 2 Cups Pecans, chopped

Directions:

1. Mix raisin bran, sugar, flour, soda, salt, raisins, ginger, cinnamon, and pecans in large mixing bowl.
2. Add beaten eggs, shortening, applesauce, vanilla and buttermilk together in separate mixing bowl.
3. Then add to dry ingredients.
4. Mix well and store in a covered container in refrigerator.
5. Use as desired.
6. Do not stir again after it is mixed.

To bake, fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 15-20 minutes at 400º.

These muffins are great to to freeze and thaw and serve.

Happy Birthday America!!!

In light of the celebration, Jillian decided to show Leia how much she loved her and all the while saying, “Happy Independence Day, Leia!!”

So cute…

Today we made a trip to our Target store to get Jillian some “big girl panties” to start potty training. Well, guess what?! She’s had the SAME pair on ALL DAY and NOT had ONE accident!!!

SUCH a BIG GIRL!!!!

Seriously, she should have her own late night show! The past few nights, she’s been getting to bed later and later…and it’s not the fault of her parents…she just can’t get to sleep! Well, last night I put her to bed for the last time at 11:15 and FINALLY by 11:30….relief!

They really do look like angels when they sleep, don’t they? We love her so much….

Last Wednesday we picked up our dear friend, Brian Persall, from the airport and brought him to our home for a long weekend visit. While he was here, he had one “gig” to do and that was a concert for Ginny Owens, the blind Christian music artist and Dove award winner. She arrived on Thursday, so after Jayna’s doctor appointment at Cook’s, we headed to the airport to pick Ginny up.

It was love at first hello! She was immediately comfortable with our family and was SOO excited to go have lunch with us at Chick-Fil-A and spend the afternoon with us before her concert that evening. She is an amazing woman of godly character and was just as at ease with us as our best friends. She is funny, loves to joke around, loves to cook (yes, I said COOK) and was so pumped at the idea of our new venture of RealCookN.tv that she immediately pulled out her PDA and started taking notes!! HA!

After our afternoon together, and trip to Guitar Center, we took her to the hotel to relax for a while and we headed to Park Springs Baptist in Dallas to drop Brian off so that he could get ready. Then, we headed home for a while.

That night at the concert, the girls got to say hello again to “Miss Ginny” and were really excited to see her sing. Here are a few pictures for you to see…

Here’s Ginny Owens singing. Oh…she was so good! She really spoke from her heart and the music was gorgeous.

Jayna was so funny…and she was so excited to see Ginny sing. We had a fabulous day!!

Jillian took a moment to smile really pretty, however, Jayna was in a jokster mood and decided to do the Curlee shot of making goofy faces while a serious picture was being made!

At very sweet lady took our picture together. Too bad Ji Ji wasn’t paying attention! She was more concerned with the water bottle on the floor than she was having her picture made! HA!!

Here we are with Ginny before the concert. Our girls just love her to death!!

I can’t help but laugh at these dumb guys… it’s hilarious!

These little ones that God has entrusted to Kat and I are just absolutely precious. This is some footage Kat shot during the praise and worship time at VBS this past week.

The Girls Singing at VBS 2008 from dave curlee on Vimeo.

Girlie Wisdom!

Women over 50 don’t have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills… she has 14 kids but doesn’t really care.

One of l life’s mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don’t know what you are doing, someone else does.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.

Amazing! You hang something in you r closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like…’You know sometimes I forget to eat!’ …..Now I’ve forgotten my address, my mother’s maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That’s my idea of a perfect day!

LIVE SIMPLY…..LAUGH OFTEN….LOVE DEEPLY

Today we had 2 follow-up doctor visits for both girls and both were “ear” related appointments. First, Jillian had a 3-week follow-up with our pediatrician to look at her ears after a severe ear infection. The pedi said she looked “beautiful” and told us she didn’t have to see us until August for her annual check-up.

This afternoon we had a 6-month check-up with our Ear, Nose & Throat doctor for Jayna to check her tubes to make sure they were still in and working properly. Our ENT was so thrilled that Jayna was doing so well that he almost jumped for joy!! PRAISE GOD!!

While at the Pedi’s office this morning, I informed her that Jayna had another seizure 2 weeks ago and I told her that it was the same seizure she had in September. Our new was that she honestly felt it was a seizure disorder and that we needed to get her into the neurologist to have the MRI/CAT done. We told her that we were just waiting on our insurance cards to come in, but that as soon as they did, we would call Cook’s back to schedule that time (we were informed by Cook’s that we had to have our insurance card BEFORE we made an appointment). So, as soon as we recieve those cards…we’ll make that much needed appointment.

We are praising God for healthy girls today! We know He’s got them in His hands!!

Oh…and Jayna has FOUR MORE loose teeth!!!

We just LOVE the Tooth Fairy! Jayna has named her Tinky and she was an instant hit at our house! Jayna came away with a GOLD $1 COIN and a special T-Shirt made especially for HER! WOW!!

This picture really shows how much Jayna has changed over the past few months! She’s really growing up and maturing! Can you believe she’ll START KINDERGARTEN this August?! Not sure we’re quite ready for this!!