Chicken Enchilada Tutorial

This is my first tutorial, so I picked something very simple, my yummy chicken enchiladas. Not only are the yummy but they are in-expensive, which is always a very good thing!

Here is what you will need for these:

2 cups cooked chicken breast
1 package of burrito size tortillas
1 can cream chicken soup
1 -2 cups of sour cream
1 -2 cups of any salsa that you like
2 cups of cheese - whatever you prefer, I use cheddar

First shred your cooked chicken. I use a couple of forks and just tear the little chicky up.
Next, you add the sour cream, salsa, and cream of chicken soup to a bowl.
Now dump all your beautiful shredded chicky into the bowl and mix up.
Now, take a tortilla a put a couple spoonfulls of the chicken mixture in the middle, then top it with some cheese, roll it up like a burrito.
Next, put all the rolled up tortillas in a greased dish. You can use an 8x8 dish, or double the recipe and make a 9x13 pan, it just depends on how many you are feeding.
The last step is to spread the remaining chicken mixture on top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, until cheese is melted and golden bubbly!
Here they are on my table, I serve it with some type of rice. We had chicken fajita rice this night, and it was super good! My husband and kiddos love this meal! Enjoy friends!

LeeLou Launch Party and giveaway!

LeeLou is having an awesome giveaway. All you have to do is go to the site and create a post with the above party button and you will be included in the giveaway! She is giving away a super cute stocking holder, just in time for Christmas!

Girls Weekend - 7 years of friendship

I met my friend Tonya almost 7 years ago, when Noah was just a month old. She came up to me in church and introduced herself. At that time I was on maternity leave and Tonya was a stay at home mom, and we ended up only living a few blocks away. I would go over to her house and sit and talk the afternoons away, we instantly connected. Not very long after, her and her husband Rich invited me over to a Super Bowl party at their house for their Sunday School. It was that night that I met Sara and Jean, and my life hasn't been the same since. The 4 of us have been friends since that night, and I can't imagine my life without one of these precious women. In the past seven years we have been through many trials, losses and many many joys and laughter. We have prayed with each other when we have been hurting, cried with each other when the world seemed to be crumbling, and laughed so hard that we almost peed our pants. We discovered this weekend that we all have very distinct personalities.
If our group had to have a leader, I think that would fall to our sweet Jean. She is our solid rock, she is intelligent, successful, and always a hoot to be around. She has a heart of gold, is the most loyal person I know, and is kind to everyone, no matter what. Jean is always the life of the party, things are never dull with her around!
Then there's Tonya, our fun loving girl! Tonya is also a blast, and when Jean and her get together, a good time is going to be had! She is so tenderhearted, I know that if I ever need to talk that Tonya will be there to lend and ear and a shoulder to cry on. She gives great hugs, and is one of the most talented people I know. She is incredibly strong, and very dependable, she will always come through for her friends.
And last, but definitely not least, is our wonderful Sara. Sara is amazing. I have watched Sara over that past 7 years grow in so many ways, she is very wise and loves the Lord with all her heart. She is an extremely dedicated wife and mother, and would give all of herself to help others. She is beautiful and full of grace, I want to be Sara when I grow up! Sara has blessed my life in so many ways, she has comforted me through some ugly dark times, and she has loved my Noah like he was her own son. Sara is the most selfless person I know.

So, my sweet friends, if you are reading this, please know I love you all so very much, and I am so glad that the Lord has put us all in each others lives. I am looking forward to the next 20-30 years of friendship!

Moving and other random thoughts.....

We moved a week and 2 days ago. It has been quite an adjustment for us all. The boys seem to being doing just fine, but Chad and I are still quite out of sorts. I really do not know where anything is, and better yet, I don't know where to put any of the things I unpack! Below are a few of the pictures I took on moving day, Noah was very excited and he helped out so much, I was very proud of him! The pics of Benjamin are just Benjamin being Benjamin. He is such a sweet, precious, funny, little boy! You can see my fireplace and mantle at the new house in some of these. I "heart" my mantle. :) I've never had one before, and I am pretty excited to hang some stockings from it!

I can't wait to get some color on those ucky white walls, I don't "heart" white walls. I will have more on our move and the past 3 weeks, they have been quite interesting, but now I must go unpack a box!

Day 1 of moving.

I am sitting in what will soon be my unborn daughters room at our new house. Every part of me hurts and I think I could fall asleep sitting in this very uncomfortable office chair. (while I was typing the door bell rang and the cable guy dropped in to hook up the Tv, then of course I started to spackle, why can't I just sit and rest like I need to!)
So, I think there are some things that the Lord is trying to teach me through out this whole experience and I just wanted to share.

1. Humility - He is totally humbling me by allowing us to move into a house that is less than ideal for me, but so much better for our family.
2. I can't do it all by myself - As much as I would like, I can't do any of this without the help of my wonderful husband, family and amazing friends. We have been so blessed by our friends, Cindy, Jean, Tonya, and Amber who have come over and helped pack and paint. I can't imaging how we would have done it without you all. We have more friends coming to help us move, it just amazes me how selfless everyone is, I love it!
3. Patience - I have had to have an immense amount of patience with my husband, my kids, the cable guy, our current landlord, etc, etc, etc...... I have failed miserably in this area throughout the past 4 weeks, thank you Jesus for your forgiveness and for the grace shown to me by my loved ones!
4. Moving is hard on little ones - Both boys are so tuckered out and confused by all that is going on, I will be so glad once we are settled and they can get back with their regular routine!
5. Toddlers will spill paint buckets if they sit to close to them - enough said.
6. You eat a lot of crappy food when you are moving - the pizza that we had for lunch is giving me terrible indigestion right now!

Anyway, I am happy that the Lord is using this as a growing experience, I hope I get what He wants me to get out of it!

Well, the cable guy is calling.......

IHOP - Come hungry, leave happy.

So yesterday afternoon Chad left for work around 2:45pm and I continued to paint my little socks off. Around 5pm Benjamin woke up from his nap and I decided that there was no way I was going to haul 3 kids to the grocery store, so we loaded up the van to go get a bite to eat. I racked my brain trying to think of a place where I could be waited on, that was cheap, and had kid friendly food, then it hit me, IHOP! Pancakes here we come. We pulled up and I gave my usual "use your manners, I expect you to be well behaved, don't kill each other; yada yada yada" speech that I always give them before we enter into public. We were walking up the sidewalk and Noah said "Ooooooo I love this place!", yay, score 1 for mom!

We sat down and the kids began to color their pages that they get, I let them both pick what they wanted, and they both agreed that they wanted the "Rooty Jr." which is a very yummy pancake covered in strawberries and whipped cream, with bacon and scrambled egg(see pic). Benjamin and I had pancakes. Our food came out and both Ariel and Noah oooooooed when they saw their whipped cream, it was hilarious. We all dug in and it was great. After Ariel and Noah ate ALL of thier food, which never happens, and Benjamin and I cleaned our plates, we were sitting there just enjoying being together, having a nice conversation, when an older couple walked up to our table. The lady says to me "Maam, excuse me, but I just wanted to tell you that you have the most well behaved children." If you could have seen the look on my face, I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. She just stood there waiting for me to reply, I said "well, tonight they are! Thank you!"

I have listened to many many mothers tell stories like this one, and have been patiently waiting my turn, only to be disappointed by the many trips to the bathroom with a screaming child in tow! Well, Noah must have read my mind, because after the couple walked away he looked at me and said, "Mom, I bet you have been dreaming about someone saying that to you for a long time." Yes Noah, I have, and now my dream has come true. I came to IHOP hungry, but left very happy(the pancakes made me happy too).

After praising them all profusely, we paid our bill and got back in the van, headed home for baths and a movie, it was one of the best nights I have ever had. I love being a mom, but sometimes it really seems like heaven right here on earth!

Where have the past 6 years gone?

Today we started to prep Noah's room for painting. As I was taking down the curtains, I started to cry. His room holds so many precious memories for us both. Noah and I moved into this townhome 6 years ago, when he was just 10 months old. My dear friend Sara came over one night and helped me paint his room all in beautiful primary colors. It is such a cute room, but by tomorrow evening it will be stark white.
I can't believe my sweet little Noah is almost 7. Where does the time go? Here are some pics of him sleeping in his sweet little room, what a blessing this boy is to me!

10 things I should be doing instead of writing this blog.

There are so many things I should be doing right now. Would you like a list? Well, I'm gonna give ya one anyway!

1. doing laundry
2. packing
3. painting
4. shopping for chili supper at church
5. cleaning out the uniform closet at Noah's school ( I signed up for October, before I knew we were moving, lucky me!)
6. doing dishes
7. packing
8. painting
9. getting things together for Jean and I's big trip to Bern tonight!
10. packing and painting

So, here I sit, at my lovely computer, diet coke close by, typing away, not packing and not painting. I am such a slacker!

On a side note, my friend Jean and I are headed to my home town of Bern, KS tonight with all of our kids. Jean's husband Seth is the football coach there, so were are going to a game. It should be lots of fun. I am always a little anxious anytime I know that I will be seeing people I went to high school with. It is a very small town and I was kind of a brat in high school! I'll let you all, (the both of you that read my blog) know all about it tomorrow!

Fortune Cookie

Today has been what one would call "challenging". Noah has been home for 2 days sick, this morning the doctor called confirming that his throat culture was in fact positive for strep. Yay. So, antibiotics here we come. Luckily he can go back to school tomorrow!
Now as some of you know, we are moving in a week, one week....I still can't believe that it is a week away, I can feel my heart beating faster just thinking about it! I have so much to do in that one week and I am panicking, needless to say today was a total waste since I had one sick kiddo and another whiny, cranky, mama's needs to hold me all day, 16 month old! So after a very long day with my kiddos and not seeing my husband at all, I decided that we would go out and get Chinese, because I have no food in the house! We went to Dillons and all munched on some semi-ok chinese. When we opened our fortune cookies they were both very fitting.

Noah's - You will have good health.
Mine - You are busy, but happy.

I am happy, even though life seems to be falling apart at the seams right now! I love my husband, I love my kids, and I am so excited to be moving into a new neighborhood, with a nice backyard and being closer to everyone and everything. God is so good to us, even when we are overwhelmed, He can use a little thing like a fortune cookie to remind us how blessed we are. I just love it!