New Recipe

I got a new recipe from a friend and tried it last night and it was soooooo good I decided to share it with all of you. If any of you are like me, I am always looking for new wonderful recipes to add to my collection to mix things up. It seems like I get in a rut and feed my family the same things over and over again. So it is great when I get a recipe to try that gives a little variety to our family dinners. So I hope you don't mind me sharing Karla. (I don't know what you call it for sure so I renamed it)
Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
1 Can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can diced green chiles
1 C. salsa
4 frozen chicken breasts
1 pkg. taco seasoning
Put in slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Shred chicken 1/2 hour before serving and return to slow cooker. Serve with tortilla chips.
or... If you want a little more substance and a real meal shred chicken 1 hour before serving and then add 1 C. rice, (or 1 pkg Zattaranes spanish style rice) 2 C. water and 1 more can diced tomatoes. Let cook until rice is tender. Serve on a tortilla with melted cheese (like a burrito). It is super yummy and very easy. Thanks Karla for the recipe, I kinda altered it a little hope that is okay!!

Earrings!!!

On the post below I asked if anyone noticed anything different about my little girl. Tara is a smart one. Yes we pierced her ears. I had been thinking about it for a little while and I always think little girls/babies look so precious with them. I always wanted to do that to my children when I had them. And then we had Paige so I had the opportunity. Matt and I were at the mall and kind of spur of the moment we decided to get them done. She of course did not like it. But after about 30 minutes she was perfectly fine and she has done really well with them ever since. Kind of like getting a shot, only prettier and more noticable. I think she looks so adorable, and for sure no one will get her mixed up with a little boy anymore (unless they are plain stupid). The only thing that would have made the experience a little easier is if the store had had 2 employees available to do the ears at the same time. They only had one person, so I had to hold her head still for the second ear. That wasn't fun. I will try and get a clearer picture in the next few days. I just had to post how adorable and cute my little girl is!!!

Anything Different?

Do you notice anything different about my little girl in these pictures???

Spiderman Pajamas

Well I finally got the Spiderman Pajamas off of Parker yesterday. He wanted to go outside with his dad and we talked him into wearing warmer clothes. That was the easy part. Then last night when getting ready for bed, what did he want to wear??? You guessed it, the Spiderman jammies. Well I sneakily (is that a word) put them in the washing machine so he couldn't get them out of the dirty clothes basket, so he was so upset and had a full blown tantrum about the jammies. I wasn't going to give in. After being worn for 4 full days, they were downright dirty!!! I told him he could wear one of the other 5 pair he got for his birthday. No? he wanted the spiderman jammies. So after a few minutes in time out and many tears I finally convinced him to TRY ON the dinosaur jammies. I let him look at himself in the mirror and once he saw himself with the dinosaurs on he stopped crying. He realized they weren't so bad and were actually kind of fun. He decided that he could wear them this time. He made it thru the night!!! This morning he had to point out to me the different dino's on the jammies and he seems to like them more. But I better get a load of laundry done just in case. I may just sneak the clean Spiderman jammies into his drawer and see if he notices they are there tonight when he picks out his jammies to wear. We'll see what happens.

Thankfulness

Today I finally took down my Halloween decorations and swapped them for Thanksgiving things. It got me thinking of all the many things that I am thankful for at this time. So this post is going to be a list of things that I am thankful for in my life. Anyone who reads this I am tagging you to do the same on your blog or on a sheet of paper to get you in the spirit of the season and to really realize all the things we take for granted in our daily lives. I know that I take things for granted so here is my list in no particular order
1. My family, Matt, Parker, and Paige
2. My extended family, parents, in-laws, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins etc.
3. Great friends... I hope you know who you are!
4. A roof over my head
5. Clothing to wear
6. Food to eat, and food storage!! (6 months we have stored)
7. 72 hour kit
8. A vehicle, I would hate to have to walk to the store and back with two kids, where would I put groceries.
9. The right to vote... I voted today!
10. The gospel in my life... The choice to worship how, where or what I may.
11. A calling in the church. I love Primary and the kids in our ward. They have taught me so much.
12. An education. I am glad that I have some education to fall back on.
13. Clean clothes.
14. Water... I love water...to drink and to take hot showers in.
15. Seasons. I am glad I live in a place that has seasons. Although the weather here is crappy and wet, I still like the fact that it changes.
16. The internet, as dumb as that may sound it is a great source for information and the ability to blog and keep in contact with family and friends so conveniently.
17. The scriptures.
18. Other books, I love to read a good book, any suggestions???
19. Scapbooking, all my scrapbooking supplies. I love to capture memories and then look back on them and be able to remember that particular picture.
20. Pictures
21. A digital camera. What did I do without it?
22. A king size bed, how did we ever sleep on a full size bed Matt??
23. A portable DVD player. Keeps big brother occupied on car rides.
24. A dvr recorder. I am addicted to some television shows and it is so wonderful to record, pause or fast forward shows.
25. A washer and dryer in my home. I hated having to take my clothes to mom and dad's and how do people go to the laundrymat (I think I spelled that wrong) every week.
26. Cell phones
27. Land lines, there when you need them.
28. Chocolate
29. My talents, some I am still developing
30. My husbands Job... what in the world would we do without him or the job!!! Thanks Matt for working so hard.
31. Challenges in my life, they make me stronger.
32. Doctors, they saved my two kids lives, and mine
33. Music, and IPOD
34. Heat. I love to be warm and cozy, especially in the morning.
35. Close family. I know I said this already but I am so grateful that we are close and all get along so well. I would hate to not have my family in my life or to not get along or be so far away from each other.
This list I could probably make longer but these are the things I can think of right now. We live in a wonderful country in spite of all that in going on and we are really lucky to have the things we do and we should enjoy them and not take advantage of them. We may never know when there will come a time when we will have to go without. Happy Tuesday!!

pictures

I can't figure out how to do a slideshow so here are a few picture from Parker's birthday.

Parker Turns 3

Saturday the 1st was Parker's 3rd birthday. Wow has time gone by so quickly. I can't believe that my little boy is 3 and is no longer a baby. He is growing up to be a pretty smart little boy. Everyday he surprises me with the things he is learning. I spent the morning preparing for a little get together we were having in the evening for him. I made his birthday cake (a dirt cake, he loves dirt, this time it was edible) and I had a lot of fun making it for him. I thought it turned out really good. I told him to come and look at it and when he came into the kitchen and saw it he looked at me and said, "What is it?" I said a birthday cake. Doesn't it look good? He just wanted to take the bugs off of it. In the early evening we mte Matt's parents and Tara for Pizza and he had a fun time running around with his cousin. We got home and had my parents over for a little party. The theme for the night was pajamas, he got 6 new pairs (he was in desperate need of new ones). He also got a new pair of shoes, some slippers, snow boots, a movie, some sugar cookies, a new book,a new outfit, some laffy taffy, and the big one was a new set of junior golf clubs. He was pretty excited about those. Too bad there aren't too many more days left to play with them. He will have to wait until the spring. meanwhile the clubs will be resting in the garage. I don't want the house destroyed. After we opened gifts we had cake and ice cream. He loved blowing out the candles. Oh one funny thing that I have to mention is that he got a pair of Spiderman jammies from Grandpa Yancey, and Parker immediately wanted to put them on. He then tried to climb the walls like Spiderman. It was funny. He has had the jammies on ever since that night. I did manage to get them off him for a few hours yesterday for church, ony after promising him that as soon as we got home he could put them back on. The same thing this morning. I had him put on some clothes so we could run errands. Then as soon as we walked in the door he wanted them back on. I am not sure when I will be able to get them to put them in the washing machine. I guess he really likes them. Good choice Dad!! Thank you to everyone that got him a gift. He is spoiled!!