The Incredibles

Here are a few pictures from the Halloween Party in the Magic Kingdom. We dressed up as the Incredibles. Even though it was incredibly hot- we had a great time.

Andrew's First Day of School

I am a little late in posting this, but Andrew has started school as well this year. Well, it isn't "officially" school but it is pretty much the same. He is actually attending two different programs. On Tuesdays he is attending Mother's Day Out at out old church and on Friday he is attending the Terrific Two's program where Clayton attends school. Why two programs you ask- well the MDO is from 9:20-1:20 so this allows me to have a half day without both boys since Clayton attends school from 9-1 on Tuesdays. On Fridays Andrew only goes from 9-11:30 while Clayton is there till 1:00.


Andrew seems to really like school and is always so proud of the work he has done that day. He always holds up his pictures to show me the moment he sees me and we have to spend about 5 minutes looking at it. It is really very adorable.

Unlike Clayton, Andrew doesn't run into the classroom with excitement. We will be walking to the class then all of a sudden I will look down and Andrew will have stopped walking and will have only maid it halfway down the hallway. Sometimes he cries but usually the talk of going and finding a truck gets him through the door!

Clayton's First Day of Pre-K

Today was Clayton's first day of Pre-K. I am blown away by how big both my boys look in these pictures (sniff sniff). Clayton had a great time and it was so nice going to Wal Mart and Target with only one child! I made the mistake of waiting till the last minute to get Clayton a lunch box (he won't need it till next week) and every where I went they were out of them. Finally at my 4th stop- I was able to find Clayton the one he wanted- a Star Wars lunch box. I gave it to him when I picked him up and he was so excited. He has taken it with him every where today- including to bed! Andrew missed his brother while he was gone and gave him the biggest hug when he came out of his class- it was so cute.

Before class started.

This is when Clayton first came out of his classroom.

Andrew loving on his brother.

On the playground after class.

Clayton getting his lunch box!!!!!

Sesame Place

Clay and I have been wanting to take the boys, especially Andrew, to Sesame Place in PA. Andrew loves Elmo or "Mo" as he calls him, even more than Clayton did so this is something that we wanted to do for him. Here are some pictures from our trip.

This was our first character encounter for the day. Andrew just walked up to Zoe and gave her a hug. I was very happy to see this after Andrew's reaction to the characters last year at Disney.

I had to include this picture because Clayton kept saying, "Here comes the Countdown."

I can't believe how big Andrew looks in this picture. At first glance I thought this was Clayton.

This is when Andrew say "Mo" for the first time.

Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas

As a mom of two small boys, I know how hard it can be to 1) find the time to make dinner, 2)make a healthy meal 3) find a recipe that is easy, doesn’t' take too much time to make, and is easy to clean up.

I have set out to find healthier recipes and sometimes not so healthy and share them in hopes to make your daily struggles of getting dinner ready easier for you and your family.

Here is recipe #1- Chili-Cheese Black Bean Enchiladas from Cooking Light 2003. I have made some modifications/variations to the recipe.

I found this to be delicious and Clay LOVED it! Getting my husband to love a dish that doesn't involve meat is a very big deal. His motto is, "If it doesn't have meat- it isn't a meal." On nights that I fix something at meat I always call him at work and warn him that our dinner isn't going to contain meat! So, I was very happy that he liked this dish.

Of course, I didn't use the reduced-fat cheese or fat-free cream cheese that the recipe calls for since they don't I can't get these items in bulk at Costco or Sam's! I also always use more cheese than the recipe calls for. The first time I made this I didn't use the soy crumbles. The second time I was making this for a friend that just had a baby and happens to be a vegetarian so I tried using the soy. I couldn't find any frozen soy crumbles. I found some soy in the refrigerated section and chopped it up into small pieces and used it. I couldn't tell it was there but Clay said he could and didn't like it once I told him that I added soy the second time around. I also added 1/2 can of corn to the recipe which I think was a nice addition!

This was very easy to make and easy to clean up! I also liked that this is a recipe that you pretty much can have all the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator making easy to make on one of those nights when you are scratching your head trying to figure out what to make. The only issues I had with this recipe was that I found it hard to roll the corn tortillas. They kept cracking and didn't want to stay rolled up. A minor thing for a delicious meal.

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (12- ounce) bag of frozen soy crumbles, thawed (such as Morningstar Farms)
3/4 cup bottled salsa
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 350

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat.
Add onion, and sauté 4 minutes or until tender.
Stir in cumin, oregano, chili powder, (I put these 3 ingredients in a small bowl first to mix together) garlic, beans, and soy crumbles, and cook 2 minutes, stirring mixture frequently.

Stir in salsa, cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and add cream cheese and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, stirring until cheese melts.

Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread 1/3 cup enchilada sauce in bottom of a 13x9 - inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup black bean mixture down center of each tortilla, and roll up. Arrange enchiladas, seam sides down, crosswise in dish. Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over enchiladas, and sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheddar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

2 enchiladas = 1 serving.
Calories 386
Fat 12.9 g
Protein 26.8 g

Jack's Birthday

Today we went to Jack's 5th birthday party (birthday boy below in my favorite picture). They had a reptile man come and share several different kids of reptiles. It was a great party and the kids had a blast so I wanted to share some pictures from the party.