Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

The change of the season brings a newfound energy in our house. As much as we enjoyed summer, I think I might have lost my mind if I had to drag Ethan and all his toys to the pool one more time. A kid can only be sunscreened up so many times people!

Evan and I have always loved fall. After all, we did get married in the fall. :) It just has a special meaning in our house.

With the change of weather, I've been itching to get some fall cooking underway. Thanks to my cousin Christy for this awesome chili recipe. Since I am on a very special and strict diet (and no, not to loose weight) this chili was perfect. It does not have any heavy tomato sauces which really irritate my stomach. I also love this because it all goes into the crock pot- which means simple and easy. My two favorite cooking words.

So, here it goes-

Ingredients:

• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes (original)
• 2 cans of corn, undrained
• 2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 packages of Ranch dressing mix
• 1 Tsp of chili powder (I would suggest going with half of this if you don't like spicy)
• 1 Tsp of cumin 1 tsp of onion powder
• 2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
• Optional (but highly recommended): cilantro, sour cream, and avocado for topping

What to Do:

1. Throw chicken breasts, Rotel, corn, black beans, Ranch dressing mix, chili powder, and cumin into the crockpot and cook on high for about 4 hours (can also cook on low for about 6-7 hours).
2. If you’re home, stir occasionally.  
3. 30 min. before you’re ready to eat, take the chicken out of the crockpot and shred it into bite-sized pieces with two forks.  Put chicken back in the crockpot.
4. Then, put the cream cheese in and stir it for a few minutes, encouraging its break-down.
5. Replace the lid and let hang out for the remaining half hour.
6. Stir a little more to ensure the cream cheese has melted.
7. Serve and enjoy!  

 

I'm sorry I forgot to take a picture of how mine turned out, but it looks exactly like the picture.

(if you can believe that!)

I am already thinking of the next time I am going to make this. That's how good it was. It serves 6 easily, maybe 8.

Happy Hump Day!

Picture Perfection

On Friday morning we ventured to the Raleigh Rose Garden to do Ethan's 2 year photos. We are so blessed to have Jocelin my sister in law who is our family photographer, and has a true talent in this field.  She is so patient. Have you ever tried to photograph a toddler? Let me rephrase that. Have you ever tried to take a good picture (worthy of hanging) of a toddler? It's harder than you think people. So thank goodness for Jocelin's calm, patient nature. I was able to hang out on the sidelines and let her work her magic.

Thankfully, Ethan was in delightful spirits and willing to cooperate. He really enjoyed the rose garden, so I think that helped. My goal was to capture 1 or 2 really stellar photos worthy for a Christmas card, and for a canvas on the wall. Mission accomplished.

 

This is my absolute favorite!!! I choose this one to order as a canvas for the house.

 

Silly, but adorable! This shows his true personality! ;)

 

 

Another favorite!!!

 

 



 Thank you Jocelin for another awesome photo shoot. She has helped fill our home with the most beautiful photos and I cherish them everyday!!!

 

Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

First Day of Preschool

Tuesday was the big day. Ethan ventured off to preschool for the first time.

Ethan was so excited, and the day could not have gone better. I was excited that Evan took the morning off from work to do drop off and pick up with us. It made Ethan's first day extra special.

The night before, I did start to feel a bit sad. I couldn't believe that my son was old enough to start preschool. Seriously, he is growing up way too fast- and life needs a pause button. I kept thinking to myself that from this point on, he will always be in school. And, I know what that means...it will only go by even faster.

The morning of, everything went very smoothly. We all got up, got dressed, ate our breakfast, and even had 10 extra minutes to spare for pictures! WHOA, write that one down, because that NEVER happens. Ethan was so happy, and so calm. "Mommy I'm going to school!" he tells me. Yes sweet boy...yes you are. Sniff Sniff.

 

Seriously mom, what is this thing?!

 

 

I can't believe how good this picture turned out! I love it. It is so hard to get pictures with Ethan looking, and smiling.



 

Daddy, I wanna be like you when I grow up.

 

 

His preschool bag is almost as big as he is!

 

 

We walked Ethan into his classroom on the first day instead of using the carpool line. I just didn't feel right about dropping him off in the carpool line and letting someone else walk him into his classroom on his first day. I mean, rip my heart out why don't you.

 

The teachers and administration encourage carpool line. They say it is better for those who struggle with separation anxiety, and limits the amount of time parents stick around. I totally get this. However, Ethan is quite the opposite. Very independent, and very happy to explore new people and new things. When Evan and I walked him into his classroom he let go of our hands, and was gone. The teacher pretty much shooed us out of the room. Again, I understand...but it was still really hard. I told him I loved him, and that was it. As we walked away I felt my tears welling up. I choked them back. Evan was so proud of me!

 

Before I knew it, it was time to go pick him back up! The morning went by quickly. Evan and I were excited to see how his first day went. For pick up, all the parents line up at the door. The children are released one at a time, giving you face to face interaction time with the teachers. When it was our turn, Ethan was all smiles! He had the best day! His teachers said he did awesome!

 

On Thursday, we used the carpool line. No problems. Ethan had another great day. On the way home he asked me "Mommy when can we go back?" I overhear him talking about his teachers Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Jennifer often, and singing the songs he learned this week. It makes my heart happy.

 

Here's to a great year in preschool! I can't wait to see what the year will hold for us.



A Farewell to Summer

I can't believe it, but the majority of summer has come and gone. Where has the time gone? This year has FLOWN by. Geez, before I know it I'm gonna be dragging out the Christmas stuff again!

We were able to spend a long Labor Day weekend with my parents at the beach house. We had a great weekend, with perfect weather. Ethan was so excited. The entire week leading up to our trip, he'd say "momma were gonna go to Nana and Papa's big house and go to the ocean!" For whatever reason he refers to my parents beach house as "the big house."

This was the first ever beach trip that Ethan was very content to play in one place for a couple hours at a time. Evan and I actually got to SIT down and enjoy watching him play. So, maybe 2 1/2 years old is the golden age??? We would go to the beach for a couple hours in the morning, then come up to the pool for an hour or two, and eat our lunch at the pool, too. After that, we would head back down to the beach (only a few feet away) for another hour or so before nap time.

AHHHH, nap time. :) How I do love nap time! Ethan took awesome naps at the beach. Around 3 hours each day, waking up happy and refreshed. Evan and I would take turns staying inside with him while he napped- while the other sat on the beach. And of course, back down to the beach after naps!

He ate well, played hard, and slept great. You can't ask for more than that! He was such a happy boy.

 

The first afternoon we arrived, Ethan couldn't wait to get out on the beach. Clothes and all. Thank you to his GiGi and Grandad for the John Deere front end loader that did a pretty awesome job of scooping and dumping sand into his Caterpillar dump truck!

 

The second day it was cloudy, which was awesome. The temperature was perfect!

 

Boys and their toys...Evan enjoyed playing with them too!

 

The third day was much sunnier and warmer. We spent more time at the pool.

 

Daddy does such a great job playing with Ethan.

 

These two...my whole world.

 

 

Summer of 2014, you've been a good one. Until next time.

 

Sand Art

We just came home from a long weekend at the beach. Before I do a longer post on our whole beach trip, I wanted to share something pretty unique.

Out of all the years I have been coming to my parents beach house I have never come across this before.

The Dolphin

 



 

The Giraffe

The Bear

 



 

 

Pretty cool huh? There was an artist vacationing in my parents complex. Every day we looked forward to what he would create. Too bad he had to leave two days earlier than we did! All he needed was a bucket, a shovel, ocean water, and his hands. True talent if you ask me. You wouldn't want to know what my sand art would look like!

 

Happy Tuesday!!!

Preschool Orientation

Wednesday and Thursday of this past week we had preschool orientation. Wednesday evening was for the adults only, and Thursday was for the kids.

Evan and I went together Wednesday evening to the adult orientation.

I must add- we decided to go to Anna's Pizza in downtown Apex for a quick dinner prior to our meeting. We were both pretty disappointed with our meals. Slow service, and the food was less than stellar. We ordered a fried ravioli appetizer which tasted like it had been frozen, reheated, and served with a side of marinara sauce. It tasted like cardboard. Then, our meals tasted...well were tasteless. Oh well. I guess we won't be going back there again anytime soon.

So, back to our meeting. It was very well organized, and very informative. After it was all said and done, I felt like I had a really good handle on the whole preschool thing. Evan and I loved Ethan's teachers, Ms. Elizabeth, and Ms. Jennifer. They were really on the ball, and had the most perfect personalities for teaching two year olds. We had an opportunity to see Ethan's classroom, and ask questions. I never knew so much paperwork and information could be involved in preschool!

Since there were a lot of parents in the classroom, I wasn't able to capture many pictures. But I did manage to take these-

 

 

Ethan is in the "Lambs" class. When I walked into his classroom I couldn't help but notice his name all over the room. On his cubby, on the birthday wall, on the door...

 

I'll be honest, it hit me a little harder than I expected. I had to hold my tears back.

 

The next morning Ethan got to meet his teachers. He has a total of 10 kids in his class. So, only 5 of them came to meet the teacher at a time. Ethan was very excited! I had no worries regarding how his morning would go with his teachers. He walked right in, no problems, and immediately began to play. I was able to capture many more pictures this time...

 

Just outside that door shown above is a playground. They go outside and play daily for 30 minutes.

 



 

He interacted well with his classmates. He really enjoyed the "Home Living Center" where he did laundry for about 20 minutes! :)

 

He did manage to find the trucks, of course! However, if you can believe it, he was more interested in the "Home Living Center"!  I was shocked!

 

The activity for the morning was to decorate your own placemat with stamps. After they were all decorated, the teacher was going to laminate them and the children would use them every day for snack. Much to my surprise Ethan really liked this activity.

 





 

 

He was having so much fun that I had to practically drag him out of there. He didn't want to leave! He also had some great conversations with his teachers about mixer trucks. :) Go figure! 

 

Well, tomorrow is the big day! Ethan will go to preschool for the first time. I am sure he will do great...and I will too....maybe. I promise to keep everyone up to date- so be on the look out for my blog on Ethan's first day!

 

Hope everyone had great Labor Day weekend!