Disneyland Birthday trip for Samantha and Hannah

We took the girls to Disneyland to celebrate their September birthdays and it was an amazing trip! We had such a blast just the four of us and the memories created will last a lifetime. These too made us laugh more than we ever had with their joyful sense of humors and excitement the whole weekend. We are blessed to be their parents!! (WARNING...tons, and tons, and tons of pictures!)

Happy Birthday Sweet Girls!!!

Spicy Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

Yes...this IS spicy, but even my kids thought it was delicious! (Plus a little rage of heat to their taste buds just makes them more well rounded right?)

It is fairly simple, and I imagine if you wanted to could substitute the Serrano pepper with something with less heat if you want, but try to be adventurous this was fantastic.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
1 Serrano pepper, minced
2 garlic cloves,minced
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 fresh ground pepper
1/4 cilantro, chopped
1 cup salsa verde
1/2 cup fat free sour cream

For the enchiladas:
3 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
8 oz Jack cheese (was way more, but we are cheesy people)
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 avocados, peeled and chopped
corn tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat. Add Serrano pepper and garlic and saute for approx 1 minute. Add flour and stir constantly. Whisk in chicken broth, cumin, salt and pepper and bring to a low boil. Once boiling, whisk in sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro, remove from heat.

I layer the enchiladas instead of the traditional way of filling and rolling the cor tortillas. The choice is yours. I also made more sauce since we like our enchiladas one the gooey side. So, to layer I started with corn tortillas, added the chicken, avocado, cheese and sprinkled the onion. Then added a layer of sauce. Repeat one more time. Top with corn tortillas, the rest of the sauce and cheese. Bake until bubbly! (25-30min)

Top with sour cream and a slice of avocado and enjoy!

Color brightens any day

First Day of School 2012-2013

Sent my lovies off to a new school year this morning and I am a proud mama! They were all ready to go and excited. Jacob is in 5th, Samantha in 3rd and Hannah & Nathan both start Kindergarten. This is such a big milestone for the twinners and I was proud of them has there were no visible signs of anxiety or nerves, although I am sure they were there. We charged the old two with looking out for their younger siblings and all in all today was a successful start.

Wrapping up summer

We had a pretty easy going summer. We didn't do any major trip and enjoyed being home. (except for the heat!) These three kiddos swam their little hearts out for a local swim team, and although they didn't compete in any races they all grew stronger and better every week. We are sad to see this activity end. Jacob played indoor soccer this summer with his team and it was a blast to watch. High speed, high intensity and a ton of fun. His regular season gets going this week and games start in a few weeks. School also starts tomorrow. We have three going to one school and Nathan going to our neighborhood school. They are all excited and I am looking forward to some amazing one-on-one time with Grace!

Here's to a great school year!

Jacob turns 11

Had the extended family over to celebrate Jacob's birthday...always a fun time together! Swimming, bbq, and water balloons make it a perfect day!