Easy Enchilada Recipe

Like cheesy? Soft? How about gooey!? Well, then you are bound to fall in love with these Dipped Enchiladas. My best friend Carla gave me this recipe and it is one of my all time favorites. I only make it once and a while because when I do... we know our bellies are going to hurt. We usually end up having a "no cuddle" rule cause our tummies are just too stuffed.... yep... we are gluttons! :) All you need is...

1 Large can Las Palmas red enchilada sauce (make sure its Los Pamas)

1 Pint sour cream

1 Can Cream of Chicken soup

1 lbs shredded chicken, about 4-5 breasts

Cheddar cheese of whatever you like

8 (1 package) of flour tortillas

2 Cans of chicken broth

1. Pour the cans of broth into a pot and start to boil the chicken. When the chicken is completely cooked drain it. Then take some forks and start to pull/shred the breast into fine strands.

2. In a large bowl mix the enchilada sauce, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup.

3. Dip the tortillas into the enchilada mixture and then fill the tortilla with the shredded chicken, cheese. Place in a 9x13 pan.

4. When all are dipped, stuffed, and rolled, pour the remaining sauce all over the tortillas and top them with cheese. Pop it in the oven at 350* till it looks warm and bubble, it wont need to actually cook, just to get it warmed up and melted, maybe 15-20 mins.

Some helpful hints -

You don't have to boil the chicken in broth, you can use water, but I find it tastes juicier and has more flavor. I have even soaked the shredded chicken in enchilada sauce also.. and that is muy bien!!!!! Also I like to throw in whatever veggies I want in... onions and olives are great and throwing some freshly diced tomatoes on top after it is cooked is very tasty also, sliced onions help to make it look pretty... but again.. this recipe will taste great even if you don't throw this in, just if you want to take it up a notch.

Fun Cheap Toys For Children

Finding toys for children can be tough. For me, I have a hard time because Curtis and I decided that we weren't going to give Lucy a lot of toys, that we wanted to let her learn to be productive with what she has and not be over stimulated... pluuuus.. we are kind of cheap and can't justify droppin' a $124 on a Leap Pad Frog baby Blackberry-laptop-iPhone. So, I am pretty picky with what toys I get for Lucy because, hey, if the poor girl isn't going to get showered in toys, then the ones she gets are going to rock. So here are a couple really fun cheap toys that I have found for several ages.
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Cranium's Bloom Shop & Match
Bloom Shop & Match (which has one Parents' Choice Award) is a sorting and matching game that takes place at a grocery store. The game has a basket, food, reusable grocery lists, dry-erase marker, spinner, and game board. This game is great because it encourages color recognition, sorting and classifying, object identification, pretend play, teamwork, and turn taking. What is also really nice, is that the pieces are well designed and sturdy, so you know the pieces can handle your toddler throwing/shoving/biting/burying/and toilet flushing. The game has activities in the four categories of discover, perform, create, and connect involving counting, categorization, and color hunting. And wait... here is the best part... it even comes with a little working scanner that you use to purchase and scan your items... how cute is THAT!? This is just a great game to help get your little ones thinking, organizing, color recognition, taking turns, and object identifying. It is great for kids 3 and up and suggested retail is $19.99
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Laugh & Learn-My Learning Tools
My Learning Tools puts Bob The Builder to shaaaame. This cute talking tool bag is filled with songs, tools, and instructions to help teach your child how to open/close, use all the tools, sing a long, numbers, and even about opposites. This Fisher Price toy has three different play modes that aims for encourage, imagination, and musical fun. Great for letting your child learn with the toys or simple play by enjoying the music. And hey, if you have a little girl that wont like playing with a toll bags, then don't worry, because they even have a My Learning Purse it is practically the same thing, just a purse with keys, wallet, lipstick, and a zipper instead of a ruler to figure out. This is good for as young at 6 months to 36 months and the suggested retail is $17.00
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Wok' n Roll
This is just a cute game that helps your kids hand-eye coordination, also while helping to teach them colors and organizing. In Wok'n Roll players use plastic chop sticks to grab their colored food and simply place it into the matching bowls. When you child has master that, players can they kick it up a notch and turn the wok on, which then allows it to spin and turn as players try to grab their matching colors. This game has been suggested for 3 and up, 4 and up, or even 5 and up, so you can use your judgment if your child should play with it or not. I don't think it is because of the skills so much, but more if the child will be tempted to swallow the colored pieces. It's suggested retail is $19.99.
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eeBoo's - What Time Is It?
These little tickers are here to help your angles how to tell time. With smiling clock, different levels of difficulty, and moveable hands your children can easily learn how to read a clock and tell time; both digitally and the good ol' fashion way. You can be assured that your child will learn because eeBoo is one of the most respected names in children's educational products. There are so several levels of difficulty; so beginners won’t get frustrated and players with more advanced skills will still be able to feel challenged. Suggested for ages 4 and up and retailed at just $16.00.
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Are there any toys/games out there that you have just loved as a parent or even a certain company that you like?

The World's Largest

People love extremes. We, as humans, love to be curious, fascinated, shocked, and constantly wowed, that is why people slow down to stair at car accidents, that gossip magazines do so well, and why Madonna can't seem to just go away. So, to help keep your EXTREME THRILL LEVEL up, here is a list of.... The World's Largest!

Tallest Man
Robert Wadlow is the original "gentle giant". He was born as a normal-sized baby, but soon his perky pituitary gland triggered serious abnormal growth. By the age of 13 he was already 7'4 and he kept getting bigger.... he eventually topped out at 8 ft. and 11.1 inches. He unfortunately died at the young age of 22. His death in 1940 attracted more than 30,000 mourners and has a statue of him in his home town, which is actually smaller than his correct size. This photo is of him and his father.

Largest Insect
The South American Longhorn Beetle is recorded to be the largest insect out there, even though it isn't the longest or even the heaviest. All I know is that it can make me wet my pants 3.5 seconds faster than any other bug!

Largest Hand
China's Liu Hua has his hands full with one bodily distinction: the world's largest hand; which measured with an 11 inch thumb, 14 inch index finger, and he could flip the bird with his 6 inch middle finger. Fortunately, Liu Hua's hand has stopped growing, making it able for him to finally have plastic surgery, but will continue to need a few more surgeries to completely repair his hand. Until then, he will have to enjoy his crazy thumb wrestling skills as long as he can.

Largest Cookie
Immaculate Baking Company in Hendersonville, North Carolina wanted to host a fund raising event by baking the world's largest cookie. With the help of 30,000 eggs, 6,500 pounds of butter and 6,000 pounds of chocolate they were able to make their 37,000 pound cookie, which has a 102 foot diameter and if you look closely in the picture, you can see a man in a red shirt standing in the middle of it. Thankfully the fund raiser was successful but unfortunately the cookie was over shadowed with rumors of the world's largest cookie monster.

Largest Baby
Ladies be prepared, cause this story is going to make you go "OUCH"! So keep your legs crossed before you continue.....

Tatyana Barabanova of Siberia gave birth to her 12th child, Nadia, who weighed in at a whopping 17.1 pounds! This tot-zilla's size came as a complete shock to her mom, because Mrs. Barabanova states that none of her children have weighed more than around 8 pounds. So HALLELUJAH for C-sections, cause that is the only way the baby was going to make it out.

Largest Spider
This is the Goliath Birdeater which has a foot long leg span! This tarantula is native in South America and feasts on mice and lizards mostly. Luckily for us, they are NOT poisonous, but they still give me a big scoop of the heebbie-geebies. The female Birdeaters have an average life span of 15 to 25 years, but the males die soon after maturity having a lifespan of 3 to 6 years. You can actually see a life-size of the Goliath here. I don't even want to know the crunching sound this guy will make.

Largest Feet
At 7ft 6 ins, Matthew McGrory was not only the world's tallest actor, he also had the world's largest feet. McGrory had size 29½ shoes (European size 63). Matthew played in movies like Bubble Boy, Men in Black II, and in Big Fish. Unfortunately, Matthew passed away in August of 2005 to natural causes.

Largest Flower
The Rafflesia is the world's largest, heaviest, rarest and the one of the most stinkiest flowers in the world!!! It grows to be about 3.5 feet wide and weighs around 20 pounds. The Rafflesia is a parasitic plant without any leaves, stems or roots. Its only food source is it's nutrient-absorbing threads that absorb nutrients from the host on which it lives. Basically, the worlds biggest moocher.

Largest Dog
Zorba a Old English Mastiff weights in at 393 pounds. Not only does he weight 343 lbs but was also 8 feet 3 inches long from nose to tail! Potty training must have been a b!*$%.

Largest Restroom
Yes, you read right... the world's largest restroom! The congratulations go to the city Chong Qing in China and oddly enough, is made from all waste.... okay... well not THAT kind of waste, but recycled waste. It can support as many as 1,000 people using the restroom at the same time while also offering radio and TV to entertain its users. Holy crap.... literally.

Largest Bird
This award goes to the Argentavis with an amazing 25 ft wingspan. A single feather from such a bird is estimated to have been 1.5 meters long (60 inches) and 20 centimeters wide (8 inches). I just hope that it never lefts its "mark" over someone's poor car.

Apple Fries

WFMW
It is nice to have so many options these days. Never did I imagine that at McDonald I could actually order a SALAD... my old version of a healthy choice at Mc-a-D's would be asking for a diet coke instead of a regular (it did NOT help me loose weight) :)

Places like Burger King, Wendy's, McDonalds, and such are all starting to offer some healthier choices... especially when it comes to the children. Burger King right now has been introducing a fun new option called "BK Fresh Apple Fries" and they are how they sound. It is honestly genius! Burger King simply took apples and cut them to look like fries. My husband and I tried them and it was crazy how much they looked like french fries, until you pick them up and it is cold and wet (like an apple). They look like fries so much that it was kind of odd trying them, I kept waiting for that potatoie-fry taste.
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I really love these Apple Fries not just because they are a healthy option, but a fun one too. With the apples cut like fries it is definitely more interesting then a boarding old apple. Also it helps to keep the mess down. Your children get to eat an apple without having to worry about old apple cores rotting away int he back seat.

The Apple Fries even come with some yummy packaged carmel sauce; it is a healthy low-fat carmel sauce. I find this especially nice because it also helps to eliminate spilling in the car when you are on the go. Can you tell I worry about the neatness of my car?

So, if you are looking for a health fresh option for a quick meal, the Fresh Apple Fries are something you might want to try.

Homemade Magnets

It always seems like I am a few magnets short, but I don't really like having all mis-matching magnets on the fridge, a little bit of my OCD is showing... I know. So I have solved my problem and just made my own fridge magnets. Super easy, super fast, and looks pretty good.


All you need is some magnets, which Michael's has some magnets for pretty cheap and you get a lot for your money. Then you will need what you want as the magnet. I like the old antique look of coins, so I have taken the old foreign coins that I have and hot glued them on to the magnet. I love the look they give. .

You don't just have to use coins. If you have some magnets needed, lets say, in your kids room, just use some bright colorful buttons of different sizes, they come out really cute. My favorite are the big buttons with a nice rim.

You can also get some vintage coasters and use a few magnets and make really fun ones. Because if people aren't going to use them for the table, you might as well use them for something.

If you are looking for a little bit more, just get some cute paper and glue them to the glass marbles that are used in the bottom of flower vases. With the glass marble your paper will show through and give it a nice look. I love using vintage paper, or cute small patterns. Magazines could also be a good place to look for items. (if you haven't noticed I really like the vintage look)..

Michael's also has these really sweet scrabble-like letters that might be really fun. They look just like scrabble tiles except they don't have the point value on them. Plus who doesn't love getting a little spelling lesson in while you are cooking. COOKING....C.O.O.K.I.N.G! See....helping already :)

And last, but not least.....flowers. Now you can stop and smell the roses every time you go to the kitchen. Just get some cute Gerber daisies or some fun hibiscus and hide those permanent marker stains that have been needing some attention; you know, the artwork from your darling baby.

Well at least my husband thinks they are....Mag-Neat-O. All you x-men fans out there will get this one. What can I say, my post wouldn't be complete without a cute corny joke from Curtis.

Extended Family

FAMILY MOMENT MONDAY

Everyday we spent time with our family. We wake up with them, come home to them, spend our evenings with them; but even with all of that so called "family time" that we have everyday, we are still missing another important type of family bonding.... the extended family time.

Families start usually with a mom and dad. Soon they have their first bouncing baby and later more follow. Those babies grow up and go to college, get married, and have babies of their own. No matter where you fall in your family, as the parent, child, in-law, or grand child, you are still part of a larger family and need to remember that and make time for it.

It is important to invite the grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins over more; to have play dates, movie nights, or even just a crafting parties. It doesn't have to be a party or holiday every time the whole family gets together, heck it doesn't even need to be everyone. Cause I don't know about you, but it is a mad house when we all get together. So, if you are like me and find holidays are a mad house, then just invite the ladies over, have a few cousins over for a play date, or ask the grandparents over for dessert. Grandparents are always looking for an excuse to come over and love on their grandbabies.

Our children need uncles and aunts to make them laugh, cousins to be friends with, and grandparents to spoil them. So have a game night with your brother's family, or invite your sister-in-law over for a movie, or go on a double with with your brother and his wife, because when we spend time with our family it is always time well spent.

Please remember to add your link only if you are participating in Family Moment Monday. Family Moment Monday consists of people who are sharing crafts, activities, lessons, ideas, service projects or anything else that you can learn/do/enjoy as a family in your post. Please remember to link back to Motherhood For Dummies, so others can learn about F.M.M. and participate too.

Chocolate Cherry Cola Cake

Have a sweet tooth? Well, then I have a good chocolate cherry cola cake that will be your down fall! Sound tempting... heck yea! All you need is...

• 1 box Devil Food cake mix
• 1 jar (10 oz) maraschino cherries with juice
• 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
• 1 cup cherry cola carbonated beverage
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 container whipped vanilla frosting
• 1 cup marshmallow creme
• 24 maraschino cherries with stems if you want to decorated the cake

1. Heat oven to 350* degree. Chop up maraschino cherries and set aside

2. Take box cake (don't make it like the instructions on the back on the box), but take the cake powder and mix with cola, oil, eggs, and 1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice. Then throw in chopped cherries and beat for about 2 mins. Pour batter into pan.

3. Bake 35-43 mins. Cool completely.

4. In small bowl mix frosting and the marshmallow creme together and frost the cake. If you want a nice decoration, then add some maraschino cherries on top or chocolate chips.

Twilight

Okay, people. I have officially jumped on the Twilight band wagon. The reason I have been gone these past few days is that...
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One, I was taking a small break from blogging to get the blog organized and together (that loosing translates to I was going through a blogging funk) and...


Reason two is because I finally started reading Twilight and well... it took a bit to get into it and I had to roll my eyes over the teen romance parts, but then out of no where.... BAM I got COMPLETELY SUCKED IN. The last 150 pages of the book is completely page turning and I am embarrassed to admit this, but liked it. I even went out and bought the second book called "New Moon". So, hopefully I will be caught up to speed with all four books by the time the movie comes out.


If any of you out there is looking for a non-serious read, just something kind of light and fun, you might want to try it. Again... it is a little slow in the beginning, but definitely worth the read in the end. :)

P.S. And for you all who haven't heard about this book or don't know what it is about, then just find some teenage girl that is suddenly boy crazy, swooning, and talking non stopped about vampires... seriously. And remember when I say this... the book is completely cheesy, but still unavoidably good.

Swing Time

Is this how you use this thing?????

Nature Walk Box From Scribbit

Sorry for the late post and honestly... sorry for me being flaky with my blog these last few weeks. I don't know why, because we havn't been THAT busy, but I keep finding myself tired, overwhelmed, and really not following through with things. So, I decided to kind of take a break from being a good blogger. It was nice, I mean... don't get me wrong, I wasn't sitting around the house in a lush silk robe eating bon-bons all day, but it was just nice to not have to be my regular compulsive blogging self. I got time to do so many of the things I ignore when I blog... you know what I mean... laundry, dishing, vacuuming, making lunch for the kids... uh... wait.... scratch that last one! :) So, now I am back and hopefully more on the ball!

I had a fun craft I have been working on for 2 weeks now and I was allllll excited to get it posted and to show all of you how to do it (I guess you will just have to wait till next week). But instead, I saw this fun activity/craft project over at Scribbit a few weeks ago and just thought what a GREAT idea it was, plus summer is quickly slipping away, so it might be nice to get this last activity in before the season is gone. Scribbit made a fun color coded nature walk box where you simply take an empty carton of eggs and color each cup with a different color. Then send the children out (to give you some piece) to find something out in nature that is matching that color.

This I think is just so creative and fun. Besides it just being something fun to do in the backyard, it can also help keep children busy on hikes, camping trips, or park picnics if they are getting board. So, hop over to Scribbit and check out all her information on the color coded nature walk box.

Olympic Games

FAMILY MOMENT MONDAY
Have you been lovin' the Olympics? I think this is the first year where I been truly interested and actually following some of their stories. It has been fun to see Michael Phelps try to break the record and watching how well China is doing. But why should we only enjoy the Olympics on the TV when you can also enjoy them as a family with... THE 2008 FAMILY OLYMPICS!!!!!

Here are some events that the family can play...

Potato Sack Race - If you don't have potato sacks then big Hefty bags are great for it. The kids can even decorate their bags with paint or stickers.

Egg Drop - Gets some eggs. Pair people up in twos, each group gets an egg. Have the people stand a little ways away and then one tosses the egg to the other. Every time they take a toss, the teams members have to take one step back. They continue to toss and to take steps back until the egg breaks. This is really fun to do and the kids will love breaking the eggs and decorating them.

Three Legged Race - Nough' said.

Pie Eating - You can find those cheap metal tin pie plates at Walmart and fill them with whip cream and bananas if you don't want to buy several pies. You all know you want to do this one, because honestly, who doesn't want to do one!? Any excuse to eat pie is a good excuse.

Bean Bag Toss - Gets some bean bags and make targets out of pillows, old coffee cans, or Tupperwear. Mark each container with certain points and the highest score wins!

Hide-n-Go Seek - This one is great if you have little little kids. Who ever is the last one to be found wins.

And don't forget the other classic games too, like Horse, jump rope, or 4 square.

And last but not least, the award ceremony. Make sure that you have made some gold, silver, and bronze medals for the winners. You can easily make some from construction paper, tin foil, or yogurt lids. So, get in the Olympic spirit and have the family games.

Please remember to add your link only if you are participating in Family Moment Monday. Family Moment Monday consists of people who are sharing crafts, activities, lessons, ideas, service projects or anything else that you can learn/do/enjoy as a family in your post. Please remember to link back to Motherhood For Dummies, so other can learn about F.M.M. and participate also.

My Last First Kiss

There we were, friends just sitting together late into the night talking. I don't just mean talking, like chit chatting, but that really deep conversation. That first conversation where you discover that person, that you discuss anything and everything, hours into the night, not even realizing how late it is. Well yea, it was one of those talks. Curtis and I were just sitting there in my living room. We had already talked about our families, school, church, dreams, favorite movies, life changing moments, and for some reason now we were talking about kissing.

While chuckling and laughing, we talked about the differences between guys and girls. I asked him, "Where is one place you have always wanted to kiss a girl?". He looked at me weird and says, "uh.. like on the lips?". Ha ha no, that was not what I meant. We laughed and then I was shocked to find out that guys don't day-dream like girls do of frolicking in the snow with their honey, building a snowman and then suddenly a snowball fight breaks out, then soon you realize that you are both in the snow looking at each other and then, there it is... a kiss. Sweet right!?!? Well,... yea I guess guys aren't really into thinking about the whole tender snowman scenario. Curtis was now intrigued about these kissing day-dreams and asked if I had any dream kissing spots. I did and he laughed at me as I told him some of great romantic kisses on my List, all the time continuing to tease me about my winter wonderland fantasy.

That was the night when I realized that Curtis was different than most guys, that there was something more to him, that we were already practically best friends. We started to hang out a lot more from then on, we started finding ourselves going to movies together, out to eat, snowboarding... but none were said to be dates, we were just two close friends that hung out.

Days later we found ourselves on one of our many snowboarding trips. We had been having fun, the snow had just fallen and the conditions were perfect. We spent the evening trying to show each other up by taking jumps, trying to do tricks we just couldn't do, and of course falling flat on our butts hoping the other hadn't seen. We had both flown down the mountain when Curtis shot off the trail and into the trees. He carved in and out of the brushes and trees going through the untouched powder, it looked great... well, until he reached snow that was too deep for him, making his board come to a complete stop and sending him toppling over. I of course cracked up and thought it was hysterical. So, of then my competitive side kicked in and I went flying into the trees, carving in and out of brushes. Curtis watched and was making me laugh, he was hoping for the moment of me falling; so he could get his laugh. The smile was wiped off his face when I went flying by and even sprayed a little snow on him. I turned my head gloating and laughing, well, until I lost control and fell head first sending powder everywhere.
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We both cracked up and laughed and got ourselves together. Curtis and I had to take off our boards and start to hike out of the trees. It was dark with only the soft glowing lights in the distance from the lighted trails. Curtis was ahead of me, but I was able to see him working hard to push through the snow, keeping his board balanced on his shoulders. I finally got my board off and started to head out. I tried to hurry up so I could catch up with Curtis, but suddenly he stopped. I didn't know what was wrong, so I stopped and looked around, trying to see what had made him so still. Curtis slowly turned around, looked at me, and then start marching towards me. He tossed his board away, ripped off his hat and threw it aside into the snow, all without missing a beat. He walked right up to me and pushed me down into the snow. I didn't know what was going on or what was happening. While thoughts were racing through my mind, I took a moment and looked at Curtis. He was laying there looking at me in the most sincere way. At that moment he slowly came in to kiss me. It was the best kiss ever, even though both our faces were freezing and I was worried snot was going to come out of my nose. It was so natural, so familiar, and so right. Curtis pulled back and raised his hand to move some hair out of my face, looked me in the eye and said, "You can cross that one off your kissing List."

From that moment on Curtis and I have been inseparable. He is my best friend, my confidant, the father of my child, the reason I do anything, he is the best thing that has happened to me, and he helped me cross off making out in the snow. :) Happy Anniversary Curtis (well I'm a little early, technically it is tomorrow), I love you more than ever!