Disney World! - Part 1

I FINALLY decided to split up my Disney World post. I have been working on it off and on since our trip, which was in APRIL! Here goes...

We survived our Disney World trip! We came back more exhausted than when we left, but it was so worth it! I don't have time to list all of the details of the trip, and you probably don't want to hear it all anyway, so I'm going to post pictures. :) I'll do some explaining along the way. And you will probably notice that there are by far more pictures of Collin than Ainsley. I tried SO HARD to make sure I had plenty of pictures of both of them. It just turned out that Collin was willing to take pictures and Ainsley was.....Ainsley. :)

The morning we left. Someone was super excited and someone was a little cranky. Can you tell which was which?

Collin proudly standing by his very own Wall*E suitcase

Playing at the airport

Cool dude on his first airplane rideAinsley did great on the plane, too. Only problem we had was getting her to sit still, with her seatbelt fastened!We stayed in a villa at Disney's Wilderness Lodge. What an awesome resort!! They have this little sitting area near the check-in desk, and had a TV showing the old Disney classic cartoons. The kids were in heaven! Of course Ainsley pulled her little rocking chair right up in front of the TV!
We got the kids some Mickey ears and had them delivered to the room before we got there. Collin was so very excited and wore his around proudly all the first day. Ainsley was another story. Here's Collin by the Mickey topiary outside the entrance to the Villas.Out in front of the hotel poolOn our first night, we decided to just stay around the resort since it had already been a very long day! We took the kids down to the beach area to watch the nightly boat parade and the kids played on the playground.
Beginning our first full dayKilling time at a shop at The Contemporary Resort before heading to have breakfast at Chef Mickey's
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!!!!
Collin's first glimpse of Magic Kingdom - priceless!
Taking cover in a shop during a rain shower

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Disney trip (eventually coming!!!)...

A few months ago I picked up a recipe card from a cooking demonstration at HEB. I didn't purchase the spices they were advertising because I figured I'd just pick it up another time. One of the recipes they were sampling was "Salsa Baked Chicken." Serious yum factor! A couple of weeks after picking up the recipe, I decided I would make the dish for dinner. However, when I went to purchase the ingredients, I went to the other HEB across town, and I could NOT find the seasoning rub it called for. I looked everywhere I could think of and finally decided to see if I could find something on the ethnic aisle that would suffice. I came across something called El Mexicano Achiote Verde. Now, to those of you who cook on a more regular basis than me, or just plain know more about cooking than I do [Melissa, if you're reading this, YOU are at the top of that list! And you too, Monica :) ], this little box of deliciousness may come as no surprise to you. But I really think I have hit the jackpot having found this blend of spices, when it comes to cooking Mexican food. It gives the meat a true, authentic Mexican flavor. If you've never tried it, you definitely should! This little 3 oz. box was not even $1 at HEB. Here is the recipe for the chicken. It's really fast, easy and definitely worth trying!!

Salsa Baked Chicken

1 pound chicken breasts 1 cup Cookwell & Company salsa (Escabeche, Roasted Corn & Black Bean, or Tomatillo - this brand was from HEB, but you could use any other)
El Mexicano Achiote Verde seasoning paste
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
Nonstick cooking spray

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking pan with cooking spray.
• Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness. Break off a bit of the seasoning paste, and season both sides by rubbing it all over the chicken. Place in baking pan and top with equal amounts of salsa. Bake for 25 minutes.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle each breast with equal amounts of cheese and crushed chips. Return to oven for 1 minute or until cheese is melted.
• Garnish with sour cream and sliced avocado.

Now, this evening I set out to make Sour Cream Enchiladas, using a recipe I found on allrecipes.com. The original recipe didn't call for the chicken to be seasoned at all, and I thought that sounded really boring. So, I used that great little spice paste once again! It definitely did the trick! I altered the recipe slightly to suit our tastes.

Sour Cream Enchiladas

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Olive oil
El Mexicano Achiote Verde seasoning paste
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 onion, chopped
12 (10 inch) flour tortillas
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 3 oz. can chopped green chiles, undrained
1 oz. cream cheese (approx.)
1 8 oz. container sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Rub both sides of chicken well with the seasoning paste and cut into 1-inch cubes. Toss the chicken cubes in a bowl to ensure they are thoroughly coated with the seasoining. In a large skillet, heat about 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until tender. Place chicken breast into skillet with the onion and cook and stir until no longer pink in the center. Finely chop the cooked chicken. Divide chicken and onions, and 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, evenly among the tortillas then roll up each tortilla and place seam side down in a 9x13 inch baking pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Heat the cream of chicken soup, cream cheese and green chiles in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in sour cream. Continue stirring until heated though. Pour sauce over tortillas and sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese on top. Bake until sauce is bubbling and the Cheddar cheese is melted, about 25 minutes.

Voila!

Smart Boy

From time to time, I randomly ask Collin and Ainsley if they want a baby brother or sister. Just to see what their reaction is. Tonight I asked Collin if he wanted a baby sister and his response was, "I already got one." Hahahahaha! Jeremy and I both got a good laugh out of that. :)

Oh yeah, you touched our lives alright!

Our church recently had a photography company (cough*LifeTouch*cough) come out and take photos of church members for an all-new church directory. I was super excited to have a new family photo taken, especially since we'd get the 8x10, plus a directory for free! Well, Jeremy has a very hectic work schedule, bless his heart, so we ended up taking one of the very last spots of the photography run, at the very end of the day.

I got myself and the kids dressed and drove to the church, and Jeremy met us there. We were chatting with a friendly lady outside of the room where the pictures were being taken, and she told the kids, "I'm gonna take your picture!" I thought honestly thought she was just a church member, there to help direct people during the sessions. Then the next thing I knew, there we were, in the makeshift photography studio, and she was indeed our photographer!

The nice lady took our allowed amount of photographs. Seriously. They allowed us only so many shots. When the media card in the camera was full, it was all over. Let me tell you that when I was dressing myself and the kids for this, I didn't give much thought to the "below-the-belt" appearance. I don't recall ever having seen a church directory that gave much more than a head shot of its members. I dressed Collin in jeans with an untucked shirt and shoes with dried mud on them. I honestly didn't think it would matter.

Here is the money shot that we ended up with.

I love how in the above photo, you can see that Ainsley's dress is falling off of her shoulder, Collin's shirt is untucked, Collin's shoes are muddy, and their prop box is in desperate need of a new paint job. And that, folks, is exactly how you will see it in the new church directory. Sigh!

I asked the photographer if they could crop out their crummy looking prop box and the answer was "no". Apparently this company doesn't have editing software...?!?!?! C'mon people, I am not a professional photographer and I can do some basic edits! See!

Now, look how much nicer that looks sans muddy shoes and scratched up box! I will tell you that we did go ahead and purchase a sheet of 4 3x5's so that our families could have a picture of us as a whole family. And I probably shouldn't be so critical. I mean, it is a decent photo and we're all smiling. But do you think that the original picture will someday end up on this website? I dunno, it could happen!

I may be the last person in America to see this video! I saw it on a blog that I follow. It's Kris Allen singing "God of This City" at his home church in Arkansas. Anyway, just wanted to share it here in case there are others who have, like me, managed to not see it for all this time! I think it's pretty amazing and I'm so proud that he's our new American Idol!! :)

Ainsley's American Idol Highlights

As we watched the season finale of American Idol on Wednesday night, Ainsley said a few funny things...

During Allison Iraheta's duet with Cyndi Lauper: "Look, she's like Ariel!" in reference to Allison. Ya think? I guess so, haha!

And then there was Adam Lambert. I don't know about you guys, but I'm really glad that all of the screeching and screaming is over! Was he talented? Yes, of course he was. But to me, he was a little too talented and "schooled." Just didn't seem natural. Anyway, back to Ainsley's comments!

When Adam walked out for his performance with Kiss: "Mommy, he's pwetty!" LOL! Uhm, yeah I guess "pretty" is the right word!

In reference to Gene Simmons' makeup and signature tongue: "Mommy, he wear makeup?" and "He stick his tongue out!"

Ah, the innocence of children - I love it! :)

What is that oh-so delightful smell?

Last weekend while I was down visiting my mother, she introduced me to a fun little product that my Aunt Sue had given her. It is amazing and I'm thinking of ordering some - check it out!