Playtime with Mamaw Kat and Pappaw

Since Mamaw Kat and Pappaw came in town to see Caroline's first ballet performance, they stayed for a couple of days to play with the kids. According to Caroline, I was not really needed nor wanted while they were spending time with their grandparents (perhaps so they could get away with a little more), I took the opportunity to run errands. I did, however, happen to catch a few scenes from their playtime with Matt's parents.

There was schooltime upstairs...
riding Pappaw's shoulders...
and getting rocked by Mamaw Kat.While they were visiting, I fixed a few dishes that everyone really liked, so I thought I would share them in case anyone wants to try them out. By doing this, I am by no means saying that I am a good cook. I just know how I love stumbling upon good recipes when I read other people's blog, so I thought I would share one in case anyone is interested.

Chicken-Sour Cream Enchiladas

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 16 ounce carton of sour cream, divided

4 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, divided

12

1 (16-ounce) carton sour cream, divided

4 cups (16 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

12 (6-inch) flour tortillas

1 can rotel

1 ¼ cups milk

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Saute onion in hot oil over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir together chicken, ¼ cup sour cream, and 1 ½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Stir in onion. Spoon chicken mixture evenly on one end of each tortilla, and roll up. Arrange, seam side down, in a lightly greased 13x9-inch baking dish.

Whisk together rotel, milk and flour in a saucepan over medium heat; gradually add remaining 2 1/12 cups cheese, stirring constantly, until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth; pour sauce evenly over top of enchiladas. Spread remaining sour cream over sauce.

Bake enchiladas at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly.

I also cooked Paula Deen's French Toast Casserole. It was delicious, but of course loaded with lots of fattening stuff. I should mention that both of these casseroles are super easy and most eveyone likes them...so try them and enjoy!

Anyway, Caroline was thrilled Mamaw Kat and Pappaw came to her little performance, but were even more excited to get to spend some playtime with them too. Come back again soon!

Ballet Boot Camp

Day 1 of Boot Camp

This past week, Caroline participated in Ballet Boot Camp at church. Since this was her first organized dance class of any kind, I was a little nervous as to how she would like it. She does not like to dress up in her dance clothes at home, so I wondered if she would put them on for her class. Well, when I told her that her buddy Abby would be there and all dressed up too, she was gung ho.

I cannot begin to tell you how cute all of the little darlings were in her class. She stuck close by her Abby the entire time and on the third day, she refused to go in the class without her. So, her teacher let her sit by the door until Abby arrived.

Day 2 of Ballet Camp

Of course the hardest part of ballet camp was getting up early. Our kids usually get to sleep as late as they want everyday, so getting up early proved to be a bit of a challenge for them. To help matters, I baked them muffins each morning so they could eat on the way. I guess they have become a little spoiled. When I woke Caroline up on the last day of camp, she told me, "I just can't do this anymore." Oh, what I have to look forward to when school starts!

Day 3 of Ballet Camp

On the last day of the camp, they had a little recital for the parents. Mamaw Kat, Pappaw and Aunt Erin made the trip over to see Caroline's debut. The girls were little lambs in the program and did a little dance for us. Caroline took it all in and only danced a little when she wasn't looking around the room at all of her fans. Caroline enjoyed ballet so much that we have signed her up for the summer program.

After the program, we went to eat at Sal and Mookie's. Caroline enjoyed eating lunch with her friends and loved playing with the pizza dough. When Daddy got home, he had a little present for Caroline to congratulate her on her ballet debut. (I should clarify that Matt has his boss and her assistant to thank for the gift. They put it together and gave it to Matt for him to give Caroline....how nice was that?) She was so happy her Daddy thought she did a good job!

A Memorable Weekend

This past weekend, we celebrated Memorial Day with a mini vacation to visit Aunt KK and Uncle Stephen. Initially, we planned to make the trip on Friday after Matt came home from work, but because of bad weather, we made a pit stop at Pappaw and Mamaw Kat's house for the night. They were tickled over their unexpected guests and we were glad to get a break from the bad weather.



Caroline was so excited to get to see KK's growing belly with Baby Katelyn in it and had to give her baby cousin a hug. She can hardly wait until her new cousin arrives. She also claims to have a Baby Katelyn growing in her tummy but that she won't come out until she is married!
While we were in Keller, we ate like kings and played on Christ Haven's farm. Caroline got to ride Cody with me, and even got to drive the gator (foot pedal and steering) with KK. The kids got a kick out of Henry, the farm pig, and Caroline got to take a tour of KK's office.

On Saturday night, we went to Fort Worth to eat KK's Mexican (that's according to Caroline) where we learned that things are bigger in Texas because the gumballs were huge! We also saw the strangest sight on our way to the restaurant...a parrot for a copilot.




After dinner we toured the Fort Worth Stockyards. While there, a woman under the influence came up to Krisitin and told her that she should stay out of the bedroom. Kristin then evaluated the situation only to realize what it looked like to the public...she was pregnant, pushing Will in the stroller, and Caroline was right beside her. We all got a laugh out of that one.
On Sunday, we went to Six Flags. The kids absolutely loved it, and Caroline suprised us all by eagerly wanting to ride the more exciting rides. Her first thrill ride was the Aquaman Splashdown. Since Daddy didn't want to get wet, Caroline and I braved it alone and both got soaking wet. She then talked Daddy into doing the Mini Mine Train roller coaster with her, and when she got off she said it was "a little scary". Both kids enjoyed meeting the many characters: Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, the Joker, Tweety Bird (who gave them his autograph), the Six Flags man and Scooby Doo. We had to pry Will away from Scooby so that other kids could get a chance to hug him as well. As to be expected, one of the biggest hits of the day were the fan misters. They ran under them every chance they got. Bless her heart, KK was worn out by the end of the day keeping up with my two. She couldn't hardly believe that they lasted until 9pm. She was sure they would pass out from sure exhaustion when we got back to her house, but that was not the case. No, my little Energizer bunnies kept going and going and going until 11:30! If only I had that much energy.



Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so on Monday morning, we packed up and headed back home. We had so much fun with Aunt KK and Uncle Stephen and can't wait to visit them again soon.On the way home, we stopped in Dallas to have lunch with Matt's college buddy, Harrison. Being single, I was very impressed that he picked a very kid friendly place to have lunch. Matt and I have to live vicariously through Harrison and his many adventures. We also got a kick out of his new one-of-a-kind shoes....After lunch, we boarded the Tahoe for our next destination...Mamaw Elsie's house. It made for a great resting stop to eat dinner. Plus, the kids got to take a ride with her in her recling chair....too funny!We ended up getting home a little later than planned, but it was all worth it. It was a great getaway weekend and we got to spend time with some of our favorite people. Because I took sooo many pictures, I'm working on a slideshow that should be up some time soon, Aunt KK!

The taste of sugar

Caroline loves bubble gum. So yesterday when she gave it to Nana to throw away after only chewing it a few minutes, we asked her why she didn't want it any more. She replied, "it's out of sugar."

I wonder what our neighbors think

Today Will decided to be a cowboy. He managed to slip on his sister's boots which are about 3 sizes too big and then finished his ensemble with his cowboy hat that is now about 3 sizes too little. He kept it on most of the afternoon and even wore it outside when he played. I wonder what the neighbors think of our little cowboy who plays with his sister's stuff.

Our Playdate

My friend Tamah and I have decided to have weekly playdates for Caroline and Abby this summer. Oh, I should probably include Will in this too because the girls are real sweet about including him in all of their fun. Anyway, so far this little arrangement has worked out perfectly. The girls have a great time playing together and each week, one of the moms gets a chance to catch up on all the things we can't do with kids in tow.
On Tuesday, Abby came over and we (yes, I play with them some too because they are too cute and say the darnedest things) played, had a picnic and even took a nap. Now, getting three kids down for a nap when all they want to do is play together is quite a challenge. Against my better judgment, I let the girls talk me into letting them bring out tent into the living room so they could watch a movie before they took a nap. Well, the movie quickly had to be turned off because I could see their eyes would not be closing anytime soon with all the giggles coming from inside when various songs came on the screen. I was about ready to put the tent up and separate them when all of the sudden I heard silence for a few minutes. I peaked in and found this:Abby, we can't wait to play with you again soon!

Our Triathlete

Today Matt completed his first triathlon, the Soak Up the Sun Triathlon in Reunion. It was a .25 kms swim, a 8 mile bike ride and then a 2 mile run. We were glad to see him finish in the middle of the pack, especially since he was one of the last ones to enter the water. I almost missed him crossing the finish line because I was busy running my mouth (imagine that) to a friend of ours whose husband was in the race as well. That explains the picture below because I was hurrying to get the camera in position so I wouldn't miss him as he ran by. He was just too fast!
Unfortunately, Matt did not take his watch, so he is not sure of his time. After the race, he went to check out his official time with the race officials, and discovered that they had some sort of problem with the times and didn't have an accurate time for him. Their records indicated it took him just over an hour, but that included a 20 minute swim, which was totally wrong. Hopefully they will discover the error so we'll get a more accurate time. In the meantime, we'll rely on their time for the bike and run portion and add about 6 minutes for the swim (which we are sure he swam under this time) to come up with a 50+ minute to finish. Needless to say, I'm going to make sure he wears his watch next time (if there is indeed a next time) so that he can see if he meets his goal.Of course the kids and I were on hand to document this momentous occasion. He even obliged me by smiling at the camera. After the race was over, Matt made Caroline's day by letting her ride his bike. She was tickled pink and said she might have to do one of those one day.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Erin!

Halleluyeeerrr...today is Aunt Erin's birthday! Where did I get the spelling for hallelujah you might ask? That is how Aunt Erin taught Caroline to pronounce it, so it is only appropriate that we shout a big HALLELUYEEERRR to Aunt Erin on her big day!

Happy Birthday, Pop!

Today we would like to wish Pop a very happy birthday! I am so fortunate to have such a great dad who enjoys spending time with me and my family. He is always willing to lend an ear and offer his advice. He is young at heart and is always ready to have fun on the farm when we visit. It seems that as the years go by, my parents have become two of my best friends (probably because I've grown up a good bit and I'm now a parent myself) and I am so thankful I have them in my life. Pop, we hope you have a great day and we'll help you celebrate when we come visit you this weekend!