Jackson’s 1st Birthday

We had a quiet day at home today. We went to church and Sunday school, ran to the hardware store to get stuff for his party next weekend, the grocery store to get cake stuff, took naps…

The girls were dying to make him a Mickey Mouse cake so i just got a box cake and let them ice and decorate it. It was lovely lol. Very sweet and special of them though!!

We ordered pizza for dinner and sang Happy Birthday.. twice

Take 1:

Annnd… take 2 lol

 

Here are some more pictures of him (and the girls) enjoying the cake.

    

   

The girls picked out a little something for him (a submarine and a ferry boat with cars on it) that he could open tonight. his gifts from mom and dad will be here later this week and then his party on Sunday.

Jackson Max is one loved and special boy! I can’t believe how fast time flies when you have kids. SLOW DOWN PLEASE!!

Cheers to many many more happy years big boy! :)

Best Tortilla Soup Ever!

I’ve been making this soup for years and it is one of my go-to simple recipes that I absolutely love! I originally got it out of a Food Network cook book and I still use it as a guide but I have made some changes to it. I’m bad about not following a recipe exactly lol. I love that book, though, I’ve gotten several great recipes out of it!
I posted a picture of the soup on Facebook for a friend who also loves it and I got lots of people asking for the recipe, so here it is:

2 Tblsp Vegetable Oil

1/2 a medium onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle chile en adobo sauce, minced

1 Tblsp chili powder

2 tsp salt

6 cups chicken broth

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 can diced tomatoes

1 whole rotisserie chicken, deboned

cilantro, shredded cheddar cheese, avocado, tortillas, tortilla chips for garnish

 

Stir-fry together the oil, onion, garlic, chile pepper, chili powder, and salt until onions are soft.

Add the chicken broth, corn and chicken.

let it come to a boil and it is ready to serve!

I think my favorite thing about this recipe is how quick it is and how versatile it is. I LOVE cilantro and cant have too much (as you can see in my picture, I load my bowl up with it).

Tip: the chipotle pepper is where the heat comes from and is the key ingredient to this recipe! I like spicy food so I like to add a little extra splash of the sauce with the pepper. if you are sensitive to heat, just add a little sauce or only do half a pepper. This is the kind I like to buy:

I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do!

Bubbles Bikes and Cars

It was a beautiful 82 degree day with very little humidity down here in Houston. One of those rare days that we HAVE to enjoy every second of! After school, we spend a few hours outside playing with the bubble machine, Avery practiced riding a bike for her Trike-a-thon at school, and Jackson got to take a ride in our Cozy Coup car. Love is an understatement when I describe how much fun he had. What is it with boys and cars??!!

 

Look closely at the next picture. There's a bubble right over Norah's eye! what are the odds I’d catch that?? Couldnt have got it if i tried.  lol

His first set of wheels.

Avery loves her brother so much! she insisted that she was old enough to baby sit him by herself. She is way too anxious to have a baby at 4 years old!

I love this picture below. I don't know why, but Jack puts his arm outside of everything he rides; like he is trying to be cool. haha

Driving One handed

Enjoy the weather people! It wont last and we will soon be complaining about the heat and humidity!

Updated Family Photos

Hello out there! I realize I probably don’t have any readers, however, I am peeking my head out from my “motherhood abyss” to show off my new family photos by my cousin at Tanya Pabor Photography. Here's my favorites that I plan to make a big wall collage of.
I also updated my banner at the top with a new silhouette using one of these photos. Hope you like them!