Last First Day of School for Me!

Well, I'd like to say this was a bittersweet moment for me today, but.....I'm ecstatic!!! Today was my last first day of college!! I start student teaching Monday and we have workshops on campus today and tomorrow. In true Block form, my best friend Kara and I, counted out the weeks and realized we are actually done in 15 weeks!! I need to type how happy this makes me in case I need to look back around week 8 or 9 and remember how enthused I was in the beginning! We've had a long, tough road and it's finally paying off! I'm so blessed to be placed with a wonderful teacher, who has been teaching for 46 years!! How awesome is that?? There were days I wondered if I would ever reach this point. I started off going to college part time and at times, it was very difficult to push through, working so many hours on top of school, with 2 kids. Then 1 day , my wonderful husband told me to quit and go to school full time. I'm so happy that I can start my career, thanks to him, and contribute :) This is just a wonderful day! And to top it off, Golden Girls is back on T.V. tonight! The kids had to come hang with me during the workshop today, and we had lunch. Tomorrow is a short day and I plan to bring my camera to snap some shots on campus. It's always so beautiful in the Spring, but it's also pretty now :)

Riley didn't want to pose any today! :) AND Mrs. Kara brought them 2 new Diary of a Wimpy Kid books! How awesome!

Happy New Year!

HaPpY nEw YeAr!!!

I love New Year's Day! It fills like I should say a fresh start and all that, but I just being inspired by our watch night service at church to ring it in! And maybe that does tie into a fresh start after all LOL. The youth choir opened up the service and I truly believe they set the tone for the whole night! We sang "How Excellent" and "Go Get It". I LOVE being onstage with those youngsters, my 2 included! They are amazing!! AND December has 5 Sundays which means my handsome hubby sings! Happy New Years friends! 

See?!? I told you he's so handsome!! He's the best man I know. He could write the book on how to be a Dad and husband. I thank God every day for sending him to me to lead and provide for our family!

Go hard, or go home!! After we left church, at about 12:30, we grabbed Taco Bell on the way home. Chris and I laughed about pre kid days, when we would go out for New Years and stay out till all hours. Now ringing in the new year consists of church and Taco Bell, and we wouldn't have it ANY other way!! Cheers to 2013! My graduation year!

Firefighter Legos and swinging!

An extension to our Christmas vacation has included a couple days at the park. One day was freezing and the other day, the weather was really nice. Today Sebastian had a doc apt, EARLY! (8am)! They wanted to know why in the world I made an apt that early on vacation?!? Well, with all the sickness going around I took whatever apt they had to get him in an out. He's not sick, just needed his neck checked out. Well, we were in and out pretty quickly and snagged a breakfast at McDonald's :) They love when we can go in and eat. They think it's just the greatest thing ever. Pleased so easily! When then went to Walgreens to pick up Sebastian's meds and they had all toys half off! (Like they needed ANYTHING after Christmas!) But, we couldn't pass up a 500 piece Lego city, firefighter city style. Sebastian watched a part of the movie Fireproof the other day and insists he wants to be a firefighter. Anyway, the set was marked down to $9.99! They are like 50 bucks at Walmart! Needless to say, he was very happy! He's napping now, and we haven't quite finished it yet. My Riley Boo picked up the coolest tornado kit! You can turn it on and it makes a tornado in a jar, with sound effects! She is thrilled and, I gotta say, I am too! My little scientist :) Here's some shots I caught. 

The best part was Dad was off New Year's Eve and Day. We love when he's off. We had a picnic in the park and they all got on the swings. After a few shots, I put the camera up and hopped on too.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

What do you do on cold nights?? Make soup, of course! 

1 can chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp taco seasoning (o.k. we like things seasoned, not spicy, just well seasoned, I used an entire packet, and to be honest, I will use 2 packets next time, needed a lil more seasoning for our taste.)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can diced green chiles

3-4 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded

We also use monterey jack & colby cheese for topping when it’s ready to be served and we eat it with round tortilla chips.

Combine chicken broth, cream of chicken, & taco seasoning in a pot on medium heat {stovetop} & whisk together until blended.

Add chicken to the  broth/soup/seasoning mixture & stir.

Add tomatoes, beans, corn, & chiles. 

Mix well & keep on on medium heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring often.    When it’s all ready to eat, top with cheese & serve with tortilla chips. And, of course a dollop of sour cream!

This was a very yummy soup! And, all in one pot, which is always a winner in the Bolden kitchen!!

And then, you end with this scrumptious turtle cake! Just a devil's food cake with caramel syrup, but oh so yummy. I sprinkle with chopped pecans also, but I just do it on the plate, because my Riley Boo doesn't like pecans?? I really don't understand those words.....but I sure love her :)

Christmas Morning

We almost always host holidays at our house. This Christmas we had several time factors to work around, we have a church service at 10, my mother having to work until 2:00, my brother in law needing to be on the road early traveling back to Austin, and my nephew coming in from Shreveport. So, we did a Christmas Eve breakfast at Mom's and I really wanted Thing 1&2 to open their presents as soon as they woke up. They are growing up entirely too fast, right in front of my eyes! I got a few pics, but wanted to focus more on videoing. I'm so glad I did, because I've watched it about 20 times in the past couple days, and find a new favorite part every time I do. My sweet, sweet babies. 

Pocahontas VHS. $1.50. Best. Present. Ever. She is so easy to please. I am so blessed with this sweet girl. 

My sweet boy is also so easy to please. They appreciate every gift and we do not want to go over the top with presents. We like it better that way. Helps us appreciate all the things we are blessed with on a daily basis. 

Sebastian's List:

New shoes (he's had his eye on this pair for a while!)

Back Breakers for his PS3 (awesome deal on Amazon)

Play-Doh sets and the best, bags of Play Doh!!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid(which he actually had this one, whoops Mom! he needed Cabin Fever, shame on me)

Spinbrush

Snickers in the stocking! 

Riley's List:

Password journal (which she's already locked herself out of and I had to Google how to reset!)

Play-Doh!!

Pocahontas 1&2

New boots (just the ones she wanted, she said! Score Mom!)

First 6 in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events

Spinbrush

And, of course, batteries! 

What a great holiday we had! Pure joy!

Christmas Stay-cation, Part 1

We stayed in this Christmas vacation. The weather has been rough. Christmas day a tornado came through our city. Thank the Lord, we didn't have any damage and didn't even loose electricity. So, it's just been lots of rain the past couple of days. We have had a glorious stay in vacation. It sure helps having lots of Christmas goodies to play with!! I already blogged our Lego experience!

Lots of coloring. And hot chocolate.

Lots and lots of Play Doh. And hot chocolate.

Wildberry pie.

This face when he catches me taking pictures.

And this....

Breaking in the spaghetti factory set :)

M for Mom. My sweet boy.

Lots of movie watching. My kids love movies! You'll see the gift that brought Riley the greatest joy was a thrifted VHS copy of Pocahontas! But, there are some older movies we don't have, and today the rescuers down under came on! We all sat down and watched it, I forgot how much I loved it as a kid! Something tells me I'll be looking for a copy, because they loved it too!

Lots of jewelry making.

Lots of forts. 

More on the rest of our adventure later! We're super busy up to the new year!

Lego-Rama

 

I knew it was coming.

 

Sebastian has joined the Lego world. All 650 pieces of this first set. He is so excited. I'm so glad it's Christmas break and he can really break them in!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

His alligator in the city :)

 

 

 

Now onto storage ideas :)