Super Nachos Recipe

I get a lot of compliments every time I make this, and I've had several people ask for the recipe. So here it is for the world to see:
 
1lb ground beef (or chicken or turkey, whatever you use)
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 can refried beans
about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like hot & spicy)
about 1 tsp chili powder (or more if you like hot & spicy)
1/2 block Velveeta
nachos (we use Tostito's bite size)
toppings (lettuce, tomato, sour cream, whatever you like)

Brown ground beef, drain. Fix taco seasoning mix according to directions. Stir in refried beans, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Heat through. Cut up Velveeta (to melt faster). Once Velveeta is melted (stir to mix thru), place some nachos on a plate. Spoon mixture over nachos. Add toppings. 
Here's the finished product:

Yum! Enjoy! If you try this recipe, please leave a comment about how you liked it.

I Can Teach My Child to Read!

There are not enough words to say how much I love this book. I didn't start homeschooling my oldest son until second grade because I wanted him to learn to read. I wasn't patient enough to teach him myself. I'd tried to start teaching him when he was preschool and it was a miserable failure. He was frustrated, I was frustrated, and no learning was going on. So I decided to send him to public school.

Imagine my apprehension when my 5-year-old (who is not in kindergarten yet because is birthday is 2 days past the cutoff *grr*) decided that he doesn't want to go to school next year. He wants to have school at home like his older brother.

Well... I certainly didn't know what to say to that. I mean, I didn't want my impatience to impede his learning to read.

Well, it turns out I was doing it wrong. That's why my oldest and I were both getting so frustrated.

I "liked" I Can Teach My Child on Facebook (they provide excellent ideas and resources for homeschooling), and I saw that they had written an ebook called I Can Teach My Child to Read!

I was skeptical when I purchased the Kindle version (at the link above, there's a .pdf version). After all, I had read several books on reading and I even bought the expensive curriculum for my oldest. Nothing I tried worked.

It's because everything I'd read and everything I'd tried were wrong.

This book has so many ideas, tips and tricks to teach your child to read! Before, I had learned that reading was the ultimate goal. But, according to the author, Jenae Jacobson, "comprehension and enjoyment" are the ultimate goal.

Of course, I knew that comprehension and enjoyment are important, but I thought they came naturally when reading was accomplished. But no! According to this book, teaching comprehension and enjoyment is as important as teaching what the words say. The book also teaches you how to teach your child how to make a mental picture of what's going on so that when they progress to less picture-heavy chapter books, they can imagine what's going on as they read.

After each chapter I was so excited to begin that I wanted to put the book down and start. But I did read the book to the end (in one sitting, by the way - this is a very easy to read and understand book). And I'm glad I did. I feel much better equipped to teach my 5-year-old to read than ever before. And I will keep updating his progress in this blog. :)

**Note: Nowhere in this book does it say "everything you've been doing so far is wrong." I decided all by myself that I was doing everything wrong. lol!

Miracle for Jen Review

This is a story about a Christian family of 4 living a seemingly perfect life. That is, until a tragic car accident injured the entire family, and nearly claimed the life of the daughter, Jen.

Oh, my. It's not very often that a book brings a tear to my eye, but this one definitely did. What a heart wrenching story! I shed a tear for the mother, Linda Barrick, who attempted to keep her life together, keep vigil by her daughter's side whenever she could, and keep her faith alive all at the same time. I cannot even imagine going through what she went through.

I shed a tear for Jen, who had such a bright future, a zest for life, a heart on fire for God. And now, in just a moment's time, it looks (according to the doctors) like she'll never have these things again.

Well, except for the family's deep devotion and constant prayers to God.

Asking God for a miracle.

And a miracle he did provide.

Jen lived. Despite all the odds. And what's more, she learned to walk, eat, write, do almost everything she could before. Her journey was a hard one and I'm sure is still on-going, but her love of God comes shining through each page of this book.

Jen's life is changed now. It's more difficult to do small tasks that most of us take for granted. But God gave her a second chance at life. And she is using it to tell others her story in the hopes that whenever they struggle or doubt God's love, they can rest assured in the fact that God is there and will bring them out of the ashes stronger thank before. What a wonderful and inspiring book!

I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale in exchange for an honest review.

You're Never too Old...

I read somewhere recently that you're never too old for macaroni and cheese. I'm going to have to agree with that. It's certainly not just a kid's dish and it's wonderful comfort food. It's especially good if you put tuna in it. (I know that might sound gross, but if you like tuna, you should definitely try it.)

This got me thinking about other things you're not too old for. Like... well, like...

1. Hugging and kissing your parents. As teenagers, some of us might have been (or might currently be) embarrassed by our parents. (I never was. I was proud to say these were my parents. I never, ever hid from them when we were out and I ran into my friends.) That's an individual issue we must work thru. But as a teenager and even as an adult, I say you're never too old to hug and kiss your parents. Let them know how much you love them. Let them know how much you appreciate them. I lost my mom on December 7, 2010 (at the very young age of 54) and I can thankfully say that I hugged and kissed her right up until the end. I lived about 90 miles away, so I didn't get to see her very often. I praise God that I was at her house just 2 days before she passed away. So just 2 days earlier, I'd given her a hug and a kiss. My heart delights in the fact that, when my mother passed away, she knew I loved her.

2. Playing with toys. Come on. You all know it's fun. That's why some of us have kids. (I'm just kidding, of course.) Especially nowadays. Some of the toys my kids have now are way cooler than the toys I had when I was a kid. And I just love it when my boys bring out their remote controlled cars! Oh, I crash them into things, I ride them down the stairs... I even have the boys stand in different places with their legs apart and I try to drive the car under their legs like a bridge - without hitting their legs. (I miss quite often. They love it!) But there's nothing like getting out a toy to de-stress after a hard day. And it's a great way to bond with your kids. (You should've seen my dad and older brother playing with a Speed Racer car my boys got for Christmas one year. It flips completely over. They cheered it on! It was hilarious! Here is a link to the car on Amazon if you'd like to get one. It's cool. It drives, flips completely over, and keeps on driving.)

K, sorry... commercial over. back to the list.

3. Riding a bike. I know they make bikes for adults, and I'm not talking about super-serious mountain biking or losing-weight-and-keeping-fit biking. I'm talking about biking like kids do it. Get on and ride around, purely for the fun of it. To feel the wind on your face as you glide around, swerving back and forth. The feeling of freedom. That's what I always felt when I rode my bike as a kid. And riding a bike as an adult brings back that same feeling.

4. Learning something. I'm sure you've heard the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks." Well, I don't really believe that. My dog is 14 and I taught him something new recently. (lol) But, with people, there's always an opportunity to learn and grow. There's new things you can experience. God created this whole world with surprises buried in it. How fun it is to discover a new treasure every day! :)

That's it for my list. Well... that's all I can think of right now. What would you add to the list?

3 Little Fellows Follow Me...

Wow, it's January 13th already? Where has the month gone? It seems to have just flown by! I wanted this blog to be more active than this, but every time I sit down to write, something comes up.

But I have a few minutes today, so here's what's on my heart.

I saw this poem, and I'd love to share it with you:

A Little Fellow Follows Me

by Rev. Claude Wisdom White, Sr 

 

A careful mom I ought to be,

A little fellow follows me.

I do not dare to go astray,

For fear he'll go the selfsame way.

Not once can I escape his eyes;

Whate'er he sees me do he tries.

Like me he says he's going to be,

This little chap who follows me...

I must remember as I go

Through summer sun and winter snow,

I'm molding for the years to be-

That little chap who follows me.

*NOTE: In the original poem, the first line reads "A careful man I ought to be," but I'm a woman. So I adapted it. This poem is for the parent of a little boy, but it works just as well for parents of little girls.

Wow. What a wonderful picture. Parent navigating through life, followed closely behind by her small son. Watching her every move and gesture, listening to her every word and tone, paying attention to every mood and attitude.

It's true, actions do speak louder than words. I can tell my kids to be kind to others until I'm blue in the face, but if I don't demonstrate kindness myself, they'll never learn it.

The apostle Paul actually told the Phillippians to follow after him, to do as he did:

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. (Phillippians 4:9)

I want to be able to say that to my children. Nowadays, many parents live by the "do as I say, not as I do" mentality. They tell their kids to live one way, then they themselves live another. It's much easier to raise children this way - tell them what we want them to do, and live whatever way we want. But is it better for our children?

I'm not perfect. By any stretch of the imagination. And I do or say things I shouldn't, as anyone does. But my heart aches when I see or hear these things coming from my children. Because I know they got it from me. I need to constantly remind myself that there are kids around. I want them to be kind, loving, obedient, godly people. So for them to become that, I must first become that. 

It's definitely not easy to change one's thoughts or behaviors, especially since you've been thinking or behaving that way for 34 years. That's when I pull out Philippians 4:13: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

Thoughts About the New Year... and the Old

A new year is upon us. A fresh beginning. A new chance for change, for making yourself better, for making your home and life better. Maybe you'd like to make new friends this year? Maybe you'd like to have a baby? To get a better job? To lose a few pounds?

As I begin this new year, I can't help but think about the old. How did I grow in my walk with God this past year? How did I treat my children? My husband? Others? Myself?

I stopped making New Year's Resolutions a long time ago. I was never able to stick to them. I'd make them on December 31st while waiting for the new year to arrive, I'd work on them the first few weeks of the year... but by the middle of February, I'd forget about them again. Things come up, I'd get sidetracked, I'd never go back to it. So this year, I decided to do things a little differently.

I got myself a notebook. A pretty one I wouldn't mind having near me all year. On the first page of this pretty notebook, I wrote my goals for this year. (Not resolutions, goals.) These are general. For example, "Lose weight and keep it off." See? Not too specific.

The next pages are dedicated to plans to help me accomplish these goals. Using the above example, I'd write things like "Replace 1 cup of pop with water," or "Work up to 20 minutes a day on the treadmill," or "Make healthier eating choices."

The rest of the notebook is for progress notes. Each goal has a different section for notes. (I thought about getting a divided notebook, but I thought Pos-It Flags would work out better for me.) So, following our example above, the progress notes might read something like "Walked briskly for 5 minutes on the treadmill today" or "I'm up to 6 glasses of water a day!" or "It's been over a month since I've had chocolate."

I thought this way would be better to help me accomplish my goals. I've written them down so I don't forget what I wanted to accomplish this year. I'll keep the notebook at my desk so I don't forget about it. The larger goal is general enough that I can make changes or tweaks if I need to. The smaller plans are like step-by-step guides. It's a lot easier to accomplish a smaller goal than a larger one. And once I have all my smaller plans accomplished, I've accomplished my bigger goal. Yay me. :)

By the way, the example used above is not from my notebook. Those goals are very personal to me and I don't choose to share them with anyone at this time. I hope you understand. :)

So... all that said...

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I hope and pray for nothing but the best for all of you!
And don't forget to go through your checkbook and write 2013 on all your checks. ;)

A Very Blessed Christmas to Everyone!

I certainly realize that this is only my third blog post and I probably don't have anyone following me at the moment, but I did want to take this moment to wish everyone a very happy, merry, and blessed Christmas! In all the hustle and bustle of the season, let's not forget the reason we have this most holy of all holidays:



Merry Christmas to you and yours!