(almost) Wordless Wednesday

Top: me, Carmen, Sara, Alynne

Bottom: Candace, Deena

This picture was taken when I was in university. So let's say 2000, eleven years ago. I am posting this picture today because I can't wait to see most (or maybe all) of them soon!

Our Month in Phone Photos

I got an iphone for my birthday. I HUGE step up from my previous pay as you go phone that I had had for probably over 3 years. It was a flip phone and took for ever to text. Because no one called me and rarely texted me (because it took days for me to check my phone and respond) I didn't make it a priority to have the phone on or even to bring it with me. I was behind in technology big time.

I was afraid to make the leap to a phone that costed substantially more when I was not sure if I would really use it enough to justify. Remember, I rarely turned my old phone on let alone check it often through out the day.

Enter the iphone. It is a little computer held in the palm of your hand. How could you not use it. I now understand why so many people are never further than an arm's length away from thier phone. They are just so addicting.

Things I now do with my iphone:

• text daily with multiple people
• check my email
• read the news on my CTV app
• check pocket big brother to see the latest spoilers.
• read my blogs... if only I could figure out how to post from the phone...
• use it for my grocery lists
• make notes of what I need to pack, things I need to buy, xmas gifts I want and gifts for others (yes already)
• to do lists
• use it as a distraction for Grady. He LOVES the free talking tom app.
• Make voice memos so I can listen to the kids voices when I am not at home
• use it as my GPS - the mapquest app is awesome
• check the weather
• use it for my calendar
• and finally, I use it to take pictures of our daily events

I am sure the list could go on and on....

So on to the point of the post. In the 4 weeks I have had my phone I have taken 141 pictures. That is a lot. So I thought I'd post a few randoms to show you what we have been up to.

I took this picture on my birthday before we went for our weiner roast. I badly wanted a nice picture of the boys for the wall paper on the phone. This is what I got.

Grady climbing the slide at the sand park.

Grady and I in line for the train at Calaway park killing time

Madison in the gift store at the zoo.

Cooper sleeping on the way home from a busy day at Calaway Park.

Cooper during nap time. A picture of the video monitor.

The boys brushing their teeth before bed.

Grady helping clean up the trees after Uncle James cut them all down.

Cooper making his way through the tunnel at Nana's.

Grady's new shoes that I took a picture of and sent to James at work to make sure he liked them. I figured it was going to be a love or a hate and thankfully it was a 'love' since Grady had already worn them out of the store by the time James replied.

Cooper on my back in the ergo (my new best friend) on the way home from the library.

Sara and I sending our picture back to Deena and Candace who texted us a picture from their play date.

Grady and Cooper fighting over my water bottle. What don't they fight over these days.

A self portrait of me and my two little boys taken using the camera's backward function witch Grady loves!

I am sure you can tell that I LOVE my new phone and am no longer concerned about using it enough. I use it plenty and have gotten my money's worth I assure you!

August 26, 2005

The year was 2005. The year we got married. August 26, 2005 was the day of my shower and stagette back home put on by my bridesmaids. Although James was not physically there, he was there in spirit.

Here are the best friends a girl could ask for! These 5 ladies stood up for me just about 6 years ago and each and every one of them is still a good friend today. I couldn't be happier about my choices for bridesmaid. They made the day so special for me.

After the shower, the girls surprised me with a trip to the lake for the stagette! I grew up spending weekends at my Grandma's cabin and it was great to celebrate my upcoming nuptials there. To top it off they rented a pontoon boat. I had never been on one and it did not disappoint.

If you look closely I have a bunch of 'items' pinned to my bathing suit top. We were playing a game of some sort (I don't remember the details) but I ended up with a lot of male genit@li@ attached to my suit. Not sure if I was the winner or the loser :)

The bar was empty except for us and a table of engineers about our age who were camping. We knew one of them fro high school so immediately our groups amalgamated. It turned out to be a great night!

Notice my outfit. They dressed me up. I have a see through polka dot shirt on with fake boobs underneath. I have obviously spared you close up shot. I would like to point out that I was bridesmaid for 3 of these girls prior to my own wedding and did not have them dress up to head out to the bar hoping that they would return the favor. And what did I get in return? Fake boobs and a see through shirt.

Lesson learned.

Cooper Approved

The water bottle that is almost exactly 2 years old has been Cooper approved. It was Grady approved on purchase.

Friends

There is just something about having good friends. They make you feel good. They make you laugh. They make you feel young again.

Having Sara and her son Aiden stay here for the week was bitter sweet. Sweet because I loved the opportunity to spend time with my former university roomie and watch our boys play, than fight, than play again. Bitter because it reminds me that she doesn't live near me. It reminds me of all the play dates, birthdays, and major occasions I miss. Like the birth of miss Amelia last week. I digress.

These few days reminded me that no matter what the distance the girls that I grew up with will always be my besties. I would do anything for them and I am pretty sure they would do anything for me.

After nearly 10 years of living in Calgary I can still reconnect with each and every one of them like we haven't missed a beat. I am constantly looking forward to our visits (in 2 weeks!) and busy planning the next one. I just wish we lived closer....

Now on to how Sara and I spent the weekend with our boys!

They arrived around supper time on Sunday and the big boys hit it off right away. So much so that Grady insisted on bathing with Aiden on a non-bath night delaying bed time substantially. Smart boy that Grady is.

The bath didn't end as well as it started. Grady got pulled out of the tub against his will for something or other but it started out all smiles.

With differing nap schedules with 2 little nappers, we had to stay pretty close to home on Monday. There was a 2 hour gap over lunch where all 2 boys were awake so where did we go?? McDonalds of course!

During Cooper's nap time the boys had fun in the bouncy house. Sara and I took turns playing in the house with them. It is a lot more tiring then it looks!

Tuesday we decided to take in the zoo. Aiden loves animals. Almost as much as Grady likes cars. With the sun shining bright, we dropped Cooper of at Nana's and headed to the zoo. It was just one of those days where the animals were out and about. We got a great view of the tigers and the the zebras. I have never seen the zebras that close up. By far my favorite part of the trip.

If I were to guess, I would say that Aiden's favorite was the bears. He talked about them from the time we arrived at the zoo. Sara was pretty amazed with the lions. They were released into the caged area while we were watching. It was pretty cool to see all 3 emerge. And I would guess Grady's favorite part was feeding the ducks. He acutally got out of the stroller.

Here is a picture of me with the fake bear to show you that I was actually at the zoo as well. Grady refused to be in the picture with me.

They boys also spent a lot of time playing (throwing, banging, crashing) trains on the track. It was great when they were getting along, but Sara and I estimate that approximately every 5 minutes there was an incident that needed interference. There is a reason why I took down the train track for several weeks a few months ago. Kids fight over the same trains, break the track, and just get frustrated in general. But each and every time the train set is the hot item.

Cooper also got to get in on a little fun. We have Talking Tom on my iPhone and kids just go crazy for him. You should have heard Aiden and his full on belly laugh as he tickled Tom the cat. If you have an ipad, iphone, or even itouch this app is great for kids!

I can't begin to tell you how nice our visit was. The visits, the beer and clam, the food, the crave cupcakes, the laughs, the parenting, the supervision, the playing and the list could go on and on. I took to the Internet to find a quotation on friendship that fit what I was feeling and I think I found the perfect one.

It takes a long time to grow an old friend. ~John Leonard

Happy Birthday James!

With another birthday comes another guest blogger.... James' mom agreed to tell the story of how my handsome husband entered the world 33 years ago. Without further a due I present to you James' mom, my mother-in-law, Marla.

............................................................................................................................................

It is August 16th, 1978 at about 7am and I am about 10 days overdue. I start having pains in my back. Yeah, in a few hours we will have our first born. In those days you called the Dr – good grief it must have been dinosaur years. Anyway he, of course, asked how long apart the contractions were. Well they were about 15 mins and being my first I didn’t know, I thought they were strong – boy ain’t seen nothing yet. So by 8am we had the bag in the car (that is my clothes, not me) and off to the hospital we went. Pete got me settled and headed TO WORK!!!! They said it would be a while. Again, not knowing what was ahead I thought he would never make it back in time. Meanwhile I heard a woman down the hall making these blood curdling screams and I think OMG. So I am laying there and absolutely nothing is happening other than my back cramping. Now they would have sent you home. About 6pm they are getting concerned about the baby and hook him up to a fetal monitor. Pete is back by this time and we are playing cards. By about 10pm back labor is in full swing, but James is even stubborn then and will not appear. A young nurse, who I am sure had just graduated, came in and informs me that I will get nowhere with just back labor. I am about to yell at her that “do you think I am doing this by choice, my back feels like it is breaking” and Pete ushers her out the door.

They decide at about 1am that baby needs to appear so off we go to the delivery room. Pete has decided to come in with me. Again, Dads had the choice back then!!!! So he is up by my head and there is a mirror “down below”. It is tilted so he can’t see anything (and that is the way he wanted it) and I don’t care at this point. I just want this baby out of me. The nurse walks by and says “Oh Mr. Renton you can’t see”, so she adjusts it so he has a clear view (is what he told me). Young James is still stubborn and will not appear so they break my water and get the salad tongs out. Pete’s eyes bug out, but he says nothing. They proceed to “make” James appear at 1:54am the morning of August 17th weighing in at 6lbs 13 ozs and perfect in every way. I forgot all the preceding day when they placed him in my arms and we were absolutely thrilled to have a healthy little baby boy who was looking all over (they said babies couldn’t see back then and we disagreed). The immediate love and feeling of protection we had for this little person was overwhelming. In that age (again a lllooonnng time ago – sorry James) they kept you in the hospital for a week – yes a week! We had classes on how to bath the baby and all kinds of things. James stayed in the room with me and every time there was a little noise from him I was up and looking at him. So not a lot of sleep was had. I told Pete we lucked out and got a sleeper. I didn’t know babies didn’t really wake up completely for a few days.

So finally the time has come to take our son home. I get him all dressed and off we go. I hold him on my lap – no car seat – I can’t believe it now. Pete drives very carefully home and we take this precious bundle into the house – so scared we would do something wrong. We had no family in Edmonton. It was just us. YIKES!!! Well, James turned out to definitely NOT be a sleeper and we were VERY sleep deprived for months and months. But all survived and memory fades. 2 years later we did it again when Dave arrived.

So that is the story of James, Jamie, Jimber’s, Young Jim’s arrival into this world.Have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMBER……………Love Mom XOXO

............................................................................................................................................

So James has been stubborn with a mind of his own since the womb. I guess there is no changing that now :)

Thank you Marla for sharing his story and for enduring what sounds like a long and painful labor. Without you, I wouldn't have the husband I have today. And I think he is pretty swell.

On a side note, James and I officially met on this day 10 years ago. 10 years. He was wearing panties on his head. Enough said.

Happy Birthday James!!

Diary of a Potty Training Mom - Part 6

Unfortunately, nothing has changed since my last post on potty training. Grady is still kicking @ss with peeing in the toilet and staying dry all night. But the poop, oh the poop, is still the same.

I made an appointment with the doctor to discuss 'the situation' since we were there for Cooper's 9 month check up any way, and he shed some light on the situation.

Grady is a very strong willed boy and he is very bright. Dumb kids don't do things like this. I am very serious. Dumb kids don't do this.

It may sound silly, but I really needed to hear that. After 5 months it was nice to hear something positive about it.

I read some information on line that said that their kids did this until close to 5 years old! I just can't imagine this 'stage' lasting that long.

Grady starts preschool next month and I am not as scared about him pooping there, because we all know that kid can hold it in, what I am scared of is him being made fun of because he is standing in the corner trying to hold it in.

He has told me that he will stop sucking his thumb when he goes to school, I wonder if I can convince him to start pooping in the potty than to?

Interview with Grady

I saw this interview on a blog I read and thought it would be fun to try with Grady.

What is your name? Grady R*****

How old are you? Three!

What is your favorite color? Blue

Who is your best friend? Nicholas and Marley and Ellie

What is your favorite animal? Hippo

What do you want to be when you grow-up? Go on the bumper cars at calaway park (He asks to go on the bumper cars every time we go to Calaway Park and we tell him when he gets bigger he can go on)

What is your favorite Movie? Pooh Bear (aka Winnie the Pooh. Really?? not Cars 2?)

What is your favorite book? Trucks go to work (library book we have renewed twice)

What makes you happy? Peek a boo

What makes you sad? Roaring, then I cry (The neighbor boy roars and has made both my boys cry)

What is your favorite food to eat? Chocolate Cookies

What is your favorite song to sing? Cars theme song

What games do you like to play? Beach game (Curious George Beach Game)

I wonder how much those answers will change in the next year or two....

2010 Baby Names

I have been waiting for ages to see what the top names of 2010 were on Alberta's Top Baby Names list. It is finally out. So let's get right to the breakdown of the boy's names.

Cooper, who was born in 2010, was used by 78 babies last year. Not to shabby. However, when you look at the trend, his name is gaining popularity.

2008 - 52

2009 - 69

2010 -78

The name Cooper was also given to 2 girls. Seriously people? Ironically, 2 babies were given the name Grady the year he was born.

As for Grady, in 2010, only 21 babies were given this name. The name Grady is declining in popularity. Score. I am pleasantly surprised his name didn't catch on more but am thrilled that he will likely not run into many other people sharing his name over his lifetime.

Grady

2008 - 52

2009 - 26

2010 -21

This year, no baby girls were named Grady.

I wanted to check out some of the other names we considered for Cooper for comparison. I really liked the name Sawyer (James vetoed it over and over) and it came in with 46 for boys and 27 for girls. So glad James vetoed it. My biggest fear was naming a boy a name that turned into a girl name. It seems to happen so often these days!

I am still very happy with the names we have given both boys. I hope they are to!

Wordless Wednsday

Our Weekend

This weekend my brother, James, and his family took a road trip to Calgary to visit and take in some of the fun things that our city has to offer. I was so happy to see him and his girls (that includes you Chantelle!).

To kick off the weekend we went to the zoo. Before we went to the zoo we filled the pool in the backyard so it would warm up a bit while we were out. Big mistake. Huge. Within half and hour of being at the zoo Grady wanted to go home to 'put his bathing suit on and swim in the backyard'. He didn't want to go into any of the buildings to look at animals because they are 'stinky'. It wasn't long before Madison wasn't interested in the zoo either.

My brother has already decided that the zoo is out next year. Who wants to pay $40 to look at a few animals, play on the playground, and eat icecream?

The highlight for Grady was feeding the birds in the Canadian area. You can look at zebras, lions, giraffes, elephants and Grady wants to feed the ducks. Go figure.

After the zoo the big kids were in their bathing suits faster than you can say 'pool'. It was the perfect day to catch a few rays and play in the water. Madison was a fish! She crawled up the slide and went down every which way you can imagine creating some great splashes. The even had a water fight that ended with a bucket of water dumped on Grady's head. He surprisingly didn't cry, but he most certainly wasn't happy about it.

Cooper watched.

It was such a pleasure to sit back with Cooper and watch Grady and his big cousin Madison play. Although she is more than 3 years older than him and a boy she was so sweet to him. She read him stories, played games, and even played with his treasured recycle truck. Grady imitated her every move and although I am sure she was annoyed with him at times she didn't show it. I hope that they can maintain this relationship over the years.

The big kids weren't the only ones that got to play. Cooper and Taiya had fun getting to know each other. These kiddos are a mere 4 months apart so will grow up together. I am thrilled that Cooper will have a cousin this close in age as I never had that. Cooper was so gentle with little Taiya. It was surprising. He touched her, but did not grab or hit. I was so proud of him.

Saturday we spent the day at Calaway park. We met Chantelle's cousin there who had 3 older kids. Madison was thrilled to have some riding buddies. Six year old Madison when on the big roller coaster. The big one. She is one tough cookie. Grady won't even go on the small one. I don't have many pictures as we frequent Calaway so often but I did grab a few of Madi and her Dad on the log ride. Grady was just as excited to watch.

The weekend was full of laughs and goofiness. Grandma was in her glory with all 4 of her grand kids together. Can you tell?

The grand kids were pretty excited to spend time with her to! The adult kids were happy that she decided to come last minute to as they got to go shopping without kids. Twice. My Mom would be happy to tell you that she babysit all 4 kids at once. What she won't tell you is that 2 of them were sound asleep!

Sunday was a low key day spent in the yard playing T-ball and jumping in the bouncy house.

While the kids were bouncing, Uncle James trimmed up the trees in the yard. You can not even imagine how big the piles of trees in our front yard are. Thanks a bunch James!

The one advantage of having family live in a different city is that when you spend time together, you really spend time together. You are together sun up to sun down and it doesn't take long before you are totally at ease with each other and learning about one another. From my brother telling me that I was sitting to close to him and to stop breathing on him to Chantelle hearing my James say a few choice words she had never heard out of his mouth.

The thing I enjoyed this visit was hearing Madison call me 'Auntie Christy'. As of now I only have 2 nieces and they don't live in the same city as me. I get to see them a few times a year and to them I may just be another 'adult'. This trip I got to spend lots of time with my older niece, be goofy, and to do little things for her like get her detangler for her hair, make her breakfast, and get her a towel after the pool. Having her call me by name and ask me to help her with things reinforced that we can have a relationship despite distance. It isn't always easy to be the kind of auntie you want to be when you have your own kids making their regular demands. I hope we can continue these regular visits so my brother and I's families continue can 'grow up' together.

My brother and I were close growing up. He read notes out of my garbage, read my diary, and asked me to buy him beer. I drove him around, listened to him when he needed it, and didn't tell Mom when his parties got a little out of control. Sharing a childhood is a bond that can not be put into words. Even in adulthood, I would do anything for him. Watching our children have fun together brings me back to my childhood and all the fond memories I have. I am so happy that we are going through this stage of life together and still creating new memories.

Cooper - 9 Months

Dear Cooper,

August. Our busy month. We had Uncle James and his family stay with us this past weekend (post to come) and that is only the beginning of our month. July we spent staying around home with no guests and taking it easy, well all that is about to change this month! Although July was slow on the visiting front it was not slow in your world. It amazes me each and every day how much you change on an almost daily basis. I just want to wrap you up and keep you little forever. But alas, you keep growing and will graduate before I know it! Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly (there actually isn't any ugly) for your 9th month:

- First let's start with the not so good. You are suffering from a sever case of separation anxiety. If you see me leave the room you cry, if you hear my voice in another room you cry, when you see me coming back you cry. It started essentially the week after you turned 8 months which is apparently the normal age for this to happen. You seem to be better when we are at home but in the evening when you are tired you only want your Mom. Don't get me wrong, I love that you want me... BUT every momma needs a little 'me time' and you are making it difficult! I feel guilty when I leave knowing that your Dad is going to have a rough time getting you to sleep and will have to deal with your crying on and off while I am gone. I really hope this phase passes quickly but the bad news is it could be months....

-What is the good you ask? You have stared crawling on July 26! It is an army crawl where you use your right foot, and your right foot only, to propel yourself along the floor on your belly. It is surprising how fast you an move when you want to. You may wonder what made you move for the first time. A pen. Yes, a pen. For Grady it was the lap top. It was just as exciting as it was with your brother to see you get to where you wanted to go all on your own. You play (and always have) happily on our toy covered floor. The difference is now you can move from toy to toy to toy. It won't be long before your are crawling on all 4s and getting around quicker than we can imagine! It made for an interesting photo shoot!

-On Aug 2 you pulled yourself up to a wobbly standing position. I guess when you decided to move, it was really time to move! You have only done it twice thus far and only Grady and Aunty Blaire (over skype) have witnessed it.

-You have, on occasion, gone from on your tummy to sitting. Not often yet....

-You are a great eater. I tried some Baby Led Weaning with you which means I give you very few purees and instead give you sticks of 'real' food. So far it has been great. Yes you choke or gag every so often, but overall you have done great. I just want you on table food ASAP so I don't have to make 3 meals. Yes three - one for Dad and I, one for you, and one for your brother (the pickiest eater ever).

-Your favorite foods at the moment are broccoli, chicken, grilled cheese, prune (yes prune), and blackberries to name a few. I have been pushing the fruits and veggies like you wouldn't believe just to increase the odds I get one good eater out of my boys. You now practically refuse to eat out of a spoon because most of you food is just thrown on the tray. Fine by me. It also takes you close to 30 minutes to power through all the food giving me lots of time to prepare everything, eat, and sometimes clean up as well!

-Your rash from last month went away after 3 weeks, took a week break, and it is back again. You must have sensitive skin like your Dad. I hope it has something to do with the heat as the week you were rash-less you spent little time outside. Grady and I try to play outside during nap time so you don't have to be out in the sun.

-You and Grady fight over toys often. After I said it was so cute last month when you had your first fight... not so cute anymore. Grady seems to want to play with every toy you do an dquickly swipes it away. I try to persuade him to give it back or replace it since at this point you really don't care what toy you play with as long as you have one. I can forsee that it is going to get much much worse before it gets better....

-You started your 9th month getting up once a night and ending it all over the map. There were some nights your were up a lot and others only once. I would like to say it is usually once but that may be optomistic. Shortly after you popped your first tooth you started getting up at least 2 times per night. I blamed it all on teething. Your mood was terrible, your sleeping was terrible. It must be teething. After over 2 weeks of changes I thought maybe it was an ear infection. I took you to the walk in clinic. It wasn't. Maybe it was teething? Maybe it was the 8 month sleep regression? What ever it was I hope it is over soon. It has been few rough few weeks on this very tired Momma.

-You have become harder to put asleep. Ever since that day last month where you refused to take a morning nap you fight sleep. From the time I turn the lights out in your room after stories you cry. You anticipate nap/bed time and you let us know it. Sometimes the crying is short lived, sometimes not. You are just not a cuddler. Even when we pick you up you do not stop crying. I guess you just have to release the tension before you can sleep. It makes me sad to hear you cry.

-You generally nap 2 times a day. Ideally you sleep an hour in the morning about 9am and 2 hours in the afternoon about 2pm. Sometimes we have to wake you up as you really like to nap and could nap for hours some days. Other days it is 45 minutes. And other days you decide morning naps are optional all together. 5 times this week you just flat our refused to go to sleep so you only napped once. Despite the lack of sleep you were still pretty good humored and stayed up until 7pm no problem. You just seem a little to young to give up that morning nap just yet! If I remember right there was a week around 10 months that Grady went to one nap and then just like that switched back to 2. You just seem to young to only nap once a day.

-According to the doctor, you weigh 22 pounds, 13 ounces and are 27.5 inches long as of August 9th

-Nicknames we still call you: Cooper dooper, Tooper, Coop

-You have 2 teeth (second tooth popped through July 29 and led to a few sleepless nights....)

-You drink 3 - 6oz bottles during the day and 1 bottle at night. Knock on wood.

-You wear a size 4 diaper in the day and a size 5 diaper at night.

-You wear 6-12 months or 12-18 months in clothes.

I am just so proud of you for starting to crawl this month. After all, you do have a lot of weight to drag around. You just seem so much more independent. This also means keeping a closer eye on you :) This is just my favorite time... watching you learn new things. We still have standing, furniture walking, and independent walking to look forward to in the next few months. I am so excited to see you explore the world and become your own little person.

Love,
Mommy

The 3D Experience

We recently took Grady to see his first movie. Cars 2 of course! What we didn't know until we arrived was that it was in 3D. I am kind of glad I didn't know until we arrived or I would have been stressed out wondering whether Grady would wear the glasses or not. He did. Here he is waiting patiently for 'Lightning McQueen to arrive' as he put it.

If you ask Grady about his movie experience the first thing he will tell you is that it was 'really really dark at the movie'. If you ask him what his favorite part is he will tell you it was the big dump truck. If you have seen the movie you may not even recall the part where they tip the dump truck over as it literally lasted less than a minute. But my construction lovin' little boy thinks that segment, the one you may have missed if you blinked, was his favorite.

As a side note, he lasted the entire movie without a peep from him besides to tell me he had to pee. Twice. He asked to leave about 5 minutes before the movie ended and I was able to persuade him to stay. He is still talking about it so he obviously had a great time. As did James and I.

For the record, Sally is my favorite. I digress.

As we were leaving the theater he asked for his sunglasses which I had to tell him were at home. He proceeded to tell me that he wanted the one from the movie.

The 3D experience obviously had an effect on him.

The very next day he wanted to pull out the 3D chalk that he got for his birthday and insisted that we play with the chalk and wear the glasses.

He even happily posed for a picture.

And insisted that we needed to lie down to use the 3D chalk.

The chalk amused him for well over 30 minutes. He was happy and so was I.

Nana took Grady to see the Winnie the Pooh movie at the theater the following week and he asked her if he got to wear his sunglasses. He obviously liked the 3D!

Wordless Wednesday

Yummy Taco Salad

My friend Deena is doing a recipe series on her blog where she had people submit their favorite summer recipe. Although the recipe I chose is not 'summer' per se, it is my go to recipe that I make when we are having people over and I need something quick and easy. Most people I serve it to love it (except Grady)and even ask for the recipe. My brother and sisters request it every time they come to visit. Kolby didn't even want to try it the first time I made it for her years ago and she is one of its biggest fan. I can not even take credit for the recipe. My roommate Carmen made it for us one day in university and I have been making it ever since. So without further a due, here is the recipe.

Taco Salad

Ingredients:

1 can of beans in tomato sauce

1 can cream corn (I prefer to get the bigger size of corn but didn't have on hand)

1 pkg of ground beef

1 pkg of taco seasoning

1 bag of nachos

Cheese

Lettuce

Start by warming the beans and the corn together in a pot.

Shred the cheese. I LOVE cheese. That is why I didn't put how much cheese in the ingredients as I probably tripled it. I just grate a lot of cheese and add to my little hearts content. Today I just grated what was left which wasn't enough for my usual liking :(

Brown the beef and mix with taco salt according to package.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use two 8x8 casserole dishes or one 9x13 dish. I used two 8x8 dishes so I could freeze one for later.

Spread the beef at the bottom of the dish, followed by the bean/corn mixture. Next Crush the nachos on top of the corn/beans and add as much cheese as you like.

At this point you can either throw the casserole in the oven, or do like I do and make it during nap time and throw it in the oven whenever you are ready for supper.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until is is heated through out.

Since I did not have lettuce we had without so it was more like a casserole than a salad. It was yummy just the same!

Top with salsa and sour cream and Enjoy!