Black bean and sweet potato burritos

This is one of my favorite cold weather recipes! They make a great lunch because you can make ahead!

3 sweet potatoes cooked, peeled and mashed

1 can black beans drained and mashed with a fork

1/2 onion chopped 

2 cloves garlic minced

1 cup water

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

Cayenne pepper to taste

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

4-6 ounces shredded cheddar 

6-7 10 inch flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Heat oil in a medium skillet and saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in mashed beans. Gradually stir in water; heat until warm, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in  chili powder, mustard, cumin, and cayenne pepper.

Stir mashed sweet potato, 2 ounces of cheddar and beans together. Divide mixture evenly between the tortillas; top with cheese. Fold tortillas burrito-style around the fillings and place on a baking sheet seam side down. *I spray baking sheet with a little olive oil so they come out a little crispy. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Turn each burrito over and cook an additional 7 minutes. Serve warm with sour cream. 

Wrap any unused burritos in a paper towel, then in aluminum foil and store inside a freezer ziplock in the freezer. When ready to use pull one out. Unwrap foil and cooked for 2 minutes wrapped in the paper towel. 

Avalynn turns 6

Our spunky little girl turned 6 last week. Our lives would be pretty dull and quiet without her in our house. She keeps us on our toes, that is for sure. She has the cutest dimples and is so smart!  Avalynn loves to dress up in dresses and she loves wearing boots!

Her favorite toys are Barbies, ever after High dolls and her "American girl doll" which is a knock off brand but she doesn't care. She also likes Legos and playing dress up. I think her favorite part of being an older sister is dressing Nathan and Kendall up in dress up clothes.

She is very high energy and is always Go Go Go! She joined tumbling in February and is starting to do really well. She loves going and asks every day if it is Tumbling day.

Avalynn's speech has come so far this year. At her IEP meeting her speech teacher told me she started a different program with her then the teacher she had last year and I think this is why she has taken right off with it. She is starting to talk a little more to people she doesn't know well and I think she is more confident they will understand her now.  She is doing well in school and can read pretty good. She is also our little artist. She loves to draw and color and she is really good at it.

For Avalynn's birthday she picked to go to a Farmland. She has always loved horses and we had not gone at all last year. I think the kids all really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures.

Kendall is 21 months today!

I can't believe how fast the time is going! In 3 months my baby will be 2 years old! She is starting to say a lot of words and she has a silly sense of humor! She loves all of her siblings but seems to have a special bond with Nathan. She likes to baby him and boss him around. They are always hugging each other! She also loves to give her sisters big hugs when we pick them up from school.

Kendall weaned from nursing about 2 weeks ago and it was a pretty easy transition for both of us. She still has her pacifier which is supposed to be for bed only but she seems to find it or her siblings give it to her a lot.

Her favorite toys right now seem be baby dolls. She hugs them and wants me to dress them. She also likes to destroy Nathan's train track lol.

Kendall's favorite foods are yo baby yogurt, strawberries, peanut butter on toast or just off a spoon and whole grain spaghetti o with meatballs and she loves Pizza!

I weighed and measured her this morning and she is now 19 pounds 2 oz and 30 1/2 inches. Here is a picture of her from Today.

Childhood Apraxia Awareness Day

At age 3 Avalynn was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of speech. Due to some errors and lack of therapists she never started Speech Therapy until she was 4 and had started Pre-K. She has been getting therapy 3 times a week ever since, even through the summer. She will turn 6 in a couple weeks and she has come so far with her speech now.

Apraxia is not a delay, it is a Neurological disorder. The part of the brain responsible for speech is either underdeveloped or damaged. Usually the cause is unknown. The only way to help kids with CAS is intense therapy. It is comparable to when someone has a stroke and they know what they want to say but are not able to say it.

For more information visit Apraxia-kids.org
Here is a picture of Avalynn wearing her shirt and a rainbow loom ribbon I made her.

Kendall is 17 Months!

My baby girl is growing up so fast! She is learning new words all the time. She seems very smart too. Some of the words she can say now are "No" (Her favorite word), "Mine", "Nay Nay" (What she calls Nathan) "Hi!", "Milk" "Bye" "Ball"  "Ow" "Up" "Out" "Snack" and once in a while she will say "Baby". She sure is a cutie but don't let that trick you! She has a temper that matches the cuteness! She is pretty content most of the time but if she can't have something she wants you better watch out! She can also hold her own with Nathan and She has knocked him down and started smacking him more then once when she wants something! So we are working on her using words instead of hitting. She loves to give kisses and hugs though and if one of the other kids are crying she will go to them and hug and comfort them. I think it is so neat she has learned empathy at such a young age. Even when she has hurt Nathan she will hug him after and say "Hi, Hi, Hi" to comfort him. She is a tiny little thing but she loves to eat and has a good appetite. Last time she was weighed about 2 weeks ago she was 17#15oz. Here are some pictures of her from today.

Here she is poking her doll in the eye which she loves to do. I think that is why this is a favorite doll.

Then she will say "Ow!" and laugh.

Here she is posing herself. She is quite the little Ham for the Camera.