Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

Used this tonight b/c I was literally browning the hamburger meat and realized.......WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY TACO SEASONING!!!

Smells great and tastes DELICIOUS! Also, I didn't have garlic powder, so I used 1 clove of minced fresh garlic.

HOMEMADE TACO SEASONING MIX
Printed from COOKS.COM

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1 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. each ground cumin, garlic powder, paprika, powdered oregano and sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Makes 3 tablespoons of seasoning mix, which is equal in strength to a 1/4 ounce package of commercial seasoning mix.

Sunday Afternoon

The boys were so cranky today when they woke up from their nap. So we took them outside....or "side" at they call it. We let them swing and slide and play for a little while. Ben was scared of the slide at first but once he did it, he was so into it. Alex was content to swing, swing, swing to the rythm beat (hey hey she rocks in the treetops all day long huffin' and a puffin' and a singin' that song, all the little birds on jaybird street love to hear the robin goin' tweet, tweet, tweet..........ROCKIN' ROBIN! Hey, ROCKIN' ROBIN!) Ok, so now that we've all had that little trip back to the East Aiken playground, circa 1983. Here are some pics from today.

Ben saying "cheese" before he climbs up the ladder to the top of the slide.

At the top of the slde. Ready to go.....any second.

An action shot....on the way down the slide.....SMACK! Into Daddy!
Laughing about smacking into Daddy.

Ben just walking around checking out the pine straw.

Alex takes a minute to take in everything that's going on at the playground.

Even though he was happy to just swing he did hit the slide for one or two slides.
At the top.....ready to go!


Action shot........on the way down.

Daddy provides a safe landing spot!

Mall Playdate

Sometimes we meet at the mall and it's a lot of fun. There is this great "play place" in the middle of the mall and the kids can play and Mommies can sit and visit. Our only complaint is that it needs a gate. It's way too easy for kids to sneak out if Mom is chatting with her friends. Here are a few picture from our mall playdate.

Alex and Ben like to climb in and out of the car.

Ciara and Gavin, on the other hand, like to climb all over their Mommy.

Zachary dreaming of his future career as an astronaut.

I think this is Ansley. But since she's clinging to her Mommy so tightly, this could very well be Bailey!

Alex and Ben posing on the kids reading couch with Emily, and some lady named Charlotte Russe in the background.

Oh that photogenic Avery! I just love to take pictures of this little chickie.

Ben playing in front of the wavy mirror.

Alex taking a pause after coming through the tunnel.

A Day in the Neighborhood Playground

The playground in our neighborhood is always a great backdrop for pictures. They boys have really started to love being outside. They call it "side." We took them to another bigger park on Saturday and they LOVED it. When we go back we'll post pictures from there.

Ben at the tire swing.

Alex is really good at climbing up the ladder and loves to slide down the slide.

The boys love to chase each other and then laugh, laugh, laugh. Here's a great pic of a tender moment during their chase when they stopped to hug.

Alex chasing Ben.

See........he loves to hug Alex.

Here are the boys in front of the flowers in the playground in our neighborhood.

Easter Pics

The Saturday before Easter our neighborhood had an Easter Egg hunt. We were late getting out of the house and even though it was right in front of our house, we didn't get there until 10 minutes after it started. So all of the eggs were already "found." I was content to just let the boys walk around and appear to egg hunting for some pictures but a few of my friends took eggs out of their kids' baskets and "hid" them in the grass for our boys. It was super sweet and very kind of them. So here are the pics of the hunt......

Since our church starts at 11:30, Easter morning was kinda rushed. There wouldn't be time for pictures after church because the boys are always exhausted when we finally get home at 3. But here are a few pics of the boys in their super cute Easter outfits. It was a great day. We went to the lake and spent the evening w/ Creighton's family and had a great dinner w/ them.

The ONE Cozy Coupe

Here are some vids that I took today of the boys birthday/easter present from Mommy and Daddy. They actually got two but since JCL and I almost came to blows over putting together the first one........well the other one is still in the box. Ok, that's not true, we were actually laughing the whole time because we kept making silly mistakes. And we (for whatever reason) thought it was hilarious to honk the little horn for the car at random times. This is why you shouldn't put toys together at 1am.

It Was a Jumping Good Time at Alex & Ben's 2nd Birthday

Alex and Ben turned 2 on March 21st. We had a great party with 24 of their closest friends at Monkey Joe's. If you don't have one or don't have kids and have never been to one of these places. It's those huge blowup bouncy things. The first time we went to Monkey Joe's the boys were petrified. But we've been a bout 5 times now and they LOVE it. I like Monkey Joe's b/c they have quite a few things for little kids. However, I would have preferred a set up like Pump It Up where we have a private jump room. Oh well.......it was a great time! AND......I DIDN'T HAVE TO CLEAN UP!!!

These pictures are kind of out of order but I'm too lazy to move them around! :)

Ben LOVED the cake and preferred to feed it to himself.

You can tell these kids are mine. They LOVE cake. It does my heart good to see them love something that I love so much. Hehehehehe!

These are three of my good friends (BFFs) from the Mothers of Multiples Club and their kids. Bottom left in this pic is Erica H., in the center w/sweet Carlos is Sarah O. (you can see her daughter's (Anna's) head w/the white bow at the bottom of the pic). And bottom right you can see the back of Jenn O's head. Wow......I'm a great photographer! LOL!

Ok, here's a good one! Avery H. and half of Landon H. These are Erica's kids. They turned 1 on March 1st. Sadly, these guys moved away and it makes me sad to think about it. :( We miss them all very much.
Here's Zachary O. and Alex trying to climb into one of the blow up things. These are the feet of the HUGE Monkey Joe. Our little friend Anna Kate T. was scared of him. Poor thing. She was terrorized!
Ok, so this isn't one of their friends. This is Ben! What a cutie. He loves to run around this jumper.
This is Owen C. He is in nursery with the boys at church. His Mom is Alissa and she's a friend of mine. We're so glad they came!!
Here's Owen C. again. This time sitting next to Reid M. Reid is also a friend from nursery. This is when we were having cake. Owen is very good at using a fork and Reid has NO time mess with that triviality. He went straight for the "hands on" approach.
These are a few of the older kids that came. Bottom left is Brionna C. (older sister of Gavin & Ciara C. who are 5 days younger than Ben and Alex). Then there are "big sister" cousins Kate B. and Clair B. We're so glad Kate and Clair cleaned their room so they could come to the party!!!
More twin friends! Mom (Lindsey J.) helps Bailey and Ansley J. with their cake. Their older sister Emily J. is almost done with her cake.
Here's Erica and Jason H. again with Avery and Landon....talking to my Dad (the Clemson fan in orange and purple).
Gavin and Ciara C. are BFFs already! They held hands as they walked around and checked things out. It was adoreable and I snapped about 50 shots of them.
Ben and Alex sitting in the big blow up chair waiting for everyone to sing Happy Birthday to them. They sat for a while but then they kept trying to get down. LOL!
Here's a good one of the boys jumping with Kate. I was so happy to see them do more than just roll around in this jumper. Ben is actually walking around which is great!
Kate and Ben play so well together. I'm glad. I love my cousins and I hope that they'll be as close as all are!
Avery O.......SUCH A BIG GIRL! Laughing at who knows what. I just love this little chickie!!!
Grandpa Lynes holding Alex. The boys were so happy to see their Grandparents at their party.

After the party we went to lunch at Mimi's Cafe. Ben and Alex had grilled cheese and chicken fingers. Mmmmmmmmmm! Nutritious! LOL!

WOW! Kate is all grown up. I remember helping her learn to drink from a straw when she was a little tiny thing. We told her to "suck it like a paci." She did and has been drinking from a straw ever since. I used the same technique w/ Alex and he's a champion straw drinker now, too!

Everyone had a good time visiting at lunch. Rosalind said, "Justin is always good conversation!"

Alex - ready for some grub!

Here's a shot from the other end of the table. We had 14 people at lunch!

I saw my friend Lisa there who had her twin girls (Emma and Riley) with her as well as our friend Julie's twin girls (Kate and Emily). So all three sets of twins posed for a little group photo.

So that was our day. It was a loooooooooooooooooooong one. The boys had a blast and we had fun watching them. We can't believe they are two! What a short ride this has been. I was looking at this picture the other day....and it brought tears to my eyes. I know I've said it before but they've come so far. They are thriving and we couldn't be happier. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for the blessings he pours out on us. We receive more than we deserve and see that every day in our beautiful boys and our forever family.