If this isn't your favorite soup it's because you haven't tried it yet.

Not only is it delightfully tasty - it's ridiculously easy to make. Like spaghetti from a jar easy. Really. I'm not kidding. Try it!

You will need:

1 onion
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can black beans, drained
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can tomato sauce (small)
1 bottle of beer (light)
1 packet of taco seasoning
3 chicken breasts

Chop the onion. Toss it in a crockpot. Add everything but the chicken. Stir. Place the chicken on top, then press down until the breasts are barely submerged. (Picture taken before submerged, obviously.)

Cook on low for 5 hours.

Pull the chicken out. Using two forks, pull apart to shred.

Dump it back in. Stir. Cook for 2 more hours (still on low).

Put it in a bow.  Throw on some cheese (cheddar, monterrey jack, both), crushed chips and a liberal helping of sour cream.

Consume!

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Cornstarch + water = fun. (Also, having my computer back so that I can photo edit = fun. I maaaay have gone overboard with the 70s style processing. I MISSED IT SO.)

New substance! Must investigate!

Its gooey, it's mushy, it's liquidy....

It's tasty!

It's messy!

It's worth it. :)

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Cael got some magnet letters and numbers for the fridge. Right off the bat, he determined that Finn was not allowed to play with the letters, but he could play with the numbers if he had to play with something.

Cael: [Slides the F over with the numbers.]
Allie: [Slides it back.] F is a letter. It goes between the E and the G.
Cael: [Slides it to numbers.] No, Mama.
Allie: [Sings the song.] See? E, F, G.
Cael: No, Mama. F is for Finn!
Allie: [Slides it to letters.] Yes, that's right. F is for Finn!
Cael: [Slides it to numbers.]
Allie: F is a letter, not a number.
Cael: F is for Finn! Letters are for Cael!

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Allie: Cael, why are you taking off your pants?
Cael: Because I have to dance!

*Twenty minutes later*

Allie: Finn, why are you taking off your diaper?
Finn: [pees on the carpet]

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I decided this afternoon (while still moaning about being sore from the teeter-totter two days ago) that it was about time for me to start working out again.

So, after almost a three year break from Tony, I polished the DVD and popped it into the player. I'm not going to lie - the warm up and the yoga were brutal. And I may have cheated a little. "Finn? You say you need help moving that car? Right this second, you say? Let me do that and not press pause!"

The cardio was not as bad I expected. I have vivid memories of folding over and staring at the scraps of carpet with taped up x's on them in Lauren's garage, breathing heavily and silently commiserating with Tiffany about what a blow to the ego it is to workout next to Lauren. I mean, who actually speeds up the pace? It's 3-4 for heaven's sake!

But then came the arms. BRING IT, I say, because ARMS! I used to hate the arms! I used to skip out on the bonus round because, like Tony says, it's free. I figured if it was free that meant it was optional, right? There's logic there! But now I am an uber lifter of multiple small people and the arm section is my favorite part. I didn't even cheat once! And my body blows were to die for.

I was planning on doing the ab ripper section after cardio, but, and I am not making this up, the DVD froze with the words "last move" on screen and I couldn't get it to start back up. I'm guessing when toddlers chew on it some sort of damage is done to the DVD? I'll have to do a little research. Seems far-fetched. It's probably just the gods telling me I need not bother with the ab ripper for I am too fabulous already and if I had abs I'd be unstoppable.

Sounds about right.

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PSA: Having a one year old open your laptop like a book, plant his butt on the keyboard and slap the screen like it's whack-a-mole results in a fair amount of computer troubles.

On a related note, I can't do any photo editing and I'm spending all day reinstalling everything I've ever installed, so I bring you the only thing I had on my desktop:

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