Monday, January 30, 2012

Go Tigers!!!




For Christmas, the girls gave me tickets for a Tiger basketball game. Tigers were ranked 2nd in the nation, so it was pretty awesome to go see such a great team playing. I was also very excited to take the girls to their first game. Chloe was pumped up and practiced cheering the entire way to Columbia. Nothing is cuter than hearing a 3 year old yelling MizzouRah! At first, we thought we had crappy seats. We were all the way in the top of the arena- the last row. But we ended up loving our seats. We were right at the top of the stairs, so we had a straight shot view down to the court. Chloe didnt have anyone in front of her, so even when everyone stood up, she could still see. She also had a wider platform to stand on since there were no seats in front of us. Of course I forgot a bottle, but was able to privately nurse Bg since we had more foot room and no one was behind me. She somehow slept through the first half even with all the noise. But because there was no one in front of us, I could still see even when everyone was standing. Of course, the Tigers won, beating a Big 12 opponent- Texas Tech. Next year we are moving to the SEC. Chloe is already asking when we can go back, so I am hoping this is the start of a new family tradition.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Tea Party!!









For Christmas, Heather, Gary and the girls gave Chloe a Princess Cook Book with recipes for cupcakes, cakes and cookies. Someone made a comment about a tea party and my little elephant never forgets, so she has been begging since Christmas to have a tea party. I thought it would be a good time to also show off the house, so we planned the party for yesterday.

I am starting to become a bit of a baking snob. No more box stuff for me- I am having fun playing with new recipes and making everything from scratch. I have always made cookies from scratch, but I thought the boxed stuff was so much easier for cakes/cupcakes/icing. But honestly, it really isnt. Yea, I have to measure out more stuff, but it is so much for fulfilling when someone compliments your baking to say that you made it all on your own. So I spent Saturday baking vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. And I must say, they are DARN good! I am not the best decorator, but I am learning and am getting a bit better.



The tea party was yesterday. Chloe had a great attendance- Grandma and Papa Michael, Grandma and Papa Tyler, Granny and Great Grandparent Michaels, and the Hoeppners- Scott, Amanda and her friend Calle. We had tea, coffee and cocoa to drink and several types of fresh fruit and cupcakes to eat.



Chloe had practiced all morning saying, "Welcome to my tea party, may I take your coat?" She said it so sweetly to Grandma Judy. But in the excitement of seeing her other grandparents arrive, she somehow cut her toe open. It wasnt a bad cut and I dont think it hurt her, but it was bleeding and I couldnt get her to sit still so I could get the bleeding to stop. She freaked when Jeff got a band-aid, so the rest of her guests all walked in to a kid having a meltdown. Lovely.

It was good to see both Grandpa Michael and Granny out and about. 2011 wasnt the best year for either of them and I pray for continued health in 2012. It is so hard seeing your once strong grandparents getting old.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Stairs

We now have to keep a sharp eye on the stairs. Bg has made it her mission to climb the stairs as much as possible. She really figured it out over the weekend.

On Sunday, I walked into the living room and Chloe had climbed up the outside of the stairs. She was hanging 10 feet above our living room. And then I notice Bg had climbed the inside of the stairs and was standing up (holding on) on the third step. Like a good mother, I yelled for Jeff to come see his monkeys. And then we made them get down.

However, we failed to tell Miss Linda about Bg's skills. The kids were playing downstairs and Linda ran upstairs to get something. When she started to come back down, she realized Bg was climbing up. Linda started to rush down and Bg decided to go back down, which she hasnt mastered. Bg fell down the bottom step and got a nice red mark on the side of her face.

That didnt teach her any lessons though, as she instantly headed for the stairs when we got home. Jeff stayed with her and she climbed up about 6 or 7 steps before she decided to try to go down them head first. Luckily dad stopped her! And CHloe thinks it is great fun to still go up the outside of the steps. I am curious as to how high she will go. She hasnt gone to the top yet, but I am sure it will happen sooner rather than later.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Another case of the Mondays...

Mondays would be much easier if we didnt have such good weekends! I like my job, but I like being home with my kiddos even more! Bg was super sick with a nasty cold last week but was better over the weekend, so on Saturday we went to Alli's basketball game. I love seeing how much she improves each year and it was exciting to watch her play. Even though I want my girls to stay little forever, I am also looking forward to the day when they can play sports.

I did my fair share of baking this weekend. I did a practice run on homemade cupcakes/icing from scratch so I can make some for Chloe's tea party next weekend. And I also tried a new recipe on my quest to make the best chocolate chip cookies. And I think I may have finally found the recipe. YUM!

We had dad over for a fish fry Saturday night. Mom's stepmom Sharon was in the hospital, so mom had gone down to Springfield for the weekend.

The weather has been amazing for January. Yesterday Jeff and Chloe went down to Rock HOle and played for a long time. They came back wet, muddy, cold and happy. I was a bit jealous, but got to nap with Bg so all was okay with me.

Chloe cracks me up with what she calls one of her favorite treats. She always wants to eat, "Fishgolds." I used to try to correct her and have her say Goldfish, but I actually think Fishgolds sound so much yummier!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Family Weekend

What a wonderful weekend, considering it was January!

We spent Saturday morning up in Jamesport- Amish Country! Note to self: dont tell Chloe in advance that we will see lots of horses and deer b/c the entire trip up there, she constantly asked when we were going to see horses. But see horses we finally did! I could live a simple life....okay, probably not, but it would be nice for like a week or two!

Anyway, we started our furniture quest way wrong. We would have saved 3 hours of time if we had just shown up and said, "show us the cheapest stuff you got." Because that is what we ended up buying. But we did get a 6' dining room table, 6 chairs and two bar stools! I am so excited!

Saturday night was the annual Brannock Christmas, which is always a fun, albeit loud, time. I think sometimes we get to be a bit too much for Jeff to handle. But us cousins always have a fun time together.

Bg is getting so much more mobile. She pulls herself up on everything and was delighted to show off her skills to the family Saturday night.

Sunday I did something that I dont normally do. We skipped church. I have a lot going on this week and just wanted some family time. It was a decent day, so we bundled up in our bibs and spend quite a bit of time outside. Chloe got to ride in the dozer and bobcat with her dad. They started fires and walked across fallen trees. After lunch, we roasted marshmallows. All in all, what a lovely January day!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tonsils

So I took Boo to the doctor yesterday b/c her tonsils are extremely (to my uneducated mind) swollen. Turns out she just has a cold and the doctor wasnt that concerned about her tonsils and called them a 2 on a scale of 1-4 (4 is the worst). I was worried about strep again since she just had it a little over a month ago.

Chloe and I then went shopping for her tea party. We picked out some cute princess cupcake liners and some cupcake themed decorations. She is so excited! She also bought a little wooden birdhouse that she painted last night. Maybe I have a budding artist on my hands!

We need to figure out something to do with Jerrie. His litter box is in the basement and we just leave the door cracked. Well, now that Bg is mobile, her favorite place to go is the basement door. We dont really want Jerrie's litter box upstairs, but we cant leave the door open anymore either.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Happy New Years!

So 2012 has started off well. We stayed home to celebrate the New Year in our new house! I made fancy, stinky cheese fondue and Jeff and I realized that we have Velveeta Taste on a Velveeta Budget, so that it a good thing. I was afraid we would love the stinky cheese and it would cost a ton! We didnt see midnight but did stay up later than we normally do. We had our new neighbors come over and visit for a while and it was nice to get to know them better.

So here are my resolutions for the year:
1. Create a budget! We do live within our means, but we could also save better. I have started reading Dave Ramsey.
2. Be a more adventuresome, healthier cook. Eat more fresh produce.
3. Be outside more. Take lots of long walks with the girls.
4. Blog, blog and blog some more. I want to remember all the fun stuff we do and the things the girls say.

I could go with several of the traditional ones- lose weight, exercise, etc. Which I need to do, but I am not good with sticking to those kinds of things. Actually, I dont really need to lose weight, but I do need to tone this butt!

And for the daily funny: I had a customer tell me today that I no longer look like a young, hot chick, that I look like a mom. Uh, thanks???