Sunday, September 28, 2008

Our Matching "Aprils"

My baking buddy

After taking a few extra looks at my "Sweet Sunday" post a couple of weeks ago, I decided that Chloe needed her own "april" (as she affectionately calls "apron"). I looked at various websites that sold aprons, but I couldn't really find any that I liked...and if I did like it, it didn't come in a Chloe size. So, I was feeling a little bit ambitious and decided I would attempt to make my own. I bought some fabric and made up a little pattern. Nothing fancy...no pockets, zippers, buttons. Just a little something to cover up Miss Chloe when she bakes. Just a replacement for her baking overalls. Just an apron. (And then I made one for me!!!)


Today after church, we made chocolate chip cookies. I am in LOVE with this recipe. Our home teacher brought them to us a while ago and I begged his wife for her recipe. They are the first chocolate chip cookies that I have made that don't come out of the oven flat. Here is the recipe:


My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by: Halee Mennear

1 1/2 c. sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp. vanilla
1 c. shortening (MUST be Crisco butter flavored)
1/2 c. butter
3 1/3 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
10 oz. bag chocolate chips

Mix in large bowl:
- sugar
- brown sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
- shortening
- butter

Add:
- flour
- baking soda
- salt

Mix thoroughly for 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.

Happy Sunday!!!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Climb Up My Apple Tree


My mom and I decided to wake up extra early to take the kids to the Gilcrease Orchard yesterday morning. I just received my new camera on Monday and wanted to try it out in a place that didn't look like a desert. My kids are NOT morning people and either are my little sisters. We took alot of "bootie" shots because of the lack of enthusiasm at 7:00 in the morning. The orchard itself was beautiful! It is such an inexpensive activity and the kids ended up really having a good time. We even picked up some really yummy produce. Chloe was very attracted to anything "baby"...baby apples, baby pears, etc. Whenever I buy grapes at the store, Chloe and I take turns trying to find the "baby grapes" in the bag. She loves miniature things. I don't know, however, if baby apples and pears are going to taste very good...but she was happy! Beckham just spent the morning trying to keep up with the girls...and yes, he was still in his pajamas for our little outing. Like I said...he is NOT a morning person!

Naomi, Chloe and Elizabeth

Chloe admiring her fancy gold shoes. The fancier, the better...even when picking fruit!
Beckham trying to keep up!
Chloe searching for the smallest fruit available!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Go Packers!!!

This is Kyle laughing at his own joke...I don't think Beckham thought is was very funny. Sorry, Kyle. Tough crowd.

Yesterday was the 25th birthday of my brother-in-law, Kyle! We went over to his house last night to celebrate. We ate, talked and blew out candles. Kyle was surprised by his birthday gift from Amber...a trip up to Seattle for a Sea Hawk/Packer game at the beginning of October. My sister had the CUTEST cake made to announce the trip. She used Photoshop and put her head on the body of a Greenbay Packer football player and put the message, "Pack your bags...we are going to Seattle for a Packer's game!" He was so surprised! Amber and Kyle dated for quite a few years before they got married, so I felt like I knew Kyle. However, I must have missed all of the Greenbay Packer conversations. I had NO idea he liked them so much.



From the moment Chloe woke up Sunday morning, all she could talk about was Uncle Kyle's birthday party...for a couple of reasons. First, she is in L.O.V.E. with Kyle. Sometimes she randomly says, "Mom, I love Kyle." And when I ask her why she says, "I just do love him." Cute. Sorry, he's already taken (I haven't broken the news to her that Amber is already married to him!). The second reason why she was so excited about Kyle's birthday is because she knows that every birthday involves a party, cake, candles and presents...all of which she thinks are for her. We hope you had a very happy birthday, Kyle. We love you!Amber and Kyle holding a baby...NOT their baby. This is NOT an announcement of any sort!
(But don't they look so good with a baby in their arms???)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

My Lagal Deter

This is a picture of me and Melissa a LONG time ago! We were getting ready to go to one of our many NSYNC concerts...good times.

I just wanted to wish Melissa a happy birthday today! She is in the hospital right now because she just gave birth to her GORGEOUS baby girl on Monday. (This is why I figure that I can post this picture...she's in the hospital and most likely very drugged!). Melissa is one of my most favorite people...and I know that I am not alone! Everyone who even meets Melissa is immediately in love with her. She is so talented and sweet and thoughtful and funny and just an all around good person and I love her! I hope she has a day filled with lots of cake and lots of Loratab!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Sweet Sundays


I LOVE baking...let me rephrase that...I LOVE SWEETS!!! If it is a baked good, chances are that I will eat it. I also LOVE Sundays. Not only do we have a day filled with family, church and naps, but it is also a day that Chloe and I bake. Every Sunday, Chloe and I talk about what we are going to bake that day. After church and after lunch, I put on my apron and Chloe runs up to her room to put on her "April" (that's what she calls an apron...which is actually a pair of overalls that she thinks looks like an apron!). We wash our hands, open our cook books and start mixing the ingredients together. We don't really have these really big talks or in-depth conversations, but I hope that this will be a tradition in our home and that as she grows older, it will be our special time together.


This is Chloé trying to convince me that she should crack the eggs this time




For yesterday's treat, we made homemade Oreos. I have used a few different recipes for these cookies, but here is the recipe we used yesterday. It is SO easy and So good. We all loved them!

Cookie
1 devils food cake mix
3/4 cup Crisco
2 eggs

Frosting
1/2 lb. powdered sugar
1/2 cube butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. vanilla
(we also like to add a little bit of food coloring to make the frosting look pretty!)

In a bowl, combine all cookie ingredients. Roll into balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. Let them cool completely. In a separate bowl, mix all frosting ingredients together. Frost one side of cookie and then place the other cookie on top (sandwich like). Make a plate of at least 6 cookies and deliver them to Jamie...Thanks!

Monday, September 8, 2008

I Love This Man

And his fabulous invention...

(Seriously, if you haven't tried it, you should...)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Big Little Girl

Chloe has been potty-trained for the past couple of months. The training went so much better than I ever expected it to go. I really thought that it was going to be a nightmare. After 2 days, she was done. No accidents (actually, the only accidents that she has had have happened at my Mom's house...our theory is that she likes my little 4-year old sister's panties more than her own and so she waits to pee in her panties until she knows she can get a much cooler pair from her Aunt Naomi!). However, in the past week or so, every morning I have gone to get her out of her crib in the morning, she and all of her bedding has been wet. Gross?...yes. Annoying?...absolutely. I couldn't figure out what was going on with her. We were still cutting off her liquids early in the evening and taking her to the bathroom right before laying her down.

So, I decided that to end this ridiculousness, I would need to convert her baby crib to a big girl daybed. That way, she could get up and go to the bathroom if she needed to in the middle of the night. We went to the store and found new princess bedding...Chloe picked it out. She seems to be attracted to polka dots these days...which works out well because her nursery bedding was polka dots as well. I took the crib apart yesterday and made the conversion and then put on the new bedding.

When she walked into her room when it was completed, her expression was so cute. You would have thought she was on Extreme Home Makeover. She was so excited. She asked me to tuck her in and then asked me to leave so that she could take a nap...WHAT??? I had to practically drag Beckham out of the room. He was equally as excited (I think he likes polka dots too...).





It might sound silly, but when I peeked in on her while she was sleeping, she looked so much older in her big girl bed.
Goodnight my big little girl...

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Vacation?

Jon and I have always loved to travel. Shortly after we were married, I got a job as a flight attendant. We used our free flight benefits almost on a weekly basis. It was so much fun traveling from one coast to the other, seeing the country together. Since we have had children, however, our desire to travel has changed...so has our definition of "vacation." We have now modified this definition from "vacation" to "trip". Last week was no exception.

Every year, Jon has 3 weeks of paid "vacation" and since it doesn't roll over from year to year, we have been scrambling to find places we can go to use up these days. We decided that because my cousin was getting married in Salt Lake City, Utah last weekend, that we would travel up early and do some fun Utah things with the kids. I spent a couple weeks making plans. I got a hotel room and researched fun family activities that we could do. I felt pretty prepared for this little getaway. We decided to leave early in the morning last Thursday.

We loaded everyone in the car and made the 6+ hour drive (typing that makes me realize that that is where everything went wrong!). We drove to our hotel...which, by the way, I reserved off of Priceline. I love Priceline...well, used to love Priceline. As we were driving to find it, I even mentioned to Jon that I was so proud of myself for the deal that I got on our room. Jon would soon make me eat my words. The hotel was the worst place I have ever stayed in my life. Upon entrance, we both noticed that it smelled like a retirement home combined with mash potatoes. FYI...that is not a good combo. I tried to stay optimistic. Upon opening the door to our room, we were surprised by the repairman watching television in our room, making repairs. We kicked him out and changed our clothes. I was determined to make this trip fun. We loaded in the car and headed for Hogle Zoo.
Beckham was so excited to visit the zoo!Chloé and the "ghost" alligator



When Chloé saw the gorilla, she said, "Daddy, he has a bum like me!"

So excited to be at the zoo!

We got there about 1 1/2 hours before it closed and so we dashed to the animals we thought the kids would like. We saw the elephants, a white alligator, monkeys, zebras and giraffes. They loved seeing all of them. We met up with some friends for dinner and then hung out with them for the night. We headed back to the hotel and went to sleep. Chloé slept on a pile of blankets on the floor but by the middle of the night, she (along with Beckham) were snuggled in between us. Chloé couldn't seem to get settled and started to say "I have a stomuk ake." Before we could get her to the bathroom, she threw up all over the bed...sheets...pillows...us. We threw everybody into the shower and set up new sleeping arrangements. Jon slept with Chloé on the floor and I stayed in bed with Beckham. The next morning, it just kept coming. She couldn't keep anything down. It was so sad to see her so sad. Lucky for me, she's a daddy's girl and only wanted Jon to clean her up.

We waited in our hotel room until Chloé was feeling better and then headed out to find a park so that the kids could play. We picked up lunch and hung out at a park. Later that night, we went to a rehearsal dinner for my cousin. It was fun to see my dad's side of the family.
Chloé playing in a pond at the park. We later found out from our friend that lives in the area that people aren't supposed to get into the water in this pond because there was a big disease breakout last year because of how dirty it was. Yummy.

We woke up early Saturday morning and went to the sealing at the Salt Lake City Temple. It was such a sweet experience. Now that I am a mom, I have become more emotional and sensitive. I just kept looking at my aunt as she held my cousin's hand and hugged him. One day, I will be that mom. It's happy but hard. Throughout the day, Chloé kept telling me that she wanted to get married. She's 2. Let's hope its not for a while. We ate at my uncle's newly renovated restaurant and took naps. We attended the ring ceremony and reception later that night.

Afton and Terry Brown

My cousin, Terry, and his sweet mom, Valaine

My Dad and his family: Cindy, Dad, Grandpa Brown and Robert

My Grandpa Brown always tells us that we "come from good stock"...I think he is right...

Terry and his sisters, Carissa and Kira

Their new sister!

Terry and his dad, Robert

My "Happy" Family

He made me take this of him (he is worth taking a picture of!)

I had to ask his permission to take this picture WITH him. Lucky me!

Beckham LOVES food! The reception was the perfect place for him!



Sunday morning we attended my cousin's mission homecoming. Conner served a 2-year mission for our church in South Africa. It was amazing to hear him speak about the people and the work. We were also able to meet my other cousin's new baby girl, Jacey. So beautiful...no, I am not getting baby fever! We made it home Sunday night. And although we wouldn't consider it a "vacation" and we didn't end up doing anything on my to-do list, it was still a fun trip!