Wednesday, January 22, 2014

The ABC's of Baking



Back in September, I decided that for each week, Callie and I would focus on a letter of the alphabet.  One of the things that we do each week is bake.  Callie loves to help me in the kitchen.  Now, even when we are just making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches she wants to sit on the counter and help.

A is for Applesauce

Our first attempt required a lot of prep work on my part and not much for Callie to do.  But she did love eating it!  


B is for Banana Bread

With the beginning of football season, came the preparing of food for the weekends.  Callie helped me make chocolate chip banana bread to have breakfast at the house.  It was delicious!  (Thanks to Austin for the recipe.)  We have made it countless times since this.


C is for Chocolate Chip Cookies

A classic in our house.  I can't even count the number of times I have baked homemade chocolate chip cooked.  They are my favorite!  I had so much fun teaching Callie how to make these.  I'm sure we will be baking these a lot more in the future!


D is for Donuts

Mama Gerry used to make these donuts with Lauren and I when we were young, so this night of baking brought back a lot of good memories.  Callie enjoyed playing with dough and shaping the donuts.  And once they were covered in cinnamon, she did not want to stop eating.  And neither did I!


E is for Enchiladas

Thankfully there is no picture for this disaster.  Instead of enchilada sauce, Mom accidentally bought hot sauce without realizing the mistake.  We followed the recipe exactly (with loads of hot sauce) and they looked amazing.  And then we took a bite.  HOT!!  Callie insisted on eating a few bites and I let her because I didn't realize how hot it was.  It was a disaster!  Three cups of milk and two pieces of peanut butter bread later, her tongue felt better.  But no more enchiladas for this family!

F is for Frosty

This one was probably my favorite so far.  And possibly Callie's favorite also.  She still asks me at least once a week for a Frosty - and this is the only one that she has ever had!  I think this was the one and only time I will drink something out of Bryan's blender.  


G is for Guacamole

Avocado is one of Callie's favorite fruits (or is it a vegetable?)  So guacamole was an easy choice for the letter G.  We had friends over for an away football game and made the guacamole as one of our many game snacks.  Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the guacamole, so instead you get a picture of the rest of the table.  How I do not gain 20 pounds every football season is a miracle!


H is for Hummus

Hummus is one of Callie's favorite snacks…my child likes a lot of unique foods!  This was pretty easy to make and Callie loved snacking on it for days.


I is for Icing

Mama D and Mama Gerry invited Callie over to the house to bake Christmas cookies, which included homemade icing.  Callie had a blast mixing together all of the ingredients and playing with the dough.  


That's all for now.  And yes I know that there have been many more weeks than letters that we have accomplished, but life seems to stay busy around here.  More to come!

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Fabulous and Fantastic Fall

First, for the fabulous.
We had great weather this fall and got to spend a lot of time outside.  And what do my children want to do outside?  Swing!


And swing some more…


Bryan completed the Augusta Half-Ironman in September, and Callie loved cheering him on.
#mydadisfasterthanyourdad


All of us cheering on our husbands/dads were quite the sight!  It was a long day with no naps and lunch on the go, but the kids did great.


In October, Cade was 6 months old!  I know I say this all the time, but I cannot believe how fast he is growing up.  I love this smile!


He started eating pureed food and cannot get enough.  I promise he always could eat more than I give him.  The first few days were pretty entertaining, most of the food came back out.  But once he realized how delicious everything is, he was thrilled.  Now (at 8 months old), he eats spinach, broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, corn, oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, bananas, prunes, and raspberries.  And of course, PUFFS!  I think we go through at least 2 cans of those a week.


He can really move around pretty well, although no crawling yet.  He is so close!  Cade gets up on all fours and rocks, but then his legs go out from under him again.  He still manages to reach whatever toys he wants, mostly by rolling and slithering on his stomach.  


On the rare occasion that we were actually home, the kids enjoyed playing with all of their toys, and their friends!  I'm always impressed as to how much of a mess we can make. 


We still have normal days with crazy hair…


trips to the grocery store…


working at the office…


singing loudly…


napping…


loving lazy days watching movies…


and just laying around being happy.


And then there was a fantastic Halloween evening.  Callie was a Clemson cheerleader and Cade was the football player.  Can't get much cuter than that!


Callie was so excited to find out that all she had to do was say hi to someone and they gave her candy and chocolate!


We had a big crew that all went trick-or-treating together and the kids had so much fun!


Callie and Brantley only made it to a few houses before they just wanted to ride in the wagon and eat their M&M's.


Happy Fall!


(I promise to put Christmas pictures and video on the blog soon!)