The Proof is In the Pants.

We're fancy folk. Some might say schmancy. (Maybe just me). Don't believe me? Well get this, we're on our way to a Gala and Alex is wearing a suit (for the first time since our wedding almost 3 years ago). We dropped Amelia off with some friends, and had some time to kill so we decided to swing through Sonic for a DELICIOUS beverage.  

Me: I want a sweet tea. 

Alex: Did you see that? They have Sweet Potato Tater Tots.

Me, Once my eyes zeroed in on the picture of that treasure: You're going to get some, right?! (I might have been drooling, but who wouldn't be?!)

Alex: (Orders food.) Oh... I need your card. Mine's in my back pocket. I'm wearing fancy pants. 

Me, after laughing for a solid 30 seconds:  Right you are.

See? Told you we were schmancy. The proof is in the pants!!

Little Debbie > Hostess

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...a conversation between Alex and me after sharing a Little Debbie Valentine cake thing.  

We don't ever buy these things, but Alex did the grocery shopping this time so I wasn't surprised to hear that he had gotten me a Valentine surprise and "they were two for three dollars!!"

Alex: See? I told you you'd like them.

Me: You can't say you got me a surprise if it's not the one I like.  Oatmeal Cream Pies are way better... but these are pretty good.

Alex:  No way, Zebra cakes are the best.  And these are basically pink Zebra cakes.  Either way, they'll be on sale for a while, so we can get more if we need to.

Me (Being the dessert fiend I am): There's a Hostess Outlet Store on the way to the grocery store!

Alex: Ummm...These are Little Debbies.

Me (Talking like I know everything...because I do.) : Hostess makes Little Debbie things.

Alex: No, they don't.

(I didn't believe him so I checked the box, and they conveniently left off the little Hostess symbol...Probably because Hostess doesn't make Little Debbies, but whatever.)

Me: Fine. They don't.  Do they make Oatmeal Cream Pies?  

Alex: Nope.  They make Twinkies and Ho Hos and other crappy stuff.

Me: Ughghghg...That's why they have an outlet store and Little Debbie doesn't!  Forget you, Hostess!  Nobody likes you!

Alex (Matching my unbelievable and unnecessary fury) : Yeah!  Little Debbie wins the baking contest! (mashes buttons on phone) See?  Look at all these delicious treats!

Alex (cont'd.): Yep. WAAAY better than Hostess...although I think their Donette things are OK.

Me: No.  Gross.  They taste like wax.

Alex: Yeah, kind of.  Anyway, goodnight!

Me: Night!

And we're off to dreamy land, everyone... While visions of Oatmeal Cream Pies dance in our heads...MMMmmm...Or at least my head... I suppose Alex was dreaming of Zebra cakes. 

Original photo sources: Here, here, and here...but I made them better.

Statue Baby and Acid Trips (Not Really)

So, I've never had an acid trip.  (Or any substance-induced trip, for that matter.)  But if I had to imagine what it would be like, it would be just like the Baby Van Gogh video by Baby Einstein.  If you've never seen it, I wouldn't recommend doing so while under-the-influence.  

OK, all joking aside, it's mostly nice baby music, puppets, and toys.  But the sound effects they add to the toys and the types of toys they chose are so crazy.  

Did I mention it has magic powers?  Not even kidding.  This video turns a very active, crawly, standy, screechy, must-pull-on-everything-y eight month old into a statue.  As soon as Amelia hears the music start, she stops what she's doing, and watches the. whole. thing.  And she only blinks like twice. (That's not true, but I swear she knows I'm watching for it and stops blinking! She's crafty, that baby.  But not too crafty for Baby Van Gogh, apparently!) 

So, I decided to test out my theory today.  I placed Amelia in the middle of the floor...

...like this...

and when I came back from doing some laundry, she looked like this...

 OK, yes. It's the same picture.  But I didn't think to take a picture before I started folding laundry.  (Don't worry, our living room is completely blocked in and baby-proofed, and I was just on the other side of the counter where I could hear her.)  Of course, as soon as it was over, it was back to baby-chasing.  But hey, I'll take 30 minutes if I can get it! 

The new challenge?  Try not to abuse the baby-statue-ing-acid-trippy power I've been handed.

Let's Grab Coffee and Catch Up... REALLY Fast!

I'm the type of person who is really great at setting goals, getting started, and then letting them fall off of a cliff along the way. (Are there even cliffs in Texas?)  Either way, this blog was one of those things, but it's not going to be anymore!  (Realistically...it might, but I'm going to try not to let it be.)  I think of things all the time that I want to write about, but either I don't end up taking photos, or if I do take them they end up hanging out in the camera instead of jumping on to the computer for me! (Oh I'M supposed to do that?!)  SO, even if I don't have a picture, I'm going to write anyway.  Even if it's a short post, the point is to write because I enjoy it, not because it's a chore that needs to be done.  Heck, nobody pays me to do it. (If you'd like to pay me, I'll write every day! I promise!)

Anyway, here's an update of some things that have been going on at Casa Hoops since I last saw wrote to you.  Of course, it's not everything  (Because my brain isn't good at remembering things.) but it's something! Got your coffee? Here goes!

I became a Bradley Method instructor and started teaching classes!

Christmas with lots of family!

Amelia learned to crawl!

Amelia can stand on her own!
We went to the Rodeo! A real-life rodeo!

Amelia learned how to walk with her little walking dinosaur!

We got new cloth diapers! (I know... it's so exciting, right?!) 

Um... a bunch of other things!

There.  That feels better.  All caught up. 

Dance Like No One is Watching (even if everyone is)

Today, Alex and I discovered the real reason why we are married.  Not the reason why either of us wanted to get married in the first place, but what it is that makes us perfectly matched.

It happened in Kroger.  We were shopping for just a few random things we needed that we missed on our big shopping trip the other day.  Amelia was in a sling on my hip, and Alex was carrying the basket.  It was just your average shopping trip until Alex and I each realized (independently) that Kroger was playing Techno music. Seriously... real techno music, not the pop-song-remixed kind, but the kind you'd only hear at some weird bar with a mediocre DJ.  

So, naturally, we each started dancing like we were at some dorky mommy-and-me rave party.  (Do those exist?!)  It was simultaneous, unplanned, and pretty hysterical--to us, at least.  The people staring at us didn't know what to think, I'm sure.  And Amelia thoroughly enjoyed it.  Kid loves to dance!  But what happened to the elevator music they normally play?  Who cares!?  It was awesome.   

While I like to think that we each are pretty skilled dancers, we probably looked no better than Troy and Abed. 

The Cadillac of Christmas Trees

Although I wanted to start decorating for Christmas the day after Halloween, I made it all the way till December 8th.  We finally bought our Christmas tree!  And I love it.  

This is the first time in a long time that I've had a real tree, so I had no idea what kind of tree we wanted.  The best I could suggest was, "maybe a fir?"  Apparently, there are many types of "fir" trees.  (Alex knew more about them because he used to sell them when he worked at Target a few years back.)  So anyway, we powered through my tree ignorance and just went for it.  I didn't like the floppy kind, or the too-light-colored kind.  I wanted the "needles to go all around" instead of in one direction. (Does that make any sense?)  Alex very patiently helped match my anti-descriptions to a real tree.

And then we found it.  Its branches were strong enough, the color was right, the needles were perfect.  It was a Noble Fir.  (I'm trying NOT to remember the other kinds, because I want to remember what kind we liked next year.)  We had it all picked out at Lowe's and then found out that they didn't have any more of the material they use to bundle it for transport.  BUMMER.  We had to get it up three flights of stairs, so bundling it was necessary, or we'd lose all the branches on the way up.

So, we went down the street to Home Depot and the hunt began again.  At least this time I knew what kind we wanted.  We went over to the Noble Fir section and began pulling trees out.  Well, it was more of me saying, "Grab that one! What about that one?  Can you reach tat one?" while Alex pulled, spun, and nicely put them back one by one. (I should mention that Amelia was a very patient tree-hunter, all comfy in a sling on my hip, until about the last 5 minutes.)  Fortunately, we found a tree more beautiful than the first one I fell in love with. (It might not have been, but I didn't care.  I liked it.)  With the decision made, I took Amelia to the car and Alex took care of the tree buying/cutting/bundling.  

On the way home, I did a quick Google search on my phone to see if there was anything special about taking care of a Noble Fir tree, and came across a website that said, "The Noble Fir is the Cadillac of Christmas trees."  Well... YEAH!  Of course I'd pick the Cadillac.  It's small-ish, but it's still a Cadillac.  

And here he is, in all his glory:  Mr. Caddy

Like I said, small-ish, but a Caddy no less. :) And you can't tell in this photo,
but there are WAY too many lights on this tree (yet still not enough!). 
I'm sort of a lights fanatic.

This is from Amelia's point of view. 

So cute, right?!

What Women Want

Diamonds.  Right??

Not this lady.  What I want... is to bake like my Grandma.  And boy howdy, I did it!!

Check these puppies out...

Grandma's Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Cookies

They're kind of a secret recipe, only not really.  The recipe has been shared, but most people who've tried it haven't quite gotten it right.  So, with the recipe in hand, and a few tips from my Dad (the only person I know to have successfully replicated them, although one of my many aunts may have done it) I gave it a whirl.  After just a few minor adjustments to the baking time, I did it.  And they were amazing.

There was one enormous small problem.  My Grandma had 9 children.  This recipe made enough for 9 CHILDREN.  I realized after 3 batches coming out of the oven and it looking like I hadn't even put a dent in the bowl of dough, that I'd have to continue baking the next day.


They are Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Alex had never tried them before.  (I was secretly hoping he'd LOVE them so I'd have an excuse to make them more often, but also secretly hoping he wouldn't care for them, so I could freeze them and eat them all over the course of the rest of the year...ok, so there weren't that many... but I could have eaten them all over a month or two.)

The verdict:  He loves them. 

"They taste kinda like mini-muffins.  You know, the kind in the little bags.  And they're all round on top, so you should call them Muffin Tops!"

Maybe I will... 
may...be...I...will... (said in Britta's voice)