An update... finally!

I know, I know... I'm way overdue for an update. We've been busy, and Lola is on the go so much that I barely have time to grab the camera and snap any pictures of her! (It was so much easier when all she could do was just lie there and coo.) We had a busy weekend hosting Thanksgiving for Matt's dad's family. This week we're having Thanksgiving with Matt's mom, and then we're heading to KC for Thanksgiving with my family and the Stilleys + the lighting of the lights at the Plaza + black Friday shopping (actually, window browsing and BBQ eating) + the last big Border Showdown between MU and KU. I hope to have lots of pictures and stories to share when we get back. For now, here are a few recent Lola pictures for your viewing enjoyment.

Happy turkey day, everyone!

I love country music!

There. I said it.

Over the past several years I hardly ever listened to (nor liked) "new" country. But, this past year (or two) has been one of the best in new country (I think) in years! I watched the CMAs last week, and I was absolutely glued to the TV. There were so many good performances: Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift, Blake Shelton (hottie alert) and Kenny Loggins, Rascal Flatts and Natasha Bedingfield, Zac Brown Band... the list keeps going on!

But, THIS (see below) - this was one of my favorites.

Weeeeeeeeeee!

How often do we get to be outside, barefooted, with no hat and short sleeves in the middle of November in Missouri? Not very often.

I've been complaining about the unseasonably warm weather this fall (crazy, I know), and I think it's because I am so excited for the holidays this year with Lola. I'm ready for those crisp days, when you need a fire burning, socks on, hot tea steeping and something baking in the oven.

BUT, having said all that, today I am not complaining. It's in the 70s, with a nice breeze blowing (terrible for the deer hunters, I know - sorry, dada), and Lola got to play outside with no shoes on... quite possibly for the last time until spring. Who knows. But, we're enjoying it while we can.

In the meantime, I'm in the process of baking the Pioneer Woman's blueberry cornbread mini-muffins. I'll take pictures when they're done and let you know how they turn out!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

There are lots of new things happening in our world. Some are good, some not-so-good (well, there's really only one thing I'm not too thrilled about, but I'm slowly coming around to the idea).

1. The time change! Lola sleeps from 7 to 7. We tried to prepare her by keeping her up a little later last week, hoping she'd sleep a little later each day and be ready for the new time come Sunday morning. It sort of worked... but, not really. So, I just knew she'd be up at 6:00 Sunday morning, ready to party, but she slept until 7:15 (new time!) She literally slept an extra hour on the most perfect night. Hurrah! Here are a few pics from the weekend...

Lola wasn't too sure about sharing her car seat with Oscar

She likes to "sit" on everything (including Oscar, sometimes)

Watching the birds fly overhead (this is her new "face")

Waiting for dada to get home (here he comes!)

2. Lake Harbour Resort! This is the first time I've actually put the name out there. So far it's just been "the new resort at Pontiac Cove." This is probably, pretty sure, most likely going to be the name: Lake Harbour Resort at Pontiac Cove. Yep, we're building a resort. We have never owned/operated a resort. My dad's parents (Joe and Alice Morgan) ran a resort when they first moved to Pontiac back in the '50s. Since then we've only had the marina. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited about it. Phase 1 is one building with six units - three up and three down. Planning to be open by May 2012.

This is what it looks like so far:

3. Mizzou joins the SEC. Sigh. This is the thing I was talking about that I'm not too thrilled about. And do you wanna know why? I'm sad because Lola will never appreciate the hundred-year-old rivalry we have (had?) with Kansas. In recent years we've made it our tradition to spend Thanksgiving weekend in Kansas City, starting with turkey dinner on Thursday at the Stilley house (my brother's in-laws, a family we love dearly, despite their loyalty to KU). We usually spend Friday at the Plaza, shopping and eating. And we end the weekend at Arrowhead Stadium for the Border Showdown on Saturday. In two weeks we'll be heading up there for what may very well be the final showdown between MU and KU in football. (I have a feeling it's gonna be a good one. What do you think?)

Lola may not get to experience the MU-KU rivalry first-hand, but we'll make sure she knows ALL about it. There will be new rivalries in the SEC (hello, Arkansas), and I know good things will come from this. One of these days she'll be chanting "SEC, baby!" and we'll smile and remember the good ol' days in our old conference. So long, Big 12. We're gonna miss ya. (But, we won't miss Oklahoma.)

Trick or treat! (Oink, oink!)

Halloween is over, and it's officially the Christmas season (ha ha, I'm KIDDING - but, you know I'm right). We ended up hitting a few houses in Pontiac last night, starting with the Blackburns, where we got to see their nephews, Hunter and Chase, in their costumes. Lola was particularly interested in the furry little monkey (Chase, age 2). She kept "petting" him.

Do piglets wear tutus? This one does.

There once was a pumpkin and a pig...

...who couldn't care less about trick-or-treating. They just wanted to play with leaves, rocks... and the other one's costume.

We stopped at "Grandma" Jackie's (Regan's g-ma), where we got some sweet potato puffs. What a great idea! Lola ate them like popcorn.

The three little pigs.

See. Rocks.

We stopped at Miss Chris's house (one of Lola's caregivers), where the Bean loaded up on chocolate (for mom and dad).

The candy must get OUT of the house. Last night I ate a butterfinger, snickers, milky way and M&Ms. Eeeek! Then, this morning I had another milky way for breakfast. Thankfully, Matt took most of it with him to work today. Hope you all had a happy Halloween. Now, crank up that Christmas music!

Fall colors, piano "lessons," and a new cornbread recipe...

We took a walk down the 800 dock road on Saturday afternoon. The trees are soooo pretty right now, this picture really doesn't do it justice.

Sporting her black and gold after Mizzou's big win on Saturday

I cleaned out the tupperware and "plastics" cabinet this weekend. I found a set of four plastic mixing bowls that I never use. So, Lola now uses them as a drum set, hats... and a place to sit.

Yogurt and pear face

I tried a couple of new recipes over the weekend. One was for whole grain skillet cornbread. Matt doesn't really care for cornbread, and he said this was "the best cornbread he's ever had." Wow. I thought it was good, but not that spectacular. However, it's definitely good enough to share. It has a quarter-cup of olive oil in it, and you can definitely taste the olive oil. If you don't like the taste of olive oil, you're probably not going to like it. (See recipe below.) On Sunday we made veggie soup, and I ate mine with the cornbread.

Lola really loves to "play" the piano. Sometimes I sit her on my lap and play for her, but she gets bored with that quickly. She likes to listen to her music instead.

I caught this sunset last night... if only I had been a few minutes earlier you'd have seen a gorgeous orange ball (pumpkin?) sinking below the trees. Happy Halloween, everyone!

Whole Grain Skillet Cornbread

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 large egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat an 8-inch cast iron pan or pie dish in the oven. In a medium bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk and olive oil. Fold wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined. Add about a tablespoon of oil to the preheated skillet, swirling it around to coat the bottom. Then pour in the batter and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with honey. (Note: We didn't brush ours with honey because Lola can't have honey yet.)

This little piggy...

Halloween is less than a week away, and I guess Miss Thing is going to be a piggy. As much as I want to get excited about Halloween this year, I just haven't been able to. I didn't want to spend money on a costume since Lola is still too little to really "get it." I kept thinking we'd just make something, or dress her up as a Mizzou cheerleader - we do have the appropriate gear for that. Then, we were at Sam's last week, and we walked by this little rack with just a few leftover costumes, including this piggy vest, and Lola grabbed at it. The face you see her making here is her "piggy face." When you ask her what the piggy says, she wrinkles her nose and "snorts." It's pretty funny. So, we brought it home. We'll probably pair this with a pink shirt and some pink leggings and call it good. I'm looking forward to all the candy she won't get to eat... I remember my parents always stealing candy from our pumpkins. Now, we're those parents. Mwah ha ha ha ha ha!