Strange Eating Habits

Remember the 25 random things I posted a couple weeks ago? Ever since, I can’t help but think of other things I could’ve put on the list but didn’t. For example, the other night as I was eating a DQ Blizzard in the bathtub, I got to thinking about strange eating habits I have. Does anyone else love eating in the bathtub? Ice cream is especially good. Sometimes I even give the girls a little dessert during their bath, they think it’s great. Or throw in little snacks that float and they pick them out of the water like mini-marshmallows or Froot Loops. Messy faces are easy to clean up and they love it.

Probably my strangest eating habit is that I don’t like my foods to touch. If they had adult-sized divider plates (not plastic but real ones, like Pfaltzgraff or something) I would own them. The worst is when you’re at a potluck – that’s why I can only choose like 3 or 4 foods. Heaven forbid have my roll touch another food. Or have spaghetti sauce run into a fruit salad. Yuck!

Luckily I don’t think the girls have inherited this trait, so far anyway. And Jeremy thinks it’s pathetic when I won’t eat something because it’s got remains of another food on it.

Then there’s Bella. She has a strange eating habit of her own.

This is how she eats her food every time, if she doesn't eat it all at once. She will eat all the food from 1/2 of the bowl, leaving 1/2 almost perfectly clean and the other half untouched. Is that normal for dogs? Jeremy and I always think it's kind of strange. It's like you divided the bowl in half and that's exactly what she ate. Hey, maybe it's a sign that she wants divided plates/bowls, too!

(Jeremy, I know you're shaking your head right now at how weird I am.) :)

Our week

Whatever sickness Emily had last week, I of course got this week. So we've been hanging around the house most of the week, relaxing, playing, and just keeping up with household duties. I love and need to get out of the house most days, but it's nice to be lazy, too, and just play with the girls rather than hurrying them to get ready, get out the door, get home, eat, take naps, etc. Here are some random pictures from the week:

Mom, here is Emily with the Valentine's card you sent her, the one that reminded her of her seal game!

Both Bri and Emily have been having fun with their new kitchen set. The one they got from grandma and grandpa for Christmas, but it didn't get put together until grandpa was here to help last week!

Emily and her friend Molly in their matching shirts yesterday:

Bri getting some love from Bella:

I wish there was a way to contain them under the highchair for long periods of time. Then again, Bri would probably start hitting Emily and pulling her hair. Right after I took this picture, Emily spilled her snacks under here and then a dog head joined the other two underneath (Bella cleaning up the spill).

That's about it from the Brandt house. Jeremy has been working so hard lately and getting lots of new business; I am so proud of you, honey.

My Valentines

Hope you all had a fun Valentine's Day! We started the day with a Valentine's breakfast at grandma's; grandma hosted and I brought the food: Annie's breakfast casserole, heart-shaped french toast and heart jello jigglers.

Then we brought the girls home for naps and they slept 3 1/2 hours at the same time which was wonderful. Then we were off to the airport to drop off Mark and Susanne. We then had the great idea to take the girls to the Mall of America since we were so close; I guess everyone else had the same idea for Valentine's Day. We have never seen it so packed. So much for a recession! But the girls had fun watching all the activity and seeing giant Dora's.

Who knew taking turns riding up and down the escalator with daddy would be so much fun:

Lounging at the bean bag store:

How I love my Valentines:

Submission

This morning Jeremy's parents talked at our MOMS group at church and did a wonderful job. They talked about submission, so in honor of that I am doing something for my husband. He is always telling me I need to give more business cards out to my friends, but I hate doing that, I'm just not the saleswoman type. If you don't know, he is an American Family insurance agent. He started from scratch four years ago, which means he's had to find all his clients on his own. So here's my plug: we all need insurance, right? Car insurance, homeowner's or renter's insurance, and hopefully you have life insurance, too. If you want to help out a friend and maybe even save some money, give him a call for a free quote! 763-576-8800. THANK YOU!!! No pressure (seriously) but with the economy as it is nowadays, I like to give business to friends when it's something I need anyway. Or if you're not looking for a free quote but know someone who is, give them our number! And besides Minnesota, I believe he also his Wisconsin and Iowa licenses if you or someone you know live in those states. Thanks a million!

Pigtails

Bri's hair is finally where I can put it in some little ponytails in the back. The problem is that she never leaves them in. She is constantly trying to pull out Emily's ponytails as well, which Emily obviously doesn't appreciate (and neither does mom.) The other day I had both the girls in little pig tails, it was really cute. Of course Bri's didn't last more than a few minutes. But just to document, I took a picture before she pulled them out:

(Quoting Bri in this picture): "Ha ha, mom, all your hard work on my hair is soon going bye-bye! I would rather have crazy, out of control hair that gets in my face and usually has a rats nest in the back rather than give you the satisfaction of leaving it as it is right now."

Bri's First Haircut

Last Saturday we took Bri to get her first real haircut. I have trimmed her bangs a couple times but it needed some more work. And since we took Emily at about this same age to get her first real haircut, we didn't want to jip the younger one! I was amazed she sat in the chair as well as she did, she's usually pretty antsy.

Emily loves getting her hair cut, so she had a quick "pretend" haircut after Bri. (AKA, a brushing.)

Then afterwards, she hopped down from the chair and went right to the sucker basket. She's no dummy!

Cupcakes with Grandma

Jeremy's mom is here for 2 weeks and the girls have been busy having fun with grandma. The other day they made ice cream and today they made cupcakes. Side note: Grandma has nicknamed Emily "cupcake" and Bri "jellybean." Bri was napping during the frosting portion, but here is Grandma Susanne and Emily:

Emily went crazy doing the frosting and sprinkles, and even crazier eating the cupcake. With all that sugar in her system, it wasn't surprising that she didn't want to take a nap until 3:00!

Jeremy's 25 Random Things

Here are Jeremy's 25 Random Things. I almost didn't post it because of #1, ha ha.


1. My wife is the most amazing person I know, I don’t deserve her.

2. I once passed up a “Free” trip to Rome because the flight was too long… huge mistake.

3. Arrested Development is my favorite TV show of all time. (If you haven’t seen it rent it today)

4. I proposed to my wife and we weren’t even dating…(Praise God she said yes)

5. I have either the best luck or the worst luck, there is no middle ground with me…good thing it’s mostly good.

6. I was born in Okinawa Japan. 31 yrs before I was born my grandfather fought in WWII in Okinawa, Japan.

7. I am a very emotional individual. (Cry easily, laugh easily)

8. I have only been in one fist fight and it changed my life (long story)

9. I have seen the following Broadway plays: Phantom of the Opera (2 times), Evita, Miss Saigon, Les Miserables (3 times),

10. I hate Pot Roast.

11. My two biggest regrets in life are the same thing…I broke up with my wife twice while we were dating.

12. My favorite food is steamed clams.

13. 10 years ago I hadn’t golfed 10 times in my life…I golfed over 150 times this past summer.

14. In 5th grade I was the lead in Psalty the Signing Songbook.

15. My first 24 hours of marriage all of the following things happened (in order): wife set her hair on fire, I got dragged across a coral reef while snorkeling, I wrecked our rental car.

16. I puke very easily at bad smells.

17. I had orange peels in my nose when my first daughter was born…(See #16)

18. I had to fly the first day you could after 9/11.

19. I pooped my pants 2 years ago while walking my St. Bernard. (I was 30 years old)

20. I was hit by a drunk driver my senior year in high school…(My truck was totaled L)

21. My favorite place growing up was Panguitch Lake, Utah.

22. I was at the best golf tournament ever….(2008 US Open at Torrey Pines)

23. The most scared I have ever been was when my 8-month-old daughter had intussusception.

24. I can’t beat my wife at ping pong.

25. My poop was blue for a whole week once…STUPID SNOW CONE FLAVORING!!!

25 Random Things

This is to my readers that are not also on Facebook. The big thing on Facebook now is to list 25 random things about you. Many of you might already know most of these, but I thought I would put it on here anywhere.

25 Random Things

1. My relationship with God is the most important thing in my life. It affects everything I do. No, “affects” isn’t a strong enough word. It’s the core of who I am.

2. My husband Jeremy and I met on a missions trip to Mexico our freshman year of college. We dated for 5 years, broke up twice, and have been married almost 9 years. There is never a dull moment with him, he is the funniest person I know.

3. I grew up in the country near Lincoln, Nebraska, and lived in the same house my whole life until I left for college.

4. Ok, now for random. Our cat has a giant lump on her back that has been developing for the past couple months. However, the vet told us yesterday that it would cost between $850-1500 to get it removed, so we’re not!

5. When our first daughter Emily was born, she came out with what looked like tight black curls. The first words out of my mouth were, “What race is it?”

6. My volleyball team made it to the state tournament my senior year. Winning districts was one of the best feelings I’d had (at that point in my life!)

7. Jeremy and I have gone on so many fun vacations together: Maui, camping in Colorado and Idaho, Orlando, Cancun, Las Vegas, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, and so many more. But the best has been Maui.

8. I have a sister who’s a high school senior. We are hoping she comes to college here next year!

9. I started getting into golf last summer and I love it. We went to the US Open last year and had the best time.

10. I am helping out with the MOMS group at our church this year and love it. It had been such a fun and needed group for me, I wanted to help others experience the same.

11. I am married to the “luckiest” man alive – if there is a drawing to win something, rest assured, he will win.

12. I love scrapbooking and just went on my first weekend retreat; I had a blast and can’t wait to do it again.

13. I taught high school math for 8 years. Now I work part-time from home managing the shipping of logs from the midwest to China.

14. I took piano lessons from kindergarten through 2 years of college. I used to play for church and weddings a lot, but don’t play much anymore.

15. I really enjoy reading but don’t take the time to do it much anymore. If I start a Karen Kingsbury book, nothing gets done around the house until it’s finished.

16. A year ago I didn’t even know what a blog was. Now I’m addicted to writing on my own and reading those of friends.

17. I love reading Joel Rosenberg’s blog about the end times.

18. My favorite food is ice cream.

19. I LOVE staying home with my girls. I could stay home my whole life and find plenty of things to occupy myself with!

20. I hate speaking in public but unfortunately had to give a speech at my high school graduation.

21. I do not put milk on my cereal, and I despise “condiments.”

22. I have the best in-laws a person could ask for (two sets, actually) and love them all.

23. I love to cook and have friends over for dinner. Some of our friends’ favorites are homemade pizza, enchiladas, and 7-layer bars.

24. When I was pregnant I craved Long John Silver’s.

25. Without family in the area, I so treasure my friends up here, both college ones and newer ones from church and elsewhere. And it’s been fun catching up with old ones, too, on Facebook!