Today we’ve got a special team post from both Mike and I. I’ll let him start with the March Madness update:
Like millions of office workers around the nation, we’ve taken a break from our regular schedule to fill out our brackets this month. We’ve also done some other stuff too, but more on that in a minute. First we’ve got another French Toast matchup to tell you about. This week’s clash paired second-seeded Blueberry Stuffed French Toast against the three seed, Grand Greenlandic French Toast, for the right to meet Bermuda French Toast in next week’s finals.
First out of the gate was the Blueberry Stuffed French Toast, and it brought its “A” game this weekend. Kristy sliced up the bread and made the blueberry syrup and pecans, while Mike whipped up the stuffing and tucked it into the bread pockets. We stuffed them a little fuller than we did the first time we made them, and that proved to be an excellent strategy.
On the other side, the Grand Greenlandic French Toast had clearly put in the practice time for this matchup. The bread was prepared ahead of time, then expertly soaked in the egg mixture and fried up on the griddle while the orange sauce simmered alongside. Add a slice of orange on top, and it was clear this was going to be a battle.
Kristy had installed the Grand Greenlandic as the favorite going in, despite their lower seed, but in the end, the Blueberry Stuffed was too much to handle. It just had too much flavor, and while the Grand Greenlandic was expertly done, the selection committee voted unanimously for the Blueberry Stuffed. “It has yummy yummy yummy yummy yummy blueberries,” said Miss A. Tough to argue with that.
Thanks Mike! Now for the brief update on our hiatus. It’s been a fabulous month. I really did have every intention of relaxing… 
But we finally got some good snow and that of course meant sledding. Then we had the all-important “Daddy-Daughter Dance,” Miss A and Mike’s first. Miss A had to make her grand entrance down the stairs (Mr. N was the MC). 
To say she was excited would be an understatement. Is anyone else having flash-forwards to 12 years from now? 
Mike and Miss A had a wonderful time at the ball. And if you guessed Miss A danced the night away, you’d be right. 
Next we set off for our first family getaway back to the City Museum in St. Louis, Missouri. 
We traveled with good friends “Friend Sue,” Richard and Sue’s niece Miss A #2. My mom, dad, sister and niece Miss G also came along to join in the fun. And we finally made it to the arch this time. 
If you have any sort of claustrophobia or tendency to develop motion sickness, this ride may not be for you. The elevators are SMALL jelly bean shaped pods that ride you up the arch to the very small viewing area to see the city and Mississippi River. The Gateway was definitely not for me, but the kids had a fantastic adventure. 
Old Union Station with the whispering wall was a bit more my speed. 
And since 2013 is our year in so many ways, Mike and I have enjoyed a few celebrations. 
Both in and out of town. 
Then there was another extended weekend trip to the Milwaukee area to see my old roomie and her kiddos. Try though we did, we could not tucker our kids out even after two hours at a park, two hours at a pool and a movie night. Still we snuck some good girlfriend bonding time in, making cookies, drinking wine and talking for hours after the little ones finally went to sleep. Then there was lots of shuffling the kids around town. Mr. N successfully auditioned for another play and has been enjoying lots of rehearsals. Miss A is now in two gymnastics classes and preparing for her mini-Olympics in June. We’ve been to fundraisers, the Arboretum , and the movies, on dates, girls’ nights, finishing photo albums and hanging new pictures on the walls, and even trying some new recipes. (Recipe coming soon!) 
And we added to the family…Meet Chipper. 
I had my heart set on finding a little orange kitten this time around, but when the kids met this little guy, well, I couldn’t say no. He adores them. This is their first kitty and they are loving every minute of this little guy. Mr. N is quite the protective caregiver making sure Chipper is not diving off the stair railings, falling into the toilets and getting into the LEGOS. He is constantly on safety patrol. Miss A is also full of love for Chipper. She reminds me a bit of this little girl…
His big brother Charlie on the other hand, he’s taking a little bit of adjusting to having a little sibling running mad through the house, and he is running mad through the house and on my keyboard making it quite difficult to type this post. But I have no doubt Charlie and Chipper will be fast friends in no time. He is a joy for us all. 
We hope you enjoyed our flashbacks this past month. Thank you for your patience while we took a little “rest” and put the spring back in our step. We made the most of our time away that’s for sure, but we’re looking forward to getting back at this. Next week we’ll bring you our French Toast Champion, that enchilada recipe and then our cooking adventures to Thailand begin. Here we go!
Eat, Play, Love 
What a wonderful post Kristy, Miss A looks elegant in her dress and the picture of her and dad is just precious
Looks like you had a wonderful time away and I can’t wait for all your new posts.
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Haha Kristy, I know how you feel. Every holiday approaching I wish and long for relaxing and I happen to become busier than our regular routine and wish to have school days back. This time I got cold so it was even worse. Anyway, what a fun month you had – with snow play, trips, seeing old friends, and the cook off! I am sorry I am reading from new posts to old (ruining the fun), but I love all the variation of French toasts!!
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Oh boy I don’t know where to start. First there’s chipper …nice to meet him. (please don’t tell the girls, they are dying for a pet). Then there’s that blueberry french toast, which is making me very hungry. Somehow I don’t think my bowl of cereal this morning is going to cut it. Of course the bottle of Opus One got my attention. I hope you enjoyed toasting to “your year”. So nice to see that 2013 is off on the right footing and you are having lots of fun family time Kristy. (BTW, the Daddy and daughter night at the ball was just so precious. Such a lovely idea. Miss A is really growing up.)
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Oh the Opus One Barb…wow!!!! It was all that we hoped and then some. 🙂
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What a fun month. A trip, daddy daughter dance( she has so much sunshine in her eyes and is so happy), a new family member and some of the most hottest pancake competitions ever. Your photo of the arch is just stunning. Did you have to lay on your belly to get that photo? LOL I cant wait to see the finale of the pancake competition. I can be a QA analyst if you need assistance with taste testing…Have a super weekend, BAM
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I did get pretty low to the ground to take the pic BAM. 🙂 Had to get the right angle!
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What a wonderful addition to the family!! I just adopted a kitten not too long ago and absolutely love having in animal in the house/coming home to one. And I remember the father-daughter dances! Miss A looks absolutely adorable, and I’m sure they had a blast. And wow, that blueberry stuffed French toast looks DIVINE!
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Oh how fun Caroline! I agree – it’s definitely fun to have a little guy (or two) to come home too. 🙂
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After getting over loving those french toast photos, I got around to see the beautiful Miss A. OMG she has gotten so big! And she looked so cute for her Daddy-Daughter Dance. I LOVE that photo. It’s been a pleasure seeing them grow up through photos. Miss A is definitely your mini me
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She has grown-up so much hasn’t she Kay! It’s scary how fast it goes sometimes. 🙂
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What a busy month you’ve had.. it just feels like a whirlwind reading about everything you’ve had going on! 1. I would be afraid of that arch 2. your daughter looks so adorable going to her dance (and yes.. I can see her as a young woman already!) 3. I can’t wait to see which french toast wins so I can try it!! xx
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The arch was just more than I could handle Barb. Glad I did it, but never again! 😉
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so much to say! Okay, blueberry french toast has to be the ultimate version and my fav. Miss A looks beautiful and so excited and I bet she had the time of her life. Love my boys but boy would it be fun to have a little girl to do things like that with. Love the new family addition and those enchiladas look like the bomb
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Thanks Jessica! The enchiladas are tasty! 🙂 You would love them!
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Love that photo of Miss A. in her pretty dance dress. What fun they must have had. My husband and daughter LOVED doing these kind of things when she was little. She’s 15 now, well in two days, and not so much father/daughter dances now. Enjoy them while you can. Girl Scouts is a great way to stretch that out as long as possible. They seem to offer a lot of other opportunities like this. And for Mr. N. look up First Lego League. Seriously, best thing we ever did with my son. I got off track!
Blueberry French Toast for sure!
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Thank you Geni! The Lego league is a great suggestion!!! 🙂
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Happy Easter to you! And my vote will be for the blueberries as well.
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You’re in good company! 🙂
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Blueberry french toast for sure! 🙂 I’m sure it would be my favorite. Your new kitty is adorable and such a sweet pet, I’m sure. Miss A is too cute for words in her dancing glory with daddy, and it looks to me that you’ve just had a very full and wonderful time with family and friends. Surely you didn’t do all of this in just one month? Now you do need another month just to rest! Ha!
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You know – amazingly I feel pretty rested after all of that! 🙂
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Happy (belated!) Easter, Kristy! I always love seeing your adorable family pics 😉
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Thanks Ashley! You too! 🙂
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Seeing that photo of the blueberry toast… it’s no surprise it busted out the other hopeful. It looks amazing :D.
Welcome back – it’s seemed like so long. I hope you had a wonderful time and don’t feel that it’s too much of a “chore” to return to blogging. We all missed you. It was so lovely to see all your photos – it looks like you’ve all had a wonderful time and that arch… dear God, I just looked at it. You wouldn’t get me in that for love nor money. It looks like it’s going to topple over at any moment. I’m not really afraid of heights but that just looks terrifying!
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Thank you Charles! It’s great to be back and feel recharged. You were right – the month off was just what I needed. 🙂 Yeah, the arch is something else. It wasn’t the heights that got to me, but the cramped, crowded space. That and there’s a slight sway to the floor. I felt a bit ill when we came down, but I am glad I finally did it. I’ve seen the thing so many times…I hope you’re enjoying England!!! 🙂
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Welcome back! Wow, were you off for only a month? That’s a lot of fun packed into a single month. I love that photo of the arch, Kristy, looks very cool. I would have felt the same way as you but it’s definitely something I would do, just because. I bet the views were unbelievable. What an interesting museum too.
Now I would have surely voted for the blueberry version too, I can see where you may have to have several tastes of each to determine the winner. Awesome contest.
Now that’s a beautiful picture of Mike and Miss A, you can certainly see the proud Daddy in that pic. Congratulations on all the celebrations! And the new addition for your family.
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I tell you Eva it went by so fast! It was just what I needed to recharge. The arch is pretty cool and you’re right, one of those things you do just because. That said, I’ll never go up again. 😉
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A beautiful post so full of family fun and activities thanks for sharing and welcome back.
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Thanks Norma! It’s great to be back. 🙂
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Welcome back! Miss A must have been the Belle of the Ball. How cute was she? I’ve a feeling Team Blueberry is going all the way this year … well, barring any injuries. A bruised berry in the Final Round could end the Team’s dream.
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LOL! A bruised berry could mean trouble for sure! Mike and I are both leaning toward Bermuda FT, but it’s going to have to bring it’s A-game. The kids I think are leaning heavily toward the blueberry. It’s going to be a close match-up. 🙂
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Welcome back, and boy is that new little kitten adorable!! My girls are going to be so jealous when they hear your kids got a new kitten!! So glad you had a nice month off!!
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Thanks Dawn! He is a sweetheart. 🙂
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Sounds like a brilliant Easter, thank you for sharing 😀
Happy Easter!
Choc Chip Uru
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You too CCU! 🙂
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Happy Easter Kristy! What a full and wonderful March your expanding family has had (Welcome Chipper! You are one sweet boy). Loved all of your photos – how cool is the arch? – but it’s the father and daughter snap that steals the show for me. Beautiful. Looking forward to more madness (of the French toast variety ;-)) and that enchilada recipe – yum!
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Happy Easter to you too Kelly! We’re looking forward to the Madness as well. We’ve had some very delicious Saturday mornings around here lately. We’ve had a great blog respite – and a great month. Life is good. 😉 I’m looking forward to catching up with you again too. 🙂
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Great read! Happy Spring!
Sent from my IPhone
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Thank you! You too Monika! 🙂
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It sounds like a month full of joy and merrymaking…that is terrific. Happy Easter.
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Thank you Karen! To you as well. 🙂
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I vote for the blueberry French toast too – it looks really yummy. And how lovely for Miss A to go to a dance with her father – she looks beautiful and so excited. What a gorgeous dress. I’m glad you’ve had some great times away from blogging and are now fully recharged and ready to get back into it. Happy Easter xx
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Thanks Charlie! You too. 🙂
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