Sunday, July 29, 2012

2012 Summer Olympics


Dadda monkey and I love watching the Olympics. Every 2 years, we faithfully sit glued to our TV to cheer on the USA in various sports. We've also been fond of discovering new sports we didn't know existed and trying to figure out the rules. This year we've been intrigued by handball. I've always wondered, how do you go on to be a champion in some of these obscure sports. For example, I'm pretty sure my PE classes never had a handball session. Maybe Bro Bro monkey could be a natural at handball, but how would I find out? That's one thing I want to make sure I do for my monkeys; I'd like to give them the experience to try as many things possible and if they want to try something new, then I will dutifully sign them up to try it whenever I can.


Monkey girl is enjoying watching the gymnasts, but for some reason, she only wants to watch when there's a girl in a pink leotard. I don't think she quite has the grasp of the Olympics yet, but it's a start. I also have to mention I was shocked by the number of Judo flag carriers in the opening ceremony. I never knew Judo was so popular and honestly don't think I've watched much (if any) Judo, but now I'm curious so I'm going to keep an eye out for Judo when it's televised. Archery was also interesting yesterday. In fact so much so, that I completely forgot I had a neighborhood event that I had committed to. We were a little late, but had a good evening and made sure to have the DVR record the Olympics while we were out. As I sit typing this, the TV next to me is airing volleyball with the whole Monkey family watching. What Olympic events do you enjoy viewing? GO USA!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Ebates

I do a lot of online shopping and before I finalize any purchase, I always go check ebates.com to see if I can get money back from that merchant. Every quarter we get a check for the amount of 'ebate' we've earned. I've used them for a couple of years now and it's just a little bonus for the online shopping I do. Here's an easy link for you to signup and start earning cash back for yourself.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Pinterest Cupcakes

I'm a big fan of Pinterest, mostly because I'm already a big fan of internet surfing and my list of bookmarks is out of control. Pinterest allows me to view mostly pictures and in a sense bookmark them online in one central location where I can access it from almost anywhere (of course they have an app for that too).

 Anyways, Dadda monkey's birthday was last week so we decided to bake him some cupcakes. He's a huge fan of Andes mints and I happened across a recipe for Andes mint cupcakes on Pinterest. They were a big hit, even with the kids. I'd recommend decreasing the amount of mint extract for the icing just a bit, but they really did remind me of an Andes mint. I also have to work on my technique for filling cupcakes because most of them had very little filling. Also, my green food coloring came out faster than I expected so they're more green than I wanted, but I highly recommend this recipe.