Happily Ever Mock

Christmas in July

Hallie and I had a wonderful weekend! We got to spend plenty of time with family! Hallie got to see ALL 4 of her grandparents and even some of her friends!

And of course being the 24th and 25th of July (Friday and Saturday) we celebrated Christmas in July! Aside from listening to nonstop Christmas music for 2 days, this is how we celebrated:

On Friday:
Cleo and Sadie still had some business to attend to before we could get to the fun stuff! They had reading to do and some math to practice and what not.  Hallie busied herself reading Christmas books and playing with her favorite Christmas buddies:

Where is Baby’s Christmas Present / Frosty the Snowman

I tried to make Math fun by giving the girls Christmas themed word problems

After math, the girls were anxious to watch their favorite Christmas movie! So we curled up with some popcorn!

 Cleo and Sadie both wore red for the occasion

After the movie we baked some cookies

While they were cooling though I had a fun game planned:
Christmas Carol Pictionary:
 I wrote names of Christmas Carols on paper and the girls took turns drawing them out for us all to guess which carol they were drawing! It was hilarious!  Among my favorite guesses was: “No talk Night” (Silent night) Sadie left us in fits of giggles! 
When the cookies cooled, the girls had fun decorating and eating their yummy treats! 

We made a lot more, but my hands were starting to get sticky and covered in frosting! It was a great day though!! 
Saturday:
After some fun playing with her friends, Hallie and I went to downtown McKinney with my parents to have some lunch, do a little shopping and of course we HAD to stop into Emporium Pies for their Christmas in July pies! 

They were super delicious! Hallie loved them of course! 
Hope everyone else had a FANTASTIC weekend! Did you celebrate Christmas in July?
<3 Kelly

Oh hey, Friday and Merry Christmas in July!

I am kind of a Christmas freak….I am a holiday freak really, but Christmas is my ABSOLUTE favorite! The carols, the movies, the weather, the cozy clothes, the decorations, mugs of steaming hot coffee, and just the peaceful feeling it gives me! Unfortunately we cannot celebrate Christmas in July with Midnight Mass and the decorations…and the weather certainly isn’t cooling off for the occasion but at least the girls and I can make believe a bit! Make sure to toon into the blog next week to see how we celebrated! 

But for now it’s Oh hey, Friday and I am sharing some of my favorite recent pictures of baby girl!

1.

Here’s baby girl helping me reign in those crazy big girls! 

2.

Rocking the piggies for the first time!

3.

So strong! 

4.

Posing for a picture! Such a model!

5.

Earlier in the week we went swimming with buddy Mira! Her Mommy used to be a teacher at my big girl’s school, so they were dying to play with Mira!

Can’t wait to share all of the fun Chistmasy shenanigans we get into today! 
Merry Christmas and a Happy Weekend!
<3 Kelly 

Pesto Ranch Chicken Pasta

This is my go to easy crock pot meal! Everyone in the house LOVES it too!  And guess what….?
It is 4 ingredients!

Ingredients:
Pasta of your choice
3-4 Chicken breasts (depending on size…if they are large I do 3)
1 jar of Pesto
1 Ranch seasoning packet
(Optional Parmesan and mozzarella Cheese to top)

To prepare:
Place chicken breast in crockpot.  Season with 1/2 of ranch.  Dump pesto over the chicken.  Season with the rest of the ranch.  Let cook on high for 4 1/2 hours.  If you choose you can add a little mozzarella to melt on top in the last 1/2 hour.

Cook pasta according to package. You can also toss a little olive oil and italian seasoning in with your pasta.  The olive oil will help keep it from sticking to the sides.

 Top the pasta with the chicken and a little of the sauce from the sides of the crockpot.  Garnish with cheese if desired!

Enjoy! <3 Kelly

Who, What, When, Where, Why, Wednesday with Leslie

Happy Wednesday again Ladies and Gents…any Gentlemen readers…aside from my Dad? 
Anyway, today I have Leslie here from This is For Keeps!  Her daughter Mila is just the cutest!  You should definitely go give her some blog love today as well as getting to know her here! 


Who?- Who are you?
I’m Leslie and I blog over at This is For Keeps.  I’m a 30-something working mom and I’ve been married for nearly 3 years to my husband, Tim.  We have a daughter Mila (who turns two this weekend) and a furbaby Leonidas (he’s our 7 year old yorkie poo who needed a tough name).  

What?- What do you Blog about?

I blog about a little bit of everything, although I’d say mostly Mila and parenthood.  I started out mostly recapping miscellaneous parts of my life, but once I discovered this little blogging community, I tried to expand my writing a bit so it’s somewhat interesting to other readers!  You can expect to read about anything from Stitch Fix reviews to potty training and everything in between!

When?- When did you start blogging? 
I started blogging back in 2011, a few days after Tim and I got engaged.







Where? –Where do you live? 

I live in eastern Pennsylvania and I’ve lived here all my life.  I often complain about our bitter cold winters here, but I don’t think I could ever move away!

Why?- Why did you decide to blog

I started my blog as sort of a journal for myself, chronicling my wedding planning and then my pregnancy.  I love to write, so a blog kind of just made sense.  This is For Keeps evolved from wedding planning to pregnancy and now to parenthood, so it’s pretty cool to have everything in writing to look back on.  

And for my favorite part of the show…5 random questions to get to know Leslie a bit better!

1. Which celebrity’s closet would you want to raid?
Lauren Conrad for sure.  I love her style!  I’ve been trying to spruce up my wardrobe and a little help from Lauren’s closet would do wonders!
2. What one destination are you dying to travel to? 
This is a toss up.  I would really love to visit Greece, but I’ve always wanted to stay in one of those little bungalows over the water in Bora Bora.  There is probably more to do in Greece that Tim and I would mutually agree upon and I’m guessing Greece is also a bit more child friendly than Bora Bora.  So I’d probably say Greece if I had to choose between the two.  If I happened to find a million dollars lying around, I’d happily visit both places though!  😉
3. Sneakers or high heels?
Sneakers, no question about it.  I despise heels.  I don’t know how so many women do it, wearing heels all day.  I wear heels for an hour and feel like my feet are going to fall off!  My sister and my mom have both made fun of me over the years for my lack of style in the shoe department.  As much as I’d love to have all the cute shoes, comfort is priority when it comes to my feet. 
4. If you had a day to yourself and money was no object,  what would you do?
If I had a day to myself?!  Well, first off, that would be glorious and my first reaction is to say that I’d sleep in and lounge on the couch all day!  However, I think I’d grab Tim and take a day trip somewhere close.  Cape May, NJ comes to mind – where we could enjoy the beach, hit up some wineries, and grab dinner and drinks in their cute little town.
5. What’s your favorite room in your home? 
Hands down, our living room.  It’s the biggest room in our home, so it makes for a great entertaining area whenever we have family and friends over.  We also get lots of sunlight in there and it just has such a comfy feel – I can (and usually do) spend all day in this room.  Another reason why I like this room so much is because of our bold color choice.  The rest of our house is very neutral, but our living room is green – my favorite color.  Growing up, I always wanted a green bedroom and my parents wouldn’t go for it (although, at the time, my favorite color was lime green, so I see their point…).  I was thrilled when Tim said he was on board with the green color swatch I picked out before we moved in.  While a bold green room isn’t most people’s style, it works well in our living room and we absolutely love it.  (Disclaimer: our living room usually doesn’t look like this with a toddler on the loose!)
Thanks Leslie so much for joining us today! 
Please shoot me an email at kelhof87@gmail.com if you are interested in being featured on Who, What, When, Where, Why Wednesday or with collaborating with me here at Happily Ever Mock.  
<3 Kelly

Summer Bucket List Check In

The girls and I have been having a nice and busy Summer! But between their trips, dance lessons, soccer practices, piano lessons and tutoring (my smarties getting ready for their school year early) we have still been able to cross a few things off of our list! 
S’mores
Unfortunately we chose a fairly windy day, so instead of using the fire pit, my Dad was kind enough to let us use his grill!

But they were still yummy!
Hallie thoroughly enjoyed her first S’mores experience! 
But it left her wanting S’more
Celebrating Cleo’s Birthday and Ice Cream Social

 Cleo’s parent’s went ALL OUT and decorated the lawn for her birthday! So cute!

 And we celebrated by inviting the girl’s friends over for an ice cream social!

Movie Theater



We went a few weeks ago to see Max.  I figured Hallie would be good because she loves puppies so much, but she got pretty antsy! We ended up watching 75% of the movie standing in the side aisle.  Oh well. What I saw of it was pretty cute, but I am not sure I can call this Hallie’s first movie going experience.

Swimming

One thing we have done a lot is swim! Oh my it has been so hot here, and the best way to beat the heat is jumping in a cool pool! With 4 weeks of Summer left, I am sure we will get plenty more pool time, as well as checking off some more things from our list!

Hope everyone else is having a great summer and finding some fun ways to beat the heat!
<3 Kelly

Our Blank Canvas Weekend

Like I said Friday, our weekend had absolutely no plans! Sure I had to grocery shop and catch up a little on house cleaning, but no birthday parties, no dinner plans, nada! 

So Saturday morning we got up and went to the gym, because apparently I am one of “those people” now! Hallie of course was a perfect angel in the Kids club the first time we went, but made up for it on this second visit. I was in a  Piyo class (1/2 Pilates 1/2 Yoga) and every few minutes I see Christopher walking over to relieve the caretaker…sorry about your non workout honey!

The rest of the day we did a little shopping, ate little lunch with Tia Joyce and then we played and played and played some more!

These toys were given to her by her buddy Brayen from when he was little and she has yet to put them down!
P.S. NOT okay with how grown up she looks here!

I turned on Marley and Me because Hallie is OBSESSED with dogs and she curled right up with Stella to watch it! It was the CUTEST thing ever!

Sunday we spent the WHOLE day practically by the pool! It was awesome! We went to my parent’s house and Hallie splashed! Her favorite thing though by far was stealing my nephew’s water guns and playing with the pool thermometer! 

 My awesome little sister made me a yummy healthy lunch pool side (which I might have ruined with chips and dip on the way home)

Hallie was super tired and grumpy after the pool so I tried coming up with a way she would sit in her highchair while I made dinner…. 

 My plan consisted of her eating, and throwing the crayons and hugging the characters I gave her to color…at least we know goofy is well loved.. also please excuse the post swimming pre bath hair!

Somehow I was still able to knock out a yummy dinner of chicken in a white wine, mushroom cream sauce and steamed broccoli….which we might have also ruined with ice cream (Don’t tell Hallie!) 

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Happy Monday!
<3 Kelly 

Oh hey, Friday!

Yay! It’s Friday! It’s a Friday with a blank canvas weekend ahead! I can’t remember the last time where I had NOTHING planned for a weekend! I think some pool time might be in order!
This week was a busy one celebrating birthdays, lots of fun with the kiddos, AND…I joined a gym you guys…I AM SOOOO SORE!

Anyway here are our cute pictures from the week!

1.

This is how everyone drinks their milk, right?

2.

Too Many Toys!!!!!

3.

Fun in the pool!

4.

We had an ice cream date with Sadie this week…I didn’t get much

5.

Clapping for the birthday girl!!! Happy Birthday Cleo!

Hope everyone had a fantastic week! Happy Friday!
<3 Kelly

Happy Birthday Cleo!

Happy 12th birthday Cleo! Mrs. Kelly has enjoyed watching you grow up from a cute funny 2 year old girl into the beautiful, sweet and yes, still funny young woman you are! You still have such a sweet heart and caring soul and Mrs. Kelly is so proud of you! I can’t believe in a short month you will be going to Middle School, but I know you will succeed there because you are smart, talented and dedicated! 
In the last few years you have just blossomed (no pun intended) into such a talented dancer and actress and I am so proud of you! 

Thank you for being such a special part of my life. I promise to always be there when you need me too! 

 You have been such a BIG help this year with Hallie and she loves you so very much! Which of course isn’t surprising since you are such a great big sister to Sadie! So many people love you sweet girl! Happy Happy Birthday! I hope all of your wishes come true!

XOXO,
Mrs Kelly

Who, What, When, Where, Why Wednesday with Kelley











Good morning and happy Wednesday my lovely friends! I have such a treat for you today! Today’s guest is Kelley from Love Like Crazy.  I just love Kelley’s blog and her updates on adorable Olivia, AKA Hallie’s kindred spirit! 



1.     Who?- Who are you? My name is Kelley. I love Target. My bank account hates it. I always win.

2.  What?- What do you Blog about? I blog about my husband, who cannot for the life of him tell the difference between a cucumber and a zucchini, my blonde haired blue eyed baby girl, who toured 10 breweries before her first birthday, and our sweet rescue dog Koda who no longer gets any attention. I don’t have my life together at all, and I’m happy to tell you all about it.

3.When?- When did you start blogging? I had to check my blog – I started exactly 3 years ago, almost to the week. (Happy Bloggerversary Kelley!)

4. Where? –Where do you live? We live in Charlotte, NC. Right near Emily Maynard. Who actually moved recently. I’d like to think it had nothing to do with that blog post.

5.  Why?- Why did you decide to blog? I love taking pictures, but do nothing with them, and I have a horrible memory. I know there were so many fun times and funny moments in college – and I can’t remember half of them. Zemkoff vodka had nothing to do with that. I thought it would be fun to have a transcript of the good memories, I would take more pictures and finally have a place to put them.
I was so lucky that Kelley let me pry further and ask her 5 Random questions:

1. What is your favorite children’s book? (Either one you read as a kid or one you love to read to Olivia)
I love reading the Olivia books to Olivia. Clearly they started just because she has the same name. But I think they are pretty funny – so I always enjoy reading those. 

2. Tell us something you love about your husband! 
I love so many things about him. I make fun of him a lot on the blog: like his texting skills and that time when he had mono, but if I had to pick one, I’d say that he is the best dad. He gets her up every morning, feeds her breakfast, and takes her to daycare, all after I have left for work. I mean sometimes I pick her up and she isn’t wearing pants (that was only once) but he is so hands on with her and it is the sweetest thing. 























3. What is your favorite thing to do with Miss Olivia? Now that it is summer, the pool. She’s a little fish. She thinks she’s a fish. She jumps in the water. Arms out. Legs out. Underwater. Eyes wide open. Giant smile. Looking up at me. And I pull her up out of the water and she claps for herself as I say “good swimming.” Clearly, we have a ways to go until she’s swimming. But she loves the pool and we always get a good nap after a few hours of being there. 























4. Tell us something surprising about yourself! 
This one is hard. I’m trying to think of something I’ve never mentioned on the blog. My back is broken. Surprising, when you see some of the antics I’m usually up to. I broke my back in gymnastic when I was little. I always thought it just hurt to do backflips. It wasn’t until tennis in highschool when I couldn’t walk after matches that I went to the doctor. After the season, of course. Because I knew he’d tell me to stop playing. A lower vertebra is broken completely through and it will never heal. (That still makes no sense to me, but I’ve been back multiple times and you can clearly see it’s still broken). My doctor told me never to play tennis again, never to run, and that I would have to have spinal fusion surgery before my 30th birthday. I joined the swim team to strengthen my core. Played tennis the following season (good thing because we won the state championship) and ran through college. I saw the Panther’s back doctor in Charlotte and told him that even though it hurt, if I could workout through the pain, I felt much better than resting – worried that he’d scold me. He believes that keeping the muscles strong around the back can almost cure the pain. Dan and I started doing P90X ab ripper a few times a week – he has 4 herniated disks – and have had 0 back pain since. If it starts acting up, its because we’ve missed a week with ab ripper. So far, no issues! That was a really long answer – but if I left it with “my back is broken” I thought there would be a lot of questions!





















5. Where is your favorite shop to buy clothes?
Baby Gap. Oh for me? I think my entire clothing budget has gone to Olivia’s closet. 
(I know that feeling!!!) 
Baby clothes are so much cuter. I’d say most of my clothes are from Banana Republic. I work in the office every day (half day) and can wear a blouse from BR with pants and a blazer, and then also wear that same top with shorts and flip flops on the weekends. 


Thank you so much Kelley for being a part of this series! If anyone is interested in joining, shoot me an email: Kelhof87@gmail.com

Don’t forget to check out Kelley’s blog! 

<3 Kelly

Hallieisms

Hallie’s personality is really starting to form! There are so many cute things she is saying and doing right now that I just never want to forget! She is silly JUST like her Daddy and she is really starting to test the limits!
Like last night at dinner for example when I saw her waving a blueberry over the side of her highchair and I said “Hallie keep it on your tray” and she looked right at me and dropped the darned thing! I said “Oh that’s so sad” and she looked down at it and said “Uh-oh”. Then as she was drinking her milk before bed. I turned away for a minute and looked back and found that she had squeezed about a fourth of her milk onto the couch! Ah!
So with all of these new funny, cute and yes sometimes sneaky things she was doing, I knew I needed to document them before I forget!
So, here are my favorite current Hallieisms:

  • Hallie has this new laugh where she cups her hand around her face and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! She has also started to laugh anytime we laugh! It’s adorable!
  • This one isn’t really that new, but definitely progressing as she gets older…I am a little scared…when she gets mad at something she has to attack it! So like she’s riding along on her hippo car and accidentally tumbles off…girl comes back for revenge.  She will start screaming and eating it’s face…lately though she’ll bump her tooth and then get’s even more upset….It started out funny…now I’m not sure what to do…
  • She has this face where she crinkles up her nose and pouts her lips! It’s pretty hilarious! If you do it to her, she will usually do it back! Cleo and Hallie could go back and forth for hours! 
  • She will tell you “up” when she wants to be picked up.  However now she knows how to get on and off the couch by herself, yet will still exclaim “up” as she is climbing onto the couch.  I guess she is just being polite and letting us know!
  • She does this new thing whenever she is on tile or hardwood floor where she will keep her hands fixed to the ground, but slide her feet or legs around and laugh hysterically.  It’s really funny to watch! I will have to try and get a video!
  • One of my favorite things she says is “Silly Silly” or sometimes “Silly Dada” or “Silly Stella” It melts my heart! Especially when conjoined with squeals and giggles!
  • Girl LOVES her animals! Any real animal, stuffed animal or an animal in a book has got to be either kissed or hugged! Oh and she won’t leave the house without her puppy or giraffe! 

She is just getting hilarious and I am enjoying watching her personality bloom! 
What are some funny/cute things your kids do or say?