Freeze Frame

Oh, if I could just freeze frame this innocence and sweetness for eternity! We had just finished getting the kids dressed for church, and I happened to be walking behind them down the hallway to the kitchen. With Parker and Lamby in tow, they spontaneously walked hand-in-hand down the hallway. After my heart melted, I grabbed my camera and posed them for a reinactment that I could preserve for posterity's sake. Next time I'm having a bad day, I'm going to pull up this picture!

Brownies: A Family Recipe

At the kids' request, we made brownies this morning in celebration of Labor Day and because Gramma Sue recently sent us a box in the mail. The kids got hooked on making brownies this year while we were at the beach where they set a record of three batches of brownies in one week. (That's a lot of brownies!)

Growing up, my brother and his friends regularly gathered at our kitchen table around a bowl of brownie mix and a pile of spoons. Let's just say that there was never a reason to preheat the oven back in those days! My mom showed them how to omit the eggs from the mix and they could eat spoonfuls of ooey, chocolately goodness to their heart's content while my mom was spared the worry of salmonella.

It's almost twenty years later, and here are my kids sitting around our kitchen table enjoying a similar eggless batch of raw brownies. They just love taking turns stirring and eating the batter. After they've had their fill, I add the eggs and pop what's left of the batter into the oven. As you might be able to guess from these picture, they haven't exactly mastered the discipline of the single dip as so at least for the time being, we're keeping these brownies within the family!

Family Photo

Osten has to bring a family photo to school tomorrow. I couldn't think of a single recent picture that we had of the four of us, and a lengthy hunt through the photo files on my computer left me empty-handed. So...we were at church this Sunday with my camera in tow for the baptism of a dear friend's baby, and we had a friend snap this picture of us. If our track record is any indication, it will likely take another school assignment for us to seize the opportunity for another full-family shot!