Room for One More?

I found myself wondering earlier how many chocolate chip cookie recipes there have been in the history of the world. It's a confectionery mainstay, so I'm sure there are thousands. Is there room for one more? I adapted this one slightly from The Picky Palate.


Categorically I do not like white chocolate. It's impostor chocolate. But I think even white chocolate has a place...and it's right in the middle of these gooey chocolate chunk cookies.

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 c. white sugar

3/4 c. packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract

2 1/2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 large symphony bars chopped into chunks

1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips

1 c. white chocolate chips

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in the chocolate. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 11 minutes.

The Plan

Warning: The following post contains more pictures of Seth. You will not cry unless you're my mother.



I know Halloween is more than 3 months away, but this time last year I already had Seth's costume planned out and partially in-hand. "You know what month this is right?" Matt asked. Seth wasn't even born at the time, but whatev. I absolutely love clever baby costumes. Once the kid is older I don't so much care how awesome their Halloween costumes are, but there's just something about a really great baby costume that excites me. I obsess.



Soak up the following Seth pictures and let's see where your mind takes you. Then I'll tell you where mine took me.

I'm assuming he'll have a little more chub and a little more hair by the end of October. This costume is going to be easy and hilarious. I've already started searching out all the necessary components. Do you want to know the plan?

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

If there is a sudden influx of infant Nacho Libres this Halloween, this is my proof that I thought of it first.

The End of the World As We Know It

A friend of mine has asked me to implement some kind of warning system on my blog. She wants to know before she starts reading whether or not she's going to cry. If it can be worked into the system, she'd also like to be warned how much she's going to cry. While I have yet to actually engineer the system, I want to state for the record that this post will not make anyone cry. Unless you're weird and in that case I can't help you.

We have reached another milestone. We have arrived at that place.






My cupboards are no longer safe.

Seth is relishing his new-found ability to pillage. I'm not. I'm really not a fan of those child proof hook things. Of course they're necessary on the cupboard with the cleaning products, but on the others they're just annoying. I guess we'll just have to see how quickly he moves on to a new trick.

p.s. Check out the biceps coming out of that muscle shirt! Okay, it's really just fat. But it's cute nonetheless. When I make my own world, I'm going to make fat on a 33 year old just as cute.

p.p.s. No, I am not going to wash all that stuff before I put it back in the cupboard. Turns out, flying solo with three little boys almost completely cures OCD.

How's That Again?

Tonight Brigham tenderly informed me that he loves me even when I yell at him. I reminded him that I only yell at him when he's being naughty and making bad choices. "But Mom," he protested, "That's just the way the world is!"

Therapy

This is not a cry for help or an invitation to a pity party, it's just a peek into another aspect of my life. No cause for alarm, it's par for the course. I might delete this particular session once I have it written; we'll just have to see how it goes...That said, lately I have been mourning my attractiveness.

Yesterday I was unpacking yet another box and I found the huge stack of cards and letters that were sent to me when Matt died. I flipped through a few and found one in particular that hit me all over again. It was a short note from a girl Matt and I went to church with when we were dating and engaged. She wrote:

"I got word of your loss some weeks ago...and have thought of you often since. I remember a time when I taught you and Matt was waiting for you. I was going to rush through the lesson so he wouldn't have to wait long, but you said something that caused me to melt inside. You said, 'Don't worry, he would wait forever if he had to.' You didn't even bat an eye when you said those words-I thought for a moment, 'What would it be like to feel such love.' "

I started thinking about this even before I found that note. As a woman, there is an enormous amount of power that comes from knowing someone loves you that much. I think about the affect women have on men. I believe the old adage that behind every good man is a good woman. That doesn't mean women are 2nd rate citizens, it just means that for the most part, every successful, driven, happy man has a good woman loving him and supporting him and cheering him on. Guys, I'm sure you would agree that there is nothing in the world like the love of an awesome woman.

Matt died 10 months ago today. I am reminded constantly that there isn't a soul on the planet who feels that way about me anymore and I really, really miss it. It's like I've lost my super powers. No one is excited to come home from work at night because I'm there. No one's eyes light up because I call them just to say I'm thinking about what an incredible person they are. No one feels a little less stressed during their busy day because they know I'm at home, holding down the fort, believing they can do anything they put their mind to.

Well, maybe Hunter does. The other day he did something pretty cool and I said "Dude! You're a rockstar!"

"I am a rockstar!" he confidently exclaimed.

Slaying Spiders

I do not love my newly acquired responsibility of slaying my own spiders. At all. Not even a little. I cannot tolerate spiders in any way, shape or form. In the next life God and I are going to have a pretty serious sit-down conversation about a thing or two; spiders are on the list. Don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of those spider freaks who actually take them back outside when they find them indoors, instead of just smashing them. Sorry siblings, but they are hardly endangered creatures and if they are in my house, they are uninvited intruders. Those get smashed 'round these parts. Anyway...

So I was just moments ago moving some framed pictures to another part of the house. When I lifted the very last one away from the wall I was horrified to see an enormous spider lurking where the picture had just been. Oh the dilemma I was faced with...smash it with a paper towel or suck it up with the vacuum perched mere inches away...

Right now it must be said that I really enjoy vacuuming. I respect my vacuum. In a matter of a nano second beautiful images of me twirling with my vacuum in a field of wild flowers flooded my mind--only to be disparaged by a monstrous spider climbing out of the vacuum hose and devouring me right in front of the frolicking bunnies and doves. Clearly the situation would have to be remedied with a paper towel...

I dashed to the kitchen for supplies and ran back to the dining room before the nasty thing could eat my baby, pouncing on it with my wad of paper towels like only a mother defending her young would do. A blood curdling scream escaped my lips as the spider tried to run for safety, leaving two of its legs behind. The legs.kept.moving.

Turns out that a blood curdling scream is one of the few sounds that will startle 7 and 4 year old boys from a video game daze. Of course they wanted to know what the commotion was all about. When I got to the part about the spider's legs moving without their formerly attached body, Hunter burst into little-boy-turned-mad-scientist laughter. "That's really creepy...and funny!"

A new spider slayer in the making?