Brownies

Anyone who knows me knows how much I like my veggies, especially when they are baked into a dessert.  So many of you won't be surprised to know that I recently made some extra zucchini into brownies.  It could be the pregnancy talking, but I think these were some of the best brownies I've ever tasted.   I'm not stingy so I thought I'd put up a link to the recipe.  If you read the comments, they mention that the batter is really dry at first.  This is true, but they turn out fantastic.  But you don't have to take my word for it...check out Colt enjoying his dessert.

Click here for the zucchini brownie recipe.  Its worth it!

Colt is eating brownie and saying cheese.

Just another week

Nothing too exciting happened last week, but I want to make sure I keep everything current and if I wait for something exciting I might never post.  The boys and I drove into Gillette on Tuesday to watch Brand coach and then we drove to Rapid City on Thursday to go to my doctor's appointment where I convinced my doctor to write me a prescription for a daily back massage from my husband.  (I have yet to get that filled. I might have to get a new pharmacist if I don't see some improvement in the service.)  On Saturday, Brand drove into Spearfish (are you seeing the pattern here) where he worked as a volunteer at the Wildlife Sanctuary.  Brand is supposedly friends with the sanctuary owner, Micheal, but Micheal had him stand in front of the deranged tiger cage all day so I'm not sure what the status of their friendship really is.  This poor tiger was raised with little blonde kids until she got too dangerous and now the old girl can't see little toe-headed kids walk by without play stalking them.  And then when she can't get at them, she gets all riled up and frustrated.  There were a few thousand people at the sanctuary on Saturday and a ton of kids, so Brand said the tiger got a little creepy until she finally got exhausted and just sat there.  If I can get the picture of the tiger off his phone I'll post it later.

This is a typical evening for the family. We go to Brand's school so he can do some work and the short walk usually takes three times as long as it should because the boys have to drive their trucks and Colt insists on picking up every rock and leaf.

Stumper

Dash just asked an interesting question during Family Home Evening.  We had just explained to Dash and Colt that before they came to our family they lived in heaven.  Dash's question: "So who babysat us up there?" Hmmm....

Homecoming

This week was homecoming at Brand's school so on Friday I took the boys down the road to see the parade.  I guess I had really talked up this event because Friday morning around 3 am, the boys came into our bedroom and announced that they were ready to go to the parade.  When we did finally go, around 3 pm, I was a little worried Dash would be disappointed because there were only about 4 floats and a few horses.  I shouldn't have doubted his innocence.  Both boys loved it.  In fact, Dash wanted to walk along after the parade, so I gave it a little head start and then we followed along behind.  When the parade turned onto Main Street it backed up traffic which made Dash super excited because he thought all the cars were in the parade and he was impressed with how long it had grown.  After the parade disbanded at the high school, we finished walking the parade route and made a haul picking up the candy that was thrown on the side of the road.  Upton even won the football game that night, so overall, I would say the day was a success.

Dash and Colt at the homecoming parade. Dash's hat is an innocent little train conductor's cap, but he flips up the bill and manages to look very punk.

Preschool

Since Dash doesn't go to official preschool, I decided to try and do at least one organized preschool activity a day.  Dash loves his "experiments"; that's what he calls our activities.

This is Dash practicing patterns in "preschool". We used forks, spoons, and crayons.  Colt is upset because Dash won't let him touch his homework.

Fishing

Our friends the Booths invited us over for breakfast on Saturday and then Kim Booth took Brandan and the boys out fishing.  It took all morning and some of the afternoon, but they caught ten fish.  Admittedly, they were tiny fish, but the boys, including the big boys, were very proud of their catch. 

Dash and his fish. Though he doesn't have a picture for proof, Colt actually caught the biggest fish of the day.

Brand's Big Week

Big week for Brand.  He turned 29 on Tuesday and coached his first football game on Thursday. 

Brand's B-Day. Colt was scared of the candle.  The front present is from Dash. He wrapped up several things we already had in the house.

Brand coaching his first football game. That's the high school in the background. I didn't include the score because it didn't really end well.

Brand rides his bike to school and after the game the boys wanted to ride home with him. So they all piled on the bike and I pushed the stroller along behind...by myself.