forgiven

The feisty one: Mommy, remember when I called you an idiot?
Me: yes.
The feisty one: Well, I forgive you.

Assumed translation: I am forgiven for whatever I did that made her made enough at me to call me the meanest thing she could think of.

peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies

I'm kind of a peanut butter freak. The other day I had the hankering, so I made these. I was out of the chocolate chunks, so chips worked just fine. The trick is to underbake them. Here it is, straight from Ina Garten:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies

1/2 pound unsalted butter at room temperature

1-1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup good smooth peanut butter

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 pound good semisweet chocolate chunks



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.



In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla and peanut butter, and mix. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt and add to the batter, mixing only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks. Drop the dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using either a 1-3/4-inch ice cream scoop or a rounded tablespoon. Dampen your hands, flatten the dough lightly, then press the tines of a wet fork in both directions. Bake for exactly 17 minutes (the cookies will seem underdone). Do not overbake. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

brittip: I think her cookies must be huge--if you're not going to make huge cookies, take them out sooner than 17 minutes; my first batch was dry.

*hoot*

This project made me happy.

It was a

{hoot}

for me,

so I thought I'd share.

Before:


After:



Here are some of the fine feathery details:

birthday wishes

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday. I had a great day.



We decided to make it a "candle party" as the tiny person says. Here are some pictures of the delightfulness of a candle party:


yes, that is a naked dress form modeling Pepper for all to see.



I have been converted to the idea of birthday wish balloons as seen on nie's blog. It's a very nice idea to think of the coming year and decide what is important for you individually. Then it's also nice to read a plethera of happy wishes from the people around you.






jake decided to attach glow sticks so we could watch them disappear into the starry starry night

You can find me here today in a little guest spot about motherhood.

pepper's debut

Sorry it took me so long to get you pictures of Pepper. Here she is, and she's rearing to go. To grab her fast, go here or here.

xo
Britt

sunday activities

My boy asked me if he could use my camera to take a picture of his Legos. This is what I found waiting for my personal enjoyment:




his self portrait after the lego war

My littlest person spend a very long time making sure that there wasn't any white left on the page:



My eldest led the troops in karate lessons. She called herself Chin Wu and they got very into it. (notice the attire of #3--she called them her "karate clothes" and when the lesson was over, she spent the rest of the afternoon in her undies.) Unfortunately the picture I took was not an action shot:



I had a hankering for some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. So I made some. They were delicious. I'll share the recipe later:)

The Bishop was in meetings all day and didn't return home until 6:45pm. There were cheers all around when he walked in and after dinner we happily joined him to watch our family favorite. In this particular episode, Bear Gryllz practically freezes to death and eats the eyeball of a Yak (it was gross!).

some things that made this very gloomy day a happy one

Having a little house guest to accompany me upon all the following adventures:

(she’s home from school with the sickies)

Going to the park to play

Coming home and making hot chocolate and a fire

Getting my ticket to Twilight on line

Having our favorite IT guy {aka: daddy} invade our computer screen

and write love notes to us

Making home made apple sauce

thankful

the issue of toes and pregnancy

since i can't reach my toes anymore, i decided to hire this new girl. She hasn't had much experience, but that's okay.

Practice makes perfect.
now every time I look at my toes I feel a pang of joy,
because the girl who paints my toes now loves me

and i love her back.

thanks, #1.

giving thanks

My favorite person hung out on the same 1.4 acres as me all day yesterday. This is him fixing the broken window. He never lets me take pictures of him so I had to sneak.


My awesome dad came into town and took good care of me. He made every meal! He cleaned up every meal! He even did the laundry! Grandpa Wonderful.


These shoes are great. I don't have to bend down to put them on (and if I did, Jake got me a shoe horn that is like 2 feet long--isn't that cute of him even if it makes me feel like a grandma? Baby A is sitting loooooooow and I can't bend over without causing myself great pain and anguish.). And they are a little big, so my feet swelling hasn't been an issue and I can wear thick socks with them in the fall weather. I had to bend over a little to take this picture because my belly was in the way.

a giveaway

The wonderful Vanessa from I Never Grew Up is hosting a giveaway featuring my aprons. Perfect timing for holiday shopping! If you’re interested in winning an apron, head over there and check it out. Then if you don’t win, come back over and buy an apron anyway:).