Blonde Brownies

Oh I love Blonde Brownies!  This recipe was written down on school notebook paper years ago.  It is butter stained, scribbled on and has been crumpled up many times.

It is a tried and true recipe. They are very, very rich and finger-licking good.  You need this recipe so here, for your chocolatey/butter cravings are Blonde Brownies.

1 cup melted butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
Chopped walnuts
Chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar together.

Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. 
Then add the dry ingredients.

Did you know that baking by candelight is really fun! 

 Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips, by hand.

Spread batter in a 13x9 cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished product.

We all ate them too fast!

One-Year Anniversary

Today is my One-Year Anniversary of blogging.

Perhaps you don't think that is a big deal to celebrate, but I do!

So, I've lit a birthday candle and I'm typing by candelight to celebrate!

See, for some strange reason I was really scared to blog.  One of those lies got lodged in my head.  When I would think of starting a blog the lie would kick in repeating over and over again:

Who are you that anyone would want to read anything that you write?

Well, because of the courage that I've written about, and because many people in my life over the years have told me I should write, I chose to believe the truth.  The truth being that I can write (somedays) and that just maybe my little stories and ditties might make somebody laugh!  Or that God just might want to teach me something that I could share with the rest of you. 

So, Blogging-Reader-Friends, happy anniversary to you!  Maybe you've been reading since August 26 of last year or maybe you joined up with me at some point along the year.  At any rate, celebrate with me!  And hang on, let's see what this next year brings us! 

I remain, so amazed, at the God of Creation and all that He has done for me!  I give God the glory for any storytelling or writing gifts that come squeaking out of me.  And I would like to challenge you to continue looking for His amazing wonders.  Maybe you don't know His amazing love.  If not, ask Him to show you who He is.  God is amazing.  Jesus is amazing.  Holy Spirit is amazing.

I leave you, by candelight, with these words from the one of my longtime favorite singing groups, Third Day.  

Magnificent Holy Father
I stand in awe of all I see
Of all the things You have created
But still You choose to think of me
Who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to set me free
The only thing that I can give You
Is the life You gave to me

This is my offering, dear Lord
This is my offering to You, God
And I will give You my life
For it's all I have to give

Because You gave Your life for me
I stand before You at this alter
So many have given You more
I may not have much I can offer
Yet what I have is truly Yours

This is my offering...

Water Balloons

They are a part of summer for the XY chromosomes.


Kidlet Three and his friend, Daniel, asked if they could have a water balloon battle in the backyard on one of the scorching days of our summer.

The balloons I had purchased happened to be pink and blue so they did rock-paper-scissors to see who had to take the pink balloons.


Kidlet Three ran to the bathroom sink to start filling his weapons. Daniel was at the kitchen sink filling his.

The giggles that came from each room were priceless. Honestly, I think they were having more fun filling those goofy little balloons than they did throwing them at each other.

Neither boy can tie the ends of the balloons so I was really busy tying. Kidlet Three would race from the bathroom and hand me the balloon and as soon as I handed it back he was gone in a blur to start filling the next one.

It took them longer to fill the balloons than it did for them to throw them at each other. Seriously, these two friends wouldn’t hurt each other even with a water balloon. They made half-hearted efforts at throwing the balloon directly at each other so those balloons were breaking all over the yard. But again, the giggles and laughter rang out loud and clear.

Water balloons. A staple for a boy’s summer. Next time I’d better buy a bigger bag and definitely NOT pink ones!

P.S. I was on a family vacation for a week.  Sorry for the delay in posting.

Apples to Apples

Kidlet Three and his friend, Daniel, beg me to play Apples to Apples with them. 

There is a youth version of the game but, no, they want to play the adult version.

So many times when playing the adult version they encountered cards in which they either 1) can't pronounce the word, or 2) they have no idea what the cards means or who the person is on the card.

Yet they love to play the game.

Daniel stayed overnight recently and as soon as they were awake they were begging me to play.

So we played.

If you've never played Apples to Apples, the green-colored card is placed face up on the table by the person whose turn it is.  Then, the other players look at the seven random cards they've drawn and they are holding in their hands.  Each player picks one of those red cards and lays face down on the table with the intention of trying match what was on the green card.

The person who is "it" shuffles the red cards and then turns them over to decide which red card they feel most matches or represents what is on the green card. 

These boys make me laugh hysterically every time we play this game.

Here are a few photos of just plain funny cards those boys laid down.

Did I mention that the boys are twelve years old? 
One of them thought their first kiss was would be "twisted"!   Both did verify they have not been kissed by a girl.... whew!   And oh the argument that pursued in that the New York Yankees have made the most twisted trades, and are a twisted baseball team...it made my head spin!

It was my turn so they had to match the card "idiotic".

After turning over those two cards and having to decide which

red card matched "idiotic", I told them that whoever laid the

WOMEN

card would not be getting breakfast....

that made them laugh even more!

No comment here.
Boys...I was playing with boys.  Twelve-year-olds. 
They giggle and laugh and are just so much fun.

Amazing times.  I love it.

25th Wedding Anniversary

First, thank you for coming back to this site.  After reading my last post, I knew I might lose some readers so, thank you, for coming back!

Today, August 10, The Husband and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

It's a miracle!   Here is our wedding party

We had a wedding service that brought glory and honor to God.  Many have commented to us that they had "goose bumps" during our ceremony.  Those weren't goose bumps, that was the Holy Spirit.  God was there and He was blessing our union.  And I am so grateful!  See, He is the third party in this marriage.  The cement, the mediator, the encouragor, the Way!  He is the "third cord" in the following verses with The Husband as one cord and me as the other:

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

The Husband and I made a covenant with one another at our wedding.

We are commited to each other...forever.

And that happens because of the Third Cord.

God has been there with us all the time.

The birth of our Kidlets; good times, crazy times,

sad times and mad times.

God has been there with us all the time.

God gets the glory of 25 years of marriage.

This is one of my favorite photos from our wedding.

My brother, Jim, was a groomsman.

He was so proud that day!

He is with Jesus today and I know he is saying "you did it"

Praise God!

Straight Lines...

Warning:  After reading this post you may be embarrassed to admit you know me.

I find myself enjoying things that are in straight lines.  I don't walk around thinking..."hmm...I wonder what I'll see that is straight today"... that would be too weird.

It is more like I was walking through the Main Building of my work complex and I noticed the lights on the ceiling.  Really unusual, unique lights.  And then I noticed how they were placed.  In a line.  Which made them even more beautiful.  So I took a picture of them.  You do know I carry my little camera in my purse, don't you?

Kidlet Two has picked up on my straight line appreciation.  He grabbed my camera as I was driving one night around dusk. 

It looks like we are driving straight into the sun!  He did a nice job getting this straight line image.

Windmills are popping up all around our community.  Tall and slender and....straight!

In a straight line they are turning and providing energy for us.

I love this picture of the driveway at my parent's house.  Early in the morning with a little bit of fog, I found myself drawn to this inviting "line". 

This is the hockey arena in the park by our house.  This is a shot right in the spring as the ice is starting to melt.  Kidlet Two has spent many hours on this ice during the winter.  He and I made daily trips to the rink watching the ice melt (that sounded pretty pitiful..."we went to watch the ice melt"). Actually, we were betting each other when the ice would be gone.  I love the line of the area.

And it did melt....

Now this field has quite a story to it.  It is a field by Prairie Woman's house.

I was leaving her house this past spring and the corn was just starting to poke up from the ground.

If you squint really hard, you'll see "rows" of corn.

I was driving by this field and got just really, really excited about the lines of corn.

And I needed a picture of this.  A close up picture.

So I pulled over to the side of the road, grabbed my camera and ran into the field.

Squatting down I took a couple of pictures trying to capture the lines of baby plants.

But something didn't feel right.  I looked around and my car was going by itself down the road.  I kid you not!  My car was moving.  I am not a runner.  I am not an athlete at all.  But I had to run...run...run to catch my car.  Oh I was so scared and and in total disbelief.  All I could pant was "oh God...oh God...please let me catch my car".  Somehow I did catch up, I got the handle open to the driver's side door but then I had to run and jump into the car...just like the stunt people in movies. While the car was moving I had to jump into the driver's seat.  It wasn't pretty but I did it.  My heart was pounding and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.  I was shaking!  And then I looked around to see if anyone had seen me.  Another Lucille Ball moment.  She would've done the same type of thing....

I had been so excited to get a picture of baby corn poking out of the ground that I hadn't put the car in park when I had pulled over.

Seriously.  What was I thinking!  It is nothing less than a miracle that the steering wheel had been left straight because the car could've gone right into the opposite ditch.  I was so blessed that it went straight.

There..I said that word again!  Straight.  I do still enjoy and appreciate straight lines.  Especially this straight road that I could drive home on with my car.  Very thankful to drive and not have to run after it.