A Recipe: Bittersweet Beachside Brownies

We made these brownies for an event this past weekend - they are outstanding. Some slight 'tweaks' to the recipe though:

1. Use one or two extra TB of flour when mixing the dry ingredients. If you don't, the brownies tend to be a little more crumbly than we like them. Adding the extra flour makes them a little more 'cake-y' but they hold together better.

2. For a little extra kick, we add a rounded half-tsp of cayenne pepper to the flour before we fold it into the wet ingredients. You can vary the amount of cayenne to suit your own tastes.

Here is a link to the recipe: 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/bittersweet-beachside-brownies-recipe/index.html

Test Post - New Family Website Launched!

So, how does all this look?

Requisite Picture Of The Kids

Test Post From the iPad

Just testing.

May 15, 2011: The Brat Charity Golf Event in Memphis, TN

We traveled to Memphis for the weekend of May 14-15 for some great BBQ, lots of great times with old friends, and for a charity golf event called The Brat. I had the great fortune to play a round of golf with Bob Crable, former All-Pro linebacker from the NY Jets; for All-American from Notre Dame, and former standout from Moeller High School in Ohio. A nicer guy it would be hard to imagine.

 

We also got to see a Memphis Grizzlies game from a skybox suite.

April 30, 2011: Cody Turns 9

We have a new moniker for Cody Ambrose: the 9YO architect. He celebrated his 9th birthday with friends at lunch, and there was much rejoicing.

Following lunch we went to a Go-Kart place and raced like fiends!

 Other racers:

Bailey

Hunter

JamesRileyJack and Ben Jack

Hunter again.

Anthony

Ben

And one more of The Birthday Boy himself:

April 28, 2011: Revolutionary War Night

April 28th brought Revolutionary War Night to Bailey's school. Bailey starred at Marquis de Lafayette.

There were also not one, but two, Ben Franklins present.

We also have some videos from this night which we'll link in once we get them formatted and uploaded to YouTube. Look for that in the future.

Update: June 2, 2011 Here are some videos from the evening. First, Marquis de Lafayette.

Next, Ben Franklin:

Next up, Benedict Arnold:

Another Ben Franklin:

Piano Recital - April 16, 2011

Cody and Bailey played a piano recital yesterday afternoon. Here is a video of Cody's performance (two songs):

And here is Bailey's performance (also two songs):

I'll be back later to post some still images that Carolyn took, but for now I wanted to get these online.

Bailey's Book Report on John Scalzi's "Old Man's War"

Our 10-year old just finished a book report for school, in which he took on John Scalzi's Hugo Award winning novel Old Man's War.

The book is a longer book than he normally reads for school, and is probably not perfectly age appropriate for a 10-year old grade school student, but several things led us to decide to allow Bailey to take on this challenge. First of all, Bailey is a pretty smart kid, and appropriately enough he asked us a lot of questions about the book while he was reading it. When he asked a question that we felt he should not really know the answer to, we just told him that. 

Second, Bailey loves to read. Better to have him reading above his grade level than not reading at all. 

Additionally, Bailey has a strong interest in science - along with history - and he loves to read, and Old Man's War is, after all, an award-winning novel and was voted the best science fiction novel of the last decade.

Finally, Bailey is an owner of a first-edition copy of the book, with a personalized autographed inscription by the author, John Scalzi. So, there's that, too.

Anyway, here is a link to Bailey's book report. 

We're very proud of his efforts reading this book, and now Bailey is looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the universe.

Additional information:

John Scalzi blogs HERE.

The Old Man's War Amazon page, if you want to get the book yourself, is HERE.

Finally, at filmcritic.com Scalzi reviews SciFi and Fantasy films HERE.

Bailey Turns 10...

...and Carolyn and I wonder, what the heck? Where did 10 years go? Here is a picture of John Bailey at birth.

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And here is one from yesterday, when we took Bailey, his brother, and a buch of friends to see a movie:

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We could not be happier with our 10 year-old son, nor with his little brother Cody, who now gets to have the next birthday in the house.

So, Happy Birthday, John Bailey!

Piano Recitals - November 13, 2010

Cody and Bailey both played in a piano recital last weekend. 

Cody went first. He was a little nervous, though he played well!

Then Bailey played. He never gets nervous! 

Carolyn and I are both very proud of our little piano players!

Faith Lutheran Kidwerks Program - Kids Interviewing Kids

As part of the Growing Faith campaign at Faith Lutheran, Bailey was asked to interview other kids about the First Look and Kidwerks childrens' programs. 

Here is the video:

Piano - October, 2010

Bailey had a piano recital last weekend. Here is what he played:

Afterwards, Cody took to the ivories and played a little. His first official recital is in November.

Minnesota: July, 2010

Cody at the Kirby Puckett statue outside the new Target Field in Minneapolis.

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We went to the Twin Cities last weekend for the 'pivotal' four-game series between the Minnesota Twins and the White Sox. I put the wordpivotal in quotes since the Sox lost three out of four games but still, as of this writing, lead the division by 2.5 games, and hold a 3 game lead over the Twins.

The Twins have a fabulous new ballpark, that must be conceded. And they had some raucous crowds for the two games we attended. We had great seats for both games - front row bleachers for the Saturday night game, and front row box seats for the Sunday 1PM game.

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Yes, the Twins have a player named 'Hardy' (Carolyn's surname) so we took this picture:

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Here is a picture of the Twins' stud Joe Mauer:

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And here is a picture of Cody's favorite Sox player, Carlos Quentin:

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It was a great weekend in the Cities, we got to reconnect some old friends and see some good baseball (despite the Sox losses) and spend a lot of quality time together. This shall be a new annual event.

Cody's Golf Lessons

Cody started 1st Tee golf lessons at a local course today:

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He's very excited, mainly because when he finishes this week's lessons, we'll be playing on 'real' courses and not just bashing balls around in the field behind our house. He has no idea, really, that I'm way more excited about that than he is.

Bailey starts his week of golf lessons next month. We're all going to be playing together by the end of the summer.

Third Grade Musical

Some videos from Bailey's Third Grade Musical. Bailey was A Beatle:

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Cody Turns 8

Cody is second from the right in this picture, taken yesterday on his 8th Birthday.

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Cody's older brother Bailey is on the left; the others in the picture are The Boys Of The Cul-de-Sac. They all had a blast yesterday, and Cody had a nice time on his birthday. The movie-and-cake party will be next Saturday. 

So, Happy Birthday Cody Ambrose!

UPDATE: Here is a picture from the party:

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Bailey's Recital, April 24, 2010

I don't think we could possibly be prouder of Bailey than we were during his recital today.

Enjoy.

Valentine's Day Cards for U.S. Navy Doctors

Last week, Bailey asked "Dad, which of my uncles is in Afghanistan again?" I told him it was his Uncle Paul. Bay then stated that he wanted to send Uncle Paul a Valentine's Day card. What's more, Bay wanted to get all his classmates to send cards too. 

(Bailey's and Cody's Uncle Paul is a U.S. Navy doctor.)

But that's not all - Bailey asked how we could get more people to send Valentine's Day cards to Uncle Paul and all his friends in Afghanistan. He wanted to promote it on our website, on Facebook, on Twitter. Bailey wants everyone to send Valentine's Day cards to his Uncle Paul and Paul's friend in Afghanistan.

I called my sister Megan, Paul's wife, and here is what she e-mailed to Bailey:

Hey Bailey!

Uncle Paul would love it if your class made Valentine letters or cards for them. He is very homesick and all the girls and guys in his unit love to get mail!!

Paul divides his time between Camp Dwyer and Camp Bastion. These are 2 bases in southern Afghanistan. He takes care of people who get sick or injured, including American service members and Afghani families.

I am attaching 2 photos. One is of Uncle Paul in his Marine Uniform. The second photo is one that Uncle Paul just sent me yesterday. A lot of schools in Afghanistan have been closed for the past few years because of the war, but guess what? Last week, the Americans helped the Afghani people open a school that had been closed for over 4 years! And guess what else? It was the first time they allowed girls to go to school. Isn't that crazy? Girls should be able to go to school too don't you think??

Thanks so much Bailey. Uncle Paul will love it!

Aunt Meg

So, can you join us? Please consider sending a Valentine's Day card to Paul, and his units at Camp Dwyer and Camp Bastion. Have your kids make Valentines for the men and women serving at Camps Dwyer and Bastion. The address is below:

1st Medical Bt, Det B
Unit 42117
FPO - AP 96427

Below is the picture of Bailey's and Cody's Uncle Paul in the desert:

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And below is the picture of the school that the doctors and medical staff helped re-open after it had been closed for four years:

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Receiving mail from home is a real morale-booster for the men and women serving overseas. It would be great if everyone who sees this can take a few minutes, make a Valentine for Paul or one of his campmates, and send it over. Hand-made cards from your kids are especially appreciated.

So please, take a moment of your time, and help make the day for one or two of the people serving overseas.

Here are a couple of the Valentine's Day cards that Bay and his classmates made.

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Here is the address again, grab a pen, write it down, grab your kids, make a Valentine, send it on over! The medical staff at Camp Dwyer and Canp Bastion will be grateful! Make their Valentines Day! Make yours! Send the Valentine today!

1st Medical Bt, Det B
Unit 42117
FPO - AP 96427

A Nicely Expressed Sentiment

A drawing from Cody, sketched September 3, 2009. I can't find a thing wrong with this picture, nor with the thoughts he's getting across.

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Artist's notes: Bailey has a football on his shirt; Mommy has a heart on her shirt; Dad has a fish on his shirt, and is wearing Nike shoes (note the "swoosh" or as Cody calls them, checkmarks); and Cody has a skeleton head on his shirt.

That is all.

Throwing Out The First Pitch

I was not sure Sam Fuld could handle my heat, so I kinda lobbed it in there for him. Yeah, that was it.

Afterwards, I got Fuld's autograph. Told him, no matter what else happens, him and his teammates need to get after the damn Cardinals.