Not Worth Mentioning

A few years ago I decided my life's dream was to win a cooking contest. Since this decision I have entered many chili cook-offs and dessert contests and even entered my cookies in the State Fair. I've never even come close to winning or even been mentioned honorably.

Tonight was our church's annual Fall Festival which includes a chili cook-off and pumpkin dessert contest. I decided to concentrate my efforts on the dessert contest and found a recipe for Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake. I recently bought a spring-form pan and have been learning the art of cheesecake baking. (Which, by the way, doomed our no sweets month. Sorry, Jeff. I blame myself entirely.) Cheescakes generally take about 5 1/2 hours to to complete. Not cool, but totally worth it. When my cheesecake came out of the oven, I declared it the prettiest thing I've ever made and took a picture of it.


We went to the party where Harrison and Chloe ate crackers and cheesecake for dinner.



They announced the winners of the chili cook-off (one winner and one honorable mention). Then they got to the desserts. Some sort of pumpkin cake won. Whoopee. Then they picked up my cheesecake pan (with one slice left) and announced that it was the honorable mention. I stood up and declared, "That's mine!" That's when I noticed the confusion at the dessert table. The cheesecake in the pan next to mine was, in fact, the dessert they wished to mention honorably. And just like that, my dream was shattered.



We had a good time and the kids enjoyed the trunk-or-treating. They're still awake and we're partaking of their bounteous candy. Here's a video of Harrison trying to eat a donut and win a whistle.


(To activate this video, click on the movie screen once and then click the play button.)

What's my surprise?

We had a fairly uneventful week, but Chloe was dressed in a cape for most of it, so it seemed exciting. Thursday morning I told Harrison we were going to get a surprise later in the day. He was filled with anticipation and spent the day guessing the surprise. A car? A train? Bob the Builder pajamas? I packed them in the car and took them to a pumpkin patch. "What's the surprise?" Harrison asked as got out of the car. I happily told them they each got to choose their very own pumpkin. They were underwhelmed.

Saturday we went for a walk as a family. Harrison told me he was going to pick me the biggest leaf he could find, "Because you're big, Mom."

A few days ago Chloe said, "Mommy pretty." I felt all warm and fuzzy inside. Just to be sure, I said, "Mommy pretty?" "Yeah," she said, "Pooh pretty, too."

They're doing wonders for my self-esteem. I just finished another pint of Haagan Dasz.

Jeff's interviews have been flowing in. To the left I've listed places he will interview for his intern year. A list of residency interviews will follow shortly.

According to last week's poll an overwhelming 54% of you believe "Grey's Anatomy" is the most overrated amongst Tennesee Williams (9%), Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (9%), and celery (27%).

On Camping

We finally did it! We went camping Friday night at Jordan Lake and everyone came back alive. I discovered that Jeff could probably win Survivor and I wouldn't make it past the application process. I enjoyed listening to Harrison explain what it is that we do "on camping." For example: after burping and saying "Excuse me," he said, "I forgot! We don't say excuse me on camping!" (Apparently that's the rule at the Father's and Son's Campout.) Chloe had a great time searching for rocks and taking her flashlight everywhere. I declare that Reece's Peanut Butter Cups are the best thing to ever happen to s'mores. (Thanks for the tip, Tammy and Alvin!) You can see proof of our totally sweet camping trip in the slideshow below.


I know you're all curious about the results of last week's poll. It seems that 50% of you believe that celery is worse than the final seasons of Gilmore Girls, Alias, and Veronica Mars. I would have to agree.

Proof of our camping trip!

The Camping Curse

Every time we have ever planned a camping trip, something goes wrong. Either it rains, or someone gets sick, or I remember how much I love being indoors; in any case, we seem to be cursed when it comes to camping.

Last weekend was our church's annual campout. We talked it up for weeks and Harrison asked me every day when we were going camping. Then the little darling got sick. We promised him we would take him the next weekend and that seemed to passify him.

Late yesterday afternoon our area finally got the rain we'd been hoping for. Melissa don't camp in no rain. (Neither does Jeff, so lay off!) Harrison was so sad when we told him we couldn't go camping. We decided to set up a tent in their bedroom and let them sleep in their sleeping bags. They loved it!

They played in the tent,

had fun with their flashlights,

took a picture of Mommy looking like the Wizard of Oz,

and eventually they both got a good night's sleep in their own beds.

We've promised Harrison we'll go camping next weekend
. . . unless the curse continues.

How to shoot your kids.

I've decided that in order for my lucrative photography business to be well underway by the year 2012, I'd better get working on it. I found a great book by Arthur Elgort called Camera Ready: How to Shoot Your Kids. His first piece of brilliant advice was to get in close. I tried this out during bath time. The slideshow below is the result.

Someone told me I need more pictures of Jeff and me on the blog. The thing about that is, pictures of me don't seem to exist. That's a lie. There are three. Three that I would put on the Internet. And in one of them, I'm wearing an authentic Saudi Arabian veil.

Also, Jeff and I are giving up sweets for the month of October, so we're going to look completely different soon, anyway.

P.S. I had to delete my slideshow because the song was too daggone annoying. Here are a few of my favorite shots from bathtime.