at least stick around for the recipe at the end.

I have 25 people that I absolutely have to come up with Christmas presents for this year. Zach has 1: Me. Is that the case in all marriages?

I have come to the conclusion that making my bed first thing in the morning makes me feel as though I'm starting the day with one victory under my belt.

I don't wear belts.

Quinn and Max are coming in to the stage where they play with each other constantly. And by play, I mean fight.

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but I've been playing Christmas music for a week now. I've found that it keeps me in the mindset of coming up with presents for 25 people. That, and I really like Christmas music.

The other day I let Quinn make his own sandwich. He made a mustard and peanut butter sandwich. And he ate the whole thing.

I'm so tempted to cut out Max's naps completely with how nice it is to put him to bed at or before 8 and have him zonk out immeadiately. Hmm......

Quinn is making up a song right now while he runs around the house. It goes like this: "I got a new magic car!! It's black and it's shiny!! And I got real toys!! And I got this fridge! And I got food in it!!! And this is our house! House!!! HOOOOUUUUUUSSSSSE!!!!!" I think he's onto something.

I upgraded my Picnik account just for the month so that I could work on some pictures for Christmas presents (see? it's all I can think about) and started playing around with some of the
premium features. It's nice to have a good idea of what goes on before a picture ends up in a magazine. And now I'm wondering, is it possible to feel jealous towards myself? Or rather, a fake version of myself:

(Click to enlarge)

Yikes.

And here's a brownie recipe I made Sunday night that was AMAZING. Make them and be happy you did. And don't feel bad when you eat them all within a few hours (with a little help). It's not like it's something you'd do every day or anything.

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 8 inch square pan with oil and then line with parchment paper. Leave edges of paper hanging over the edge so you can lift out the cooled brownies (EASY!).
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla.
3. Stir in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder (Don't over mix or they'll get cakey!).
4. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pan.
5. Bake in preheated oven 30 -35 minutes. Do not overcook.