There's a cookie monster at our house--the chocolate chip experiment

Mixing the dough

Smells yummy and they haven't even baked yet!

Official dough sampler

Sir Mix-a-lot

Waiting is the hardest part

Sometimes it is easier with a little help

The whole household turns out to sample the goods

Daddy gets in on the action

"Step aside, Daddy.  I'll show you how it's done."

Recipe courtesy of Seasame Street B Book, Books about Cooks

Chocolate chip goodness!

Waiting for them to fall off the counter

A Sibling Love Affair

Have you ever witnessed a sibling love affair?  I'm blessed to report that I get to witness one every day.  If this sequence of unposed pics doesn't convince you that siblings can love each other profoundly from the very beginning of their young lives, I don't know what will.

He teaches her how to climb up on high places.

Giving a helping hand as needed...

Congratulating and protecting her once she's there.

...and maybe pulling on her ear a little bit.

Or maybe a lot.

Unless she gets scared...

Then he gives her a hug and a pat on the back.

Until she gets down.

And then does it again.

Later, when he gets to go outside...

She doesn't get to.

But he makes that better, too.

Canal Trail

Almost every day, I walk or run along the canal trail behind our house.  I always enjoy this outing, and it has become a ritual of relaxation for me.  Under the guise of exercising the dog, I traipse up the hillside and off I go into a world all my own for a half an hour to an hour or so.  The scenery is beautiful, but it has become so familiar to me from seeing it so often that I rarely think to photograph it. The other day I was so struck by the intensity of fall colors along the trail, I returned to the house to get my camera.  I didn’t take any panoramic shots at all.  Instead, I found myself lost in macro mode, discovering textures and details that I had never seen before.  I came back from my walk refreshed and exhilarated, humbled by all of the beauty that I had been missing as I walked right past it every day.

Orange

 

I've been enjoying participation in a local group of women photographers who have all taken a wonderful class entitled Momtography, led by an amazing professional photographer who found her passion taking photos of her children.  She has graciously set us all up on a group Facebook site where we can share the joys and challenges of photography and motherhood, among other interests.  She is also motivating us to explore new themes with a weekly "assignment" to photograph and share with the group.  This week's theme is ORANGE.   I missed the "deadline" (if you can say that there is a deadline--it's a pretty relaxed group!) because I couldn't choose which of these to upload.  Which one do you think is the orangest of the orange?

Hulse Family Portraits

We posed our own family portraits down at Hydro Park on Saturday with varying degrees of success, but a good time was had by all!  We did our best to make a tried-and-true location on the walking path bridge work out as a backdrop, but most of my favorite photographs from this outing are the spontaneous ones that presented themselves on the way back to the car.  Timmy was crazy motion, and following his antics was crazy fun!

Someday I'll figure out how to photoshop a smiling face on Timmy for this photo, but I couldn't resist posting it as is because of Emily's joyous wave and expression of delight.

Pop and Nana with the kiddos.

Nana with her posse.

Standing still to gather his strength for some serious running around.

And so it begins:  sand-kicking man.

Climbing rocks at the beach.

Running man.

Nana and Timmy.  He picked this spot and said, "Come sit with me, Nany."

One more pause to gather strength...

...and off he goes again!

I asked Timmy who was taller, Timmy or Pop...

He thought that was pretty silly!