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When Ella was a baby I heard at some broadcast the suggestion that we should use hymns as lullabyes for our children. So I started singing "I Am A Child of God" to Ella every night before bed. It sort of backfired as she began to associate the song with bedtime- her least favorite time of the day. Whenever she would hear it her little face would burst
into tears automatically. I had to take her out of sacrament meeting many times because of it. So we had a long moritorium on that song in our house. At some point Andrew reintroduced it into the bedtime routine and now, ironically, it's her most-requested song. I think she's mature enough to know it's not the song putting her to bed and can now direct her tears and angst to the parties responsible. Which she does, very maturely.

So I couldn't resist taping and posting this moment from yesterday.

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Stuffed Squash

Even though it doesn't feel like autumn, the produce the in the stores makes me want to cook autumnal. My favorite new autumn recipe from the new Cuisine At Home Weeknight Menus Cookbook is Stuffed Squash with Sausage and Gruyere Cheese. I like serving it to guests because the leftovers don't keep well and Ella and Andrew just aren't impressed enough by the fact that it is served in the squash.



For the Squash:
2 acorn squash
olive oil
kosher salt

For the Stuffing:
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 lb sage-flavored pork sausage
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 cup dry sherry
4 cups dry spinach
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup grated Gruyere cheese, divided
balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 425. Slice each squash in half horizontally; scoop out the seeds. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half to allow the squash to sit flat. Drizzle squash flesh with oil; sprinkle with salt. Place squash halves on a baking sheet, flesh side down. Roast squash 15 minutes. Flip squash and roast 10 minutes more. Remove squash from oven. Heat broiler to high and place an oven rack 2 inches below broiler. Heat the 1 T oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add sausage to the skillet. Saute the sausage, breaking up chunks with a wooden spoon, until meat is browned and cooked through, 8-10 minutes. Add oinion to sausage in skillet; cook until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Deglaze skillet with sherry; simmer mixture until most of the liquid is evaporated, 2-3 minutes. Add spinach to skillet, stir and toss until spinach leaves are wilted, 2-3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, sitr in bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of the Gruyere. Scoop 1 cup of the sausage mixture into each squash half. Sprinkle remaining Gruyere over sausage mixture. Return stuffed squash to the baking sheet. Place squash under the broiler until Gruyere melts, 2-3 minutes. Remove squash from the oven. Drizzle balsamic vinegar lightly over each stuffed squash half. Enjoy!

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Big Day

I took Claire and Ella to the park this morning. This particular park is next to some properties with farm animals. So we paid them a visit.



The goats were happy to see us, but disappointed that we didn't bring food.




Then while I was at the Relief Society broadcast, Andrew took Ella to the Stanford/UW football game with her "best friend" Jameson. Ella cheered for UW. She's partial to purple.




She liked the cheerleaders best. At least it's not the Dynamo Devushkas.




Thanks Jameson for the invitation and tickets! I'll have to come up with something equally awesome for the Priesthood Session next Saturday.



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Claire's so funny

Ella thinks it's hilarious when Claire sneezes.

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Oh Claire

Claire is on Ella's long list of best friends.

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Good Morning

It's so nice to have a morning person in the house.



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Happy Birthday Mom and Dad!!!

My parents' birthdays are just one day apart. When I was little, I thought that's how you knew you had found the right person to marry. Ella celebrated their birthdays with this video:

Since I'm not as cute when I sing, I celebrated by compiling a list of the top ten things I like about each of them. Since mom's a few hours younger, I'll start with her:

10. Trained me for years to have all-day shopping stamina
9. Made a lunch for me almost every morning
8. Loves reading
7. Can't resist cookbooks and cooking magazines
6. Screamed classically when she discovered the mouse that we put in her canoe
5. Always had a not-so-secret stash of See's bon bons on hand
4. First person to expose me to NPR
3. Throws the best dinner parties
2. Not afraid to live in another country or speak another language
1. Took me to the theater

Now for dad:

10. Earnestly believes that almost any job can be accomplished in 10 minutes or less
9. Taught us all how to downhill, cross country and water ski
8. He loves a challenge
7. He loves technology, even though it rarely loves him back
6. When we had sleepovers, he still "let us sleep in" until 7 am on Saturdays then assigned chores to our friends as well.
5. Words like "spiro-gyra" in everyday vernacular
4. Still within 8 pounds of high school graduation weight
3. "A bad jelly bean is better than no jelly bean at all"
2. Practicioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police daily exercise plan
1. "Chris, I have 40 minutes between cases. Get the boat and come pick me up."

We love you mom and dad and hope you had a great two days.

Cousins dinner

Jameson and Jessie invited us over for dinner on Sunday. The food was great and Ella had a really good time playing with Jameson. Before we even arrived she told me "I love Jameson! He is my best friend!"



-- Post From My iPhone

Catching Up

So today I'm officially three birthdays behind on my blog. So I'm catching up today. Starting with Julie, who turned 28 on September 2. So part of my present to her (the other half also still undelivered) is my posting of the top ten things I love about her.

10. She has the rare combination of being extremely good at math and makeup.
9. She's the only one who laughs at my asymptote jokes
8. She takes post-dinner walks with me at the cabin
7. She is ridiculously good at laundry
6. She helped makeover my wardrobe on a budget last summer
5. She is a voracious and discerning reader
4. She always has my back
3. She gave me a "cooking for dummies" recipe box for my wedding
2. She can drive all night
1. She's really funny; especially after midnight

So happy birthday, J. I hope you had a great day.

Stay tuned for top ten lists for my parents in coming days.

Best Friends

Ella and our neighbor Alice on their way to the park.






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Back on the wagon

It's not surprising with all the upheaval lately that Ella has started sucking her thumb again. I think it's the third or fourth te. So we pulled out her old friend Thumb Guard again. Only this time its effectiveness is diminished by the fact that she knows how to pull her thumb out of it.
Initial reaction:


Brave happy face:



"I'm sucking anyway" attitude:

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Claire singing

How Claire likes up use her free time.

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What would you do?

What would you do of you had to pick between going to see The Killers in concert or attending the Saturday night adult session of stake conference? What if the tickets were in row ten and free because your friend is the manager? What if your cousin and her husband were visiting that same weekend? What if the only way to see your manager friend were to go to the concert and he could get tickets for your cousin too? And what if Elder Andersen were speaking at the conference?

Fortunately, in true Milt Brinton fashion, I found a way to do both.






Brandon Flowers getting close to the other humans. Or were they dancer?




Lots of people wonder what Andrew looks like at a rock concert so here's the answer. He looks blurry.


Here is what the inventor of the iPhone looks like. He looks like he wishes the people next to him weren't taking pictures of him with his invention.


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Food Styling

For lunch today we had crackers with ham and cheese. When Ella saw me eating a plain cracker she said, "no mom, put some cheese on that cracker so it can be modest."

Later at dinner when I recounted the story to Andrew he asked Ella "Where do you get that from?". She replied immediately, "from Costco."


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Ballet

Ella was so excited for her ballet class she could hardly keep her feet on the floor.


She paid close attention.


She's on the small side. She was also very excited to be one of only two girls awesome enough to wear black.


-- Post From My iPhone