Five Brown Kids

Here's Jaxon playing soccer!

Jaxon is busy with fall soccer. He runs fast, he scores goals. Totally in his element. He could stay at practice for hours. And speaking of sports loves, Taye starts year round swim team next week. Go Taye-berry!

I'm making this on Sunday. One of Tyrone's favs. What a way to end the summer - nothing fresh at all! (Also known as BTS cake - but when Hannah lived with us at BYU we used this slightly more modest name :-) 1 Devil's food cake mix, cooked in a 9 x 12 pan according to instructions 1 can condensed milk 1 jar of caramel 1 container/8 oz of cool whip 1 skor bar, frozen and then crumbled When the cake is done, poke holes all over the top and pour caramel and condensed milk all over the cake and let it soak in. Let cake cool and then ice with cool whip and sprinkle the Skor bar on top.

Chances are he'll want to trade it. And if he wants to trade it he'll be looking for something really "rare". And if he trades it for a rare 2 headed tie dye phoenix chances are he'll then want to exchange it for two jumbo monkeys. And if he has two jumbo monkeys it's more than likely that he'd be willing to trade one for a glow in the dark sponge bob. If the glow in dark sponge bob breaks chances are he'd be willing to trade four cars, two dinosaurs and a tree to get a rare genie that sparkles. And if you want the genie with sparkles he'd be willing to bargain with you for a tie dye american eagle, two unicorns and a lizard. And if he's tired of the lizard chances are he'll be more than happy to trade it for rare 2 headed tie dye phoenix.

Before the summer is over this salad is worth a try. We ate it first in New Hampshire with Carrie's family and Tyrone's been talking about it ever since. This recipe comes from The Recipe Club. Salad 1 large bag spring mix baby lettuces, or two heads of romaine lettuce chopped 1 can mandarin oranges, well drained 1 pint black berries or raspberries, rinsed & patted dry 1 pint strawberries, quartered 3/4 cup feta or Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled 1/2 cup candied pecans (sauté gently with butter and brown sugar) Fresh Citrus V inaigrette Juice and zest of 2 oranges and 2 limes 1/4 cup sugar 2/3 cup oil Whisk vigorously in a bowl. This recipe makes a ton of dressing. Use sparingly. If you add too much dressing and it sits for any length of time it will turn into a soupy mess. Add dressing and pecans just before serving.

Friday morning Tyrone and I were headed to the temple. We got the boys packed up and out the door on their usual carpool ride with neighbour friends. Then we dropped off Scotia at Emily's and picked up Emily's oldest to drop off at school. That means about 15 minutes after our boys were dropped off by a neighbor, the principal (who is on a first name basis with all the kids), saw the Brown boys' parents show up and drop off someone else. In retrospect it must have seemed kind of odd. In other related Brown boy news.....they spent a large chunk of time on Saturday outside skateboarding with friends. When they finally came in drenched in sweat they all grabbed water and plopped down on the couch. Ewww . "Excuse me boys, I think you are all wonderful, but would you mind just sitting on the coffee table to play Wii . Thank you."

When Taye wasn't teasing or swimming this summer he was reading. During all the summer days at home I just mandated some quiet/seperate time for everyone's sanity. Scotia played in her room, Jaxon took a nap and Taye read on the couch. Plus Taye's afflicted with the horrible "can't fall asleep til I read something" gene (straight from me) and that meant a lot of reading this summer. He knocked off the first four Harry Potter books and The Invention of Hugo Cabret (which was his favorite of all). I don't know the page count but that's a pile of page turns.

This yummy supper is our take on the Panera Bagel Breakfast Sandwich - we got hooked on them on our Boston trip and this homemade version tastes fantastic too! 6 bagels, sliced 6 sausage patties, cooked 6 sunny side up eggs 6 slices yummy cheese We toasted and buttered the bagels. Then layered the bagel with sausage, egg and cheese and then broiled it for just a minute to melt the cheese. Cover with the other half and then serve with some fruit salad and everyone will be happy.

The boys had an awesome summer swim season. Taye didn't lose a regular season race all summer long and Jax wasn't far behind. They both attended the city meet for summer swim - a championship of sorts for the county. Taye placed 2nd in freestyle (0.01 seconds behind a year around swimmer - I think Tyrone's heart is still pounding!), 4th in fly and 8th in back. Jaxon placed 8th in freestyle and 11th in back. The nice medals hanging around their necks are from the city meet. Scotia just started swimming this week, so next year we will have three little brown swimmers!