Five Brown Kids

Heaven help us all! -jessica The contractile unit of the myocardial cell is the Sarcomere: - runs Z line to Z line - contains thick filaments (myosin) and thin filaments (actin, troponin, and tropomyosin) - shortening occurs according to a sliding filament model (thin filaments slide along adjacent thick filaments by forming and breaking cross bridges between actin and myosin) Sarcoplamsic reticulum (SR): - are the site of storage and release of calcium for excitation- contraction coupling Steps in excitation- contraction coupling: 1. action potentials spread from the cell membranes into the T tubules 2. during the plateau of the action potential, calcium conductance is increased and calcium enters the cell from the extracellular fluid (inward calcium current) 3. This calcium entry triggers the release of more calcium from the SR (Calcium induced calcium release) 4. As a result- intracellular calcium increases 5. Calcium binds to troponin C, and tropomyosinn is moved out of the w...

Taye and Tyrone made this pizza cake for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet. It won third place! (And one more thing crossed off Taye's crazy list this month) We found the recipe here.

Taye is participating in his school's science fair and needs your help. He is doing an experiment to determine if the placement of extra weight on a pine wood derby car affects the speed of the car. We need your help with a preliminary survey... do you think the car will go faster with 1. extra weights in the back 2. extra weights in the front 3. extra weights in the middle 4. no extra weight at all Ask your husband, ask your kids and then post a comment sometime before March 1. Your help is appreciated!

We won't really be finished with the first year until August but I've got to have a few short term milestones to keep my sanity. And here's a big one; Tyrone has taken 23 exams since he started. Since there are significantly less exams the second year next week he will hit the half way point of exams. He will have taken as many exams as he has left to go. Wahooo!! It will still be busy until the end of second semester but third and fourth should be much easier. So on May 10, 2011 after the last exam of second semester we should see the stress level in this house take a major dive. I'm already smiling just thinking about it... Megan, the countdown on the side is for you! We can do anything for 77 more days.

This tastes as yummy as the real thing but is so easy I don't mind making it on a regular basis. Add a salad on the side and you're set. 1 lb ground beef 1 jar spagetti sauce 1 cup water* (don't forget it) 1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese or cottage cheese 1 cup mozarella cheese, shredded 1/4 cup parmesan cheese 1 egg 2 tbsp parsley 6 lasagna noodles, uncooked BROWN meat in large skillet; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and *water. Mix ricotta, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 2 tbsp parmesan, egg and parsley. SPOON 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker; top with layers of half each of the noodles, broken to fit; and cheese mixture. Cover with 2 cups meat sauce. Top with remaining noodles, broken to fit; cheese mixture and meat sauce. Cover with lid. COOK on LOW 4 to 6 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses; let stand, covered until melted. (Sometimes I use extra noodles to make it a bit thicker. Sometimes I skip the mozzarella and parmesan - depending on what I...

Last weekend the boys and I ran the Krispy Kreme Challenge . It's a two mile run from NC State to the Krispy Kreme store where you try to eat a dozen donuts and then run the two miles back. (I'm sure you can totally imagine the college boys who dreamed this race up a few years ago) In the pouring rain and freezing cold we accompanied 6000 or so other runners on the adventure and had an absolute blast. The running warmed us up. The rain cooled our faces. The donuts were delicious. And man can Jaxon run! He left me at the start line and I didn't see him again 'til he was hanging out at the finish line with Tyrone and Scotia waiting for Taye and me to cross. That 7 year old can run four miles like it's a walk in the park. He's steady and fast! I held Taye's hand the entire time and besides our donut break he didn't stop. If you're a local and any sort of runner I highly recommend the race! All the proceeds (100K this year) benefit a local child...

T aye and a friend had an impromptu wasabi contest moments after getting home from school today. They each emptied a little packet of wasabi onto a roll and then ate it. I love the two very different reactions - Taye is jumping all over the place, S is just quietly holding his head. For those of us watching it was very funny! E did the taping.

The perfect valentines treat. Totally delicious, as good or better than the real thing. Ingredients 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract 4 cups icing sugar 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips 2 teaspoons shortening Directions In a large mixing bowl, combine condensed milk and peppermint extract. Beat in enough icing sugar, a little at a time, to form a stiff dough that is no longer sticky. Form into 1 inch balls, then place on waxed paper and flatten with fingers to form patties. Let patties dry at room temperature two hours, turning once. In a medium saucepan over low heat (or microwave), melt chocolate with shortening, stirring often. Remove from heat. Dip patties, one at a time, into chocolate by laying them on the tines of a fork and lowering the fork into the liquid. Let cool on waxed paper until set. (This was not so easy - I just covered them in chocolate the best I could - they still tasted fantastic!)

This one was Thanksgiving Point.

I was scanning these pictures in for a video project I'm working on and thought I would post them. They were taken near Sundance when we were at BYU.

In college I worked for a few years in student activities. I organized and attended a pile of events and I'm sure that I consumed no small amount of these famous BYU treats. More than a decade later and they still taste as good as I remember. I made a few small changes to the recipe found here . MAKES ONE 9-BY-13 PAN OF BROWNIES. PREP AND COOK: 90 min. COOL: 1 hr. Brownies 1 cup butter 1/2 cup cocoa 2 Tbsp honey 4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 3/4 cups flour 1/2 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt Mint Icing 5 Tbsp butter dash of salt 3 Tbsp milk 1 Tbsp light corn syrup 2 1/3 cups powdered sugar 1/2 tsp peppermint extract (do not use mint/spearmint) 1-2 drops green food coloring (not needed) Chocolate Ganache *(updated Oct 2012) 2 cups of quality chocolate chips 1/4 butter 2 tbsp heavy cream 1. Melt butter and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour batter into a greased 9-by-13 baking pan. Bake at 3...

Jaxon is so cute!

I added some new art in the boys room. I bought an old school folded paper map off Ebay (my parents used these to drive down to the States every year when I was a kid - the only thing worse then trying to fold one of these back up is trying to navigate your way into Boston with one.) I wrapped it around a cheap canvas frame from Michaels. I love to stand in front of it and remember all the places I know and love. The kids got new towels for Christmas. My neighbor added a monogram and a double stitched button hole so they are easy to hang up on hooks. When we met my parents in Boston last summer my dad brought me a nice old holey piece of drift wood. I added some hooks and use it in my closet for scarves and bags. I've seen lots of these picture frame chalkboards out in the blog world and really wanted one for my kitchen. I have great plans for writing up coming events, things to look forward to and menus for important meals. I found the mirror on Craigslist and Home Depot made...