chocolate banana bread

cool weather always makes me want to bake and last night i really wanted something warm and sweet so i started looking through the pantry to see what i had ingredients for and well, it was slim pickings.

what i did have was a package of honey bran muffin mix (the kind you just add milk to) and two quite ripe bananas.  now i have a recipe for banana bread that is one of those that belonged to someone’s great aunt agnes who always won the blue ribbon at the county fair for her banana bread… but i didn’t have time or bananas for that so…

one package of honey bran muffin mix                  

two smushed up ripe bananas

half a package of mini chocolate chips

a hand full of pecans from the freezer chopped up

and 25 minutes in an oven at 425 and…

warm, sweet, chocolatey, banana goodness.  it was all i could do to save some for later.  its kind of like chocolate dipped bananas on a hot summer day, or a chocolate banana shake, except for warm and gooey.  perfect for a cool fall evening… or a cool fall morning… or the middle of a nice sunny fall day…

a cowboy, his camo, and a fort

boy and pawpaw have been working to build a fort out of a freecycled swing set…

taking a break to chase the chickens…

helping dad with the tools…

oh, what’s that his shirt says?  maybe that is why i haven’t been getting much done lately!

sweet birdies at the window

 

i have been working on giving the guest room a new look (can ya guess why?).  i started with the windows.  i love these little birds.  one of those ideas that just pops in your head and actually works… made from some of my grandma’s hankies, they were really easy to make, required just a few stitches by hand, and can be easily taken apart without damaging the hankies.

start with a hankie, some thread (i used embroidery thread), and some stuffing…

tie a small ball of stuffing into one corner of the hankie…

tie the two opposite corners loosely so you can adjust them later.  these will be the wings…

 

fill the center with more stuffing…

pull up the bottom corner and tie it up to make the tail.  the back (top) of the bird will be open.  stitch it shut then tug on the wings and tail to adjust them to your likening…

summer campout… momma style

sister and the little lady came up and spend a few days while both our honeys were out of town. we decided to take the kiddos camping… here are my tips for successful summer camping with little ones:

pull a few mattresses into the living room

get everyone in their yammies nice and early

start a small fire (i recommend using the fireplace, just sayin’)

roast hotdogs and marshmallows for s’mores

make some rotel cheese dip (don’t use the fireplace for this one, microwave)

put on a good movie and enjoy snuggling with little bodies in the ac

PS it would be real sweet if ya’ll just pretended like my fireplace were nice and clean… thanks!

boy likes to dress himself

 

chugga chugga two two

boy turned two! we had a simple birthday at home with family.  boy got his homemade screen printed birthday t-shirt, which is becoming tradition.

the theme was choo choo trains, as boy is now completely obsessed with them. 

i made the invitations that each held a ticket to the train party…  the cake was a mess!  but that’s what happens when your momma makes it just hours before, can’t find the icing recipe she needs, and forgot she gave all the piping tips back to nana… oh well, it was yummy and boy got to blow the candles out three times…

presents were more than plentiful.  we tried to keep it to a minimum but being the only grandson, and the only grandchild at all on one side, it didn’t seem people could contain themselves.  boy is blessed…

 

the train table (nana picked up at a yard sale for next to nothing) and all the accessories we all chipped in to go with it was the big hit of the day…

 

i can’t believe that tiny little baby we brought home just the other day is two!

“bac berries mmm momma”

 

i love to berry pick in the summer.  this year we had a bumper crop of wild black berries, but didn’t get many picked.  you would think the stickers would slow boy down but he was right there with me picking away… and eating away.  we got just enough berries to make a good cobbler.

let me tell you how easy this was… mixed the washed berries with a little sugar and a bit of cornstarch (to thicken the juice a little).  rolled out store bought turtle cookie dough and dropped it over the berries in a baking dish.  cooked for about 30 minutes at the temp the cookie dough recommended.  that’s it! 

serve it up warm with a big scoop of berry ice cream and don’t dare tell anyone how easy it was.

summer sun

boy and i were able to go with gamma and pawpaw to the texas coast to visit family for a week.  it was hot.  it was humid.  we had a great time!

boy LOVED the water.  the first time a wave knocked him over he came up laughing… he couldn’t get enough.

we took in all the required sights to be true tourists… 

and boy rode home on a plane!