Peppers

 I would have assumed that after having at least 2 good frosts since the beginning of November, my peppers would have finally wilted and died. I was wrong!

As Gabryle and I got back home from taking Jerrod lunch today I noticed on the pepper plants what looked like the shape of a pepper. We went over and looked and sure enough I have 2 peppers that have started again. They are healthy and green peppers and at least 2 buds are on there also. I was shocked to see them. I had assumed that since we have already had a few frosts that it would have killed the plants.

After lunch Gabryle and I went out and he watered the plants for me. He had a blast doing that. Mom actually let him water the plants. After the water was soaked up in the soil he realized that if he holds the water long enough in one spot, it will cause it to make a hole which absolutely made him happy!

I guess since we are having such a mild winter, or what feels like spring temperatures, minus the rain they are still hanging on. I'm not complaining! Maybe I can get them to perk back up a little more and see what happens!!

Till Next Time!!

Christmas Ornaments

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday! We had a great day at home this year. We fixed a large turkey, all the fixings and spent most of the afternoon outside playing in the yard. We all had fun and then went after it got dark to the drive through Christmas lights that the town puts on every year.

Today the kids and I made our Christmas ornaments for this year. As usual we always do a new ornament every year for Christmas. We either buy one or make them, and this year we did a different type of hand print ornaments.

We got from Hobby Lobby some clear glass ornaments, paint pen and some filling for the ornaments. I painted the kids hands, one at a time, and then they

 held the ornament to get their print onto the ornament. After it completely dried I wrote their name and date on their ornament then we filled it with the little white popcorn type filler and some glitter. They all wanted red glitter so it was much easier to fill the all at once. I then used a clear spray paint and coated it with the clear polish to give it a little extra gloss and to make sure the hand prints stay on. I think they turned out great.

Once we get our tree up I'll make sure and post pictures!!

Till Next Time!!!

Banana Bread Recipe

A lot of banana's get eaten in our house. Gabryle absolutely loves eating banana's. The other day I realized he still had a few banana's left that were getting pretty ripe so I decided to make some banana bread so I didn't have to throw the banana's out. It turned out pretty darn good even if I had to tamper with the recipe since I didn't have the full amount of mashed banana's it called for. It still has a great banana flavor. Here is the recipe I used below and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have!!!

BANANA BREAD

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Eggs, beaten

2 1/3 cup Banana, mashed

1 cup chopped nuts if desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten and then add nuts if so using. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

When I made the recipe I only ended up having 1 cup of banana's mashed, so I added to that 1 cup of 2% milk and mixed it together before adding it to the butter mixture. It still had great banana flavor and cooked the same amount of time as stated in the recipe.I didn't have any nuts this time so I omitted them, but plan on using them next time. Enjoy!!!

TURKEY!!!!

Kylie's class does a few home art projects and we just finished this afternoon decorating a turkey. She thought it was fun and wanted me to share it with everyone so I am putting up the pictures for her. Her teacher supplied just the Turkey's body, not the feathers. Kylie wanted feathers so I took some printer paper and cut out some feathers for her. She colored them with crayons, each with a different design and then we glued them to the back of her turkey. We think it's adorable. She has even named it Nichaela (Sounds like Michaela but with an N at the beginning). Enjoy the pictures!!!

The beginning of Kylie's Turkey.

The "feathers" I made for her.

The finished Turkey.

Closer picture of her finished turkey. 

The back of the finished turkey. Mackenzie likes the look from the back. 

Trick-or-Treat!!

 Well the kids had a blast today while we went to trick or treat. Gabryle was absolutely adorable in his robot costume and received lots of comments from people.  We went this year to the mall's trick or treat event and then went to a local neighborhood close to the girls school and trick or treated there also. The kids were so polite it made me proud! They said "Thank you" to all the people handing out candy and patiently waited their turn in the line at the mall.

Every time someone would put a package of M&M's into Gabryle's pail he got so excited he thanked them 2 or 3 times. It was just so cute! After we were through with all of the trick or treating the girls compared what was in each others buckets. Not sure of the purpose of that since they knew that all the candy would be combined into a communal bag to be put up in a spot only Mommy and Daddy could reach after being inspected so no one had more candy than the other.

 The girls also had a party in their classrooms during school today in the afternoon. Mackenzie said hers was a blast and they got to play a few games also during the party. Kylie said hers was fun because they also got to celebrate one of her friends birthdays during the Halloween Party. She also got to go trick-or-treating at the local Veterans center this morning with her class.

All in all the kids had a great day. They all fell asleep rather quickly tonight and I'm sure they were exhausted!

Till Next Time!!!

Halloween's fast approaching!!

Halloween is just a few days away and the kids can not wait till it gets here. Or at least, the girls are extremely excited. Gabryle I am not for sure if he realizes yet what Halloween is. As of right now he just knows he has a costume in his closet that is hanging up waiting to be worn.
We carved our pumpkins yesterday and Gabryle had a BLAST getting to take out the seeds from the pumpkins. He was able to get all dirty in the house and didn't get in trouble for it! Even after the pumpkins were empty from their seeds and all carved out he thought it was still fun to take the top off and "act" like he was still getting stuff out of it. He had a plastic spoon and sat down with a cup and the pumpkins on the table and had fun. The girls helped a little taking out the seeds, but they weren't as into it as Gabryle. I've included pictures below!
This year, Mackenzie has decided she will be a cheerleader. That was a little shock to me, but hey, it's her choice. She already has a cheerleader outfit in her closet that she just has gotten to be in the size it is. She is excited she'll get to FINALLY wear it. She plans on having her hair in two braids and using the barrettes I made for her in their school colors. It also turns out great that the uniform is in their school colors, red and white.
Kylie is going to be a Cowgirl Pop star. She has a pink hat, a top with a horse on it, a skirt that is full and knee length and of course her pink cowgirl boots. She loves the outfit and it looks absolutely adorable on her. She at first wanted to be the red cowgirl that she saw at Wal-Mart cause that is what Miranda, one of her best friends is going to be, but was glad in the end with the pink one instead. Now she says she can be unique.
Gabryle will be a robot. He found the outfit at Wal-Mart when it first came out and fell in love with it! He goes around the house calling it "bobot" instead of robot, but it's still cute. He was so proud when he tried it on and it fit, after going and exchanging for a larger size.
Mackenzie already has our plans laid out for going to trick or treat Wednesday, and luckily her plans are also what we had in mind anyway for trick or treating this year. Kylie hopes we get to stop by her teacher's house from pre-k, which we most likely will. She also wants to try and stop by her teachers house from this year, but however since I have NO clue where she lives, we might not make her house. I'll post pictures Wednesday after they are all dressed up. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!!!

Pumpkins!!!!

Gabryle with the girls pumpkins

 The girls got to take their school field trips to the pumpkin patch today and had a lot of fun. They were there at different times so they didn't get to hang out but I think they still enjoyed it.

Mackenzie's class, along with the other five second grade classes went from 8:30 to 11:00. They got to go on the hayrides, the little animal petting area and of course the pumpkin area. She was not thrilled with the hayride apparently though. All the way walking from the bus stop I heard "Mom it's not a hayride if they do not put the hay on the trailer. It's just a trailer ride then. Not a hayride! If you want it to be a hayride they should have put the hay on the trailer." (thank you captain obvious!) Besides that she had a good time. She said she picked out a nice sized pumpkin that will be great for either carving or painting, and is almost perfect.

 Kylie's class went from 11:00-2:00 and got to eat lunch at the patch also. She did all the other things that Mackenzie's class did. She liked the bouncy house and went through the maze that they had. She loved how they had a big round bale of hay and built it into a slide. I think that was her favorite thing today that she got to do. When she picked out her pumpkin she found the smallest one she could find. I asked her why she did that and she said because she is the smallest kid in kindergarten, so she wanted to find the smallest pumpkin she could find. I think it's rather cute. She plans as of right now to just paint her pumpkin.

We'll go soon and get Gabryle his own pumpkin and then get the kids yearly pumpkin pictures taken that I do every year for them during this time of the year. When I get those done I will post them for you!!! Hope you enjoy they pictures I posted!!!

Till Next Time!!!!

Look Mom I can pick up Mackenzie's!!

Mackenzie and Kylie's pumpkins.