Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

We ate at Mimi's Cafe a few weeks ago (the lunch itself was a disaster after Luke threw his sippy cup and knocked a glass of water over that landed in Joshua's lap...and Joshua yelled "he's gonna pay for that"). BUT, the banana chocolate chip muffins were fabulous! So, I searched the internet for a recipe. I don't normally like bananas or banana bread, so I wasn't sure that I could find a recipe I liked. My search yielded several recipes, but one said that it was low fat and delicious. So, I decided to try it first, and I also printed out a "fat" recipe in case the low fat didn't work out. I was pleasantly surprised how easy the recipe was, and the muffins were great. I have made about 5 batches in the past two weeks, and they don't last much over a day. The boys love them too. Good thing they are low fat! I may try some of the variations listed on the website, but I haven't yet, and I haven't added the walnuts listed as optional in the original recipe. Wish we could all sit down and have one together!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Let it snow!

Winter weather has hit Georgia! The boys are having a ball in the snow. This is so much better than sleet or ice! I can't wait to see what we have in the morning. As you can imagine, the weather is all that is on the TV, and everyone is announcing closings for tomorrow. The bread was almost completely out at the grocery store, ha! We'll keep you posted.

Higher Math

Joshua is starting to add double digits, and boy am I impressed! The word problem was this: there are 19 people in the restaurant, how many shoes are there? So, Joshua took his abacus and counted out 10 "people", then he counted out 2 beads for each person (their shoes). He then continued it on the next row for the other 9 people and their 2 shoes. He finally counted all the sets of 2 beads to get 38 shoes. He was so proud!

Boys, Boys!

Here is what 5 little boys playing Thomas the tank engine looks like. We had 2 visitors the other day for a little while, and I thought this was just so cute!

I'll do it later...

There seems to be a common theme around our house, and Luke seems to be taking advantage of our lack of follow through. Yesterday for example, he spread his chaos through the house. Let's start in the morning. I heard a terrible noise in the living room while I was in the bedroom cleaning up. I ran to the living room, halfway expecting to see our TV on the floor. Instead, I looked over the edge of our banister and saw the highchair at the bottom of the stairs. It seems that Luke reached through the gate and pushed the highchair down the stairs. Sunday, Matt had placed the chair at the top of the stairs to get it out of the way, and I'm sure Luke was just helping Matt finish the job. Next, I was trying to figure out why the VCR door wouldn't open. It seemed like something was stuck, blocking the flap. I had the vision in the back of my mind that someone had stuffed a PBJ sandwich in there, but they don't go uneaten around here and there was definitely something hard blocking the door, not soft and sticky. So, I managed to pry the door open to find a DVD stuff in the VCR slot. The boys have a habit of taking out DVDs and laying them on top of the DVD/VCR player instead of putting them up. It looks like Luke found one and tried to play it himself! Lastly, when Matt arrived home last night, he walked into the laundry room and sparks flew. He looked down and realized that our disassembled bread maker had been plugged in. Matt had taken it apart to see if he could see what the trouble was, and I moved it from the dining room table to the laundry room floor until I could figure out how to dispose of it. It seems that Luke decided to try it out for us. I guess since none of these occurrences cost us physically or financially, we should consider these a wake up call! I guess that I thought I had seen it all when Caleb put his Pooh bear in the toaster oven, but it looks like Luke is going to give Caleb a run for his money. I'm sure there will be more to come, stay tuned.

A Look Ahead...2008

Julie's goals have really made me think about what I want to accomplish this year. Days seem to drift by, and it's hard for me to think of goals as I did when I was working. I discussed it a little with Matt, but I'm still having a hard time putting anything together.

House: I would love to get the basement finished. Joshua and Caleb have already decided that they each want a room down there. Matt has finished the sheetrock, so now it's on to painting.
Education: Joshua and I are rounding the curve on our 1st grade curriculum. Math seems to be most troublesome to him. He just doesn't seem to like stretching his brain. If he has to do a worksheet that requires some deep thinking, he freaks out. Funny thing is though, once he quits freaking out, he can do it perfectly. Reading is coming along very well. I would like to get him tested for reading level. I am also looking into a local private school for some extra classes for him.
Family: Thinking about family planning, it would seem that we need to be getting ready for baby #4. Although I feel that I do want #4, I just don't have the feeling that I am ready yet. So, it doesn't look like we will have a new addition in 2008, but maybe in early to mid-2009.
Travel: We have several trips upcoming. Matt plans to attend a conference in St. Simon's in May and in Orlando in June, and we'll tag along. We are planning to attend a family reunion in Nebraska in May also. We would love to do an anniversary trip in the summer, but childcare is TBD. I have picked out a 5 day cruise that would be perfect. Nothing too extravagant, but it would be a nice getaway.
Service: I'll continue working with the youth on Wed night and the preschool on Sunday mornings at church. Matt and I are VBS directors again this year, so we'll need to start working on that soon. I plan to continue volunteering with MOPS and First Steps this year also.

I guess that's all that I can think of right now, but I'm sure there are more to come. I need to add scrapbooking back into the mix somewhere!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, I noticed that I am the last to post our Christmas, so here goes! We had a wonderful "week" of Christmas fun. We started on Saturday with Nana and Papa and Mimi with Chet, Amanda, and kids. The big kids got to eat at the coffee table while Luke and Katelyn had to take turns in the highchair. Papa read a Christmas Story and then the present opening began. Boy, does Nana really know how to do presents...makes Santa look lacking, but at least he still reserves the right to provide the most wanted item on the lists. We spent Christmas Eve by taking the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks, pretty cute and more entertaining for them than Ratatouille (spelling?). Christmas morning was spent at home and Christmas evening was time with Mom. Jake stayed with us for a couple of days and then we all headed to see Dad. Danny and Kim met us there, and we celebrated Christmas and Mom Mitchell's 94th birthday on the 27th. It was a crazy evening, but we survived. Matt and I are going to try not to plan anymore whirlwind 24 hour trips to Dad's. It's just too much! We had a quiet New Year's Eve. Matt and I toasted in the New Year around 10:00 p.m. with some sparkling cider. We figured that it was New Year's somewhere! You know, I never was much for midnight...

A highlight of my Christmas included Caleb saying "it's just what I always wanted" to every toy he opened. Another included Joshua secretly telling his Daddy that he knew what I wanted for Christmas "a little girl". He thinks that I need a girl so that I won't be lonely when all the boys do something together. He is so sweet and sensitive like that. Luke's highlight was all the candy that he kept getting into!

Here's to 2008!