Going Bananas

When Life Gives You Too Many Bananas....Make Banana Bread

It seems we can never eat all of our bananas before they get too ripe for the liking. Consequently I make banana bread almost weekly around here. I love this recipe and have had it for years. I like to double the bananas. The bread turns out super moist.

Kelley's Banana Bread

• 2 c. sugar
• 1 c. oil
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 3 bananas, mashed (I double the bananas)
• 4 eggs
• 2 1/2 c. flour
• 1 t tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda

Combine all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees for
45 t0 50 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Since I make it so often, I always have some to share.

Ribbon Burp Cloths

We are getting lots of new babies at church which is so exciting! One of my favorite things to give are Ribbon Burp Cloths. Have I mentioned .... I really LOVE Ribbon! I stock up on cloth diapers when I see them on sale so I always have them on hand. Unfortunately, since I'm still kind of new in the blogging world I haven't been taking pictures of them, which is too bad. This is the one I made for the last shower I went to.

I'm a Fool for Fall!

Welcome

Fall ! I love autumn time, even though it is still sunny and warm

outside, Ike brought a crispness to the air and fall will soon be here!

Seated on the bench is Miss"Fancy Pumpkin".

She's the cutest thing since carved pumpkin and she knows it!

Here we have our "Seasonal Wire" tree. I got it at Target several years ago and it has been a great investment. Next to the tree are Lori Mitchell designs, Jack Squash and my all time favorite, Trixie.

We put this Bird House Shelf on the wall to disguise the thermostat.

Why do builders do that. It was placed smack dab in the middle of the wall!

What in the world were they thinking????

On the shelf are the Vintage Clown Boy, and the primitive

Halloween Snowman Votive & the cutest picture of Scott dressed as Woody for Halloween.

One more little PEEK at Mack's cute pumpkins!

Baby Gown Napkins

By request here is a picture guide of the steps for making the Baby Gown napkins. The first time I saw these was at a baby shower given by a good friend, Shelly. They are so cute and easy to do. I used the ribbon from Kayley's wedding on these.

Memory Lane with AnneMarie, Jewely & Commissioner Miner

I had Scott get our "harvest" boxes out of the attic so I can have all of the Halloween and Thanksgiving items on hand to fill orders for Pineapple Hill.

We were setting things out and separating our family decorations from the store ones and came across this adorable little box. AnneMarie gave it to us 23 years ago! I was 19 at the time and I believe she was about 2 (right AnneMarie). She was our "mostest favoritest" babysitter in the world! One Halloween she gave us this little gift she made filled with candy. We loved it and still do. We have been putting it out every year since!
Each side with her cute artwork:

Even Signed and Dated:

As we continued to unpack we found Jewely's neckerchief. Jewely was the best dog in the whole world and she loved her special scarves!
Here is Miss Jewely - so sweet XO

Here is Jewely visiting Hope's kindergarten class on Valentine's Day. She's about to give that little girl a yummy kiss! She had a neckerchief for every holiday and was always sure to wear them on special outings. She was a very classy dog. We miss you girl!

And last but not least......

We found the cutest ever pumpkins that Mack (aka Commissioner Miner) made when he was a tiny little guy. They touch my heart so every time I see them!

I have noted them ... just in case........

So fun for me, hopefully not too boring for ya'll! P.S. Happy Fall!

Visit HERE for a fun Halloween project!

Good People

Just a quick little post .... we still have power and have kept our cable now, so I think we're good to go! However we do have friends in Katy without power. It is really strange because there doesn't seem to be a rational method to figure out who does or doesn't have electricity. It is really "random"! A house here a few there.... go figure!

I have spent most of the day coordinating needs for families that aren't "good to go". I have been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from so many people willing to share freezer space, stoves, ovens, washers, dryers and anything else someone may need. It truly is remarkable how "good" people are. Even the media has been touched by the generosity and compassion of the people of Houston.
School was not in session today and is canceled for tomorrow as well. They should be back on track for Wednesday. Scott has been busy helping people clear their yards and driveways of tree branches,etc. The kids have enjoyed the time from school and made good use of it with sleep overs and get togethers with or without electricty. They don't seem to mind!

Galveston was devastated by the storm.

Marci went to Walmart with her girls this morning to do their grocery shopping and said they had NO refrigerated or frozen food at all! I haven't even attempted going to the store yet. The parking lots are packed. The gas lines are crazy as well. The airports have re-opened and flights seem to be back on schedule. We'll see what tomorrow brings:)

Life after Ike

Yay! We are up and running again. Actually we fared really well in comparison to most of Houston and even alot of our dearest friends and my parents. They just barely got their power back. Yesterday evening Mark and Scott (my heroes)set up our generator on the outside of the house. It worked out perfectly because The Shapers (our fun neighbors) weren't home. Generators are LOUD! By the way, thanks for the chicken Julie! I made chicken salad with it and the sandwiches were perfect with all the chips we bought at Sam's. Here we are all set up in the family room. It was pretty nice! We had fans, lamps and even TV! (and this is why Mark and Scott are my HEROES)

I was impressed! Later we brought our pillows, blankets and junk food in for our Ike Party/Camp Out. It really wasn't bad. We could hear the wind picking up and the cats were very much aware that something was weird ( besides the fact that all the humans were spread out around the family room and obviously not planning to leave.....ever). But after not very long our power suddenly came back on. I think Scott and Hope were a little disappointed. (I heard them grumble.... "oh, man")....Too funny.

This morning we let our Bishop borrow our generator because we were so fortunate to only be without electricity for a few hours. Mark and Scott went to check on some people from church as well as Marci and Mike's home and their rental property. I e-mailed Marci the pictures Scott took of their places so I'm sure she'll post them on her blog.

These are some of the pictures Scott took while they were out this morning.

My Wisteria Vine:

Our Neighbors right across the street:

Driving into Our Neighborhood:

Driving Down Our Street:

My Parent's House and Their Neighbor:

Our biggest issue was our cable was out; so we had no phone line, interenet or TV (oh no! Mark missed the BYU game but he heard they won.... BIG TIME, so he's very happy)

More tomorrow, I'm off too bed. It's been an eventful day!

Nite All....

Here Comes Ike

Tracking Ike

Who gets to name these storms anyway???

Today went by soooo fast. Mark and I headed for Sam's Club as soon as Hope went off to school this morning. We were there by 7:45 and by the number of shoppers, you'd of thought it was 1:00 in the afternoon! We got batteries for our flashlights, water and lots of junk food!

It's kind of a tradition now to have a little party while in the midst of a natural disaster. It started back in March of '93. We were living in Baldwinsville NewYork and I got to fly home to California (all by myself, such a treat) to surprise my mom for her birthday. Well while I was in sunny SanDiego, the blizzard of the century hit NewYork. It was "lake effect" snow to the upteen degree! My trip was prolonged because of the weather. When I called home to talk to the kids , I thought they'd be upset by the blizzard. Not at all! They were having the time of their lives with dad. They proceeded to tell me, while everyone else was stocking up on essentials he bought out the Oreos, Doritos and Twinkies! They watched movies and ate junk until I got home to gently bring them back to reality.

Mark spent most of the today bringing anything that could possibly fly away- into the garage or house. I didn't realize we had so many things out in the yard. There was the rod iron bench, several potted plants, chairs, garden flag, pool floaties, and garden statues. I promise our yard doesn't look like PeeWee Herman's! I spent most of the day on the phone checking in with the RS sisters to make sure everyone has everything they need before Ike comes to town. School is canceled for tomorrow as well as all extracurricular activities including Taylor HS Homecoming. which is kind of sad.

I'm just totally enjoying ELECTRICITY while we have it!

Getting it Together...Kinda

We're all getting used to our "early morning" schedule. I get up at 5:00 a.m. so I have a few minutes to fully awaken before I get Mr. Scotto up at 5:15. He has to be at the church at 6:00 for Seminary every morning before school. We're usually out the door with Hope by 6:45 - 6:55...so I'm home by 7:15. I must say, I sure do get a lot done in the morning and I'm lovin' it!

This morning I organized files and tidied up my Pineapple Hill office/craft room. No kidding the before pictures are not staged! Sometimes you have to make a mess to get organized. Mark never has understood this concept, but truly it's just the way it is for me.

BEFORE

AFTER

These are my favorite "Organizational Inspiration" Spots:

• http://www.jooners.com/


• http://organizetips.com/


• http://www.ineedmoretime.com/


• http://www.organizedhome.com/


• http://www.flylady.net/


• http://www.executivehomemaker.com/content.asp?pid=1


• http://www.lazyorganizer.com/blog/