A little privacy please...

The bathroom has long been a retreat at our house. Shane can disappear for hours in there. The kids all know not to bother him in there and I suspect that he hides out, looking for a little peace.

Tonight, Gibson disappeared for awhile. I looked around and couldn't find him. I finally saw the light on under the bathroom door. Sure enough, he was in there. I told him to finish his business and hurry out. He told me, "Mom, I'm not using the potty, I'm watching movies!" Well, I guess the apple does not fall far from the tree there. He is taking notes and learning well! Ha!

His destiny...

This boy has fulfilled his destiny this weekend. Uncle Eric has very fun boy toys like a deer stand, four wheelers, guns and other outdoor, tough boy stuff. Gibson got invited to go and spend the day and night with his cousins and visit the deer lease, ride the four wheelers, and shoot stuff. Of course he said yes.
He had seen pictures of this and he was ready. He also has seen pictures of the deer stand, complete with a spiral staircase to get to the top. He practiced shooting his bow and arrow in the backyard and tried to pack for at least three days before he was actually going. The day of the trip, we got him dressed warmly and outfitted with his gear. I asked him if he was sure that he was ready to go. He answered back with, "Mom, this is my destiny."

He had a blast!

New Year's Resolution

I have decided that my new year's resolution will not be a cliched topic that everyone picks. My resolution this year is to continue to push my little business along. I have updated my website and have sent out some vendor packets to various stores and am hoping to continue to grow. These are some of the new cards that I have added and I have a couple more that I will add later this week.

The inside of this card reads:
I love you not only for who you are, but for who I am when I'm with you.
Ahh... I love that!

This card can be used for a baby or wedding shower, birthday, anniversary, congratulations, take your pick.
Hope that you enjoyed looking. If you need any cards check out www.bananahannah.com! :)

The Beach People

We have decided that we are beach people! Up until last spring break, and our trip to Corpus Christi, we thought we were more the type to head inland...We were wrong. The ocean, the salt scent, the wind, shrimp...It is all wonderful! For the last part of our break we headed to Galveston Island and had a wonderful time.How can you beat views like this? There were surfers in their wet suits taking on the waves.
The beach was covered with a million shells that had washed onto the beach from the night before. Landry took it as her personal mission to crush every single piece on the beach.
Grace was trying out her new camera.
I'm having fun with mine too!




Ahhh...Doesn't that just scream relaxation and adventure? :) (Maybe I should have said "ooze" instead of "scream.")
While there, we took a walking tour of Christmas lights along the harbor. We also went to the aquarium. They had great exhibits full of sharks and other exciting sea animals. We were there at night, so the lighting was really bad to get good pics.
These were on the wall.
This was the bathroom floor and Grace thought that this might be the coolest thing that she had ever seen.
We found this great place called Rita's. This was one of those finds that we happened upon and it was delicious!!!! They make Italian ice and homemade custard and the desserts are different flavors and combos of each. I had a mango Italian ice layered with coconut custard. Wow. I don't even know what to say. Thank goodness they aren't near here because I would gain 100 lbs. It was that good.The kids thought so too!


Landry had enough.

Great Friends

During our holiday break we had the chance to meet up with some great friends, the Bragdons. We have always loved hanging out with them, not only for our similar beliefs and situations with children and large families, but because they are an amazingly inspiring couple. They have four kids as well - 3 girls and 1 boy, and our kids have always gotten along together really well. When we take over a restaurant - watch out! It was so fun to see how much their kids have grown and our kids picked up with them as though we are at their house every day.
Faithlynn and Elise were hanging out in the hammock. Actually, the hammock was extremely popular and we were having to regulate time and turns.


Olivia has grown into such a beautiful grown-up girl!
Hayden was sporting his super hero cape that he got for Christmas.
We had a wonderful time and appreciated their hospitality so much! We always love a good visit.

Tombstone

As part of our break, Shane and the kids sat down together and watched Tombstone. In case you didn't know, it's a movie about Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp and his brothers and includes the fight at the OK Corral. To say that it was a hit would be an understatement. There have been quite a few reenactments. Everybody wants to be Doc Holiday, because he was the fastest shot in the West. Whoever doesn't get to be Doc has to settle for Wyatt Earp. There have been a couple of tears, mainly from Hayden, over not wanting to be Wyatt. We finally convinced him that there were some pretty great things about Wyatt. He never gets shot. He lives a really long time. You get the picture...

This morning they all came in starting another game. Wyatt and Doc got claimed right off the bat. Hayden started to get upset
and then stated, "I'm going to be Black Earp." Everyone looked at him for a minute, then he said it again, "I'm going to be Black Earp!"
Suddenly we realized, he has thought this whole time that they were playing White Earp.

S'mores Wars

At our house we love a good dessert. We were watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network and then went to fix dinner and Shane got inspired. Grace was having a s'more for her dessert. I like to make them in the oven because the chocolate melts really well and the marshmallow toasts just right. I layer the chocolate and marshmallow on one half of the graham cracker and and toast it in a 400 degree oven until the marshmallow is brown and golden. As soon as the concoction comes out, top the s'more with the other half of the cracker and voila!

Shane decided that the tried and true way needed to be spiced up a bit. His challenge was on. It was like a Throwdown with Bobby Flay! He took his graham cracker and layered it with a full Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and then sprinkled a pinch of salt over the cup before layering his marshmallow over the top. He toasted it in the oven at 400 degrees until his marshmallow was golden, and topped it with the other half of the cracker. I really wanted to say that mine was better, but the peanut butter with the chocolate and the little bit of salt really won me over. I think that his way might be better, as much as it pains me to say it.
This one was his. Delicious!
Here's mine. I should have left the marshmallows a tad longer. I like them a little more squishy than that. These were still delicious. Both of them definitely hit the spot!