Recipe and other notes

Lady Montgomery wants my recipe for banana bread! If you all knew how highly I thought of her you would know what an honor it is to give her my recipe. Unfortunatly, I must say I only used this recipe twice and while it was good, Im looking for an even better one..:)

This is from my Southern Living Ultimate cookbook (a book that was a definate perk of being a consultant! I love this thing.)

1 3/4 c all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 c mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1/2 c milk
1/3 c veg oil
1/2c chopped pecans (optional)

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl
make a well in center of mixture, basically just push the flour mixture around the sides
Combine egg, mashed banana, milk and oil
add mixture to dry ingredients
stir just until moistened
stir in pecans
spoon batter into greased8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan
bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean
Cool in pan 10 minutes
I had three loaves in the oven and rotated them every 20min.
You can also spoon the mix into greased muffin pans and cook for 18-20 min at 400 degrees.

Funny story, the first loaf I made was really dry and I could not figure out why. I was mixing up the second batch and realized I forgotten to put milk in the first batch, I went over to the pan waiting to go in the oven and poured milk in and mixed it up right in the loaf pan, figuring if it was ruined I was not going to ruin it anymore..it came out fine. Ah, the joys of baking!! LOL

I broke down and bought the book Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. I have not had a chance to look through it, but I will let everyone know what I think about it after I have read it.
Im reading through Anne of Greene Gables right now. I love, love, love the movie! As for the book, I really, really, really, really, love, love, love, love love it! The first of the year Im going to go through Little House on the Prarie with my girls and then I think we will go onto to Anne. Adrian will be three in April and I want to see about getting some good boy books to read aloud as well. Dont want him growning up to be Mary Ingalls like his daddy! :) LOL! Just kidding!

Im breaking for lunch right now. The children are playing together nicely and I like to read to them while they eat so I try to eat a little bit before them. Also, Im not a big breakfast eater usually a small cup of yogurt is my breakfast so around 10:30ish Im hungry so I go ahead and heat up or make my lunch.

I think the girls adoption will be at the end of January or early February. Did I mention that I will be schooling them through the summer? My plan right now is to pull them out when the adoption is finalized. I will then start Saxon K math with Kelsie and Saxon 2 math with Karly. I will begin a reading program and the pre Explode the Code books with her. I will either use 100 Easy Lessons or Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for Kelsie. For Karly I will used Explode the Code book 3 and Reading Reflex. Im also looking for a handwritting program for her. I have found a couple I like, but still not sure. Right now I am leaning towards Zaner-Bloser. A lot of the beginning work will be review for both girls because I plan to start at the beginning. They may fly through the first few lessons and thats fine. I hope to go straight through the summer and have them ready for the appropriate grades in September when I will add Science and History to the plan. I figure the review time will give us plenty of time to get adjusted to homeschooling and tweak the schedule as I see fit. It will also give me a better grasp of where they are struggling. I also have a goal to have them reading at least one grade level above where they are supposed to be by September. Dh and I have some other decisions to make regarding this. I know it will be even harder adjusting to a newborn and adoption and we have tried to make the decision to leave the girls in school, but we just could not do it. These are our children and God will give me wisdom and strength to do all that needs to be done. I believe God is bringing me to a place in my life where I have no where to go but to Him. I have relied on myself so much and as I look at the coming months and know what I am clled to do... well I know I can do all things throught Christ who give s me strength!! (Phil 4:13)

Ok off to feed the kiddos!