Needed - someone I can win

I have a little problem. Ben and I have been practicing ping pong. I never win. I can now saw I can lose to Ben, Jill, Cory and sometimes even Ian. I might be a bit better than Ian but he doesn't like to lose all the time either. Isn't there someone ought there that is just a wee bit worse than me! Nobody likes to think they are the very worst player in the family. I guess I might just have to challenge Mason and Claire. Surely I can win them>

Feeling rather olympian

If you wander the streets of Boise you will notice a lot of people wearing blue and white scarfs. I am one these lucky people. Special olympics asked for donations of 5,00 scars. They received about 60,000. They have been trying to sell them in stores like Costco for a donation. Our school had connections and all the students and staff received scarfs. Of course, all the adults went through them and chose the best ones first. That is what adults are suppose to do! They asked us to wear them around town and especially to any special olympic events. Last week I got asked to help wrap up cute little cans of fudge for the families of the athletes. They looked very cute and it was a lot of fun. I am still trying to talk dad into going to the ice skating with me. I am hoping that they are at least as good as Claire. She has been practicing since she watched ice skating on TV.

If you can't find me in the picture I am on the right side about four or five rows from the front.

Watch for me on TV and in the newspapers. Hopefully the picture is published in something more exciting than just the school district newsletter.

Peanut butter banana bread

One thing I truly enjoy doing is trying new recipes. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and you never know... it may be the next family favorite recipe. I never had a desire to make homemade bread before, but this year I decided I should give it a try. For Christmas I asked for some bread pans so that I wouldn't have to borrow from my neighbor again. Santa brought me what I wanted and so I decided this week to try out a new bread recipe. Believe it or not I have never made banana bread, (Cory doesn't really like bananas.) so when I saw this recipe, I had to try it.... and let me tell you, the finished product was delicious. I hope you are inspired to try something new. Trying new recipes makes me happy and if you like banana bread, I would suggest trying out this one. With it's thick chocolate layer and crumbly topping, every slice is simply scumptious. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients:
TOPPING:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
BATTER:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1-1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Directions: In a small bowl, stir the flour, brown sugar, peanut butter and cinnamon until crumbly; set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Divide half of the batter between two greased 8-in. x 4-in. loaf pans; sprinkle with half of the topping. Top with chocolate chips. Repeat layers of batter and topping. Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 loaves (12 slices each).

For all you who are still sticking with your new years resolutions here are the nutritional facts:
One serving:
1 slice
Calories: 257
Fat: 12 g
Saturated Fat: 7 g
Cholesterol: 38 mg
Sodium: 128 mg
Carbohydrate: 36 g
Fiber: 1 g
Protein: 4 g

House

Reagan decide to make a huge house today out of his legos. It is
even taller than him.

He was very proud of his house.

Just like any boy he had to knock it down when he was all done.

Coaching

Well here we are with 5 games remaining in our basketball season. My first year coaching has been a pretty good one and has gone by quickly. My team, the Freshmen, are now 17-5 and we are on an 11 game win streak. We are undefeated in our conference and have really made some good progress. It has been fun to watch the boys improve. I have learned a lot as an assistant for varsity. Varsity is 23-4 and ranked #13 in the state. These boys can really play!!! We are looking forward to a good run in the state playoffs.

Sale!!!

I just thought I would share the information I got in an email today. Old Navy is having an online sale. All clearance items are an additional 50% off the listed sale price. When you check out you have to type in the code HALFOFF. Most of the Children clothing is long sleeve. There was lots of Women clothing on sale. The sale starts today and ends February 2nd. There were lots of women shirts from the $5-$10 range. So you could get them for $2.50-$5. There were also a few capris and lots jeans in that range also.

No need!!!

You may remember a post I made several months ago where Reagan was walking a hand mixer. He loves dogs so much and he has mean parents that won't buy him a dog. So he had to come up with his own solution to the problem. He would walk the hand mixer. Well I though you would all like to know we no longer have that problem. Reagan no longer needs to walk a hand mixer. He has a dog. I posted a video of Reagan playing with his dog. He loves his new dog.