One More Smilebox...

Happy Valentine's Day! We don't have any big Valentine's plans. Z has a sleepover so B, L, & Dad will bring home Olive Garden after ballet and after Mom's PTO meeting. Pretty exciting stuff. I'm helping at B's Valentine party today at school so will hopefully post pictures of that later.

This Valentine's Day, remember just how much you're loved - not just by us, but by your Creator, who loves us more than we could ever comprehend. John 3:16 is evidence of that.

Have a Blessed Day!! ~M

Happy Valentine's Day 2008!

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

It's hard to believe that it's Valentine's Day this week. Sending you love from the Bison Ranch!

Blogging Loser!!

I so wanted to be one of those perfect bloggers who actually updates their blogs regularly. I have failed -- and thus went in search of an image to give myself the blogging "loser" award. Now, we aren't even really allowed to call people that in this family, but if I call myself one, it's okay, isn't it? I have really good intentions, really I do. But this mom is just one of those people who has too many projects going on at the same time and isn't really great at getting any of them done in a real timely fashion. I do feed, bathe and clothe my children -- I even help with homework occasionally, but that's about all I can guarantee getting done on a regular basis. I promise to do better - but don't hold your breath.

Happy Sunday! It was minus 20-some degrees this morning when we awoke so we decided that venturing out for church just wasn't in us. We've been having a great day playing games, watching movies and of course, watching the Pro Bowl.

Banana Crumb Muffins

This is what I do around here to avoid the laundry. I decided to try a new recipe and boy, Libby and I are glad I did. They're super. I got the recipe from AllRecipes.com, one of my favorite resources for new recipes. They have thousands of free recipes and I can store all of my favorites right there online. Handy!! The best feature is that they have a rating/review system so that you can find out before you make them whether they're any good or not. I've had great results thus far. I altered the recipe a bit from the original by Lisa Kraft. Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup oil (I used canola.)
  
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar

Topping:

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
2. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

They're different from any other banana muffin I've had with that crumb topping -- it almost gave it a caramel taste resembling Bananas Foster. I hope you like them.

Monday's our busiest day with Jazz for B as well as Piano and Scouts for Z. Best get back to that laundry!!

Did I need one more thing to do??

Seriously! If you know us at all, you know we're busy enough and don't really need "one more thing". The thing is, I've turned into a "blog junkie" (this is the "mom" talking). My favorite blogs are those of fellow stampers and scrapbookers, but recently I've loved catching up with friends, family and even people I've never met through their blogs. So here goes nothing. Hey, I may never even tell anyone we're here (*wink!*). I am someone who loves to write, but never find the time. I love the computer and spend entirely too much time on it, so why not give blogging a try? Welcome to our home on the world wide web as well as a glimpse into our home where the buffalo roam. We're glad you're here!