Banana Bread

Today was Addie’s return to school after a long winter break, and she had a great day!

But Emerson had one more day off. So she rode with me this morning, and Nana met us at my office to pick her up for another day together.

Chili is always better the next day, after settling in the fridge overnight. And today’s chili for lunch was no exception. I also had a delicious chocolate-chocolate chip muffin for dessert, that my boss’s daughter made and sent in for us. I started out reading a book on my Kindle (I’m currently about 80% through already and love it so much), with intentions to read on Kindle while eating, then switch to this new library book after I finished eating. But I was super tired, so instead, I put a “deep sleep” video on my phone and took a much-needed 25-minute power nap in my office chair.

Emmie and Nana were busy with errands and shopping today, and didn’t get much playtime. But they did at least start out with a delicious breakfast with Nana’s friends at Village Inn, and she got a big cup of ice cream on their trip to Sam’s.

I forgot to put in a Walmart grocery pickup order this past weekend, so I don’t have much a real “meal plan” for dinners this week. So the girls had cereal, and I baked a frozen pizza for Jeff and I. And while the pizza was baking, I mixed up a loaf of banana bread. Addison has been asking for bananas SO much randomly, so we’ve bought them a couple of times. But then she eats like one bite, or maybe two, and doesn’t want anymore. So I specifically decided to “save” some to let them get super ripe, which would be perfect for making banana bread. And tonight was finally the night. Luckily, I had all the correct ingredients on hand already.

Emerson made herself a mug of hot peppermint tea after dinner, and sipped on it while we watched some of “The Sword and the Stone.” She’s gotten really good at making her own tea lately, since she wants to drink it every night. But whenever she does “big girl” things like this on her own, we always call her Matilda, because in the book/movie, Matilda takes care of herself, by doing things like making pancakes and soup and PB&J all on her own. And Emmie was obsessed with Matilda a couple of years back!

The girls were super silly and giggly when we first went back for bedtime, especially when Pennie was flopping around and kind of fell / slid down off of Emmie’s bed onto Addie’s bed, and made us all laugh even more. But they still settled down quickly, and were asleep in no time.

I’ve made myself a mug of hot peppermint tea for myself now, in this mug I love from Dolly Parton’s Stampede that we got on family vacation last year.

Jeff and I are also making good progress on this cabin puzzle, but we’re definitely into the hardest parts now, with all the trees, snow and sky left to figure out.

And y’all, the banana bread came out beautiful and perfect! And my house smells absolutely amazing. Definitely need to cut myself a little slice while it’s still nice and warm, to go with my hot tea!

Going to work on the puzzle, and have my tea and bread for snack, and then get ready for bed with a little bit of reading later.