1st Day of Kindergarten

Much to my dismay, the first day of kindergarten still arrived bright and early this morning. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to get back into a routine and have Payton involved in a more structured learning environment (plus not having to hear Super Mario Brothers during the day is an added bonus!). It's just that I had a very hard time coming to grips with the fact that my "baby" is old enough to be starting kindergarten. How could that be?!? They grow up fast... way too fast.

It was raining so hard this morning that we couldn't take our traditional outside 1st day of school photos, but I still managed to snap a few inside
before heading to school.

Once we got to school, Payton happily found his seat, got his backpack situated, and started coloring the craft that his teacher, Mrs. Scagilone, had set out for them. He was happy as could be!

I guess the teacher could tell that I was hanging around so she nicely said, "Okay, mom, we'll see you this afternoon. Have a great day!" I looked at another mom in the room and said, "I better get out of here before he sees me cry." She sympathetically said, "It's impossible not to cry." So I hurried out of the room as my first tear streamed down my cheek. Then stood at the door and peeked in the window while doing the "ugly cry" for the next 5 minutes.

I was so proud of him though. After I walked out, he saw another boy who had a Mario Bros. backpack just like his and he walked over to show him. He was making new friends in the first 5 minutes!!!

So now I have the rest of the afternoon to get caught up on work, errands, etc. A whole day to myself! But all I can think is... "how many more minutes until I can pick him up?" Man... this is going to be harder than I thought.

Banana Bread - YUM!

Do you cook with your kids? Yes, I know the idea of letting them even go near a canister of flour can send shivers down my spine, but a little planning can make cooking with your kids so much fun.

Payton joins me in the kitchen when I'm cooking something he likes. Usually that "something" involves chocolate chips. On this particular day, I was making one of his favorite recipes - banana bread. It's a super easy recipe and fun to make with kiddos because they get to mash up the bananas (see above photo) and mix in the chocolate chips. He's even getting pretty good at using the mixer (although his arm usually gets tired after a minute or so).
Of course the best moment is licking the beaters. Do you remember doing this as a child? I sure do, and it brings back wonderful memories to see my own child do the same.
So the next time you have a couple of over-ripe bananas in the house, don't toss em... make banana bread. Trust me, it's delicious and you'll want to make it over and over again! Enjoy.




Stacy's Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)
2 eggs
2-3 ripe bananas
1 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter or spray with Pam a 9x5x3" loaf pan.
2. Cream sugar and butter in large mixing bowl until light & fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. In a small bowl, mash bananas with a fork. Mix in milk, cinnamon and vanilla. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing until flour disappears.
5. Fold in chocolate chips until evenly dispersed.
6. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes.