Lightly butter a normal loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir in peanut butter, bananas, flour and baking soda until just blended. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 60 – 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

2.) David got the baby’s armoire into the house and level and all that other stuff that needed to happen before I could wash clothes and put them away. It’ll be good to do something that feels like we’re preparing for her arrival.

3.) Supper last night: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/baked_shrimp_in_tomato_feta_sauce/ Simple. Amazing. And I had everything in the pantry or freezer already.

4.) I’ve got a month’s worth of meals in the downstairs freezer for after the baby comes. When Nathan was born we ate out a lot because it was just easier. I don’t imagine it’ll be easier this time with a three year-old in tow.

5.) Lawn car company hired. Evaporative cooler being serviced Friday. It’s Spring, people!

2.) Without jinxing anything, I think Spring has finally sprung. All of the sudden the landscape is green. Where we had barren dirt in the yards we now have plants that magically awakened and in some cases are a foot tall. David actually had to mow the yards this weekend!

3.) Nathan is sick, and while this isn’t generally a sign of grace he gets so love-y and cuddly when he’s not feeling up to par. Plus, this go around he has figured out he doesn’t like to have his nose running down his face so he’s all over blowing his own nose.

4.) The kid is SMART. Seriously smart. He can count to thirty – forty with some prompting. He is starting to spell simple words and he is definitely working on sounding out letters and words. I look at him sometimes with awe. He was a wee (Ha!) little baby just about three years ago. Now he is a little boy with thoughts and ideas of his own who yearns to learn.

5.) I have some truly amazing friends. Denver has always felt like home, but having some really wonderful girlfriends just drives home that point on a regular basis. Life is good.

Why didn’t I think of that?

I think my head just might pop clear off!!

Look at all the pretty little snowflakes!!

Standing just inside the front door looking straight out over the parkway. Look how light is the night sky. I love the light when it snows.

This is the view from the "sun" room on the front of the house. The blurry fog is snow, but this image doesn't come close to capturing how peaceful it is tonight.

]]> http://michelle.creativewares.com/2008/12/08/quite-beautiful/feed/ 1 http://michelle.creativewares.com/2008/12/08/photos/ http://michelle.creativewares.com/2008/12/08/photos/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 09:13:50 +0000 shell http://michelle.creativewares.com/?p=481 The day after Thanksgiving Kori and I were sitting around after stuffing our faces when we thought we heard cars on a wet street. We jumped up and found it had snowed a couple of inches while we weren’t paying attention. All snow is awesome, but Surprise! Snow! the magical kind of awesome. These are from the next day – there was more snow, but I’m a bit of a sloth in the mornings.

This is looking to the right from our front porch.

Looking to the left from the same spot.

And, really, would it be anything like me to go a long time without posting anything, use photos as content, and NOT use my kid? Exactly.

Usually I am not a fan of messy baby faces, he was having so much fun and we were tired of trying to get him to eat. This was before we threw our hands up for good and decided to not worry about how much he eats and instead let him decide for himself.

The weekend before Thanksgiving David decided on a whim – literally as we were walking into the house carrying groceries – that it was time to do some fall clean up! Nathan decided it was time to play with rocks.

"And I gots this here rock." For the record? That look? Totally his personality - "What can I get away with now?"

Nathan has a new trick! He likes to push his step-stool around the kitchen and climb up to the counter to “help.” It should be noted he has branched out the step-stool pushing to climb up and turn light switches on and off all day. We live in a strobe light now. Be sure to notice the sunscreen on the counter. That would be the evening we got the surprise snow.

"Helping" Grandpa Bob make corn and crab chowder.

Claire is Nathan’s lil’Mommy. Or girlfriend. I can’t figure out which is true. I do know they follow each other around and hug all the time. Alas, he only knows how to say her sister Ella’s name. He sees Claire and runs at her full steam to hug her while yelling “Ella! Ella!” It’s freaking adorable.

I am pretty sure he is telling her about the fairies that live in the Christmas mansion and I am pretty sure she isn't buying it.

"What? I KNOW I am not supposed to touch and guess what? I am NOT touching, ok?"

I really need to pull out the books and figure out how to get truer colors in low lights. You’d never know it from this shot, but the living room is a lovely shade of olive green.

An idea of what our home looks like for the holidays.