Ahhh... Quiet

It has been very quiet around here lately. That's because all my kids are in school all day and it is great. Yes, there was that moment at the grocery store as I was following a young mom with her three little girls, all with their own little carts, helping rotate stock from one area of the store to the other, that I had a twinge of sadness that my babies are growing up and they don't do that anymore. But I got over it. There was another moment when I got the $150+ worth of groceries home and I realized I had to bring them in and put them away myself. But I did it and there were no arguments. What was the point? I knew I would loose anyway.

The quiet has given me a lot of quiet time to write. I am 5 chapters into my book and am still loving it. I go to bed at night, thinking of the next step in the plot, then wake up in the morning with the ideas flowing. I type all day, taking breaks to vacuum or occasionally eat, then write some more. I still think it is crap--it is poorly written and very formulaic, but I am having fun. When I come to roadblocks, I like hashing it out with my older girls. They aren't much help as their sarcasm gets in the way, but they make me laugh and I appreciate their willingness to be a part of the process. I also WAY appreciate elle_cosette's help. I am loving the quotes she sends from her writing book, and the tips are very helpful.

Anyway, enough of that! Back to writing!

Banana Cookies

When I was in Yellowstone, I mentioned I had a bazillion black bananas in my freezer, waiting to be made into banana bread. Jayne Garner heard me and suggested banana cookies instead. This is her recipe. I've made it twice since them, tripling the recipe each time (big family, lot of neighbors, etc...). They're wonderful. Give them a try.

Banana Cookies

1/3 C shortening

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 C bananas

1 ½ C flour

2 t baking powder

½ t salt

¼ t soda

½ t vanilla

1 C chocolate chips

Cream shortening and sugar, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes OR for convection, 375 for 9 minutes.

DONE! But here's what I look like now!

This whole process of cataloging the pictures and uploading them and whatnot has been exhausing! I am so glad to be DONE, but they are there, preserved for posterity, right? So it was all worth it?

But this is what I look like now...

this photo was taken by a lady who posts a very entertaining blog called Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. She is a former city girl who married a rancher and lives in the middle of nowhere. She takes amazing photos... Anyway, they were checking the cows for pregnancies and she has a montage of pictures of the "expecting" ladies. This one was taken at exactly the moment they were... how can I put this delicately? confirming her good news? But I feel like I look like this most days so I have adopted her as my spokes-cow.

Geyser Hill pt. 1

Geyser Hill pt. 2

Old Faithful Area Trail pt. 1

Morning Glory Pool and Trail