The BEST Banana Bread

This is one of those tried and true recipes I have been making for years and years. I believe I first came across the recipe back in my college days. I never used to like nuts, so this "nutless" banana bread sounded great to me. Over the years I have tweaked it a bit to our liking, and I am happy to say 5 out of 6 people in our family happily devour it! In fact, this loaf of bread rarely lasts more than a couple days in our house. If you do have some leftover it is perfect sliced and frozen for a quick snack or breakfast.

The BEST Banana Bread!

3 Overripe Bananas
1.5 cups Flour
1 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
1 Egg
1/4 cup Butter, melted
1/4 cup Chocolate Chips, plus more for sprinkling

Directions:
-Heat oven to 325 degrees
-Mash bananas with a fork and mix in flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
-Mix in egg thoroughly. Slowly add in melted butter.
-Once combined, fold in chocolate chips.
-Pour into greased loaf pan and top with extra chocolate chips.
-Bake between 60 and 70 minutes. Bread will be very brown on top. Let cool and enjoy!

A few notes: I use half white and half whole wheat flour. Also, I feel like the bread is sweet enough with less sugar, so I often use no more than 3/4 cup sugar, and my kids don't mind. I have even used 1/2 cup sugar and it turned out just fine. It's easy to go overboard with the chocolate chips but don't! Too much chocolate will take away from the great banana flavor.

Ryan's Summer Reading

Ryan doesn't love to read. His reading level is just barely where it should be for his age. When he actually reads, he does just fine sounding out words. But he rushes and loses interest really quickly. Getting him to actually crack open a book is tough. We pretty much have to enforce reading time, and then it becomes a chore rather than something to enjoy! One of my goals this summer is to help Ryan find the joy in reading. It may never be his "thing", but I sure am going to try! Below are some of the books he/we are reading right now.

Dog Man Series

I believe this is by the same author as Captain Underpants. My boys love some potty humor, but I try to steer them away from that as much as possible. This book caught my eye because it is done in the same comic book/graphic style. So far Ryan really seems to like it!

A Series of Unfortunate Events - Book 1

This book is a little....different. It is definitely one I am reading out loud to the kids, although I have caught Ryan trying to read it to himself a few times! It's a strange book about 3 siblings who are orphaned. There are some big words in this book that I have to explain, but much to my surprise, Ryan requests this book every single night. And he begs for me to read just one more chapter after I finish. I love that!!

Hardy Boys Clue Book Collection

These books are an updated version to the classic Hardy Boys books. I wouldn't say they are our favorite, but they are nice books that both boys enjoy reading. They just aren't as suspenseful as I was hoping for, so they don't keep us on the edge of our seats wanting more. But my boys like them, so that's a win.

Magic Tree House Series

These were the very first chapter books Ryan started reading last year. Each book takes the kids on an adventure to a different location around the world, or to a time in history. They are suspenseful and informative and both my boys love when I read them!

Some books we haven't read yet but plan on reading ASAP: The Boxcar Children, Goosebumps Series, Star Wars: Jedi Academy

Because Ryan has 3 younger siblings, he still gets picture books read to him pretty regularly. Here are a few we are loving right now:

Dragons Love Tacos

The premise of the book: Dragons love tacos and hate salsa. It's a simple yet silly book that my kids love. Their favorite line that makes them crack up: "Pantloads of tacos!"

The Storm That Stopped

This is an amazing book that tells the story of Jesus calming the storm from Mark chapter 4. The illustrations are beautiful and the book is dramatic enough to capture my kids' attention and hold it. There is a lesson on the final page about who Jesus is, and I think it is perfect for my young kids.
(When you click on the Amazon link above for this book, you will see books listed below under the section "Customers who bought this item also bought". I want ALL those books!)

What books are your young boys reading these days?

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Andrew Right Now

Right now Andrew is almost 16 months old.

Right now Andrew loves the outdoors.

 Right now Andrew is Loud!

 Right now Andrew is an awful sleeper.

 Right now Andrew is excellent at letting us know what he wants!

 Right now Andrew just wants to be one of the big kids.

Right now and always Andrew is SO loved by his family!

Summer Fun

Every year at the beginning of summer I sit down with my kids and we make a list of all the fun stuff we want to do.

Now that the kids are all healthy it feels like summer is in full swing.  And we have already packed a lot of fun in! We ate at Taylor's:

 Had a lemonade stand:

 And swam in Grandma Jan's pool.

I love this picture I captured of Lucas mid-jump!

 Reminds me of this picture I took of him last June!

The 3 big kids finished a week of VBS at a small local Lutheran church last week. The cousins also attended, so it was nice spending some extra time with them. This coming week is a "free" week with nothing to do, and then the following week the kids (and I) will be attending the VBS at our church.

On our list of summer fun are big things like a family vacation, a family wedding, 4th of July and my birthday. Also on our list are smaller things such as making homemade ice cream, going to the local splash pads, and spending an entire day in our PJs at home.

 What is on your summer bucket list?

Hand Foot and Mouth

Last week Andrew and Jenna contracted Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. Fevers, fussiness, sleepiness, vomiting and an awful rash (especially Jenna. Poor girl got the rash basically all over her body). They seemed to be getting better by the weekend, and our Saturday began with Ryan's baseball party.

He played, he ate, and he had a ton of fun. It ended with a little award ceremony, after which Ryan ran up to me and said "Mommy I got a medal! Is it real??"

But as soon as we got home, Ryan started acting really cranky and kept saying he was tired. Lucas had his final baseball game that afternoon, and Ryan sat on my lap for most of it, rather than running around like he usually does. After the game he came home and laid down. I assumed he was just overly tired after a few really late nights.

That evening Lucas had his baseball party. He played, he ate, and he had a ton of fun. Once again, there was a little award ceremony and Lucas received his first ever trophy. But as soon as we got home he basically collapsed on the couch.

By the middle of the night both boys had fevers and bad headaches. Then Ryan started throwing up. Once I spotted a blister on the bottom of Ryan's foot the next day, I knew the boys had Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Sunday and Monday were spent laying on the couch in misery. But later Monday the boys felt well enough to play video games with Andrew, so I knew they were on the mend.

Today Ryan was well enough to go to Vacation Bible School, although Lucas still has a bad sore throat so he stayed home. What a crummy start to summer!

(At least Lucas is opening his mouth this time. Read about his last HFM experience here.)

Lucas' 6-Year Checkup

Lucas had a great 6-year checkup with his doctor this week. Here are his growth stats:

Height: 44.75 inches (37%)
Weight: 45 lbs 11 oz (50%)

So he's growing well, despite his picky eating. I talked to the doctor about the fact that Lucas only eats about 10 different foods. He said that it is very difficult for children to become deficient in nutrients these days, because so much of our food in this country is fortified with vitamins and minerals. And honestly, the foods that Lucas does tend to eat are fairly healthy. (ground beef, triscuits, apples, fig bars, cheerios, yogurt, kale chips). His doctor said we need to decide if this is a battle we want to win. Because let me tell you, requiring Lucas to take 1 bite of what I serve him for dinner WILL become a battle. He usually chooses not to eat the dinners I make, but it obviously isn't affecting his growth.

We also talked about the fact that Lucas still wets his bed a LOT every night. He said about 25% of 6-year old boys still do this, so it isn't totally abnormal. Apparently there are special underwear you can buy with wires attached to them that send off an alarm when the child starts to pee at night. Then you get up with them and rush them to the bathroom. And repeat. He said it works, but it's an awful lot of work. For now I think we will try harder to limit his water at night and see if that helps.

Luke's Lego Party

On Sunday we celebrated Lucas' 6th birthday with a party at our local park. When I saw this lego party décor at the dollar store, I knew it was meant to be! Lucas loves legos, so it was a perfect little theme. Lucas Loves Legos!

We kept things pretty simple. Some food. A few friends.

 And over 400 water balloons! It was perfect for the 100 degree heat.

I made my basic vanilla buttercream cupcakes. When I saw these little lego men at the store, I decided they'd be the perfect cupcake toppers.

 

 Andrew approved!

Lucas had 3 friends from school, and my sister brought her 3 youngest girls. We decided that this was the perfect amount of people.

 Lucas opened up presents from his cute friends.

 After the party we relaxed at home for a while before Lucas opened his presents from us.

 Ryan gave his little brother $5. (To go in his new lego wallet!)

We got him lego batman jammies.

 Followed by a ton of legos!

Lucas loves legos, and one of the items on his birthday list was a "lego town". He basically wanted to create a town of buildings and cars out of legos. So we bought him a few sets, including a monster truck, helicopter and a lego home.

 The boys got to work building, and they've got quite the collection of lego creations going on!

What a fun lego birthday we had!

Lucas: Six

Happy 6th Birthday Lucas Reid Nullmeyer! 

Your biggest change this year was starting Kindergarten, and I am so happy to report that you had a fantastic year. You excelled in every subject, made some great friends, and genuinely seemed to enjoy school.

Lucas, you are definitely one of my most affectionate children. You give me the absolute best hugs! You tell me you love me all the time. The other day you said "Mommy I love you 2nd. First I love God. See? You can say such the sweetest things. You began picking me flowers at a young age:

And you still surprise me with flowers every chance you get!

You are such a strong, stubborn and sweet boy. You make life very unpredictable around here most days! You can be fine one minute, and something will set you off and suddenly you are the Incredible Hulk, trying to smash everything in sight. My prayer for you is that you will learn to control your impulses and use your energy for good.

Favorite color: Green

Favorite food: Meat
Favorite drink: Cherry 7up (You had it for the first time last month)
Favorite place to go: Target
Favorite toy: Hotwheels
Best friend: Scott
What you want to be when grow up: A Dad
Favorite subject in school: Math

You and your little brother Andrew seem to have a special bond. You always try to be so gentle with him, and you are the best at making him laugh. (Not the best picture to show this, but it's true!)

You learned how to read and write this year, and now you love writing letters and stories. You are constantly asking me how to spell words. You are the best at going off and keeping yourself busy, whether it's with drawing and writing, or playing with legos.

Random Lucas Facts: You have the coolest eyes! The yellow ring around the center is gradually growing bigger and covering up the blue, making your eyes look green. You adore having your back scratched, and every morning you lie in bed and ask me to scratch your back, arms, and legs. You do a great job at organizing. If I ask you to put away your laundry, you begin by taking all your clean clothes out of your drawer and putting them back in neat stacks. You are also in charge of keeping our hall closet/shoe cubby clean, and you often organize it without being asked!

Lukey Schmook I love you so much. You challenge me and bring me to my knees daily, praying that you will grow into a strong warrior for God.

Happy Birthday big 6-year old!