Pride and Prejudice and zombies oh my!

I've mentioned before how much the boy and I both love to read, and with All Hallow's Read  that's happening now, I thought I would put together a list of some of my favourite authors. After all, I've  been reading horror/suspense books for ever, starting with R L Stein and Christopher Pike, and moving onto V C Andrews, Anne Rice, Neil Gaiman, and Charlaine Harris. And you can't forget the classics - Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelly, and of course Jane Austen. You haven't read her classic Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or even Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters?

As I was trying to come up with my list of books that would be good for the boy, I came across the list that Jenny, The Bloggess had created, I knew I couldn't do any better. So go check her list out, then hit up your library, book store, or even rediscover a classic on your own bookshelf, and enjoy a scary good time!

He's definitely my son

The boy and I went to the library yesterday, one of his favourite places to go (and mine), and got a few new books for both of us. He was so excited, since, like me he, loves to read and loves new books. He was so thrilled by one of his books that he had to start reading it immediately, which made walking back to the car a bit tricky!

Like mummy, like boy

The Boy Cave

I've been suffering from a migraine the last few days, so the poor boy has had to try and play as quietly as possible. That's not an easy task for the boy at all, especially when he has all his tools out and is 'fixing' things. So in the effort to get a few minutes of quiet yesterday, I decided that I would build the boy a 'cave'.

We tidied the floor of his closet out, put in some old pillows, blankets, and found a touch light for him. He then took in a whole bunch of his books, some of his 'friends' (his doll Reese and one of his plush bunnies), a water bottle and a little snack. He promptly pulled the door mostly shut, said "I know where you are if I need you Mummy" and started reading his books. It was great, I managed to get nearly 15 minutes by myself, which was amazing. What's even more amazing is that he asked to go back in it this morning, and again this afternoon! It's fantastic, now I just wish I'd thought of it sooner!

B-a-n-a-n-a-s

The boy loves to help in kitchen, so we try and do some baking at least once a week. Normally that means muffins or granola bars, something simple that he can help contribute to. This week I had a few over ripe bananas hanging around, and before I chucked them in the freezer (what, you don't have bunches of too ripe bananas in your freezer waiting for you to make smoothies or banana bread?) I decided that we would make some banana bread with them.

I love trying new recipes, and when I came across this one for chocolate chip banana bread, I was sold. It's from the blog notwithoutsalt.com and it's one of many (very yummy) recipes. The boy loved it because he could peel and squeeze the bananas out into a bowl and then mash to his hearts content. It was great because I could get everything else assembled while he took care of the bananas. He is great at mashing, anything that involves lots of smashing and mushing he seems to be a pro at. After the bananas are mashed up, it's just simple mixing by hand, which the boy is good at too, so really all he needs me for is the measuring!

The first time we baked this, I cut the recipe in half and just made one loaf, what a mistake! We had it devoured in no time at all - so from now on it, it's 2 loaves every time. The boy thinks that's great because he gets to mash up twice the amount of bananas,  plus he gets to eat the bread, which is absolutely delicious. And since it's got bananas in it, I've convinced myself it's healthy, which means that I can have an extra slice now!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (from notwithoutsalt.com)

6 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup canola oil (or coconut oil)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
4 cups flour
1 bag dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350
Mix in order.
Fill two greased loaf pans 3/4 full. Bake for about an hour (mine took 50 minutes)
You can also bake these as cupcakes. Fill the pan 3/4 full and bake about 20 minutes.
For both the cupcakes and the loaves you want a knife or a toothpick to come out clean

Laundry fun!

Apparently running through damp sheets is lots of fun! And needs to get done over and over and over again. On a positive note, that means that my laundry line spins even without any wind!

Checking to see if they're dry or if he can keep going.