Peanut Butter and Banana... The Easy Way

So, every since I was a kid I can remember loving to eat Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches. They are a total comfort food for me. In fact, they go beyond the "comfort food" category into a "life saver" category. When I was a student living in dorm at Northwest Baptist College the cafeteria food quality was uneven, to put it nicely. In particular, you would never know if lunch would be palatable until you were in line for the food.

So, my friend Tim Doling and I came up with a system. We kept a jar of peanut butter in Tim's room (although the jar sometimes migrated to my room). We would both get in line for lunch to see what it was. If it was something we liked (and could stomach!) we'd stay in line, get our food and eat lunch.

However, if the food wasn't appealing (which, if I'm honest, was very often) our system would kick in. One of us would head upstairs to get the jar of peanut butter. The other would stay in line, get a couple of bananas and 4 slices of bread. You see, the cafeteria always had bread and bananas available but the peanut butter was only available at breakfast time. Thus, we had our own supply on hand. By the time the peanut butter was brought down from the room the other person had made it through the line with the bread and bananas. We were able to have lunch and make it through the day. The sandwiches were a life saver!

So, in my mind, I equate Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches with some really good memories... from my childhood and from later on. Nowadays I rarely have a Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich. I'm not really sure. I suppose the biggest reason is that although Colleen and I both eat bananas we usually forget about them and they go bad. So, we don't keep them around very often. And it is tough for me to predict the craving for a Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich... it can hit at any time and it is rare to be able to get a banana from the store that is ripened to perfection for use in a Peanut Butter and Banana Sanwich.

All of which brings us to yesterday. Colleen, Carlon and I were in Burlington with my Mom and my sister Brenda. We were shopping at the Factory Outlets there. One of my favourite stores to check out is "Harry and David's" which is a specialty food store. Colleen and I like to browse the store and usually come home with a new kind of dip or relish or bbq sauce.

Yesterday we were just about to pay for everything when Colleen pointed out a jar on the shelf. I almost couldn't believe it! "Harry and David: Creamy Banana Spread"! Of course, I bought a jar and brought it home. I didn't open it up until this afternoon. I didn't have it for breakfast because I was afraid I'd be disappointed with it. If I was disappointed with it then I'd want something else for breakfast and wouldn't have time. So, I waited until this afternoon.

And BOY! I wasn't disappointed. It really was like a Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich but without having to find a banana that is ripened just right. Now granted, it wasn't the same as an actual Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich but it was suprisingly good. I mean... really good!

So, now I've finished my blog post and I'm tempted to have another Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Really... it was THAT good!

Meeting Great Grandma Clinch

Last Saturday our whole family went up to the Columbia Valley/Cultas Lake area so that Carlon and Aiden could meet their great grandma. She is my mom's mom and our only surviving grandparent. We tried to visit her before Christmas then again at New Years and then again on her birthday, January 24th. All three times we were thwarted by weather. So we planned on Valentines Day and prayed for a dry day. God was gracious (as always) and we had a beautiful day for the nearly two hour drive to gramma's house. She turned 91 this year and lives in this house all by herself on twelve acres of land. Her nearest neighbour is about a good kilometre away but, she likes it there. So we go and visit her whenever we can. We wanted to have a whole family shot but my dad was home sick and we couldn't figure out a way to effectively prop the camera to take a pic of all of us so John took the family shots. Here are a few of the best.

I love to laugh... Ha, ha, ha, haaa....

a visit with my cousin

yesterday my auntie linda and my cousin aiden came over for a visit... it was awesome! i was asleep when they first got here so it was a nice surprise to wake up to. i smiled at aiden when i saw him but i don't think he remembered me because he looked a little confused. mommy said it was probably because this was aiden's first time at our house so he was just getting used to things. she's probably right... by the time they had to go aiden had smiled back quite a few times. near the end of the visit mommy and auntie linda put me and aiden beside each other and took some pictures and a video...

i sure like sucking on my fist!

as the title explains... I've discovered my fist, which I mentioned in the last post, and mom took some footage.

lookey what i can do!!

Over the last few weeks I've gotten really good at holding my head up. Mom and dad got photo proof of my efforts. The video isn't as convincing but, that's because I had been working at it for a while and was getting tired. The other interesting thing going on is that mom thinks I might be in the early stages of teething, I'm not convinced myself.. although.... I have been drooling a little bit... sometimes... and the other night my cheeks were red, kind of.... and I really, really enjoy chewing and sucking on my left fist. I guess we'll just have to wait and see....

two big milestones : ) Zzzz

Carlon, at 2 months almost as if on cue had two wonderful things happen. One night he slept for 5 hours straight (YAY!!!) and he is having real smiles. I say real, not in reference to gas as some might think, no, Carlon's gas has always been preceded by cries. I'm talking about smiles that happen because he knows it's mommy or daddy talking to him. The morning seems to be his happiest time... who can blame him? I know I'm always happier the longer I sleep. And speaking of him sleeping, it's slowly getting to be longer sleeps at night. It started as 5 hours and has gone to 6 and 7, one night it was even 8 hours! I'm thinking now that was a fluke because it hasn't happened since, I will not give up the hope that it will happen again though. Now he's averaging between 6 to 7 hours each night and is full of smiles in the morning. Here are a few of the best shots so far. And the video is just a small example of Carlons sleeping habit, you might need to turn your volume up for it. All I can say is... like father like son....