Farewell ...

I'm linking this picture to Darcy's Sweet Shot Tuesday.  It was taken at the airport just moments before we said goodbye to my husband who left this past Sunday to Afghanistan. I know it is extremely close up, but I chose it because of the emotion on my husband's face.We are so very proud of him and miss him already. He is our HERO! We pray for all our troops and their safe return.

"Together forever, never apart, maybe in distance, but never at heart."

My future granddaughter...

This evening instead of going to the gym I found myself snuggling with Gabe on our recliner watching Deliver Me on Discovery Health. He sat there in amazement as he watched the doctors perform 3 different c-sections. He was quiet...a little too quiet as he sat with his eyes glued to the telly. Then he blurts out...
 "Can a daddy have a baby? "
"No! Do you want to have kids when you grow up and have a wife?"
"Uh...yes. I don't want no boys just a girl."
"Just a girl. What are you going to name her?"
" Abby"
" Abigail"
"No...ABBY"
"Okay"
So we'll see about my future granddaughter Abby since Gabe is a few weeks shy of 5 and fatherhood for him is years from now :)

Opposites do attract

                          

Trent and I in a nutshell:

 I am the iced unsweeten green tea and he is the hot coffee. We are different in many ways, but we are on the same team MOST of the time ;) We compliment each other nicely and he is my best friend.

Healthy banana bread

I am putting on my cutest apron and making a healthy banana bread with my kiddos plus my niece Roselyn for my mother who's recovering from a splenectomy. Let's begin the fun!


I love owls...can you tell :)

The ingredients:

• 
  
  2 cups all-purpose flour *
• 
  
  3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 
  
  1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
  1 cup sugar
• 
  
  1/4 cup butter, softened ( I use Land O'Lakes light butter)
• 
  
  2 large eggs
• 
  
  1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana ( about 3 bananas)
• 
  
    1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt**
• 
  
  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 
  
  chopped walnuts if you want or you can omit them
• 
  
  cooking spray

*I personally use 1 cup King Arthur 100% whole wheat & 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

** If I am out of plain low-fat yogurt, but have low-fat vanilla yogurt on hand I will use that as a substitute

NOTE: I always double this recipe that's why I have 4 eggs out

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then combine the flour, baking soda, and salt by whisking them in a bowl.

In a separate large bowl beat sugar and butter with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 min)

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition

Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla to the bowl; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed until moist. Spoon batter into two loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 mins. to 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack and enjoy.

*recipe courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

Is it me?

Or do your eyes hurt also when you look at this picture? LOL

Gabe visiting the dentist. He had a cleaning appointment in March, but didn't cooperate. I'm hoping he gets over his doctor, dentist, and medicine fear soon...that's a story for another day!

A small road trip

Our weekend was spent at Ft. Polk, Louisiana visiting my hubby who is training there until mid-May. It is a huge base located in the middle of nowhere, but we had a great time with Trent. Unfortunately, Lesley wasn't able to go due to TAKS testing at school so she stayed behind with my sister Jennifer. We stopped twice in Houston briefly to eat at one of our most fave restaurants Sweet Tomatoes. The boys had fun at the local park, catfish pond, Children's Museum at Lake Charles, and just hanging out with dad.

 Gabe catching up with Trent at our hotel when we first arrived.

The boys at the base catfish pond

Checking out different tanks at Warrior Park on post.

The drive from SA to Ft. Polk is pretty boring, but I'd do it all over again just to hang out with my honey.

Kitchen surprise

I'm not speaking about the yummy type, but more like the scary critter type. As I was about to wash some pots and pans that I left in the sink overnight something was hiding beneath everything and thankfully didn't sting me. Imagine finding this in your sink:

 Yep, I'm so glad I was paying attention and saw it as soon as I did. I'm wondering how it found its way to the sink and if there are others??? I'm hoping it is the only one in the house. Even though it had it's stinger ready to attack I removed it from the sink and threw it outside. Now I'm just hoping it stays outside :)

Sweet Shot Tuesdays

 This is a picture I took of my babe Gabriel while we were preparing a meal together one evening. It was his first time shucking corn and I really enjoyed this one on one time with him. He is such a sweet kitchen helper and little boy. I can't believe he's turning five in July...they grow up too fast!
Please check out other Sweet Shots over at Darcy's blog.

A new beginning

  Notice anything different? I have a brand spanking new blog design thanks to Lindsay...whoo hoo and a new blog title. I changed it from Savoring the Moment to Hoot Mommy because of my love for owls. I have experienced and done so much since my last entry, but I kept quiet and neglected this blog for a very silly reason. It's appearance!! Can you believe that. My blog wasn't visually appealing to me so like an old worn book I neglected it. Everytime something exciting happened I'd think "This would be a great blog entry", but I never made the effort. Months passed and after settling into our new home in February I decided I wanted to get a new design and start writing once again. I especially wanted to do so for Trent who is away training for his deployment to Afghanistan. So here I am once again I hope you'll stick around and read about our everyday life adventures.

Wordless Wednesday........More from Spain