New Year's Painting Party

Yes, we remember the days when we would go to a New Year's Eve party and celebrate with friends, play games, act silly, and sing and kiss each other at midnight. My how times have changed... We're celebrating by redecorating Andrew & Savannah's bedrooms. We've been painting for two straight days and have two full days of painting left.

Laurie asked a VERY good question yesterday... How does anyone paint a room in one day???? No primer and only one coat of paint? YEAH RIGHT!!

Saturday - we primed walls and trim in both rooms (and Andrew's door front and back) and primed Savannah's new furniture. Today (Sunday) we (SHHHH skipped church :( ) painted two walls of Andrew's room (yellow; other two walls are blue), Savannah's walls (pink... and a very pretty girly pink) and moved a corner desk/shelf/storage unit from Savannah's bedroom to the living room with the help of Laurie's dad (he drove all the way over just to help with it... he's the only one that knows how to take it apart and put it back together again). Doesn't seem like we did all that much, but we also had to run to Menards, watch and listen to football, clean the house a little, dishes and laundry (Laurie did these last three... wasn't a high priorty to Mark while the kids are gone and in "home-improvement-tunnel-vision" :P ) and watch and listen to football.

We're hoping to do the second coat of yellow, second coat of pink, first and second coats of blue, and start painting the furniture (since it will probably need two coats) on Monday. So much for watching football on New Year's Day... Oh wait... the only IMPORTANT game is on January 8th when the Gators play the Buckeyes for the national championship... GO GATORS!!!

So to return to my beginning thoughts about parties and celebrations of the past... we don't miss it. That's not "us" anymore... painting our kid's bedrooms on New Year's Eve is "us" now, and we love it. We wouldn't change how we're celebrating at all.

Ok, it's 11:50 pm... I need to go brush my teeth and get ready to kiss my painting party partner at midnight. :)

Happy New Years!!

Letter to Santa

Andrew writing his first letter to Santa. :-) So cute!! Of course, Savannah helped him on what to write. They are so excited about Christmas morning! When praying tonight they both said "Happy Birthday" to Jesus - Laurie and I both almost teared up. Such a special Christmas Eve.

Congratulations to Brian and Val on the new addition to their family... Lia. They will be arriving home from China on December 30. Lia's new sisters, Chloe and Haley, are very excited to have them home again!! They are coming over today to play with Andrew & Savannah (to give Grandma K a little break).

So blessed :)

Can I brag about our kids for just a minute?

Sometimes I'm just overwhelmed with thanks to God for the kids that He's blessed Laurie and I with... They have good health, they're physically strong, well behaved, smart, loving, respectful, God-loving and absolutely the cutest two kids in the world!! Ok, so I'm a little biased on that last one.

I sometimes get stressed when Laurie is going to be really late getting home. Will Savannah be cranky and throw a temper tantrum? Will Andrew be overly sensitive and cry? Will they fight a lot? Will they eat what I make them for supper or ask for something else after I've made it for them?

But... WOW... what an afternoon and evening with Andrew & Savannah!! I mean, they're awesome!! And even when I told Savannah that Mommy just told me she was going to be later than planned and that I would need to go ahead and put her to bed before she got home... she smiled and said, "OK." Whew!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

How... or rather WHY did God bless me with these kids? I'd say there was a switch at birth, but Andrew looks WAY too much like me, and Savannah ACTS way too much like me :) They're ALL OURS. Just plain and simple... we are blessed. Oh wait... they're God's... we're just raising them for Him :)

Andrew as Joseph

Andrew as Joseph for a nativity this Sunday during church.
So cute!!

Cold and more on bananas

What a COLD COLD COLD last few days it's been. BRR!! We've got a heat wave today... a balmy 27-degrees and it's sunny! Woo Hoo!! We received our first snow last Thursday night/Friday morning (November 30 / December 1), but after we had a nice thick layer of freezing rain. We didn't receive too much snow (probably only 3-4 inches), but with the ice it seemed a lot worse. The kids and Laurie were home from school all day Friday (We didn't even leave the house that day). The kids did make it outside to play, though... they were ready to go out about 6 am, but we made them wait until a little later.

The REAL cold didn't start arriving until after the freezing rain and snow... got down to almost 0 a couple of nights over the past week. I was still able to work outside some this week... still a few things to do for customers even with the snow. However, it did get a little difficult on Thursday this past week, and I only lasted until late morning... it just got too cold for me and I came home for the rest of the day. I was able to be a little more productive on Friday, clearing several fallen limbs for one of my customers from the weekend before.

Luckily I got all of my winter arrangements done a week ago before the REAL cold hit. I didn't have too many to do, though... here's a sampling:

This is at a property management office in Normal.

This is at the front of a house at Lake Bloomington. There are three large containers at the back of the house, but I arranged them right before the ice and snow and you can't see them now :( Hopefully it will warm up enough over the next few days that I'll be able to take pictures of them.

This is a house in Bloomington that I only do seasonal arrangements on her front porch. She is the mother of one of my weekly customers. These didn't turn out exactly like I had planned... I didn't buy enough greens for them, but I didn't want to make another trip to the garden center because it was almost dark. I'll probably go back this next week and add more greens to them and some more color. It would look a lot better if there were greens around the window, too, but...

I know... this isn't a winter arrangement... but it's one of our "winter tropical corners" in our house :) Just a few of the many tropical plants that winter inside November - March. Thankfully... Laurie doesn't mind all of them (I think about 30 this year). So far they are all doing well.

I had a little problem with the bananas "sleeping" in the basement, but after a little work removing all of the remaining dirt on the rhizomes of each banana, I think they're ok now. A couple of weeks ago the high humidity we were experiencing wasn't allowing them to dry out enough in the basement and the rhizomes were starting to soften a little. A few hours of work, a dehumidifier and a fan did a lot for them. I lost a few pups, but I still have more than enough for next summer. Last winter I was able to keep them in plastic bags, but this winter probably not.

Here they are again, out of the plastic bags... it's amazing to me how God created plants like this (and remember... bananas are PLANTS not trees!!!) The paper bags have cannas and upright elephant ears in them. The pots hold banana plants, also... these are smaller varieties compared to the larger ones I had at the front and side of our house. I still have two varieties going strong in our family room and living room. I have to watch them carefully, though and give very good care to them.

Yes... I love my bananas!!!!

Ok... enough of this... I need to finish my Christmas list and send it off to those who need it.

Fantastic Music Machine

This is SO cool!!

BIG Reader

Andrew reading The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe - WOW! We were blown away how well and fast he was reading it! I didn't do that until the 6th grade!

Sleeping Bananas

Shhhh! Sleeping bananas :-) I think a total of 8 large ones, and a handful of pups.

Trains

Train table now in use! Andrew loved it! Working on Savannah's shelves today.

Wood block

Can you guess what this is? I have one each for Andrew and Savannah to help them play card games. This was Laurie's idea. She had one when she was younger.

Savannah's Cubbie Shelves

Savannah's cubbie shelves for her room - almost done - just need a little more trim and white paint. I'm also going to make some for the basement.

Bad parking

I guess driving a Range Rover gives you permission to park however and wherever you want. Grrrr!

Basement 2

A long way to go, but better than it looked before! The brown carpet is going - getting something brighter. Curtains will hide storage shelves and furnace (and my "resting" bananas) :-)

Basement

The start of Andrew's new train table in our basement :-) We've never used the basement for anything but storage, but, we're going to start using it for a play area for the kids. Not ideal, but they're excited about it!

Yucky Weather!!

BEAUTIFUL weather to work in the last couple of days... YEAH RIGHT!! I spent yesterday morning (Tuesday) digging up bananas at a customer's house and at our house. And of course... it was raining. Getting ready to lay them down to rest for the winter in his/our basement. My customer's bananas came out fairly easy and I was able to carry them to his garage. Ours, however... well, the one that is about 12' tall was heavier than I expected. And, I'm not really sure how I'm going to get it down into our basement. DEFINITELY not by myself, that's for sure. I might have to cut it back... which I really don't want to do.

Most of my duties are almost complete at my customer's houses... There is still more cleanup and winter-prep at each, but it's winding down. Now I'm starting to focus more on developing my tropical business. I'm putting in a bid this Friday at one area business and will be contacting several other businesses by mail over the next month.

Laurie's stress seems to be gradually decreasing... her traveling has stopped and she's back in the classroom again with her students. She's still grading a lot, but not having to stay up so late to do it.

Need to take the kids to school and get my day started. Wednesdays are short days for me... at home with the kids in the afternoon.

Hotel

The fireplace at the hotel Laurie and I stayed at. We spent a lot of time in front of it. Sorry, no whirlpool pictures :-) For a Holiday Inn Express we were impressed. It was a nice one night get-away.

Stockings 3

Savannah's stocking.

Stockings 2

Andrew's stocking.

Stockings

Lori putting together Andrew & Savannah's stockings that Laurie cross stitched.

Visiting Aunt Lori

Josh & Andrew playing Battleship - Andrew will be keeping him busy all day with games!

Visiting Aunt Lori

Savannah & Lauren at Lori & Pat's.

Last 70-degree day?

Wow... I could have a few more days like today!! Yes, I know that's not going to really happen, but wouldn't it be great? Of course Andrew is already talking about SNOW and how much he thinks we're going to get and how many times we're going to go sledding (yeah, well... we still need to buy a sled to do that). Andrew and I like to lovingly argue back and forth about which season is better, summer or winter.

I had a great time at Eastview's Men's Adventure Weekend at Lake Williamson in southern Illinois this past Friday thru Sunday. Over 200 men attended this year; a little less than last year, but over 80 first-time attenders. This was the 5th year for this retreat; my fourth year to attend. It's something I really look forward to attending each year. A hilight for the weekend (well, I guess it was a hilight) was the second annual full-contact football game... Needless to say, it was entertaining. You can find pictures from the game at my Webshots photo site (there is a link to it from this blog on the right side).

While I was at the men's retreat, Andrew & Savannah spent Thursday thru Sunday with Laurie's parents in Indiana. I think Laurie was the one that REALLY made out with the best weekend, though... she had the house all to herself Friday thru Sunday. I can't remember when she was alone at the house for that long! She got to do a lot of uninterupted grading (I don't think she'll ever get caught up on it all), a workout, scrapbooking and some much needed rest.

Speaking of grading... If you're reading this and you pray, PLEASE pray for Laurie and the amount of work that she has to do. Laurie is not a night person... most nights it's not unusual for her to be asleep on the couch by 9. But, this semester she's been having to stay up until 1, 2 or even later grading. She dropped her doctoral class just so she could use the five-hours more effectively towards her job and her family and that barely made a dent in giving her more time. Anyway... she needs some big-time intercession for this to get better.

We're looking forward to a little get-away this weekend... we'll be headed for Indiana (Brownsburg, outside of Indianapolis) Friday afternoon to spend some time with my sister Lori and her husband Pat thru Sunday. Laurie had cross stitched two new stockings for the kids and she needed help putting them together; I guess Lori has become somewhat of an expert at doing this.

We'll all be staying at their house Friday night, but then Laurie and I will be heading to the luxurious and posh Holiday Inn Express Saturday afternoon to spend the night in a Presidential Suite. (Yes, it really is called that... living room style with a king size bed and large two-person whirlpool in the room, and it looks like maybe a fireplace, too. Oh, and did I say two-person whirlpool tub in the room? HA! ;) (Laurie's going to kill me that I stressed THAT part!) We would rather get away to Key West or the Bahamas, but... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Andrew & Savannah were SO cute for Halloween this year. The original plan was for them to be Anikan & Padme (from Star Wars II... Yes, I've gotten my son and daughter SOOO hooked on Star Wars... I LOVE IT!!). But, we had trouble finding the right sizes. So, we went to option two... Edmund and Lucy from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.


Aren't they adorable?? I just told them that Prince Caspian will begin filming in January and is planned to be released in theatres May 2008... they both were VERY excited. Between Star Wars and Narnia they both keep very busy creating and pretending.

For those of you who know, I am still seeking direction for my vocational future. I've been sending resumes for various positions at banks, but have not had any response. (Laurie is certain that this is a definite sign from God to stay away from banking this time.) I'm more interested in retail management, but haven't seen anything available. The option to continue my "green" business is still viable, but with a new direction... interiorscape and container creations, and eliminate the garden/landscape part of the business. The need is out there here in Bloomington/Normal, and two garden centers that I have been working closely with are interested in using me as their sole referal for interiorscape and seasonal container installation and maintenance. Another business startup idea was tossed my way by a good friend, but after much thought and research I decided to back away from it.

Anyway... prayers would be appreciated. My body has really struggled doing other people's gardening this year. It's been a fun 4+ years, but I need to be doing something that a 40-year old body can handle. I'm also getting more concerned about winter income each year and meeting our financial needs NOW and in the FUTURE. Hmmmm... I guess hitting 40 has made me realize retirement isn't all THAT far away and college for A & S is getting closer and closer!! YIKES!!!!

A Visit From Conservation Officers

I failed to post about my interesting day back on October 2nd in which I sat on the phone for about 30-minutes with Daryl from the DNR (Department of Natural Resources) to discuss my predicament of having a raccoon in a trap in my backyard.

Let me begin by explaining why I had a raccoon in a trap in my backyard...

We had been having problems for awhile with something (?) getting into our small pond almost every night. Finallly I heard the little rascal one night, and knew right away that it was a raccoon. A few days later I talked about it with a customer of mine, and she had her father-in-law bring over a trap (cage) for me to use. I took it home, set it, placed an egg in it as he instructed and waited. And waited - and waited - and waited.

FINALLY - on the morning of October 2nd, we caught our little masked friend. But, then the fun began - not knowing what I should do with him, I called our local Animal Control. Wouldn`t you know, they weren`t available, so I had to call law enforcement. After I talked to them, they directed me to the DNR. When I talked with one person, they said they would take my information and have someone get in touch with me. Someone did, and said they were having someone else get in touch with me.

All the while, our little friend was getting angrier and angrier. Surprisingly I had much more patience than him.

Then Daryl from the DNR called - and to go thru our entire conversation would take a book. So, to discuss it in brief - trapping is illegal; I was considered a poacher for what I had done. CRAP!!!

Well, Daryl took mercy on me (well, I think God had a hand in it, too), and he issued me a "nuisance permit" giving me permission to trap. "THANK YOU JESUS!" No tickets or fines just a lecture. However, I had to agree to keep trapping and when 10-days had passed with not catching anything, or the 30-days expired (whichever came first) I was to return the permit.

Ok, no problem. But, what about this raccoon in my backyard? I couldn`t transport him to the woods and let him go (it was illegal to transport him in my truck and I wasn`t about to open that cage and have him unleash his built up anger against me!). Daryl informed me I had to dispose of him; i.e. Kill him. Of course not owning a gun I didn`t know what to do. Daryl suggested drowning him in a tub of some kind.

After we finished our conversation I found a large Rubbermade tub in the garage, which was just large enough to hold the cage. I began filling the tub and walked over to the cage with a hammer - NO, not to use on the raccoon, but to use the toothed end of the hammer to pick up the cage, keeping my hand a safe distance from his paws that were reaching thru the top of the cage.

I lowered him in, watched him for awhile, but then had to walk to the front of the house to dismiss myself from watching him struggle.

Proper burial per the DNR you might wonder? Double bagged and placed into your garbage can. Sounds easy, but have you ever tried to bag a dead wet raccoon? Not as easy as it sounds. But, mission accomplished.

Now I only had to keep trapping, not catch anything else for a few days, take the cage back to my customer, return the permit and it would all be in the past.

Nothing is ever that easy. No, I didn`t catch anything else, but...

Today, as I was cleaning the basement, Andrew came down and said someone was at the backdoor. I went up, thinking it was probably a neighbor of ours. To my surprise stood two women in uniform - conservation officers from the DNR. CRAP!!!

Apparently, my neighbors (unknown to us which ones) had turned us in for trapping squirrels, rabbits and cats. Ha! I actually started laughing, and started shaking my head. I explained what had happened. They asked to see the permit, which luckily I had very handy inside. They agreed that what I was doing was legal by the permit. I explained how I had disposed of the raccoon, to which they responded that that was part of the complaint - how I had disposed (killed) of the raccoon.

They told me I should have done it in my garage or with a tarp over it. I explained I was just following instructions and just wanted to get it over with. I had forgotten that a neighbor was home working on his roof when this all had occurred and I spoke with him about it while I was trying to figure out what to use to drown the raccoon. (Was this the neighbor who "turned me in?" We will probably never know.)

Anyway, they left pleased that my trapping was legal. I went back into our house wishing I would never have borrowed that trap!! It`s going back to my customer on Tuesday and the permit is getting mailed back on Monday!!

Hockey game 3

Andrew with our escort, Kayla, in the players box.

Hockey Game 2

Andrew talking with one of the players during warmups.

Hockey Game

Andrew with Chip, at the Prairie Thunder hockey game. He got to be in the player's box while they warmed up on the ice.

Couch Time

We need a bigger couch! The kids love to lay on the couch and cuddle with mommy. :-)

Frozen Bananas

Hitting below 30 degrees 2 nights in a row did a number on my bananas. :-(

BRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It`s COLD outside!! That`s all there is about it! Down to below 30 the last two nights (low 20`s windchill), only high 40`s yesterday afternoon and mi-50`s today. BRRRRR! I`m ready for 80-degrees again!

I got in all my "important" plants Wednesday night - larger bananas in the ground will be left for a couple more weeks probably. All potted bananas (6 varieties) are in the house now, except one larger one is in the garage. I love my banana plants and don`t want to lose any of the ones I have:) I`ll probably just cut back and "bag" the rootballs of the potted bananas soon when I do the same for the ones I planted in the ground. It`s just so difficult to winter them over inside as "houseplants." Our family/dining/living rooms look like a jungle right now with all of the plants in. And actually... I will be bringing in more in the next few days. I was glad hearing Laurie's comment the other night when she came home and saw all of the plants, "It's so nice to see plants back in here again." Shew!!!! :)

Savannah has been feeling much better here at the end of the week, and the swelling around her eye is gone. It was so cute Wednesday night - she was having problems falling asleep, so Laurie brought her downstairs with us. After taking turns sitting on both of our laps, I agreed to go on to bed, and asked Savannah if she wanted to go up with me. She didn`t fall asleep until probably 11 pm! She and Andrew love to cuddle with us in our bed. It`s so cute!

Laurie has been staying up REALLY late all week - GRADING! Up until 2 Wednesday night and 3 last night. I wish there was something I could do to help, but she won`t let me help grade. So, I just try to stay positive for her.

It was suppose to be pizza and movie night tonight, but after getting just about 5 minutes into Star Wars III, Andrew decided it was too scary for him. Which is odd, considering how much he LOVED I and II. Savannah wasn`t too happy that we stopped it, though. She went on upstairs to bed shortly after her own little "drama" since she couldn`t get her way. Andrew is still down here close to following asleep, and Savannah is up singing to herself in her bed.

So we`re watching the Cardinal game now against the Mets (NLCS). Since the White Sox aren`t in it, I guess I`m hoping it is between Detroit and St Louis. Not sure who between those two I want to win the WS. I'll probably still watch Star Wars III after the game, though.

Tomorrow is Laurie`s big cropping day - 9am-7pm. She`s hoping to get 15 pages done. She hasn`t done as much scrapping this year, so I know she feels she has a lot of catching up to do.

Little Reader

Andrew loves to read for all of us. It's amazing to hear him sound out correctly words such as "legendary". WOW! When I was in 1st grade I read Dick And Jane!

Fantasy Football Win (YEAH)

Another winning weekend for the Bloomington Bloomers in the Midwest Lazy Boy Fantasy Football League. I was somewhat torn, however, this weekend... My Bloomington Bloomers were playing Laurie's team (Sunday Nappers). Don't get me wrong, I wanted to win, but... just not very badly. And, even though it's far from what can be called a trouncing, I am going to end up winning by a pretty good margin.

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day outside!! I think it got up to 86, and was sunny most of the day. Tomorrow's high is to be 90!! SO much easier for me to work outside when the temps are up there than at 50!! BRRRR!! The tropicals still outside sure seemed to enjoy the heat today, too. I think they all had a good growth spurt during the day. All of my banana plants especially seemed to appreciate the heat and humidity... I watered them all fairly deep this morning. It's been great to see the hardy hibicus plants have a second set of buds/blooms this year. However, I can tell that the blooms are smaller... more of a dessert plate size rather than the usual dinner plate size :)

Andrew is Star Student this week at Bent... He gets to sit at a special desk all week and gets to be the line leader throughout the week, too. We sent a bunch of pictures today (Monday); Tuesday I'm going to go have lunch with him; Wednesday we're having a special delivery sent to him from Casey's Garden Shop; Thursday I'm taking Buttercup into his class for a visit and then I'm taking him out for a special lunch; Friday Laurie and Savannah are taking in treats for the class at the end of the school day. He's been so excited about the week, too.
Tonight he read two books that he brought home from school, and then read a majority of another book that we bought for him recently. I love to sit and hear him read a book to me! All you have to do is ask and he'll be more than happy to read to you.

More work to be done. My least favorite thing to do for my business... the books. It's pretty sad considering how much I love numbers. But, I guess it's because I always end up doing it so late (i.e it's 10:30 pm).

Happy Kids

What makes a kid happier than McDonald's!!

Family addition

The newest member of our family - Buttercup. Yes, we're back with the birds! But not as many as before.

IT'S COLD!!

It's cold today!! I'm already tired of winter and it's not even here yet!!

I even turned on the furnace today... I can't believe I actually did it, but I was freezing and couldn't handle putting on another layer of clothes just to keep warm.

It could be a LONG LONG LONG winter!!

Start of School 2006

1st grade already... WOW!! How time flies. It seems just like yesterday we were carrying him so carefully in his carseat up our front stairs for the very first time. Andrew has grown into such a giving, loving and sensitive young man.

A few of his favorite things... trains - reading - trains - soccer - trains - archery - trains - football - trains - "not too loud music" and "praising God music" :) - trains - Star Wars movies - trains - getting to lay in bed with Mommy for a little bit before Daddy comes to bed - trains - kids runs at IWU during summer - trains - playing board games - trains - helping Daddy work outside - trains (get the pattern there???)

1st grade has started out very well... Andrew is reading reading reading all the time!! It's not a surprise to walk into the family room and see him with a book in his hands. That's very exciting to see, especially for a dad who doesn't do enough reading! He's also showing a strong interest in science already. If you ask him what his favorite subject is at school, his first response will always be PE (sometimes lunch, too). But, if you ask him again, he'll say math or science.

We asked him the other day about joining the chess team at Bent, and he was very excited and interested. But... we have to find out first if it's going to interfere with the Upwards Basketball League practices at church. Andrew is also involved with choir at church and played soccer during the summer.

Savannah is attending Christ the King Episocpal Pre-school, and has started out very well. After a year of watching her big brother go off to school every day, she was VERY ready to go to school, herself. She goes Monday-Friday, 8:30-1:00 (and it includes lunch!!! YEAH!).

Savannah has fallen in love with coloring and drawing. It's not uncommon to see her sitting at the dining room table or at their school desk drawing a picture and/or coloring. Just today she drew a LOVELY family portrait.

Savannah is involved in choir at church and has been involved in gymnastics and dance. However, SHE wanted to take a little break with school starting (we're positive that God works thru her sometimes in mysterious ways). However, this week she has asked to return to dance class, so she'll begin again in October.

Some of her favorites things... Barbies - anything pink (SUCH a girl!!!) - wearing dresses - listening to her big brother read for her - coloring and drawing - making cards like Mommy - playing with her dolls (Amy Baby and Baby Jesus).

Laurie is having an... interesting start of school year :) She's on teaching overload this semester due to their department being one professor down, and is continuing work on her doctorate.

She's spending a lot of her evenings grading lesson plans. How she does it all, I have no idea... but she does.

She just returned from a weekend women's retreat with our church, where approx 120 women attended. She had the opportunity to be involved with helping to plan some of it and
seemed to really enjoy the time.

She's always happy when she has some down-time to spend with the kids to play a game, go to the park or read some books. Or, even sit and watch a Barbie movie (yes, we rent Barbie movies for Savannah).


Can you say BANANAS?!?! Seven different types of banana plants were grown around our yard this year. And no, we didn't pick any fruit from them.

Mark continued his gardening business, and in his spare time attempted to turn our small plot of land into a tropical paradise. However, most of Mark's time from April thru fall is spent caring for the gardens of five other large residential properties in and nearby Bloomington/Normal. Mark is in his fifth year of his business (1 year pt, 4 years ft).

Fall is a difficult time of year for Mark because he has to see everything begin to die back... tropical plants slow in their growth and are brought indoors... summer blooming flowers get deadheaded one last time and are replaced by mums, asters, pansies and scarecrows.

Where has our summer gone? The growing season was too short for bananas to bloom this year. Hopefully next year we'll have a warmer August and September and one of the larger bananas will send out a bloom.