A Much-Used Gift

We had some friends in Austin that we loves to play games with. We'd take Ben over, put him to bed in their pack-n-play and play games. Each night, Matt would make his most famous hot-air popped popcorn. We LOVED it! It was the perfect treat while we played. So, I found a hot-air popper at a garage sale, but it just did not do justice to those little kernels. We found it was much easier to just use the microwave rather than picking up all the kernels that flew around the kitchen! However, Andy made several comments over the past few years about how yummy popcorn is when made on the stove. Last September, I saw this little baby at Target. That was it! His Christmas gift from the kids. We tried it out...

Emily checking the kernels... We were all so anxious just waiting...and greatly missing our gas stove!

Waiting...

Taking turns turning the handle...

The finished product! I must admit, this was the BEST popcorn I have ever had! The kernels were ALL popped, everything tasted light and fluffy! We've learned a few things over the many times we've made popcorn in the last few months.

1. Put the salt in with the oil to evenly coat the popcorn. It's much better than trying to add it after the popping has been completed.

2. Canola oil makes much better popcorn than the expensive name-brand oil that they sell next to kernels; don't waste your money! That oil takes too long to heat up, the kernels don't grow huge, and the taste is almost burnt!

3. Make a lot!!! It's very yummy!

4. FABULOUS Christmas gift for Andy. It's been the most used of anything I've ever given him, even though I felt so frivolous buying something that wasn't a necessity. I think in the long run it has saved us money because we'd rather stay home and eat our yummy popcorn than going to a movie and buying theirs!

5. If you want to come for a game night/afternoon and enjoy some popcorn, just let us know and we'll arrange a date. It's even portable!

Freezer Meals

I have greatly missed my freezer meal group from Dallas. It has been semi-fun to cook most nights, but I've really missed just pulling something out in the morning and sticking it in the crock pot without having to put much effort into the planning. So, a few of the law school wives and I made a few meals. While we cooked, the children played (I mean dumped) with the toys!!! They had a great time! Five little kiddos, 3 1/2 hours, and ZERO fights!!! Then we saw the playroom and spent another hour cleaning the toys. It was all back to perfect before Andy got home that night because we knew where everything went. (He spent Christmas break organizing the playroom and labeling tubs; LOVE IT!!! A few friends keep asking to borrow him, but he's not done organizing me yet!) We still had snow and since I didn't have a cooler set out, I just put my meals on the snow until we were down with everything, then took them downstairs to the freezer! It was great and I didn't worry about food spoiling!!!

Thanks Ladies! Let me know when it's time to do it again!!!!

The Mish-Mash of Pictures

Lots of randomness, which is my favorite part! One day we watched some cute little friends, and got to keep 6 week old Ruby as well. As you can tell, my girls were ENTRANCED with her beauty! She and Annie kept up a conversation for a good ten minutes! Annie really wants to learn to ice skate. She's been practicing with whatever she can find!

One, two, three bums in a tub!

Not quite sure what she is thinking, but she's very beautiful!

One of the rare moments when all three cuties are still and somewhat clean!!!

Each day we have quiet time after lunch, which is normally TV time for kids and book/sleep time for mom! Emily wanted to lay down, and Annie happily obliged. Emily has started to turn to Annie for comfort when mom is being 'mean.'