popcorn on the cob

Was anyone else amused by the "popcorn on the cob" in their Abundant Harvest box?

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the yellow corn on these cobs was all dried up, and meant to be used as popcorn kernels.

We are big fans of popcorn around here. Makes a GREAT late night snack when you get the munchies. Low in calories AND fills you up. I thought the boys and I could make some of this popcorn for Finn to take to school today.

Well, that was not going to happen this morning. It was just one of those mornings. Nothing was going right.

Remember that sweet little baby that I just wrote a post about the other day?

That same sweet baby seems to have discovered his voice between now and then. And he was screaming all morning to be held...or to eat...or because he was stuck (again) under the piano bench.

And Finn and Calvin were having fits because Ollie kept wrecking their crafts. And Ollie did not understand why he could not play with their stuff, so he was crying. All of these things were making us late for school and I HATE being late.

Needless to say, Finn did not get popcorn and had to take a granola bar to class instead.

After dropping Finn off, I needed something to keep Ollie and Calvin busy. And Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was NOT an option. Seriously, they could watch it every day if I let them.

So I busted out the popcorn cobs. I thought it would be fun for the boys to pick the corn kernels off of the cob. And some of those kernels literally had to be pried off.

Calvin took his job very, very seriously.

Ollie did NOT understand and kept trying to bite into the hard corn on the cob. I quickly decided this could be a choking hazard and took his cob away. Which did not go over so well. Ollie was just devastated.

This seems to be our favorite thing to do these days. Sigh.

So I gave him some pretzels instead, which seemed to cheer him up.

Calvin was never so diligent.

Getting closer. This activity took up a nice chunk of time.

And finally, Calvin was done. Just one cob yielded enough kernels for a whole batch of popcorn.

So I brought our air-popper onto the deck and plugged it in.

The boys were fascinated. Normally the popper is up high on the counter, out of reach.

Cam you tell what Ollie is thinking?

I could tell instantly. A mom just knows.

"No, No, NO Ollie, Do NOT touch the socket!"

For some reason it took longer than usual for these kernels to pop, so the boys had to wait a little while.

Such excitement when the first kernels popped!

After drizzling a little butter, we had quite the tasty snack.

Mmmm... It was really good!

Well, that was a fun and different fall activity! Try it!

My Twain doll

As I sat embroidering yesterday, I remembered something from my childhood. As a kid, both of my cabbage patch kids were boys: James Bennett(my first born) and Lincoln Sheldon(my preemie). Do you remember your cabbage patch kids' names? And both of my sisters had girl cabbage patch kids.

Interesting, No?

Even before Finn was born, my mom had a hunch that I would have all boys.

Now how did she know that?

I am not sure, but here I am years later, holding my baby boy Twain doll.

And for the most part, he really is a complete doll.

(the boy doll I embroidered was an image from the Black Apple.)

Twain, at 5 months:

You LOVE to be on your tummy and scoot around in circles.

Almost every time I put you on your back, you flip right over. You are rolling around everywhere.

You love to grab your feet

And you love to suck on your hands.

You are pretty laid back, especially when we are on the go, running errands.

You are definitely a thumb sucker. My first baby to really suck his thumb.

And when you suck your thumb it usually means you are about to fall asleep.

Or it means you are hungry. Your very first(and only food) that you eat is mashed bananas.

I am soso happy that you are finally old enough to eat something.

Whenever my boys turn around 4 months old, I start to feel very worn out and overwhelmed from being their only source of food. And so it is always a relief when I can start giving them something to eat.

Things have been pretty hectic around here lately. Time is going by SO fast. I cannot believe Twain is already 5 months old.

This photo below is a bit blurry, as is my life at times, but it's how I want to remember it: Sitting, enjoying my baby as life races by in a blur.

How I love this baby doll!

Disneyland, at last.

The day was finally here. We were going to Disneyland.

As we entered the park, Mickey Mouse and his little band just so happened to appear around the bend. I could not believe our good luck. The boys were in complete awe as they got to greet their beloved Mickey Mouse, who was conducting the band. Complete with drums. It was double perfection. And truth be told, I got a little teary-eyed. It was priceless.

The very first ride the boys went on was King Arthur's Carrousel. It is currently Calvin's favorite ride.

And the Merry-go-round is Finn's favorite ride too, along with Dumbo.

The boys LOVED flying high.

Calvin adopted a particular hand wave that day, as seen above.

Mom came with us the first day and was in charge of Ollie.

Ollie wasn't a huge fan of the Carrousel or Dumbo, but he was totally enraptured by "it's a small world", and was clapping during the ride. It was darling.

Introducing, our first ever shot posted as a family of 6!

We took a pit stop at Mark Twain's River Boat, and of course we had to take a bunch of shots of Twain!





Twain was a complete and total doll the entire trip. We barely heard a peep out of him.

As the day went on, it became more and more crowded, so we only went on a grand total of 6 rides the entire day. The final ride of the day was the Nemo Submarine.

The Nemo Submarine.

I was initially very excited to go on this ride. And yes, I totally neglected to read the warning sign --Do NOT ride if you are uncomfortable in enclosed spaces...blah, blah, blah. I have never really considered myself claustrophobic, so I would not have been phased by the warning anyway.

The lights inside the cabin dimmed as the submarine started its voyage. The water outside rushed by and bubbles appeared as our submarine sank to deeper levels.

And that is when I started to panic. I game myself a little pep talk. "Focus on the cute fishy holograms outside the little cabin window. This is fun. Wee!"

But what if we all drown? What if the submarine springs a leak and we can't all get out in time? What if? What if?

Oh look it's Dory and Marlin! This is a kiddy ride. This is fun!

As we started to go through the 'ring of fire', the music became loud and sinister. And that is when Calvin lost it. He burst into inconsolable petrified hysterics.

Into the mouth of the whale we went, and Calvin burst into another fit of hysterics.

Finally the sub came to a halt. The ride was over. And there we waited, in darkness. And waited. Even mom started to look uneasy.

Finally the lights flickered back on and I could not get out of that death trap fast enough.

Later mom informed me that the subs never go completely under water. "See?" she said pointing to the tidy line of subs passing by.

Heh. That would have helped to know. Silly me thought the ride was real. In my defense...forget it. I have no defense. I am hopeless.

At least Finn thought the ride was awesome. And I have to admit, if it wasn't for my claustrophobic episode, the ride would have been really neat.

It was getting late and we decided to call it a day. We were staying the night at the hotel and had another fun day of Disneyland ahead of us.

The sky grew dark as we started to wind our caravan of strollers through Fantasy Land. And that is when things got a little crazy.

The sky erupted into a series of loud booms, as the Halloween Screams Fireworks began, DIRECTLY above us.

It was SO loud that poor Calvin burst into terrified gasping sobs once again.

And it was not the fireworks that bothered me. It was the spooky cackling of the Disney villains that did me in.

We got away from the fireworks as fast as our legs could carry us.

Whew. What an adventure. And even though we had a rough time near the end, still nothing compares to the magic of seeing your kids' faces glow on their first trip to Disneyland.

And the next night, we actually enjoyed viewing the fireworks from the safety of Main Street, where you could not hear the cackling, spooky music. It's all pretty funny now.

And the next day was the most blissful, wonderful day ever. It was like night and day, compared to the first day.

It was not crowded. The wait for the lines was minimal.

And the weather was nice, cool and breezy.

John's parents were able to join us.

(riding the Jungle Cruise)

John and I decided that Calvin was the perfect age for Disneyland because he truly believed that everything was real. He had so much fun playing in Toon Town.

Another highlight was meeting Pluto.

Ollie was so, so excited to meet Pluto. He was completely giddy.

And here is the obligatory Castle picture, as per request of my sister Jessica.

(and yes I AM wearing white sneakers with a black shirt because my toes were going to fall right off in the black shoes I wore earlier).

And a special thanks to Angela, for giving me the idea to make the boys the Mickey tees.

Workers would randomly call my boys by name when they read their embroidered names on their tees. I'm sure my boys thought the workers had special powers for knowing their names.

As far as vacations go, it will be VERY hard to top Disneyland!

And HUGE ENORMOUS thanks to this sweetheart for helping make our trip possible!!!!!