Making REAL popcorn...(not that foofy Microwave stuff)

Today I decided to show my son, Josh, what REAL popcorn tastes like!

Being that he's grown up in the "microwave age", he's never seen how real popcorn was made back when I was a kid.

So, we turned on the grill...


Got out a pan....


Put some oil in it and heated it up on the BBQ....
And then popped some popcorn kernels from an old bag of microwave popcorn in the pan on the BBQ.

He got to listen to it pop the old fashioned way...hitting the top of a pan!

We poured it into a small plastic container complete w/ the left over oil (which promptly melted the bottom of the plastic tub)...

Added some salt & shook it all up....
And then enjoyed popcorn the way it was meant to be enjoyed....


Nice & greasy & covered with salt!


Josh said it tasted just like the way popcorn at a carnival tastes. I agree! It tasted great! Delicious!

...more uses of the grill will be forth-coming...you know, like lighting the left-over oil from "old fashioned popcorn" on fire by pouring it on the hot flame....

Yep! We had fun!

A 7 Mile Spontaneous Hike Up Adams Canyon

Yesterday we woke up & Val leaned over & said, "I want to go on a hike today!".
"OK, where do you want to go?"
"I don't really care, I just want to go on a hike".

I'd remembered a place called Adams Canyon east of Layton that I'd hiked a lot as a kid & thought that'd be a cool place to go.

So, we looked it up on the web and next thing we knew we'd loaded up the kids and headed up toward Adams Canyon. We didn't quite catch the fact that it was a full 7 mile hike though until we were well on our way.

The kids loved it & did really well hiking. We almost made it to the top (where there's a great waterfall), but it got really, really steep, so we stopped at a smaller water fall, ate our treats & headed back.

Here's some pictures of the fun.






This was shot about half-way up the canyon. Laurie was trying to get down to come to Daddy. She didn't want anything to do with mom so Dad got to carry her....all the way up.









This is where we stopped near the top. It was a mini waterfall. Josh LOVED throwing rocks into the river.





The hike in was about 3 1/2 miles in and another 3 1/2 out. So, our kids pulled off a 7 mile hike in under 3 hours. Not bad!

....now if I could do something about my aching hips & legs...

I love Picasa!

I really enjoy making collages with Picasa. I could play with the special affects forever. Once they are made I never really know what I want to do with them, but they are sure fun to look at. These are the ones I have recently completed. I may play around with black and white sometime.

First Day of Preschool

Josh started school last wednesday. He did very well and was very excited. He told me that next time I had to go with him so that I could set up the train tracks. Then he said that he didn't want to take anything for Show and Tell because they already had toys there.

I think that this will be very good for him socially, it may help him to play better with others and share toys. I hope.

Desitin

Laurie has always been a good sleeper. She sleeps throught the night and takes long naps. Her regular nap time is at 1 pm and then she wakes between 3:30 and 4:30. This particular day I thought that she was napping extra long. At 5:30 I finally opened the door to check on her and I found that she was entertaining herself. All this time I thought she had been sleeping, but somehow she had pulled several items into her crib and had been quietly playing.


Desitin all over Laurie


The pillow and other clothes


My first reaction was of shock, but I got control enough to take pictures.


Graydon bathed her with Biodiesel Glycerin Soap and it worked wonders.

Family Pictures

So we finally got family pictures done thanks to a wonderful friend in our ward, Justin Lofley. He did it free of charge and said that he just appreciated the experience. He did a great job.

Time to Vent

Okay I hope I don't bore you with my rantings, but I need to release some frustration. AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! Josh is driving me crazy!!! This kid is so stubborn and relentless. You are probably wondering what he did, and to give him credit he did very well all day. He played at the park, shared maybe one toy, and watched a monster truck movie three times in a row. We also read stories and played.

Then 8 pm rolls around and it is time for a bath and pajamas. First he didn't want to take a bath and I ended up carrying him upstairs. When we got in the bathroom he willingly got into the tub (and I thanked him for it). Then he complained the whole time I was washing his hair and dumped a large bowl of water on me and the floor. I pulled him out immediately and started preparing to get him ready for bed. He starts whining that he wants to wear his clothes that he had been wearing. I said that he had to get ready for bed. He insisted on wearing the clothes. I told him he could wear the clothes if he wore a diaper under them (because he is not night trained yet). He didn't want to do that. So I end up wrestling him to get a diaper and pajamas on him, while he is fighting to remove them. I get them on and hold him down until he calms and agrees not to remove his clothes, but he continues to whine about wearing underwear to bed.

I took the time to explain to him that he had two choices, (I was really trying to keep my temper under control), either he could wear a diaper and sleep on the top bunk without a plastic sheet, or he could wear underwear and sleep on the bottom bunk which had a plastic sheet. He didn't want either option. He wanted to sleep in underwear on the top bunk. (As it is Emily is sleeping on bottom and Josh is on top.)

I dealt with a little whining shadow until 9 pm when it was time to put them to bed. He was very good during story time, but started up again afterward. Finally I decided to let him wear underwear (thinking I would put a diaper on him when he was asleep. Not that simple! As soon as I gave him underwear he was no longer happy with the pants he was wearing and started complaining about them. AAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!! I had had enough. Graydon had to take over, and made him go to bed with a diaper in the pants he was wearing. Now he is asleep.

Don't get me wrong. I have no problem with him wanting to were underwear to bed, but for a boy is going to be wetting the bed, I need him on the bottom bunk and with a plastic sheet so the mattress won't get ruined and so it's easier to get to the bathroom.


Oh! (Sigh) I feel much better. Thanks. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, but knowing him we may have this fight again tomorrow.