Grandma's Popcorn Balls

13 years ago on November 7th, 1996 my Grandma passed away. My Grandma and I were close. She was an incredible woman. She loved Popcorn Balls. So on the anniversary of her death my kids and I decided to make popcorn balls in her honor. I also got to tell the kids stories about her and how much I loved her as we cooked together. It was really sweet.

I thought I would share the recipe and some pictures of us actually making the popcorn balls. Here it is.....

1 large bowl of plain popped popcorn
1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 sm package of jello
1/4 cup of butter (for your hands)

Step 1: Pop the popcorn. We use an air popper to pop our popcorn. We filled a huge bowl with popcorn. I popped it into the green bowl and then separated the un-popped kernels from the popcorn and placed the popcorn into the white bowl.

Step 2: Then you set up the area to actually make the balls. You will need a small bowl of butter to put on your hand to form the balls. You will need a place to put the balls after they are formed. I use a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.
Step 3: Make the sauce. Combine 1 cup sugar, 1 cup light corn syrup in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly to avoid scorching.

After boiling for a minute then add a sm package of jello mix. Jasmyn helped with this step! Stir the jello mix into the boiling sugar and mix thoroughly. Bring to a complete boil.
Step 4: Pour the sugar mixture over the popcorn. Then mix the popcorn and jello together. The sauce is HOT so be careful.
Step 5: Butter your hands. This will keep the sugar from sticking to your hands and burning you. It will also keep the popcorn balls from sticking to your hands. Then press the popcorn into balls. Press hard to help them keep there shape.
This recipe makes about 12 balls.
Mason on a popcorn ball sugar high!Kaleb enjoying the spoils!

Kaleb's Teeth

A few weeks ago we took Kaleb in to the dentist for a checkup. The Dentist took routine X-rays and did an exam. He felt that Kaleb would benefit from "early orthodontic intervention". hahaha That is code word for: start saving your money for braces!

Today was our consultation appointment with the Orthodontist. Kaleb did great! He normally has a bit of white coat syndrome and freaks out as soon as the Dr. or nurse gets close. But today he did great! He was cooperative, friendly and polite! I love it when kids act like they were raised to act! They took a panoramic view xray of his mouth/jaw and then some actual photos of his face and his teeth.



After the photos and x-rays we spoke with Dr. R about what he suggests to correct Kaleb's dental problems. Kaleb's problems will require 2 phases of treatment. Phase 2 will happen once his baby teeth are all gone and his permanent teeth are all in. This is probably 3-4 years down the road. And doing Phase 1 treatment will make phase 2 easier and we willhave better results. But Dr.R wanted to show us what the problems are before discussing Phase 1. It is kind of a laundry list.

* Crowding on the bottom which is preventing the eruption of a tooth
* Teeth on bottom that have not come in yet are allowing his other teeth to shift out of place
* Molar not yet erupted- unknown reason
* Recessed lower jaw
* Overjutted front upper teeth with large gap
* Crowding on top which is preventing the eruption of a tooth


Here are some photos to illustrate the above points. The Molar in the back that is "missing" is not truly missing. It is simply not through the skin/gum yet. (you can see it on the xray. It is tooth marked with the # 1) Dr. R says it could be a variety of reasons from overcrowding to it being stuck in the jaw bone. We need to wait to see what happens in the next few months with this tooth as it's placement it crucial in the use of the first appliance Dr. R wants Kaleb to use.

The other missing incisor in the front is again not "missing" but rather just not able to push up because of over crowding. You can see it on the xray as well. Dr. R thinks that because Kaleb actually had that tooth knocked out instead of the other tooth pushing it out is the reason the permanent tooth is not through yet. (Kaleb had a series of mouth injuries that resulted in him prematurely losing this tooth). But this tooth is critical in that it is missing. Because it is no longer there it is enabling the other 4 front teeth to shift over making his bottom teeth off the mid line.
This photo shows the missing upper incisor. As you can see on the Xray the tooth is under the gum but there is no room for it to come through. If we do nothing that tooth will continue to come in but it will turn and come in sideways. We need to gain some space on the upper jaw.
And lastly the front teeth for whatever reason are overjutter (buck teeth/stick out) and have a gap between them. Over crowding of the teeth from the molars forward cause the front teeth to jut out. Again... we need to gain some space in the upper jaw.
So Dr. R went over the treatment plan he has to correct Kaleb's issues.

Phase 1

Step 1
We have to wait 4-6 months to see what is gonna happen with the lower molar that is not through the gum line yet. We have a recheck planned for January to reevaluate that tooth. We need that tooth to be in place so that the 1st appliance can set against it. We are hoping that in the next 3-4 months we will see that tooth erupt through the gum line.
If the tooth does not come through in that amount of time we will go back to the dentist (who referred us to Dr. R.) and they will do "gum contouring" to expose the tooth and investigate why it is not erupting. Once they figure out why then there are other courses of action that could include pulling the tooth. We want to avoid that.
So keep Kaleb in your thoughts that this tooth will work its way through the gumline by the end of January.

Step 2
Kaleb's first appliance is called a Schwarz appliance. It looks like a retainer that is removable. Only it has a mechanism in the center that we will turn daily/weekly that will help us gain space in his lower jaw. The point of this appliance is to slowly push the teeth into better position and move soft tissue. I am not sure it this actually encourages jaw growth or not. He would wear this all the time except for eating. It is removable, in fact he removes it so we can adjust the mechanism. Here is a picture of what the appliance looks like in a mouth. Notice the BEFORE and AFTER.

Step 3

The second appliance would be a Palatal Expander. This one is glued into his mouth and can not be removed. We would again adjust the mechanism daily/weekly to gain space for his teeth. Here is a picture of what his expander would look like. Notice the BEFORE and AFTER pictures.
Basically the reason for doing the 2 appliances is to gain space in the jaws to avoid removing permanent teeth later. Our Dentist was right that Kaleb will benefit from early intervention. Kaleb's jaw is still mold-able and is still growing so these appliances are only effective for children of Kaleb's age.

Step 4
Kaleb will also get some braces on the front upper teeth at some point to help hold the position of the teeth once we gain some space in the jaw.

He may require other appliances and or braces during the 1st phase of his treatment. We will have to see how Kaleb's mouth responds to the treatment.

Phase 2

This is basically full braces with an appliance glued to the top braces that pull his lower jaw forward. This is timed with an age appropriate growth spurt that will enable his body to grow more lower jaw bone and correct his recessed jaw and help his teeth become aligned for a proper bite.

Honestly I can't wrap my mind around Phase 2 yet because I am still trying to figure out how to pay for Phase 1. LOL! We do not have Orthodontics Insurance. Honestly I am not sure such a thing exists! LOL But we do have a few months to save for Phase 1 since we are waiting for Kaleb's tooth to grow in. And Dr. R does offer payment plans and even outside financing. We are trying to avoid both those options because if we pay in full at time of treatment we receive a 5% discount.

Also Dr. R. has a discount for Phase 2. Basically they will take 50% of your phase 1 payment and apply it to Phase 2. This is a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it is a big chunk of money but a curse because if they discount it THAT much then what is the whole fee????

Sigh. I hope that Kaleb is happy with his smile and appreciates our efforts to get him there once phase 1 and 2 are complete!

Baby Steps!

For both Harlie and me! We will start with Harlie....

He has been standing up on his own for a few weeks now. By that I mean he will be sitting on the floor and stand up on his won without steadying himself on anything. Then he will stand and smile a big smile like he is soooo proud of himself!


He is still to scared to just take off and walk though. He will do the transfer from one piece of furniture to the next, but stops short of actually walking across the floor. But today I did see him take 4 or 5 steps while he was concentrating on holding some cars in his hands. It is just a matter of time before he takes off. It is so exciting!

As for me.... I am taking some steps towards becoming more healthy. In the past 8 years I have spent 3yrs pregnant and another 4yrs+ breastfeeding. In those same 8 years my weight has fluctuated up and down by 50 pounds. I lose weight while I am pregnant and then gain it back while I am nursing. Then lose it when I wean but then I usually get pregnant again. Lather rinse repeat.... until now. No more babies will be born from me. Harlie will be weaned within a year, probably closer to 8 months. This is the beginning of me reclaiming my body for me. It is about time!

So my first step started last night.... No more eating after dinner! I am a snacker. I love to snack in the evenings. Now this wouldn't be too bad if I was snacking on carrot sticks, but we all know that I'm not snacking on carrot sticks! I tend to get busy online or reading a book and realize after it is too late that I ate half a bag of chips or way too many Hershey kisses! So Baby Step #1 is no eating after 8pm.

Second baby step is no more soda. Or at least no more regular soda. I might have to break down and drink diet on occasion. I drink soda out of convenience. I will be planning ahead and making herbal ice tea or keeping fresh lemons and limes on hand to refresh plain water.

And third baby step is to get regular exercise. This is a big step on many levels. Let me explain.... I have tried many times to get on a regular routine of exercising. But that would usually involve me taking kids with me on a walk or bike ride. We even have done exercise DVDs in the living room. Or occasionally I would sneak away for a walk on my own while Tim watched the kids. But these occasions because less and less frequent and when I did exercise with my kids it was a lot of catering to their speed/ability and thus my workout suffered. I had a hard time getting into a rhythm of even walking when I was stopping to tie a shoe, get a sippy cup or yell at one of the kids to stay to the right to avoid the cars. It was honestly more of a hassle to go then to just stay at home. And it was not enjoyable. at. all.

And really this is a symptom of the bigger issue in my life... I just don't take time for me. I used to think that it was Tim's responsibility to make sure I got my time. But now I realize that he is fighting for his own time. Asking him to take over for me so I can get time really takes away from his time too. And that breds resentment and anger between us. Obviously we are a team, and we each need blocks of time to just do what we need to do to recharge. Tim and I do a pretty good job of doing that when time allows. But what we are both realizing is that it is just not enough. We need to take time a few times a week to recharge not a few times a month. And given Tim's work schedule and the kids school schedule, Tim does not have enough hours in his week to give me the time I need. I need to fulfill this need with in myself on my own. I need to find a way to exercise and take care of me that does not effect Tim's schedule in any way.

As the kids have gotten older I now have a great opportunity for some time to myself or at least time when I only have to deal with 1 child. Kaleb & Jasmyn are in full day school this year. Mason is in half day Preschool Monday -Thursday. Suddenly I had an actual shot at making a change for the better. I had more options because I only have Harlie to occupy.

My friend Char had told me about her gym. So today I decided to check it out. They had a family plan with unlimited day care included for a very reasonable price. The gym has lots of amenities... pool, sauna, hot tub, big locker rooms with private shower areas, tanning beds, weight room, cardio machines, circuit training, spin classes, aqua Zumba classes, a full basket ball court and an on site day care! And I am sure I am forgetting things too. So Tim and I joined the gym today. Woot!

Baby Step # 3 is to get to gym at least 3 times per week!

I plan to blog about this journey I am on as I walk it. I hope that you all offer me support and encouragement! I am sure I will need it!

Tie Dye Cake

My friend Sara turned 35 in August. She had not had a birthday party for herself in YEARS. So I conspired with our mutual friend Sarah to throw Sara a Surprise Party! And we LOVE theme parties. We threw her a 60's/tie dye theme party. And what better way to make a party a success than with an AWESOME cake. Behold... The Tie Dye Cake! Many people have requested the recipe on how I created this awesome cake. I can't take full credit as I did Google it and got some hits and some great ideas. But below is my recipe and instructions for "Sara's Tie Dye Ice Cream cake"!

First of all you need:

Lots of food coloring
Spring form pans
lots of bowls/spoons
Wax paper
White cake mixes
patience and time. Cake has to set up overnight!

Step 1: Preheat your oven to the temperature on the cake mixes. Grab your white cake mixes. It is up to you on how many to use. I was making LOTS of cake so I used 3 mixes. I needed enough for 3 layers but I overestimated how much I needed (I will explain later how I handled this problem). You be the judge. The amount of cake mix you make does not effect the tie dye effect. You just need enough pans to bake the cake mix. So back to step 1.... mix up your white cake mixes exactly as the recipe on the box states.

Step 2: Figure out how many colors you want to make. I went with 6 colors. I took out 6 small bowls and 6 spoons to mix with. I split the mixed cake mix equally between the 6 small bowls. Then I added the color to each of the bowls and mixed the colors up. I used the gel food coloring you buy in the baking section of the grocery store. I used 2 boxed of the food coloring.

Yellow (upper left corner) and green are mixed already. The other bowls of cake mix are waiting for colors.

Don't be shy with the food coloring. Having bright and vibrant colored mix makes the cake look awesome once it bakes! I use a whole tube of food coloring for the red cake mix. I did not want it to look pink.

I made purple by using red and blue food coloring. It turned out almost black in the bowl but it looks purple once the cake is baked.

All 6 of my colors. (I used yellow and red to make the orange)

Step 3: Prepare your pans. I used 2 spring form pans and one small regular cake pan. I wanted a 3 layer cake with 3 different size layers. I sprayed some "Bakers Joy" spray on my pans to prevent the cake from sticking.

Step 4: Starting with your darkest color pour 1/3 (or 1/2 if you are only using 2 pans) of your purple into the center of the pan. Add your next color, green in my case to the center of the purple. Then Blue, then orange, then yellow and lastly red. As the colors land on each other they push the darker/previous color out towards the edge of the pan. Repeat this step to fill all of your cake pans.

Here is what 2 of my cake pans looked like when I was done.

Optional Step.... You could reverse the colors on the second pan. So you pour red, then yellow, then orange, then blue , then green and last purple so that when you put the layers together in the finished cake and ice it it is opposite. It might make for a funner reveal when the cake is cut and eaten!

Tower of dishes!

Cake pans ready to put in the oven!

Step 5: Bake your cakes. While they are baking do your dishes and clean your counters so your cakes have a place to cool once they are done. (can you tell I am a clean freak?!?!)

Here is a picture of my 3 cakes about 1/2 way through the baking time. The colors are melding into each other! So cool looking!

I used 3 different size pans so I had to watch my cakes carefully to take the smaller ones out as they got done. I just put a knife in until it came out clean. The cakes baked exactly like they would have without the food coloring. It tastes the same too!

The baked cakes cooling. Make sure you cool the cake completely!

Optional Step: I way overestimated how much cake I needed. So when I pulled the cakes out I realized that they were way to tall for me to add ice cream onto as well. So I just grabbed my long serrated knife and cut the cakes in half as seen below.
Then because I did not need that much cake for the party I double wrapped the layers and froze them for a latter date. (which reminds me.... I should pull those out and eat them this week!) As seen below:
Optional end step: At this point you could just ice your cakes with your favorite frosting and watch with a smirk on your face as the guest of honor cuts into the plain white cake to discover a wild pattern of colors inside. Or if you are an over achiever like me you can ....

Add ICE CREAM!!!!!

Step 6: About 15 minutes before you prepare to make your tie dye ice cream cake, place your ice cream of choice on the counter to thaw. You need the ice cream to be soft enough to spread.

Step 7: Prepare your pans and cakes. I put wax paper on the bottom of the spring form pans and lined the smaller cake pan as well. Then I snapped the spring form pans back together. Next place your cooled cakes back in the pans.

Step 8: Place your now thawed ice cream into a bowl. Using a wooden/sturdy spoon stir the ice cream until it is soft enough to spread on your cake.
I used chocolate on the bottom layer and then cookies and cream on the top layers. For my cake I used a 1/2 gallon on the bottom layer and then split the 1/2 gallon on the other 2 layers.

Spread the ice cream across the top of the cake until it is covered and smooth.

Step 9: After your ice cream is spread then cover the cake with wax paper making sure no air is between the wax paper and the ice cream. No air will prevent ice cream from getting "freezer burn" in the freezer.

Step 10: Cover the whole cake pan with tin foil to prevent freezer burn. Place the cake(s) in the freezer at least overnight, or you could leave them longer as long as great care is taken to prevent freezer burn.

3 layers ready to go into the freezer!

Step 11: I don't have pictures of this step because I was doing it right before the party and did not have my camera handy. I will do my best to describe how to do it! I frosted my cake with Cool Whip. You could probably use actual frosting, too. I made sure the Cool Whip was spreadable, then I pulled the bottom layer out of the freezer. You have to work quickly because the ice cream will start to melt. I opened the spring form up and pulled all the wrapping off and placed the frozen layer on a cake platter. Then I quickly spread the cool whip all over the cake. Then I got the next layer out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and placed it on top of the first layer. I used some long skewers to push through the layers to prevent them from sliding since the ice cream was starting to melt. Then I added cool whip to that layer. And then repeated those steps with the top layer. Then I quickly put the whole thing (uncovered) back in the freezer to set up again.

To decorate my cake I had purchased some birthday candles that were on tooth picks because I wasn't sure if real candles would go through the ice cream layer. My candles spelled "Happy Birthday". I actually stood in front of the freezer and decorated the cake while it was still chilling! We did not light the candles because we knew that would just make the cake melt faster!

I had told Sara it was an "ice cream cake" but she had no idea it was a tie dye cake until she cut into it! It was so fun to see the expressions on people's faces when they saw how cool it looked! It really was awesome and fit the theme to a T!


Yummmy!

The only thing I think I will do different next time is make the ice cream layers thicker. The top layer of cake only has about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice cream on it. It would have been nicer to have a bigger layer of ice cream since it was such a hot day!

Anyway I hope you enjoy making this cake or at least seeing the process of how I made it for Sara!

Harlan's water birth

So I have put together a video of Harlan's waterbirth. It is mostly a picture montage of photos taken during my pregnancy and also my labor and the birth. There is a 30 sec video clip in the middle of the montage of the actual moment of birth. It is not "graphic" but you do see my butt! So if you would rather not see that then don't watch the video. I will say that is is taken from the side and is very tasteful! The whole video is in B & W. The music is nice and all in all I am very proud of the work I put into this video. Enjoy and please comment!

Harlan at 6 months

I have been meaning to create this post for about 3 weeks now. Technically Harlan turned 6 mos on April 7th. We have had lost going on since then so I am just now getting this posted.

Harlan has acquired a few nick names but the one that has stuck is Harlie. In fact if you follow me on Facebook you will see that I almost always call him Harlie. I think it is cute and fits him!

Here is a picture of all my kiddos!
They all love Harlie so much and love posing for pictures with him!

At his 6 mo well-baby visit he weighed 15 pounds 4 ounces
And was 27 1/8 inches tall. Long and lean!

He is a very happy baby that rarely cries.
He smiles alot and likes to watch his brothers and sister run amuck.

Harlie has a great relationship with each one of his siblings. He espeically loves to roll around with Mason on the floor. And Mason has the ability to make Harlie laugh out loud!

Harlie has 3 teeth. 2 on the bottom that he got in his 4th month and 1 on top that he recently cut. He is working on the other top tooth. Teething has been a challenge for him and teh only time really that he is inconsolable. He responds well to pain relieves though.

Harlie is also eating soild foods like a champ. We started with jarred purees and now have moved onto table foods. He likes fruits and veggies and loves to self feed. He really loves pancakes smeared with my homemade strawberry jam and cut into little squares that he can self feed.

Harlie is such a joy and has fit seamlessly into our family. I am so happy that he has completed our family so perfectly. At the beginning of the month Tim got a vasectomy so we are done having babies. It just feels so right and we are thrilled to have taken that step. I am just savoring every baby moment with Harlie. They grow so fast and he is the last of my babies!

Basement Bedroom is COMPLETE

A few weekends ago we got all the furniture moved in and the kids moved! It went very well! My brother Dave came over to help Tim move the furniture. Then I sent in and unpacked and organized all the stuff. I am very happy with the way it turned out. They do need some more wall art but we are gonna work on that soon!

Here is Mason standing on Jasmyn's bed

Jasmyn is obviously excited!

Jasmyn's area. She needs art on the wall!

Kaleb's area. He has lots of art work!

The room!

And the transition of the kids sleeping down there went way better than I expected. They have enjoyed sleeping downstairs and love the new bedroom! It is just awesome!