(pop)corn bread

I made the most delicious cornbread using freshly milled popcorn! There are the boys enjoying it in the background as proof. It felt great to have a success and I will never ever go back to store bought.

Trip to the Model Railroad Museum

Last Tuesday was the free day at the Model Railroad Museum at Balboa Park and Jake took the day off so that we could all go together. Other than losing Joshua at one point, we had a great time. Next time anyone comes to visit let us know if you're interested and we'd love to take you there. It's a neat place and you'll get to see beautiful Balboa Park. Here are some pictures of the day:

My first batch of flour!

Maybe I'm the only one to get excited over this, but my grain mill arrived and I got to play around with it today. I ground wheat for its maiden voyage, but I look forward to experimenting with other grains. I made breadsticks with my freshly milled flour to go with our dinner tonight, but they didn't rise enough to be proud of or else I would have posted a picture of those too. They still tasted good and the boys really liked them, so that's what counts!


The hopper extension can be stored in the flour bin when not in use so it's not quite so tall.


This batch was mildly coarse as you can probably see, but I'll play around with the texture control more next time. Supposedly it can mill it as fine as pastry flour.

So far, so good!

Fun with Play-Doh

Here are just a couple of pictures of the boys during a Play-Doh session. This Play-Doh set is one of the things we got with a giftcard the boys had recieved for Christmas. It was time they had a really good Play-Doh set, and they agree; they stay completely absorbed in their play for decent lengths of time.

We have a leftie!

So I am almost positive that Daniel is left-handed. I've been very suspicious all along, but the other day I witnessed all the evidence that I need. Daniel wanted to draw, so I set him up with a piece of paper and handed him a pen. I was on his right side and so he grabbed the pen with his right hand, but just kind of stared at it for a few seconds. He made a rather awkward attempt to draw with it, but in that moment I knew that I was looking at someone who was writing with the wrong hand. He knew it too and switched the pen over to his left hand and immediately began drawing comfortably and contentedly. It just looked right.

I have to say that I am excited about this. I have always enjoyed the left-handed aspect of Jake's personality (whom Daniel is undoubtedly taking after) and I expect the same will be true of Daniel. Those of you who know and love a leftie may know what I'm talking about. Jake refers to left-handed people as the unrecognized minority, with society completely catering to right-handed people and expecting left-handed people to adapt. But hopefully Jake can now take comfort in the fact that if not society, our household at least, will be equal in that regard.

So I've been dying to mention this, but guess who else is left-handed? That's right! Daniel's Uncle John! Ha ha! I think this just about seals the deal on the issue Daniel's Johnness. Admittedly, though, Daniel will also have to become a die-hard Giants fan for his Johnness to be complete.

Alternative uses for kitchen devices...

With apologies to Shel Silverstein, whose poetry I, um, adapted:

It looked like it could be a hat,
So I put it on.
Now daddy's asking, "Where's the top
Of the popcorn popper gone?"