food, crochet, merriment
Congratulations to our Gracious Rain winner—
She has won the Red Flapper Hat from my Etsy Shop.
Melissa says:
oooh, pick me, pick me! This hat is so cute! I wish I could make such cute hats. I will definitely be sticking it on my baby girl’s head if I win!
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Wahoo Melissa!
Thanks for playing everyone.
If you talk to the moms–they may say, “Wow…I’ll try this again in about 5 years,” but if you talk to the wise, old Grandma Oak–that would be me–I’d say these babies were fabulous little travelers.
First, understand that we woke these little people up at about 4 am and hauled them to the airport–still in their jammies for this adventure. The trip involved two flights–one from SLC to Atlanta then another to NYC.
Baby Chompy did really well because she just hung out with mom and dad with all the comforts and amenities of home…
so to speak.
We did, however, learn quite a bit about what worked to keep a couple of 18 month olds entertained and what…um…tanked.
Grapes were a great idea, along with string cheese and Goldfish crackers. Food is always a good thing…always.
Do you recall the wooden characters, held together by elastic cording? Well before the babies ever saw them, they got so tangled up in my bag that the excitement became seeing if we could free the little beggars from the twisted ridiculous mass they’d become. Once we got them sorted out–the twins wanted them tangled again–because it was more fun that way.
Next time, I’ll use shorter cord and store them in a ziploc bag.
They loved the quiet books their mama made.
And the cookies turned out to be the perfect size.
Remember the flash card strips? They were great until the babies discovered that it was pretty easy to tear them apart and toss them all over the place. Note to self: Use stronger tape next time.
The dolls with the pacifiers were good. The tiny toys stayed in the bag because I was terrified of having to pick them up off the floor—which would have been completely impossible—if they fell…or got thrown.
The wind-ups worked for a while especially the mouse that does back flips. Anything that does back flips is a keeper.
I’d say that the hardest part was that those active little bodies still had this to deal with…
spooky–non-play-in-able, high traffic aisles…
no where to go if you leave the safety of your assigned lap…
and zero leg room…ZERO. Seriously, have these plane designer people actually ever measured a human being?
Honestly.
Oh, and there are a couple of new discoveries. First of all–without exception, the other passengers around us were very kind, helpful and forgiving–when toys were dropped and rolled to the outer edges of the universe, or the baby woke up disoriented and needed to cry for a while. Our neighbors were amazing. We also learned that…
With enough entertainment, cuddling, patience and chamomile, it was possible to finally, finally wear our darlings out.
And–the stranger in the row ahead—with the fancy cell phone/dvd player/music maker/carrot shredder—
will always be cooler than Grammy and her Hello Kitty bag of laminated flashcards.
That’s precisely why I also brought Pez.
Naa-naaa.
I win.
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Happy Birthday Bald Kid!
Sisters and Cousins and on and on and on…Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.
— Jane Howard
Ready for the best, fresh corn on the cob you’ve ever had?
Trust me on this. Start with fresh corn–buy it from a stand if you can. Our favorite is the White Corn variety. You’ll want about a million ears. That should do it.
Drop husked corn into a pot of enough cold water to cover. Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and one Tbsp sugar. Do not add salt at this time. I know, I know. Goes against everything you know to be true–right?
Hang on.
The fact is, salted water toughens corn–and we don’t want that. Trust me.
Bring the water to a rapid boil. Boil uncovered 2 minutes only. Remove from heat and allow corn to stand for 10 minutes.
Drain water. Move corn to a pyrex baking dish and add butter. Roll the ears around until they are all coated. Now you can add the salt.
Serve immediately—as if you had a choice. You’re likely to be mobbed.
When your family tastes the corn simply bursting from the cob all sweet and buttery–they may be overcome with ecstasy–so be ready.
Prepare for fainting.
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Yeah–we’ve never done this before. Sounds scary, right?
So, when planning a trip to New York with all the sweet babies, we figured a bit of calm preparation was in order. This is our attempt to keep things from getting…you know, dicey. Well, and to keep the other passengers from beating us up.
You can’t be too careful these days.
First, we took normally messy, colorful flashcards…
and taped them together–turning them into an easy clean-up distraction.
Next, we found some inexpensive wood characters…
Then I drilled a tiny hole in each corner. Yes, that’s me…with a drill. Yes, that’s me with a drill and a board…on my bed. It was really hot in the garage. It couldn’t be helped.
Once there was a cute little hole in the corner of them all–we made two piles (twins, remember?) and strung them on elastic cord, to keep them together. Can you tell, I’m trying really hard to avoid having to crawl around on the airplane floor looking for a soccer ball and a wooden boat?
Wouldn’t THAT a pretty picture?
Yeah, I didn’t think so either.
From my Grammy stash, we found two babies and tied a bottle and binky to each dolly’s wrist.
Then we bagged some small toys, cars and wind-ups–I was careful to take the bigger-not-so-chokey Fisher-Price people…fear not.
Lastly, we found a very potentially entertaining snap-close box with…more stuff.
In case you are tempted to cry, “Toy overkill!” let me tell you–I’ve researched this, and the experts say, “More beats less, when you’re trying to keep a pack of babies happy and relativly quiet on a plane.”
That’s a noble goal, but personally—I just don’t want to get beat up.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Three babies, four hours, one plane.
Pray for us.
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