The "Mac Daddy" of All Popcorn Makers

Well, we did it.  We finally ordered carpet for Kevin's man-cave.  We put new carpet in most of our house a couple of years ago, but we opted to hold off on carpeting the downstairs area until later.  We ordered the carpet earlier this week and will have it installed next Saturday, which brings me to the title of this post.  The day after we ordered our carpet (from RC Wiley), Kevin saw an ad in the paper that showed a popcorn maker and an Open Season 3 DVD for $10 with purchase.  Naturally, he was thrilled with the idea and had me call the salesman to see if we could get in on the deal.  Sure enough we are the proud owners of a ultra fancy popcorn maker.  With Movie Night Friday Nights, it made perfect sense.  We tested it out last Friday night and the results were a smashing success.  We made so much popcorn that I turned some of it into caramel popcorn the next day.  BONUS! 

My parents have been helping the girls perfect their table manners.  "Perfect" may not be the correct word to describe the end result, but there has certainly been remarkable improvement.  They earn stickers for each meal in which they do well.  After the sticker chart is full, they get to open a special envelope that my parents have sent in the mail.  Saturday morning the girls completed their charts.  I have to tell you that Sidney actually finished her chart the day before, but she wanted to wait until her sister was done too.  I wish I could say that they were always this kind to each other!

They tore the envelopes apart excitedly.  Each of them had a letter from grandma and papa inside along with a "credit card"  to Dutch Brothers for hot chocolates.  We just discovered Dutch Brothers "not so hot" chocolates a couple of weeks ago.  Kendall's Sunday school teacher had sent her one in the mail for her birthday with a REALLY thoughtful card.  The hot cocoa's come in a torpedo cup with a dollop of whipped cream on the end of the straw.  Sidney took so long licking her whipped cream (yes, licking) last time that I HAD TO eat it for her.  I swear it was necessary, really!

Here are the girls showing off their rewards.  Several minutes later we were plagued with requests to go for hot chocolate.  Well done ladies!

Last night Kevin and I had a date night.  We opted to go out shopping.  It was quite fun and relaxing to browse around leisurely.  We managed to put a good dent in the bank account while we were at it.  My favorite part of the evening was a stop at Applebee's for a Maple Nut Blondie Brownie.  In hindsight, I ate it so fast I am not even sure I tasted it.  As much as I tried to relish the flavor my inner dessert lover took over and it was gone before I knew it.  The girls of course got to spend an evening with their good friends.  They ran into the Nelson's house so fast, it was as if a storm had blown in.  Leaving us behind was not even a mere afterthought.  They had such a great time.  Kendall proclaimed that the Nelson's were now having a movie night Saturday night.  I said "Did they tell you that?"  Her reply, "No, but it was Saturday night and we had popcorn and watched movies."  Well, there you have it!