T-Ball Season Wrap Up

With all of the excitement around here, I have forgoten to wrap up the T-Ball season for all of you fans.
By far, Superkid's favorite part of playing T-Ball had to be actually taking swings at the ball, which he was great at!

Superkid's attention span faded pretty fast in the outfield, but even this was pretty fun to watch. He could usually stay mentally in the game for the first batter.

And then you could see the wheels start to turn... as Superkid would start to reinact scenes from Sandlot. While Superkid may look like he is fielding a serious ball here, there is only an imaginary ball in his hand and he is actually facing away from the "real game". Although in "His" game he is winning the world series.

And then things kinda unwind from there. Superkid does a series of stretches and usually ends up on his head. This is how he discovered how to do his first sommersault.

And then he re-emerges and realizes he as at a baseball game, but instead of being a participant, he pulls up a hunk of grass and becomes a spectator until his next trun up at bat. Unless he hears the playground calling his name... in which case the game is abandonded.

But no matter how the game goes, Abizella makes a cute cheering section. But much like her mother, she goes to the game for the food at the ballpark!

Our Happy Day List

1. A.K. and S.K. came to play


2. Lots of help with Tadpole


3. A First, and Hopefully Not A Last... ALL 3 TOADS ASLEEP AT THE SAME TIME!!! (...and ME TOO!!!)




4. So much fun to sleep in a tent, Superkid set up Tadpole too!

Adjusting to Life With Baby

Friday was officially my first day solo as a mother of 3. My VERY helpful mother went home on Wednesday and Cool Uncle HH came that night and whisked Superkid and Abizella off for a sleepover. Cool Auntie Andy took my toads and Boo to the Zoo Thursday (you gotta check out the pics of the zoo kids on her website-click shoe obsessed link on the right) while Tadpole and I did nothing but sleep and eat all day.

After my day of leisure, I was ready to take on the kiddies. And actually things went relatively well. I remember the first day I went solo as a mother of 2. I had a lot more anxiety about that. Probably because Pops was the stay-at-home parent and I was not really sure about occupying one child’s time, let alone two. But much to my delight, Superkid and Abizella played really well together. After their morning milk, the kids hit the kiddie pool in the back yard. Tadpole and I watched from a safe distance as Abizella and Superkid splashed. Superkid would flop down on his stomach and start flailing his arms around and yell, "HELP! HELP! I'M DROWNING!" Abizella would quickly snatch his arm and say, "I HELP YOU!" and pull him up. This was great fun... at least it must have been because they did it over and over and over and laughed themselves senseless.

Later, we came in and they played catch with each other and rolled the ball back and forth across the floor to each other. I give them 5 stars for playing well together. I give also give them 5 stars for their extraordinary abilities in dumping out toys.

In other news, Tadpole's umbilical cord fell off Thursday so we gave him his first big boy bath! After I bathed him, Abizella bathed him with kisses!


Both of the other Toads are very mindful of Tadpole's presence. Abizella will ask me several times a day, "Where's Baby?" "Baby sleeping?.... He TIRED!" Superkid will all of the sudden pop up from watching TV or playing and say, "Mom, I am going to go check on Tadpole." Then he will return and report that, "the Baby is sleeping."

So I was feeling competent at my abilities of Mothering 3... until... I put the kids down for bed. Usually this is Pop's business but he was snuggling Tadpole so I went to tuck in the other Toads. The kiddies were crying so I tried to soothe them by singing. Abizella put her hands over her ears and looked at me like I was physically paining her. I can't say I blame her. Aunty Andy had tucked in the night before and has a MUCH MUCH nicer singing voice (she reported that Abizella kept begging, "Again! Again!" every time she finished a song). Finally Abizella could take the torture no longer and stopped me and said, "No, Mom. Hole in Bucket!" Which is the ONLY song Pops sings to the kids. After I switched songs her hands came off her ears.

With one good day under my belt, I feel like I am off to the races. And from now on, I will leave the singing up to Pops and Auntie and Andy.

Another Tadpole for the Tidepool

At long last I have come up with a blogging name for Toad #3. Drum-roll please......

TADPOLE! ...at least for the short term until he exhibits any definate character traits. The runner-up name was Pop-Eye because he often will look at you with one eye shut. But I think this is more due to a sticky eye than a love for Popeye-the-Sailer-Man (toot toot).

We had to take our little Tadpole to the beach pronto so he could breath in the salty air. Next summer he can have some actual fun like crawling across the beach shoving sand into his mouth. Later Superkid and Abizella can show him the fun of bounding across the boulders and chasing the tide. I can hardly wait for next summer. But for now we will enjoy low tide snuggles at sunset.

More Photos

WELCOME DAVID JAMES

Born August 15, 2007 at 11:09 a.m.
8 lbs. 15 1/2 oz.
21 inches long

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?

Looks like Tidepool Toad #3 is looking to distinguish himself as our anniversary baby. Pops just woke up and after many claims of having contractions over the last week, finally believes me that I am in labor. I know because he said (mid- contraction), "This is my anniversary gift to you...it won't be wrapped or anything." I am assuming his gift is the baby and not the labor, otherwise I prefer he send flowers next year.

This is the part that is tough though, deciding the right minute to go to the hospital. Fortunately Glama arrived last night so we don't have to call and wake up S.K., D-Bob, and haul the kiddies up to them in the wee hours of the morning, so I have a little more time to sit around here and blog.

The contractions are a few minuttes apart and I am feeling them, but would hate the disgrace of being turned away at the hospital so I am going to sit here a little bit longer.

But until you hear the good word that Toad #3 is here, you can pass the time by coming up with a good blog name for the kiddo in the comments section.

Birthday Re-Cap

Abizella had a wonderful second birthday. Mom wasn't sure how the day would play out, her money was on having an extra guest for the big day. But Toad #3 was considerate and let Abizella have her big day. We started the day with a trip to the grocery store for some birthday supplies, followed by an impromptu birthday party. Abizella knew from the second we lit her birthday cookie the day was hers.

After an afternoon of fun and frolic with her buddies, Abizella took a little beauty rest to gather her strength for her present opening.

It is a good thing she did too, because this kid is spoiled!

We were glad to have D-Bob there because not only is he an expert in Elmo feeding, but there were some gifts with some assembly required...


Abizella was happy to get a new puzzle to feed her puzzle craze.


We finally got around to eating the Elmo birthday cake. Superkid had been asking me if it was done and begging for an eyeball to eat all day!


After a long day of partying Abizella curled up with Elmo for some stories (she loves her new books, we have read them over and over and over...)

Thank-you EVERYBODY for making Abizella's birthday magical! We wish we could have had you all here!

Happy Birthday Peachy Pie!

Two years ago my little Abizella came in to the world. I loved her with my whole heart the minute I saw her, I just had no idea at the time how much my heart would grow as she grows. I find myself hoping that she will never change to being thrilled with each of her new achievments. But most of all I LOVE her personality. She is a delight. She is cheery, loving, friendly, VERY determined, adventerous, playful, nurturing and mine. Pops says all the time that our family would not be our family without her. Pops' favorite game to play with her is to ask her for a kiss on his cheek (pointing to his cheek), which she happily does. Then he points to the other cheek and says, "This cheek!" She kisses. Back and forth from cheek to cheek kissing and giggling. It is not wonder she has him wrapped around her finger. I like to rub noses in an eskimo kiss sort of way with her. We start slow and go faster and faster until she grabs my cheeks and we stare eye to eye and giggle.

I LOVE YOU ABIZELLA! I am looking forward to another amazing year with you!

Save Your Money On This Kid!

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No need to spend a lot of money on toys for this kid. Superkid has the most amazing imagination! He can make an airplane or rocket out of ANYTHING! I've seen him transform ordinary household objects i.e. scraps of paper, pens, remote controls, hangers, forks, the baby mobile, or anything he lays his hands on into an airplane. His favorite place to go looting for airplane material is my utensil drawer. But he doesn't always have to necessarily be searching for an airplane for one to suddenly appear for him. Mid-dinner prayer we'll hear his cup blast off.

He loves to build airplanes too. I am pretty sure he must have gotten his imagination from Pops because the 2 of them build the most amazing airplanes and rockets out to Legos. Superkid, after a long day of disappointment in his mother's rocket making abilities, runs to the door when Daddy gets home, busts out the Legos, and away they go building airplanes. I have about one or two standard models, but I seldom see the same ship out of them twice. He and Pops spend a lot of time on the Internet watching shuttle take-offs and military airplane maneuvers. So maybe that is where they get some of their ideas.


Probably the best part of Superkid's plethora of aircrafts is watching him play with them. I am not sure if he would rather be a pilot or a cameraman. He likes to put the airplane in front of one eye and kind of squint the other to put things in the proper perspective. He is not bad at sound effects either. I, on the other hand, have been corrected many times for my lousy attempts at aircraft noises. I wish I could get inside this kid’s head for a ride on one of his magnificent trips!

Blueberry Fields Forever

Superkid is a big fan of BLUEBERRIES and BLUEBERRY picking!


Abizella.... not so much!

But I side with Superkid and it is such a gorgeous day we couldn't pass up on a trip to the BLUEBERRY fields!

...or the local ice cream shop!

First Queen of Candy Land...Next Queen of ALL Lands!

Abizella has recently found the Candy Land game I had stacked amongst the pre-school stuff. She is NUTS over playing it. The first couple of times we "played" I would direct her to draw a card and move her token. Superkid has been a Candy Land guru for a while now, so he was good to model the rules. It all worked pretty nicely until Abizella drew a double purple card; obviously the coolest and best card in the deck. After that when it came time for her turn and I asked her to draw a card she would say, "No 2 purple again! (holding up her previous card)" and then would move her token two purple spaces. Luckily Superkid is an easy going kind of kid and let her get away with this. Well after playing Candy Land with Abizella almost non-stop for a few days the rest of us kinda lost interest. Yet Abizella persists. She seeks us out with Candy Land in hand, "Mommy, Daddy (Superkid) play Candy Land?" There is no use in telling her no... she just gets louder. So we consent (or else she shoves the board in your face and says, "Here you go Mommy"). She proceeds to set up. "Mommy you red, Daddy you blue, (Superkid) you geen..." And then she passes out the cards to us and moves our tokens around on the board. Sometimes in her benevolence (after she has already secured one for herself) she will deal you a double purple card and say, "Mommy, Look! Two PURPLE! Good Job!"



Since our enthusiasm for non-stop Candy Land has waned, she has moved on to a more compliant crowd. We will hear her in the other room saying, “Elmo, want to play Candy Land? OKAY! I go get it!" Then she will run to the dining room (you know where everyone keeps board games) and pushes a chair up to the china closet and helps herself to Candy Land. Then she runs back to Elmo and sets up the board, all the time instructing Elmo on how to play and what color he gets to be. Her tone actually isn't too bossy. She is a sympathetic ruler, always tilting her head to the side and diminutively asking, "Elmo, you want orange? Okay!... Purple! Alright!" Then she tells Elmo it is time to clean up and sings him the clean-up song as they pick up the pieces and shut the box.

I took the kids to my last mid-wife appointment and after listening to Abizella instruct Superkid where to sit and what not to touch my mid-wife commented on how much Abizella likes to be a little mother. I think it is safe to say she will enjoy having another brother to direct.

Success!

After spending 5 hours at the pool this afternoon, we had to drag a chattering Superkid out of the pool. He begged to stay longer and would only be apeased by promising that we would come back on Monday. The whole summer is a success!

Blueberry Buckle Breakfast

This is my favorite blueberry recipe (besides the obvious blueberry pie fav).

Blueberry Buckle
3/4 C white sugar
1/4 C shortening
1 egg
1/2 C milk
2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 C fresh blueberries
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 C butter softened

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Grease one 8X8 pan.
2. Cream together 3/4 cup sugar, shortening and egg.
3. In a seperate bowl mix together 2 C flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into sugar mixture, alternating with milk. Stir in blueberries. Pour into greased pan.
4.To make topping: combine 1/2 C sugar, 1/3 C flour, cinnamon, and butter. Sprinkle over cake batter.
5. Bake at 375° F for 25-30 minutes (but I find it takes closer to 40-45 minutes)

For the most part I feel like handpicked blueberries should be eaten by the handfull and that frozen blueberries should be used for baking. However, I think we are onto a new family tradition. I had a great time making breakfast with the kiddies this morning. Even better was that we ate our buckle out of my Grandma's purple china. Grandma LOVED lavender and had a relative who was on a mission in Bavaria, Germany purchase the china and bring home to her. I am not sure how she would have felt about having a 2 and 3 -year old use her beloved china (I think Bampa said he could only remember her using it a couple of times)... but then again if she knew Abizella and Superkid she probably couldn't think of better company to share the china.