The Best Christmas EVER!

Thank-you for the HUGE pile of FUN!

Got Your Christmas Shopping Done Bampa?

Christmas Eve can never pass without me thinking of Bampa and how he despises to shop. He is about the only person I know that is actually allergic to the mall. Correct me if I am wrong Bampa, but parking, choosing gifts, standing in lines, and moron shoppers all make you come down with a rash (a rash of bad words, if you know what I am saying). Am I right? Well, for a while I was Bampa's little elf. I remember one year he drove Melanie and me downtown on Christmas Eve. He gave me a fist full of cash, pretty much no instructions and turned us loose in the mall while he circled Salt Lake (one of his favorite pass times). I think we found Glama some perfume and maybe some jewelry but when we saw the sexy Christmas lingerie, we laughed ourselves senseless. The plan was to run through the list of presents we bought for Glama with Bampa, excluding the skimpy panties cleverly concealed in my pocket, and then of course do all of the wrapping. I would then discreetly place the wrapped panties under the tree with the sexiest note my 14 year old brain could come up with, "To: Mrs. Claus, From: Santa Claus" and then let the scene unfold before me Christmas morning. I am pretty sure I didn't let anyone else in on my little joke. Christmas morning I watched that package like a hawk. By the time Glama was about to open the gift I was one Nervous Nelly. Of course Glama made a big production of getting a gift. She made sure that all eyes were on her by saying things like, "Whatever could this be?" and, "What a fancy little box!". Bampa had a confident, yet blank look on his face (every once in awhile glancing to me). I was having a tough time maintaining my poker face. After much ceremony Glama tore into her little box, looked inside.... and BLUSHED! She quickly slammed the little box shut. Now we were ALL dying to see what was inside, especially Bampa (he he he)! She eventually HAD to succumb to our appeals, probably because Bampa had to give up the illusion that HE had actually bought the gift. Or maybe I had to give up my little innocent game of shrugging my shoulders and playing dumb. Probably because I was laughing so hard I was crying! Anyway, it goes down as one of my favorite Christmas memories of all time, and I believe it cured Bampa of his, "Mall Fever".
(sorry, I think I am so funny that I posted this on two blogs)

4 Months and Counting

Tadpole had his 4-month check-up yesterday. I wish I had some cold hard facts to report, but between Abizella's 2 accidents and the appointment being at naptime I felt good just getting the crew in and out of the office alive. I do have to say that I am a little disappointed not knowing Tadpole's exact weight, as I am a lactating snob. I take great pride looking down at my babies and saying, "I built you kid!" That is why I am secretly happy when my kids are repulsed by formula and the REAL reason I am slow to introduce solid food. I like to see how big I can grow them without supplementation. This is why I am sad to report that Tadpole is only in the 80 percentile (is that like getting a B on a test?). Maybe it is because he is the 3rd kid and doesn't get as much munching time, but I do like to see them at the top of the charts (or even OFF the charts). But as you can see from his picture, he is off the charts on good looks!

Preschool Idol

Superkid has been expresing his musical side. Like most great artists he was inspired by the toilet paper/microphone stand. I found him jammin'in the living room to his new original hit about his cousins. I jotted down a few of his lyrics as I giggled from the kitchen, "You remind me of #1....Ohhhhh Ohhhh Boo, Elizabeth, Ashy" and "Oh Baby, I am Uncle Brian's nephew."

You may not know this, but musical talent runs in our family...Well, not really, neither Pops or I can carry a tune. But I did hear Pops fill a request from Abizella to sing "Strawberry Shortcake" at bed time. He actually knew most of the lyrics. So maybe we don't have talent, but at least we have guts!

The Little Mother

Say what you want, but girls are just different than boys. My little Abizella has a nurturing side that can't be denied. Ever since Tadpole joined our little lily pad I have been finding little toys tucked in next to him. Sometimes he is more receptive...



than others...


It is actually pretty sweet. Sometimes I'll go in to check on Tadpole during his nap and he will have some little toy tucked in next to him. It took me a long time to figure out if it was Abizella or Superkid, but I caught her in the act. I was surprised it was her because she managed to do it without waking him up, which just doesn't hold true to her normally rambunctious nature.


She also likes to bring books over to Tadpole and read to him. I like to stand around the corner and eavesdrop.



But she does not leave her mothering exclusively for Tadpole. She is also very sweet with her babies and Elmo. She is good to make sure that they are well fed, burped, napped and bathed...


She even likes to take care of me. Just tonight she crawled up next to me on the couch, got into my face and said in a diminutive tone, "You have something on your face." She licked her thumb and wiped my face and continued, "I got it! Does that feel better?"

Candy Land

Thanks to MB for the second annual building of the ginger bread houses. Superkid was really into it...

...at least the eating of the ginger bread houses, or the candy rather. He threw the candy on as fast as he could and then said, "Can I eat it now Moma?"

The Night We Payed Santa Claus a Visit...

***Super Long Blog Warning! You don't really have to read it, I just couldn't stop myself from typing. I have the same problem when I tell a story. But at least this way you don't have to be tormented by my long story unless you submit yourself to it, and then you only have yourself to blame when you realize all the time you invested into a mediocre story. Enjoy!********
So it all started innocently a few playgroups ago. The McDonald's in town re-opened after a LONG LONG remodeling process and so it was decided that we should meet there for playgroup. All was well and fine, I explained to the kids that there would be no Happy Meals because it was breakfast (so no melt downs), I explained that we were going to meet our playgroup friends and I expected everyone to play nicely, "OR ELSE!", I explained that when it was time to go I would give a 5 minute warning and then we would go without tears or tantrums (after all...Santa Claus is watching). So I was feeling pretty good about my parenting and the preparation I put into the excursion. So the kids played and enjoyed their pancakes while I chatted with the girls...for about 5 minutes. That is when Abizella came up to me and said that she pee peed. We are toilet training so it wasn't too off the wall of a comment. I wasn't worried, she was in a diaper. About 2 minutes later my friend M came up to me and said that Abizella was soaked. Doh! Now how could she be soaked through at 10:00 in the morning? Oh, well if you don't change her diaper in the morning, that's how. When I got her dressed that morning her diaper was dry so I figured Pops must have changed her before he left for work. But what I wasn't taking into consideration was that Abizella now posses the ability to "hold it" for the whole night. She obviously had relieved her self a few times by 10:00 a.m. So I asked my friends to keep an eye on the boys while I hauled her out to the car in the freezing cold to change her. When I pulled her pants down there was A LOT more going on besides a wet diaper! I had no choice but to take the frozen wipes and do the best I could to clean her up. Oh ya, did I mention that I didn't have another diaper for her, let alone a change of clothes? So much for my great preparation! I crammed her into one of Tadpole's diapers. She was a lot better sport than I was! After wrapping her in a blanket I found in the car, I ran back inside McDonald's with Abizella tucked under my arm to grab the boys, pretend everything was okay, and hit the road. I sat my little burrito Abizella at a table with strict instructions not to move an inch and turned to the 2-story climbing structure, with a 12-year old age limit, to grab Superkid. Much to my relief I saw him dash by with some friends. I told him we had to leave now, He actually said,” Okay Mom" so I turned to strap in Tadpole. Of course by this point Abizella was streaking through McDonald's and Tadpole had LOST IT! And where was that darling little Superkid? Nowhere to be seen. After yelling (in my most patient, putting-on-a-good-face-mom voice possible), I rolled up my sleeves, threw caution to the wind and tested the weight limit on the new play land. At that point I was more willing to have the whole play land coming crashing down around me than wait for Superkid to willingly re-appear. I found him giggling in the top most reaches of the play land. I said, "Superkid, we have to leave NOW!" Now you can guess how popular that was after being there for about 10 minutes. You can hardly blame the kid for gearing up to melt down. I saw it coming across his face and before he let out his first bellow I said, "Superkid, if you come now, without crying, we can come to play again." He kind of raised his brow and looked up at me like, "Ya, when? Will we really EVER come back?" I then remembered the flyer on the tray that our breakfast came with. It said Santa Claus would be coming to McDonalds in a week. In desperation I played my biggest card, "Superkid, if you leave RIGHT NOW WITHOUT CRYING we can come back next week when Santa Claus is here." He said, "Okay Mom." and ran down and put his shoes on and we were out the door (after wrestling my little streaker and the screaming baby). When we got to the car I said, "Superkid, thank-you for coming to the car without crying. Because you were so obedient, we can come back and play again sometime." From the backseat I heard, "You mean when Santa Claus is at McDonald's!" Doh!

Now I am the first to admit it wasn't my finest parenting moment. I know bribery should be shunned ...blah blah blah... Would it have been that bad to just let Abizella play in an insy winsy diaper and look like a white trash Mom? Apparently yes.

So the Toads found themselves paying Santa Claus a visit last night. Although when we got to McDonald's Santa Claus wasn't looking so good. The kids were all zonked in the car. A quick decision was made to go visit Santa "at his next stop" at the Mall (and choke up the big money) and hope that Santa gain some weight and grow a beard before we got there.

We were happy to see a chubby, bearded Santa at the Mall, but I have to say that his age is starting to catch up to him. Not as jovial as he was in yesteryear. I think the real low point was when he said to Abizella, "Hold still for the picture" in a not so jolly tone. It creeped Abizella out, she wasn't so sure about the red suit in the first place. But after prodding our old friend I at least got him to ask the kids what they want for Christmas. And would you believe it? The McDonald's at the mall was CLOSED (and by closed I mean shut down)! Guess where we ended up driving back to for dinner?

Let's not lose sight of the ball; in the end Superkid did get to see Santa Claus. I am just hoping that in the future he will show up at the church Christmas party. And for now on, Abizella has an emergency pair of pants in the car!

Look at My Ferocious Teeth!

Tadpole sprouted teeth! I felt them coming in so I took one last gummy grin shot the day before the first one popped out.

In other Tadpole news, he rolled over for the first time last week! I was more surprised than anyone. We were at playgroup and MJ said she was going to give little E. a little tummy time. I thought it was a great idea for all babies so Tadpole joined E. on the floor. As I was setting Tadpole up I told MJ that Tadpole would be about 12 before he rolled over because he dislikes being on his tummy and doesn't spend much time there. About 1 minute later he just flipped over, totally effortless. I am not sure he knew what he was doing, but his timing was classic. I haven't seen him do it again...but then again, he hasn't spent much time on his tummy...

Tadpole is also getting pretty handy with his hands. The kids like to cram all kinds of things into his little fists. I set him up on this boppy for a change of scenery and came back to find that the kiddos had built him an alter of toys to play with. He loves his thoughtful siblings!

Christmas Comes to the Toads

It always takes me about a week after Thanksgiving to get in the swing of Christmas. But the wheels are finally in motion. I felt it was important to educate the children about Christmas so we pulled out the best nativity of all time, made by my favorite desert dwellers, long before any other Christmas fluff hit the scene. Each piece was lovingly cut from a block of wood by T. and painted by L.-er and now is cherished by our little toads. I re-enacted Christ's birth story for the children one evening, and now they love doing the same. My personal favorite is when Superkid loads the expectant Mary on the little donkey and starts knocking on fictitious doors looking for room at the inn. Then his "Halloween Dragon" swoops in the save the day...


To augment their Christmas education, I picked up a DVD collection of Christmas Classics. You know the ones... "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town", "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" etc. I thought it was important to get the kids properly psyched for Christmas. My sensitive Superkid ran and hid in the neighboring room whenever the Winter Warlock was in view. Abizella, on the other hand knew this Christmas stuff was important and therefore put forth all of her concentration power to study it out.


Pops was once again the tree master. He is not satisfied until every last strand of tinsel is in place. He makes it a real event. He popped in "The Christmas Story" and we ordered in Chinese. He did a GREAT job, and he really did ALL the job. He chose the tree, carried it into the house, set it up, ran out for new lights and decorations, and decorated it. He got a bit of help from his little toad-elves... but not much out of me. I busied myself with Tadpole and Christmas shopping.


But the best part of the Christmas season arriving is Santa Claus... and all this means to a 4yr.old. For the first time we have been able to use the jolly old man as an effective motivational tool. There is no doubt that old classic song, "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" was written by a parent. I love it. I just bust into shameless tune every time I hear a scuffle between the kids, or a little whining... "You better not cry, you better not shout, you better not pout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town" Or I hear little kiddies that won't settle in to sleep... "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake." I am thinking of adding my own verses about eating dinner and picking up toys to perfect the tune.

I almost don't want Christmas to ever come, except for one thing. I can't wait to see these kids Christmas morning. We got a little sneak peak last weekend. The morning after Pops set up the Christmas tree we were lying in bed early in the morning. Superkid has never been known as an early riser, but we heard his little voice from his bedroom, "Abizella, wake up!" and again, "Abizella, WAKE UP!" "Let's go see our presents!

Seriously! Will Christmas EVER come?

Phew! That Noreaster Came Just in Time!

We are pretty happy about the inclement weather around here. As Pop's put it to Superkid this morning, "Your wish came true Superkid, church is cancelled!" As much as we all love going to church, we could really use a day to stay at home and do nothing in particular at all, except catch up on the blog. You may have noticed that it has not been updated in a long, long time. I am going to skip the excuses of being too busy teaching pre-school, mailing Christmas cards, training for a marathon (gotta throw that in whenever I can), and packaging and mailing Christmas presents to all you people (I am not going to lump dishes, laundry and food preparation here, as I have been known to blog instead of attend to those duties). I am just a little nervous about my place in your hearts as one of your favorite blogs to check out. I remember when I slipped from being the anointed "Favorite Child" to one of the lesser children in my family. After living back East for a few years, on a visit home at dinnertime I went to take my (THE Favorite Child) place at the dinner table when Nersey said, "Not so fast! You have been de-throned, that's what you get for moving so far away!" Then she took my place at the table. The hard lesson I learned for being absent so long. Hopefully it hasn't been so long that my faithful readers are not here anymore. In an effort to earn back your affection, I will post an entry every day this week. I will probably type them all today, but release a new entry each day... so check us out!

Does Anyone Hear That Raging River?

Friday night the kids and I got home probably 15 minutes before Pops got home from work. I was working like a mad woman to get dinner (frozen pizza) made and the house in order before Pops got home. This is a little game I play for myself. Pops could care less if dinner is ready and the house is clean when he gets home, but I like to put on a good show like I am Super woman or something (does frozen pizza and toys kicked into the play room qualify me to be Super Woman?). Anyway, I was bustling around the house and the kids were busy dumping out bins of toys faster than I could pick them up. After quickly throwing the breakfast dishes into the dishwasher I nearly stepped right on top of Abizella's "Inside Picnic". She had carefully laid out a blanket and some dishes of food for the family to enjoy. Just about then Pops walked through the door and Abizella led him to his seat at the picnic. After seating Superkid and myself at our respective sides of the blanket, we enjoyed appetizers (oranges, bananas and plastic toy chicken) while we waited for the pizza to cool. The best part to me is that the picnic really came out of nowhere. Pops and I had never initiated an inside picnic.

The picnic took me back to the little yellow house that I grew up in. I remember having indoor picnics with my family when I was not much older than Abizella. I can't remember a thing we ate at those picnics (which is very strange for me, ask S.K. it is my X-Man power to list what I ate at all memorable events), but I do remember how a Davi delight was born. We grew up near the mountains and most of our outdoor picnicking was done near a babbling brook. To simulate the sound of water gurgling past us, my Dad or Mom (can't remember who thought this up) ran to the nearby bathroom and flushed the toilet. As you can imagine, this was a smashing success to an audience of 5 young kids. We had many indoor picnics after the raging river was introduced to the scene. I'm sure not much eating was done because we were anxiously engaged in running back and forth from the blanket to the toilet creating a constant flow of water for our dining enjoyment.

I didn't think of the "Raging River" effect during our first family indoor picnic, but I'm sure as the cold weather persists there will be more in opportunities to come.