Tidepool Toads: November 2014

Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Countdown is Over

Our cousins made it! They flew all the way in from Salt Lake city to spend Thanksgiving with us!

These two have been plotting the event long before the tickets were bought. Their campaign started last summer. Every time we talked they would beg and plead to be together for Thanksgiving.

Well it worked. These are two persistent little ladies!

They have actually made it out for Thanksgiving before.

It was the year that the tradition of the dance of the "sugar plum turkeys" was born. Last time the party was at Andie's house. It was a spectacular feast with company that couldn't be rivaled and fantastic entertainment. The kind of Thanksgiving you always remember as being the perfect one.

And it was about this time that these two little ladies became inseparable, even across 2500 miles.

Can you stand it?!

Brace yourselves! This is going to be amazing!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Fancy Feast

We have this Toad family tradition.

Every year we go get a family picture taken and then we have a night out on the town together.

Hey- When you look this good, ya gotta flaunt it.

This year the family photo was a massive fail.

Hopefully it will live in infamy as the worst family pictures of all time.

So bad my sides hurt from laughing so hard. Now that I am benefiting from hindsight, that is.

But that didn't stop us from enjoying our evening at the Cheesecake Factory!

First stop, cheesecake display!

Then for the food!

As you can see, bottomless soft drinks are no match for us!

These kids are actually becoming pleasant dinner companions!

They really like to ham it up for selfies!

And the food!

Tadpole said it best, "Mom, how about we check out of Thanksgiving dinner and check into the Cheesecake Factory?!"

Now that was a meal we can all enjoy!

It was quite the fancy feast!

Jaws' New Digs

The good news is that the dishes are done. The bad news is that the dishes actually aren't done.

This little munchkin works way faster than I do.

Actually, he has evicted the pots and pans and taken up residence.

I have to admit, that I enjoy the peek-a-boo and knock-knock games while I am on kitchen duty.

I stopped washing dishes that were thrown on the floor 4 kids ago. Consider yourselves warned.

Pinkalicious

Abz and I finally tackled her room.

There has been a lot of painting around here and Abizella has begged and begged to help.

Pops promised her should could paint her room.

There were a couple others lined up to help.

Abizella was the perfect fit to paint her built-in shelves.

I told her I would get the high, hard to reach places. I left for a minute and came back to see her maneuvering into some high, hard to reach places.

That's my girl. Can't tell her what she "can't" do.

Abizella is tenacious and her hard work has paid off.

Now she has her own pink paradise!

Sad Boy

"Do you know why I'm sad mom? Because I don't have a puppy."

Quotable Toad

Superkid:
After finishing a bottle of IBC rootbeer he declared, "I'm keeping this bottle, you never know when you're going to get into a bar fight!" then he scuttled off to his bedroom. I'm not sure what goes on in the boy's room after lights out.

Little Chief:
Tonight, more than two weeks after Halloween LC confesses: "Mom and Dad, can I tell you something? After Halloween Tadpole and I took the Halloween candy up to our room and ate it all. I'm really sorry." I replied, "Thank-you for being honest." Then he ran off and said, "Tadpole, you're in trouble for eating all the candy!"

Tadpole:
After leaving a play date with a new friend Pops noticed a minifig in Tadpole's hand and asked where it came from. Tadpole replied, "When I walked into Aiden's room I asked if he had any souveiners." We now have Tad enrolled in remedial social skills classes.

Superkid:
"My favorite food group is the 'eetos'." I replied that I hadn't heard of that food group. He said, "You know, Doritos, Cheetos, Fritos..." Right.

Abizella:
"I don't believe in all that 'Naughty and Nice' business. Let's face it. Even Little Chief gets presents."

Jaws:
"Boots!"

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Flip Flops

It must be my love of little toes...

and this little Toad.

I can't think of anything cuter than this.

Those little piggies indiscriminately straddling the toe dividers of pink sparkle flip flops.

How can this not make you smile?

Joseph and the Amaizing Technicolored Dream Coat

Earlier this year we introduced the Toads to the musical,

"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat."

The kids were big fans. Abizella in particular was drawn to this medium of entertainment, a musical! After watching it over and over and over Pops got online and discovered that the musical was coming to the Boston area in November. He snatched up 5 tickets. Last Saturday we had a Big Toad date.

The two Little Toads stayed home with the babysitter.

First stop, Olive Garden! Hey, such a fancy occasion warranted a fancy restaurant. Both Superkid and Abizella graduated to the adult menu.

With full bellies, we hit the road to drive out to Worcester for the play. Superkid was spent after his morning 2 hour swim work out. Cute, right? I haven't seen him crash in the car for years.

Show time! We were about 5 minutes into it when Tadpole leaned over and said, "Mom, I'm loving this! Thank-you for bringing me!" He said that during pretty much every scene. Abizella was choking back the tears when Joseph was reunited with his brothers. It is safe to say that this sealed her desire to be a Broadway performer. Superkid loved it as well!