Blood Moon

Eclipse chasing!

 Hoping to see the moon turn to blood!

I set an alarm on my phone to remind me of the Blood Moon Eclipse that was happening Sunday night. When my alarm went off, I ran out to the street to see if we could spy the moon with all the trees obscuring the sky. It was a no-go. Pops and I grabbed the kids and we raced to Nantasket beach- the only place we know of without trees. It wasn't until we were in the car that I Googled the details of the eclipse. It was 7:30- the eclipse wasn't starting until 8:20. Lucky for us the tide was out and it was unseasonably warm. Unlucky for us, I forgot Jaw's blanky. I started a game of tag as a diversion. We laughed ourselves senseless and chased each other on the great wide expanse of the beach in the moonlight. Then we sat on the rocks and listened to the second chapter of the book Superkid is writing. We made it until 8:20-but that is only the very very very beginning of the eclipse. We bailed when the blanky was noticed missing. We took a few more peeks at the sky after we got home, but retired before the blood moon peeked around 11:30- but I would not trade the best view of the blood moon for a this night playing on the beach with my family.

Halloween Preview

It's that magical time of year when we pull out the Halloween boxes and see what our costume options are... 

I'm a huge fan of Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee

Jaws wasn't so sure he wanted to try any costumes on... which was really too bad, because the 2-3 yr. old costumes abound!

But he did really like this frog back pack!

Then he realized that this dinosaur costume was nearly as good as riding a horse!

Giddy-up!

Tadpole is looking good in his Top Gun uniform!

Little Chief LOVED being a pterodactyl

Then we we took the show on the road and checked out the costumes at some stores. We were all loving this Darth Vader mask!

Abizella makes and adorable airplane!

Batman and Superman are classic!

It is going to be a tough choice!

Sunday Dinner Dream Team

Tadpole always reminds us that we must "keep the sabbath meal holy" which means nothing but roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls and a veggie will do.

Fortunately, we have a team of specialists on staff who keeps us coming back for more!

It is Abizella's goal to produce one of these feasts on her own. She is currently under Pops' esteemed mentorship. She makes a mean gravy! The bar is high, nothing but light and fluffy potatoes will do! Not an easy feat considering the amount of cheese and butter involved! 

Little Chief is a quick study too!
As soon as he hears a cabinet creak, he is in the kitchen, at your service! 

We re lucky to have such culinary talent in our family!

Pick A Peck of Apples

It's that magical time of year again. 

Everyone loves apple picking! 

It is even more fun with the the Andrus' family! 

We sure missed them when they were in Paris. 

We were pleased to also have the Matkin ladies along for the ride.

We got there early and grabbed our apple donuts before the crazy-hour-long-line formed. They were delicious as always.

Then, onto the tractor ride!

Little Chief has been talking about picking apples with Big Abi for weeks. He was pleased as punch to have his friend by his side! He and Tadpole even got to ride to the orchard with the Andrus family, a super treat!

This is Superkid's favorite outing all year. 

First come the apples, then comes his birthday.

There really wasn't even any discussion over the matter, only Honey Crisps would do. We headed straight to where the perfectly delicious orbs of goodness were waiting for us. They were particularly large this year!

Jaws was a serious apple picker...

Seriously- look how big those apples are!

So... we probably picked a bit more than a peck. But we were pretty nervous about running out. Yes- those are ALL Honey Crisps.

Nice work crew!

That should hold us for a bit.

Little Chief is a kid who would have liked to have lived on a farm.

Abz and Chloe wanted their own pic together... but those sneaky brothers we intent on crushing that dream...

Thanks for the fun everyone!

Grandma's Cooking School

Abizella loves to cook. 

The only thing she loves more than cooking, is cooking with Grandma Sherrie.

Since they can't cook together in person, they cook in parallel. Grandma in her kitchen, Abizella in her's. It is so cute to see these two together. I love that Grandma doesn't just coach her, but actually makes the recipe too, so she can show her how things are supposed to look.

So far they've mainly stuck to treats- cookies and cup cakes. But Abizella has created a list of recipes she wants to try real soon.

We love you Grandma! Thank-you for loving us too!

Let Them Have Their Pool

Superkid and Abizella have started swim team!

They have become great athletes in the last year. Pops and I are thrilled.

Only problem is that the swim pool is not super close to our house... but it is super close to Target and the mall. I decided that in the long run it would be cheaper to buy the family membership to the YMCA than to kill time shopping.

So the littles and I go swimming too!

Little Chief is a natural born fish. Here he is doing somersaults...

wait for it...

Tad da!

Under-water selfies are our favorite pass-time...

Can you tell the boys apart?

It's a good thing they are wearing different colored goggles!

The twins!

Tad in yellow and Little Chief in blue.

Survival of the Cutest

Two is a killer. 

This kid can be a STINKER. 

He kinda thinks he's the chief. One of these days I'm going to pull out the camera when he is waxing Mr. Hyde lest in later years I believe he was always this adorable little cherub.

Who pops up is the most unsuspecting places...

And uses his super-human ability to find the softest, coziest place in the house to tuck himself in when he is ready to snooze.

He is impossible to resist when he very sweetly implores, 

"Will you play trains with me?"

And he wins just about every wrestling match he ever enters, 

even as the "light-weight" of the house-hold.

Okay... we'll keep him.