Tidepool Toads

Friday, June 12, 2015

More Birthday Cake

This Little Chief still has birthday on the brain...

I will never forget the Sunday afternoon that Tadpole learned to ride a bike. After a 2 year hiatus of even touching a bike, he basically picked up his bike and started to ride. Rewind to two years ago when Tadpole was pedaling his bike so hard and fast that if his training wheel caught the ground he would spill. We decided to pull off the obstructive training wheels and Tadpole refused to ride his bike again out side of bribery.

Fast forward two years. Pops and I were pulling the bikes out of winter storage and pumping up the tires. We quickly realized Little Chief had outgrown his bike and bumped him up to Tad's old bike. I pulled a sparkling new bike out of the basement for Tadpole and he was suddenly very interested in learning to ride a bike. He started by coasting down the hill in front of our house. After a few tries and a little boost from Pops he was sailing!

He was rightfully very proud of himself.

He stuck out his chest and crowed as he raced past me,

"LIKE A BOSS!"

The rest of us had a great time too!

Jaws was pleased to inherit Little Chief's old bike!

And Little Chief is pedaling strong!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Mega-Mother's Day Post

Finally. A day all about me!

And it all started with my favorite breakfast, Juevos Rancheros. IN BED!

Followed by a string of loving children baring gifts from the heart...

Pops managed the ironing of the clothes and the dressing of the children while I leisurely dressed for church.

He also acted as photographer for the Mother's Day shoot:

After a delicious dinner, I retired to the hammock for an afternoon nap.

And watched the children frolic in the sprinklers. It was the first deliciously warm day of the year.

I came inside to admire the gorgeous flowers Pops gave me...

And enjoyed the scrumptious brownies Abizella made...

And the strawberry shortcake Superkid prepared!

And no Mother's Day will be complete without a romp on the beach!

Remember, it is May, in Masshachussetts. The water is about 50 degrees.

It is like nobody notices.

Except for Superkid, he's no dummy.

The kids ended the special day with a seashell tribute to me.

Best day ever.

I'm so happy this family is mine.

I love you all!!!

Thank-you for the perfect day.

The Peg and Roll

There once was a boy who came back from living in Chile for 2 years. Because he spent these two years immersed in serving the Lord, he didn't have the time to keep up on fashion trends in the United States. Stepping back into the bedlam of Utah society was like drinking from a fire hose, so he missed the subtlety of trending pant hems. He resumed life like it was 1994, pulled on his jeans and pegged and rolled his pant legs.

It nearly was a deal breaker. Shortly after returning from his mission he asked me on a date to see the re-release of Star Wars. He came to pick me up and I couldn't help being embarrassed for him... and me. It's a good thing he caught on, or this story would have turned out differently.

Fast forward 19 years and we find that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

We also see that I was dead wrong. This is a totally hip look ;)

Amazing 5!

My sweet Little Chief is 5 years old!

This goofy kid has been looking forward to this day for a long time! About 3 months ago I got a call from his panicked school teacher asking if his birthday was the next day, as he insisted it was. Ever since then it has been hard time waiting for the big day.

Top of his birthday wish list was a dog. A real dog, a big black dog that he could name Shadow. He was pretty insistent until he found out about being responsible for scooping all the poop in the backyard. He was overjoyed to get a stuffed dog from Grandma and Grandpa instead!

All of the kids (except for the green monster Jaws) love present time. When else can you bash a box on your sibling's head with your parents' blessing?!

The family favorite was this Octopod from Tadpole's favorite show, The Octonauts. At the risk of shame, Superkid admitted his depth of Octonaut knowledge and plunged into play with the other enthusiasts.

Abizella had the perfect idea for a birthday treat!

Puppy cupcakes!

She and Little Chief were the chefs!

Tadpole, Jaws and I were the lazy bums who kicked back and waited for the birthday treat.

Superkid is always the pyromaniac...

Everyone got in on the puppy-cupcake goodness!

We are so blessed to have this one!

Let me count 5 ways!
1. Little Chief is the best kisser. He puckers up those fabulous lips and lays one on me every chance he gets!
2. For Little Chief, life is a musical. He can grab any handful of objects and escape in his imagination, narrating the whole episode in boisterous song.
3. Anytime a spoon clanks against a bowl you will find Little Chief right by your side ready to cook. He loves it. He likes to come up with his own recipes too. He will dictate a list of ingredients, explain it is a new cookie recipe and ask if we can go make it. He is a great chef.
4. He loves school and he loves making new friends. He recently went to Kindergarten meet-and-greet. He was pretty nervous going into it. He walked up to each kid and teacher, introduced himself and told each person he was shy. One of the moms knew him from preschool. She laughed and said, "Tadpole, I know you and you are not shy!"
5. Little Chief loves books! He has a stack of favorite books, but he loves them all and he likes to help by "reading" the parts he knows best.

We all simply adore you Little Chief. We LOVE you!

Happy Birthday!

Little Chief's Party

Little Chief's long awaited day FINALLY came.

Nothing but lots of celebrations would do for Little Chief's 5th birthday.

We invited a couple of Tadpole's favorite friends for dinner and cake the day before his birthday.

Luckily for Jaws, the kids came with younger siblings!

Little Chief requested a Cold Stone Chocolate Peanut butter cake.

We all thought he chose wisely.

We also decided to give the Cold Stone cupcakes a try!

A great kick off for a VERY important event.

Birding in Bare Cove

The train platform I stand on every morning overlooks an estuary. I love watching the birds as they return after winter. About a month ago sunrise and my train-time coincided and the estuary was teeming with early morning bird life. Abizella had been talking about doing some bird watching and I knew this was prime-time! I grabbed my greatest bird enthusiast, and we made a morning of it. Abizella takes after her mother in her love of birds. Not only does she love to watch them, but she loves to sketch them.