Incredibly Low Expectations

We went to Stake Conference a couple of weeks ago in a town about an hour away. Not only is the chapel open for seating but the vast expanse of the gym is also available. I got snagged in the hallway upon arrival and found Pops and company seated clear in the back behind at least 15 rows of vacant seats. Based on previous conference attendance, he had reasonably low expectations of for the meeting. Shockingly, all 7 Toads made it clear through all 2 hours. A family record for sure.

Nothing left but to lean back and cruise home to Sunday afternoon bliss, right?

Wrong! We got stuck in Patriot's stop and go traffic AND GOT REAR ENDED! Squished the bike rack into the back of the van and shattered the back window. No harm done to the safely buckled Toads, in fact some of us barely batted an eye.

With this situation on our hands, we had to get a rental van for a couple of weeks. 

Pain in the neck, right?

Wrong. Turns out to be the best two weeks of our lives. The rental had a DVD player in it. The kids just wanted to drive and drive and drive. We plugged in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and it was our own little piece of heaven. We had to return it this Friday afternoon so we decided to take a farewell tour. We loaded the kids up and took the long drive up to Quincy for a Frosty. 

Just goes to show, sometimes things turn out better than expected.

More of This...

The leaves just keep falling and falling and falling! 

Pops charged Superkid and Abizella with the expansive backyard (small portion shown here), while he and I finished the front and side yards.

Our leaf heap is up to Pops armpits by now. 

After 3 years of massive leaf removal, we feel we are getting better and better at it.

Even Jaws is getting better at his job of sitting there patiently and looking good.

Finally this weekend the treetops were bare and Pops pulled out his leaf blower and his Superman shirt and tackled the rain gutters. 

We are in great shape for the winter and now have an awesome place of refuge. 

Especially grand if you like pretending you are an earthworm, right Superkid?

Wimpy Kid

She ordered it from her Scholastic catalog about a month ago and she counted down the days ever since! How can a child be expected stand the excitement, the new Wimpy Kid book!!!?

Well, it finally came, and she put her nose in it non-stop. She even forgot to get off the bus! She whipped through the book in 2 days! Lightening speed! Here she is reading the gripping conclusion... AFTER BED TIME! BUSTED!

The Leaf Crew

Well, after 2 years of clearing about a bizzillion leaves from a enourmous yard, 

I think we have finally worked out a winning system. 

Immobilize Jaws, distract LC with an endless string of cartoons, and get the able bodied children to work!

First we rake and mow all of the leaves into a giant pile on a tarp...

And then get the crew to drag it to the hinterlands of the property where there is a gigantic composting heap.

I then dump the leaves over their heads and bury them. 

For the record, the pile goes clear over their heads!

We did manage to goof around a little too...

Jaws thought it all was a little strange, but after we do this every weekend for the next month, he'll get into the groove!

We were all feeling really satisfied with our day of labor until we woke up this morning (and couldn't move). Tadpole gloomily looked out on the lawn and said, "Oh Brother! Mom, will you look at that (pointing to the freshly fallen leaves covering the lawn)! We are expected to pick up our clothes from the floor but those trees just throw their leaves wherever they want!" 

I feel your pain Tad!

Nailed It!

It is no secret that I am no Pinterest Wiz.
Last year I wasted an entire day off making these "simple" cake pops that nearly drove me to the looney farm.

None the less, we took a stab at a few creepy crafts and spooky treats. What do you think?

Pinterest Mummies!

Our Mummies!

Pinterest Skeletons!

Our Skeletons!

Pinterest Ghosts!

Our Ghosts!

Pinterest Monster!

Our Baby Eating Monster!

Bats! ...you'll have to take my word, this is our's and we nailed it!

And actually a Missletoes original wreath!

The Toad Family Anthem

We were driving to swimming lessons on Saturday when Superkid and Abizella spontaneously burst into singing, “There’s a Hole In My Bucket”. We sing a lot of songs as we run our Saturday errands, and tend to favor the really long monotonous songs (think, “Ants Go Marching”). Usually the singing goes on until some unhappy camper flips out. This day it was Tadpole. Abz and Sam were about half way through the song when Tadpole burst out, “For crying out loud! How long does it take to fix a bucket!” I snickered in the front seat, the big kids gained a new appreciation for their song as they saw it was creeping under their brother’s skin. They continued with new vigor. As they approached the climax of the song, Tadpole beat them to the punch. In desperation he shouted, “But he can’t use the bucket, it has a hole in it!” Later that night at dinner, seemingly out of nowhere, Tadpole calmly and rashly stated to Pops, “Did you know that you need two buckets to fix a hole in one of them?”

This statement was much to Pops’ delight. He has been pushing this song on the family long before the kiddos were on the scene. He has a deep and abiding appreciation for both the long drawn out affair of the bucket repair and also the irony of the bucket being unfixable. This was probably the earliest clue that Pops should pursue a career in law. Early in our marriage I have to admit the song drove me bananas. And seeing my angst, Pops delighted in persisting with the song. As we added babies to the family Pops added the song to his daddy toolbox. He has walked the floors soothing each of our five babies to sleep with the quiet repetitions of the song. There is no better cure to a bad dream than a hole in the bucket. He will sit and sit stroking a distraught toddler’s forehead as he marches steadily through the verses until the child drifts peacefully to sleep. Over the years the song has gone from being burr to a love for me.

Now we sing it all the time. We rowdily sing it on road trips, we sing it as a lullaby, we watch You Tube renditions of it. When we are thinking of nothing else we are thinking of that hole in that bucket. We sing it to bug each other and we sing it as the deepest expression of love for each other. It is the Toad Family Anthem.

Emerging Economies

Since the candy began pouring into the house, the kids have set up their own little economy. This is new this year. Previously their Halloween bags have haunted to counters and tables of the house for passer-bys to partake of. Eventually it all got dumped into a huge communal bowl until the last piece was consumed. Not this year. Every piece was organized, cataloged, ranked, and counted. Then it was all squirreled away.

Well except for the "tax". They shoved 3 Almond Joy bars into my hand before bedtime. Pops found 2 bags of Snickers bars at his desk, only because the kids don't like them and they knew we would come after them.

Then, poof! All the candy disappeared. The only evidence that it exists is the nearly constant lip smacking of the children. They protect their candy like hawks and move it to new hiding places regularly. You can't find it. Pops and I had to break down and buy our own bag. But, everybody has a fav, and we all know it. Tad LOVES those "sweet and juicy" Nerds. Superkid LOVES Twix. Little Chief is a sucker for a lollipop. Abizella loves the toys, particularly bat rings. So, if you want something done, you just pull out some one's fav and corner them. 

When I was a kid, the Phrogbottom currency was Ramen noodles. My mom bought a case of them pretty regularly. We were all given a ration, which we would squirrel away. You could never get anyone to do your dishes for you for a couple of dollars, but absolutely could pay someone with a package of Ramen noodles for the job. I didn't even like Ramen noodles, but always made sure to take a portion so I would have something to barter with!