Tadpole to Toad!

Our little tadpoles have graduated. They have grown their two front legs, and they are the cutest little things, about as big as your finger-tip. We made a new habitat for them with dirt they could practice hopping on and Arthur was really nervous about them hopping out. But toads only do little hops as opposed to frogs big hops, so I wasn't too worried, especially since these brand new baby toads were not very good at hopping. It was so endearing watching them try and try to hop around on their new legs.

Isn't he cute?

Well Sunday morning, I only saw one toad in the habitat. Hmmm . . . I didn't say anything to Arthur because I knew he wouldn't like that one bit. I looked all over the container thinking maybe it got stuck under a rock or something, but it was just not in there! I was looking all over the counters, behind the kleenex, and knife block, under the bread basket, and found nothing. We had to leave for church, so hopefully it would resurface by the time we got back. When we got home, Dallin told me that he was fasting to find the little toad. I had another look around the counter, when I saw something small out of the corner of my eye. He had survived a big long hop down into the kitchen sink and had been hiding under a washcloth! It's kind of miraculous that he didn't hop right down the drain, because he would have fit even on the side with the strainer thing.

So after realizing that they had become rather proficient hoppers, it was time to move them outside to fend for themselves in the great outdoors! It sure was fascinating watching them change! I hope we'll see them around the garden sometime.

Pin-Wheel Cookie Recipe

Here is the yummy recipe for the pin-wheel cookies me and Sean made.

I got it from a "Taste of Home" Magazine. ( I hope it's okay for me to post it?)

Pin-wheel Cookies

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

3/4 c butter, softened

1 egg, separated

2 cups flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

2/3 c colored sugars

30 milk chocolate M&M's

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter & egg yolk until smooth. Combine flour and baking powder; beat into cream cheese mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. (I skipped this step and they still turned out fine.)

Divide dough in half. On a floured surface, roll each portion into a 15 in. X 9 in. rectangle. With a sharp knife or pastry wheel, cut dough into 3 in. squares. Place 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. (*I didn't get out the measuring tape, here; approximation works great for me!)

Beat egg white until frothy; brush over squares. Sprinkle with colored sugars. Cut through the dough from each corner of a square to within 1/2 in. of the center. Fold alternating points into the center to form a windmill; pinch gently at center to seal. Press an M&M into each center.

Bake at 350 for 9-12 minutes or until set. (Cookies will not brown). Remove immediately to wire racks to cool. They are so tasty!

I made some more for Daphne to share with her class for her birthday, and this time Hayden was my "helper." His idea of helping is putting handfuls of flour on the table and spreading it around for me, pouring green sprinkles on a cookie that was already sprinkled with pink, and eating the M&M centers.

Can't get much more helpful than that.

Tadpoles, 'Topes & "Tin-Wheels"

1. Tadpoles

A friend in my ward recently caught a whole bunch of tadpoles and offered to let anybody who wanted some to come get some. I thought it would be so fun for us to watch them change into frogs! I also thought, "Now, that's a pet I can handle. You keep them while they are babies, and once they grow up, they hop away and fend for themselves!" So I got four.

I put them in this little plastic container outside on the back porch where the kids could check on them. But I knew I'd have to keep a close eye on Hayden who surely wouldn't be able to resist that tub of water with moving things inside. I knew if I wasn't careful, I'd find the tub overturned and four dead tadpoles on the patio.

Well, sure enough. One day he got outside unsupervised, and when he came inside all wet, I knew it was the tadpoles. But he didn't dump out the water. The evidence suggested that he'd picked up the rock I had in the tub, and dropped it a few times, (he probably liked how the water splashed out.) That much I deduced because the tub was cracked, almost all the water leaked out, and two of the tadpoles had their insides spilling out of them. I was so mad!!! Mad at Hayden, the tadpole killer, and mad at myself for leaving their home in his reach.

We now have two survivors left, and of course, I moved them up. I put them on top of the BBQ, and things went pretty well for a few days. But then yesterday during preschool, one one of the little boys came and was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand him. ("Apples? Diapers? . . . tadpoles? What? TADPOLES?")

One of our little friends had crashed the bigwheel into the BBQ, causing the new tub to fall off, and dump its contents all over the ground. Thankfully, they told me quickly, and I scooped up those poor, slimy, little guys, moved them to yet another, sturdier plastic tub, with new water, and so far they seem to be just fine, (although one of them swims a little crooked now.) Their new home is safe in the windowsill above my kitchen sink.

2. 'Topes

Arthur's division at work had a special deal on Isotopes tickets this past weekend. For $8 & $6, (adults and children respectively,) we got an all-you-can-eat BBQ dinner and the game! So we took the family to our first Albuquerque Isotopes Baseball game.

I didn't get any pictures of the between-inning shows, but I think they may have been my favorite part. They had these crazy inflatable animals come out between innings and do these hilarious dancing skits. We were laughing and laughing at the animals dancing off to "The Tootsy Roll" and "Just Eat It."

We left after the 5th inning because the kids were really restless by then.

But it was a fun time, anyway.

When we left the 'Topes were winning 6-2. (Go Isotopes!)

3. "Tin-Wheels"

On Monday, it was cloudy and raining all day, which makes for a perfect baking day. So Sean and I made these very special pin-wheel cookies. Our conversation went something like this:

Sean: These are tin-wheels, right mom?

Me: They are Pin-wheels.

Sean: These are spinning wheels, right mom?

Me: Close, they are P-P-Pin-wheels

Sean: Okay. . . These are spin-wheels, right mom?

Me: Yep, Sean, they are spin-wheels.

That's a better name for them anyway.

We were doing blue because we gave some to a friend who was heading up to BYU, but they look really cute with lots of different colors. I think I'll make some more soon, because they were SOOO tasty, and fun for the kids to help with.

Back to School

Dallin & Daphne were both so excited for their first day back at school--they got up earlier than me and were ready to go 30 minutes early.

Sadly, the excitement has already worn off for Daphne. She came and lay down in bed with me this morning and asked, "Mom, is there school today?" I said, "Of course! It's Friday." She groaned, "Aawww. I just want to play with Kirra." So today, we were rushing out the door to catch the bus. I guess that feels a little more normal.

Daphne, 1st Grade, Dallin, 2nd Grade

At the bus stop

There they go.

Sean was jumping up and down waving and yelling, "Bye Dallin! Bye Daphne!"

We sure miss these guys during the day.

Summer

Summer & our 5 Senses

by Dallin, Daphne, Sean & Mommy

Summer looks like

swimming pools

barefeet

cousins

getting dirty

a slip-n-slide

Summer sounds like

splashing

fireworks

afternoon thunderstorms

being wild

friends

Summer smells like

sunscreen

BBQ's

fresh cut grass

sweaty kids

campfire smoke

Summer tastes like

watermelon

homemade ice cream

popsicles

roasted marshmallows

Pop-pops Italian Water Ice

Summer feels like

heat

playing

wet swimming suits

water

freedom.

The worst thing about summer is . . .

WHEN IT'S OVER!

Ducks, Dress & Dollars

1. Ducks

We went to the Botanical Gardens on Thursday early enough to get a very good parking space. I don't usually get there in such a timely manner, but Dallin & Daphne were finishing up some filming with Susie for her "Six Little Ducks" music video.

There are only 4 ducks in this picture; I think the other two ducks (who were quite a bit younger) were with their moms' having a break.

I hung out with Sean & Hayden and just tried to stay out of the way as much as possible.

Sean entertained himself by having me sing "Kung Fu Fighting"

and he did some sweet Kung Fu moves.

Hayden entertained himself by falling off a platform and scraping his head. So I spent some time taking close-ups of his face that didn't include the scrape on his forehead.

He also loved splashing all this green water everywhere.

2. Daphne's Dress

So when Susie asked if Dallin & Daphne could film 6 Little Ducks, I asked her what she wanted them to wear. Among other things, she suggested a cute summer dress for Daphne. Well, Daphne doesn't really have any cute summer dresses that I love. And since I'd been meaning to make this darling dress from a pattern I got from my sister Jen, I thought, well, I should just whip this dress up so she can wear it in the music video.

I decided that the night before the shoot. (Yes, I'm crazy. I guess I just work best under pressure.) Luckily, it came together pretty quickly, but I had some problems with the elastic in my "shirring" (that's a new sewing term I learned from making this dress.) And I also ran out of time, so I only shirred around the sleeves once. Well, the elastic had snapped in both of her sleeves during the drive to the Botanical Gardens. Thank goodness the neck held, or it just would have fallen off her!

Here is a picture of the dress with the broken sleeves. It actually doesn't look too bad.

I fixed the elastic problem yesterday, and she got to wear her new dress to church today, and I LOVE IT! Thanks for sharing your pattern, Jen! If you get any more from that designer, send them my way.

3. Dollars

I told Dallin when he had $25 in his "savings" ziploc bag, I would take him to open a savings account. Well he has been saving 40% of his earnings for the past couple of years, so on Friday, I took him down to the bank with his $36 that he'd saved and we put it in the bank. He's totally excited to be a member of the "Young Savers Program" and gets a prize every time he makes a deposit of $5 or more. We also went to Walmart and he bought himself a wallet with his spending money (whose previous home was the "spending" ziploc bag) and has been very excited about filling it with his spending dollars, and pictures, and is looking forward to getting a library card so he can put it in his wallet.

Here's Dallin in front of the Credit Union where he opened his first Savings Account.

It's funny how the kids are so different. Dallin is very motivated to do chores and other things to earn money. Daphne on the other hand, when I tell her she can earn 25 cents if she pulls some weeds for me, says, "Um, I don't really care about money."