holiday » Our Crazy Boys

Grandma's Groupies

May 082010

*Winners are up for the Twist & Pout giveaway!*

I love my Mom.

And from what I gather, so do you guys.

I was looking through my comments and e-mails today and didn’t have to look back too far to find these:

If you are new to the blog and don’t know what I’m talking about, here are some of her latest comments:

On bloggers:

On social skills (and teasing me about my brother house-sitting during our vacation, which he didn’t):

On parenting skills:

On people driving too fast in the neighborhood:

Giving moral support:

Her thoughts on Twitter:

I have been told that a couple of you actually scroll through the comments first and look for hers, and then scroll back up and read my post.

Thanks, guys.

Ahem.

She has made some friends with you guys, too. Some of you are her facebook friends, and she’s stopped by a few blogs, as well:

She’s quite the celebrity, you know.

I have been calling you guys groupies behind your back.

And I thought it would be fun to give you a button.

*I believe this code is working. If not, it might work for you if you grab it from the box on the right sidebar*

So, go ahead and grab her button.

And don’t forget to let me know that you did (so I can tell her how to find you).

I would love to get a list of groupies together.

I am going to try and do a Grandma Teetsie comment wrap up once a month or so, in case you happen to miss a laugh or two.

(No stress, Mom. Just keep doing what you’re doing:)

Oh, and for those who have asked, Her name is Terri. But her brothers and sisters (8 of them in all) couldn’t pronounce Terri when she was little. So, Teetsie it was. It stuck.

She didn’t get it bad.

Two of her brothers are Binger and Bhomas.

You guys have cracked me up with your support for my Mom, and I love it.

I had no idea that my readers would end up falling in love with my Mom.

But that’s what happens when you meet her.

You fall in love with her like she’s your own mother.

Trust me, it’s been happening my whole life.

But I love her more.

(Happy Mother’s Day!)

A Busy (and fun) Easter Sunday

Apr 042010

We have had a busy Sunday.

We Jack woke up at 6:40.

We tried to convince him that Easter was tomorrow, but he already saw the eggs… so we got up.

He tried to find all of the eggs before he found his basket.

That didn’t work so well because he kept dropping them:

I just learned last night that not everyone’s Easter Bunny hides baskets and eggs.

Ours does.

Except this year, the boy Easter Bunny hid one basket in the oven.

And turned the light on.

Do you know what happens when you leave the oven light on all night long?

The oven gets very warm.

And chocolate melts.

I guess this was the boy Easter Bunny’s first and last year hiding baskets.

The boys found lots of eggs:

This was the last one standing… can you see it?

These eggs are obviously made for us desert dwellers:

They are grass, dirt, and concrete colored!

They are the best. eggs. ever.

We officially “opened” the pool – which I should mention has a different meaning than it did when I was growing up in New York. Here in Arizona, we don’t really “close” our pool. We just decided that today was the day we would start swimming in it.

Still a little chilly, though… I think the water temperature was 68 or so.

Jack took a quick dip and decided to eat some fruit and watch Michael:

The best part of the day (by far) was after dinner.

We went outside and played with the boy’s new toys.

(I saw these and fell in love with the box):

I love the stick figures!

Michael tried it first:

It was a little hard, though.

His legs aren’t quite long enough.

Dad had to try it out next:

Then we had an idea…

and that worked well, but we thought maybe we could get them to go further.

and over the house.

Then we made a contest party out of it:

and all the neighbor’s kids came out to try:

This one obviously went pretty far… look at their faces!

The catapult?

It’s definitely coming out at the next party.

*There are affiliate links in this post*

Making My Own Weather

Dec 072009

I’m not a scrooge.

Really, I’m not.

But…

When my backyard looks like this 2 weeks before Christmas?

Dec7

It’s hard to catch the Christmas spirit.

The “spirit” usually hits me right after Christmas. When it’s cold and sometimes even snowy here.

Last year, it was 2 days after Christmas. Yup, snow in Tucson. Lots of it.

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I was completely covered with Christmas spirit on December 27, 2008.

Yes, I am aware that my “watermark” says 2009. That’s because I am tired and don’t feel like fixing it. We’re friends here. I know you’ll understand.

Because for me, cold, snowy weather = Christmas.

It’s what I grew up with.

Anyway, the point is…

I need some help.

In the form of Christmas music.

On the way home tonight, the boys and I were singing our hearts out to our Christmas playlist.

It worked so well for us that I thought I would share.

Christmas Favorites – Mom’s edition

*Not all songs are available as MP3 downloads. If I couldn’t find the particular song to link to, I linked to the album and you’ll have to scroll down and look for “Listen to Samples”*

1. We Wish You The Merriest – Frank Sinatra (The best Christmas song ever… in case you’re wondering)

2. Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Dean Martin

3. Christmas Wrapping – The Waitresses (Did you know that the waitresses are not all women? I did not know that until now)

4. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Dean Martin

5. A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives

6. Party for Santa – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (The cutest song I’ve come across in quite a while. I dare you to not sing along.)

7. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee

8. Winter Wonderland – Dean Martin

9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Complete tie between Bruce Springsteen & Frank Sinatra

10. Sleigh Ride – Ella Fitzgerald

Christmas Favorites – Michael and Jack’s edition

1. Up on the Housetop – Gene Autry (You just can’t beat hearing the kids sing along to this with their Ho-ho-hos and Click-click-clicks)

2. Is Zat You, Santa Claus? – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Again, the sing along is the best part)

3. The Chipmunks Song – The Chipmunks (Single-handedly the most annoying song I have ever heard. Personally speaking.)

4. Frosty the Snowman – Gene Autry

5. A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives

6. Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Frank Sinatra

7. Mr. Heat Miser – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

8. Must Be Santa – Brave Combo

9. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry

10. Run Run Rudolph – Chuck Berry (Jack’s favorite… I just don’t get it…)

So, are you in the spirit yet??

*Yes, these are affiliate links. Not because I get paid big huge bucks to link through to Amazon, but if we’re being honest here, I like to see how many people click on them. Because I am a dork like that.*

What I Learned This Week - Pre-birthday edition

Nov 292009

-When your middle is getting a little thick from the lack of exercising you’ve been doing (because of your stupid feet), Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily a welcome holiday. But that won’t stop you from eating WAY too much.

-While waiting in a dark deserted parking lot for your Black Friday date to show up, you might be scared to death by a strange car pulling up next to you. But it’ll just be your date’s Grandma picking you up because said date decided to forego sleep and shop all night instead of getting up at o-dark-30 like the rest of us crazy people. That’s just a whole ‘nother level of crazy, if you ask me.

-And Grandma might decide to wake you up by driving in the bike lane and trying to run red lights while on the way to meet that crazy shopping friend. Then laugh about how it might possibly end up on your blog.

-But you’ll fall in love with Grandma despite the crazy driving. Because in the end, we all arrived safe. And because she’s adorable. Because she called our breakfast waitress a dimwit.

-I learned that if you wake up 3 hours early on Black Friday to go shopping, you’ll be really tired by 4 p.m.

-But those amazing pajamas that you splurged on during the sales will make you want to stay up later just because they’re so. unbelievably. comfortable. (And they’re on sale! Click on over!)

-I learned that taking your boys out to a fancy restaurant (fancy because they have cloth napkins) to celebrate your birthday (a few days early) may not seem like the best idea you’ve had all year.

-Because a certain boy might lay down at the table. And kick his brother.

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-And then play hide-and-seek with his sweatshirt. (Note the change of seat)

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-And then while Mom is in the bathroom, Daddy and the boys might play with the camera.

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I can’t take them anywhere.

-I learned that in Arizona, when you see an advertisement for snow at a shopping mall, it’s really “snow.” That means that it’s foamy bubbles that look like snow. But this little guy couldn’t tell the difference, obviously. And it was a blast.

If money grew on trees and I bought myself a fancy SLR camera for my big day, you probably would have been able to see the “snow” in this picture. But it doesn’t. And I didn’t. And you can’t.

Jack_snow

-Most importantly, I learned that dinner in a fancy restaurant with amazing friends + silly pictures + snow falling from the sky + hot chocolate + walking up the down escalator + sliding down banisters + doing some hands-on Christmas list research = an awesome, awesome pre-birthday celebration.

See for yourself:

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So, what did YOU learn this week?

*I think I should mention that I didn’t get any free pajamas for posting a link to Dillard’s. But if any of you are looking to give away a pair or two, I would write amazing reviews on them…*

36 sleeps

Nov 182009

36 sleeps until what?

You don’t know?

Really?

I bet you do…

Is your list made yet?

Mine is.

But I can’t show you this year’s list…

Some of you might be on it.

I am a bit compulsive obsessive organized with my Christmas shopping list.

I want to make sure that I don’t leave anyone out.

And I have been known to buy gifts for people that have already been “taken care of” (in the gift-buying sense, not the Mafia sense).

So, a few years ago, I devised a plan.

Take a peek:

First, I put everyone’s name down that we need to buy for.

I know that we don’t need to buy for anyone, but you know what I mean.

Then, I find the perfect gift. And I type it below their name in green. or red. or whatever color I’m feeling that year.

I take my trusty list out with me wherever I go. When I find the gift, I cross it off.

This is the fun part. For me, anyway. Because I’m a dork.

When I get back to my house, I edit my list (because I like things to be perfect like that) and the purchased gifts are changed to black.

Hopefully, if things go as planned, I will have a black Christmas list by December 20th.

I LOVE black Christmas lists.

For more Works for me Wednesday ideas, go visit Kristen at We Are THAT Family.

The ghosts of Halloween past...

Oct 282009

I keep seeing all these blogs with adorable pictures of people and their kids in past years’ Halloween costumes. We have had a lot of fun with halloween around here, and I thought I would play along.

There’s also a chance to win a Flip video camera, so even better!

2000

Definitely not the best picture I have of Michael, but the only one I was able to take before Steve saved him from this Dumbo costume.

If you can’t dress your kids up in ridiculous costumes for their first Halloween, then what fun is having a kid?

2002

Yes, we skipped a year here. Michael refused to wear a costume when he was one. Probably because of the Dumbo flashbacks. This is the year that he wanted to be a “fire truck.” Not a fireman, the whole truck. So, he painted most of this himself and we even found cute blinking lights to go on it. Adorable!

dukes2002

Mommy and Daddy played dress-up this year, as well. We went to a party with some of our closest friends as the Dukes of Hazzard. That’s Bo (or Luke -I get them mixed up) and Cooter up there. Thank god those nasty teeth were retired at the end of the night.

2003 was a year that Michael didn’t care to get his picture taken, so we have none. Moving right along…

new2004

2004 was our first year with 2 boys, so we had to do something fun. Michael was a fireman and Jack was his Dalmatian. Even on Aunt Jen’s lap, Michael was a very. serious. fireman. Can you tell?

2005

Again, Halloween is no fun if you can’t dress your kids up! This year, Michael was a policeman and Jack was the robber. They were a good pair!

2006

We dressed up as a family in 2006 for our First Annual Halloween Party (80′s theme). Mrs. PacMan and her ghosts. Aren’t they the cutest ghosts?

mardigras2007

2nd Annual Halloween Party (Mardi Gras theme) and can you believe that I don’t have any pictures of the kids? I feel awful. Michael was a policeman (again) and Jack was Henry the train. Actually, Henry is still hanging in his closet… Maybe I can get him to try it on for a picture…

2008

Iron Man and Scream – This is the first year that Michael wanted to be something spooky! How lucky are we that we get to wear flip flops during this time of the year? Notice how Mom ran out of creativity splurged for store-bought costumes this year?

pirate2008

And Mom and Dad were pirates looking at 40 (and 30, respectively) for the Margaritaville themed 3rd Annual Halloween Party.

And since we’re I’m talking about dressing our kids up in funny costumes, let’s have a “Blast From the Past” moment here… shall we?

Japan

Michael was born in Japan, and we received this outfit as a gift. He obviously wasn’t happy about wearing it, but like I said before, what’s the fun of having kids if you can’t dress them up?

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And friends, this old-school scanned photo is the bane of Michael’s existence. Seriously. He saw it a few weeks ago for the first time and I thought he was going to cry because he was so embarrassed. So, for my everyone’s sake, let’s keep this between us, ok? Well, until it goes in his high-school yearbook in a few years.

For more “ghosts,” visit Angie at SevEn cLoWn CirCuS.

Stolen basket

Apr 122009

Jack woke up this morning and went out to the coffee table (where he left his Easter basket last night) – when he saw that it was missing, he asked me where I put it. I promised I didn’t touch it, and then he got very sad because it was STOLEN!! I was able to get the last few seconds on video:

Happy Easter!

Apr 122009

Happy Easter! The boys woke up this morning at 4:00 AM!! We got them back to sleep and then had to wake them up at about 8.

After they found their baskets and eggs, they were allowed to eat as much of their bunnies as they wanted… (SO hard for Mom and Dad!)

April 2

Apr 022009

A quote from Jack:

(with big, sad tears in his eyes) “Mom, April second is NOT a holiday!”

Happy Valentine's Day!

Feb 152009

Mom’s been sick all week, so sorry for the late post!

Here’s our little Cupid!

Grandma's Groupies

A Busy (and fun) Easter Sunday

Making My Own Weather

What I Learned This Week - Pre-birthday edition

36 sleeps

The ghosts of Halloween past...

Stolen basket

Happy Easter!

April 2

Happy Valentine's Day!

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