A Christmas Collage 2008

I'm too tired at the moment to write much of anything but I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christmas photos from the annual family get-together at my aunt's house earlier this evening.  That curly blonde-haired angel in the middle is my grandson, Mathew Kendall, who seemed to have a pretty good time even though he was the youngest by 12 years of anyone else there!

I hope that everyone had themselves a happy holiday and that, like me, you're so tired you can barely keep your eyes open but it's because of good times, good food, and a good day. Now good night and I'll try to catch up tomorrow! 

Granny Bragging

I'm afraid that I have been failing miserably in the Grandmother Department of my blog and that it's been a long time since I posted any pictures of Christopher and Mathew. Matter of fact, I think it might have been way back in July since I posted pictures from the boys' combined birthday party and surprised a few people with the fact that I am, in fact, a grandmother.

It's not that I have any problems with being a grandmother; after all I can certainly be 39 years old and quite easily be a grandmother, right? Oh wait, you guys know I'm not 39 years old, don't you? Curse me for ever putting that darned birthday counter in my sidebar!

Ah well, be that as it may, these two fine looking young gentlemen who are all dressed up for Christmas (and probably never wore these clothes again once they got home from their photo-shoot!) are in fact my grandsons - Christopher, with the dark hair, is obviously the oldest while that curly-haired blondie is young Mathew Kendall who will be 3 in June and is probably the only child my only son will ever have. Considering that Michael always said he was never going to have any children ever, I guess we can almost call Mathew a miracle child!

Two of my good friends, Rhonda and Cyndi, are grandmothers also and we all have grandsons (where are all the granddaughters?). Naturally I sent these pictures off to both of them (these are copies of the proofs) and the email that I got back from MizCyn was too good not to post here! After all, we grandmothers do like to hear these sorts of things and then share them with the rest of the world!

To quote my dearest friend in California: "All grannies think that their lil' darlings are the cutest use of DNA since Johnny Depp -- but as one granny to another, I'm shocked to say that you might have me beat on this one! Talk about little heartbreakers!"

High praise indeed from one of the proudest grandmothers on the West Coast! I've yet to hear back from Rhonda but she's been having some computer issues as of late and may have had to have the Geek Squad back out for some repairs so she might not have gotten the pictures yet. Rhonda, though, is the consummate grandmother and I'm sure she'll have nothing but glowing things to say.

I could probably take a few "Grandmother" lessons from both Cyndi and Rhonda but I've got a good reason for not posting a lot of pictures - I don't have that many! However, with the Christmas gift that Michael and Laura are getting, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting pictures more often and then can share them more often!

As for these pictures, even though I'd have to say that the picture in the upper left-hand corner of this post is probably my favorite, I just had to post this last one as it really makes me smile as I can just hear what the boys were probably thinking ...

"Are we done yet?"

"Is this the last picture?"
"Oh no, not another picture!"
"Take the shot already, lady!"
"I could really use some lunch right now."

Yep, boys will be boys but I've got to admit, they're pretty durned cute!

Sunday Stuff ...

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Mathew & his Spidey hat from Grandma (me!)

Amanda, Jamie, and I made the short jaunt over to Rhode Island yesterday for a combination birthday party for my grandson Mathew, who turned two on June 12th, and my step-grandson Christopher, who will turn 4 on July 28th. As is common with families who have children that have birthdays close together, it made sense to have one big party rather than two individual ones and the boys, who are quite close, didn't mind at all.

Christopher takes a break from the presents!

Mike had told me that the boys were into Spiderman and that was evident by all the Spidey gifts that they received as well as lots of trucks and cars. LOTS of trucks and cars! No doubt about it, this was a party for two boys - two boys who like Spiderman, trucks, and cars - LOTS of trucks and cars! Good thing Mike and Laura had cleaned out the playroom the other day so there was room for all the new goodies.

The highlight of the party for Aunt Amanda was the chance to play "Dead!" by My Chemical Romance on Mike's new XBOX-360 version of Guitar Hero II. The song isn't available on the PS2 version of the game and she had been chomping at the bit to get over to Mike's house to play it as soon she heard he had it. Not to be outdone by her sister, Aunt Jamie then played "Billion Dollar Babies" by Alice Cooper and was quite pleased with her own performance. I sat this one out as I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my son who plays most songs at the expert level while I can barely play three on medium before getting boo'd off the stage. A grandmother has to know her limitations, right?

On the way home we stopped in at Buttonwood Farms Ice Cream Stand in Griswold where I took out a loan to buy three cones. Well, it wasn't quite that bad but it almost seemed like it as the prices seemed to have gone up considerably since I had been there last summer. However, at least you're paying for really good ice cream in large servings in fresh-made waffle cones but over $15 for three cones? Ouch! No wonder we only go once a year when Jamie is out!

When I returned home I checked my email to find that I had been granted an award by The Blog Fairy for having a "Blue Ribbon Blog" and she left me the following cute little badge that will find a place of its own over on my already-bogged down sidebar! Thanks, Blue Fairy!


Speaking of badges, what a pleasant surprise to also get an email from Sandee over at Comedy+ awarding me the Schmoozer Award. Sandee was awarded hers by Ann over at A Nice Place In The Sun and she passed it on to myself and 14 other great bloggers. What a gal!

Haven't heard of The Schmoozer Award? Actually, I hadn't either until today but come to find out it's officially called The Power of Schmooze Award and was started over at the blog Ordinary Folk. According to blog author Mike:

Schmoozing as defined by Dictonary.com is the ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” When it comes to blogging, schmoozing is your ticket to making new friends, getting yourself noticed and building a reputation. Some bloggers are gifted with the ability to effectively schmooze and others not so much. My new friend Danielle and I would like to recognize those bloggers who exhibit strong schmoozing skills. In order to do so we’ve created the new Power of Schmooze award!

Another cool badge for my sidebar - thanks, Sandee!! In keeping with the Power of Schmooze tradition, it's now my turn to grace some more bloggers with this lovely little award and badge - people who have schmoozed their way into my heart and my life.

• Claire @ A Little Piece of Me
• Dayngr Girl @ Dayngrous Discourse
• Jeni @Down River Drivel
• Akelmalu @ Everything and Nothing
• Gale @ Gem-ophosy
• Joan @ The Erstwhile Librarian

Now I wouldn't be at all surprised to find some of these great women being awarded more than once but if they are that just goes to show that they have the Power of Schmooze multiplied!

To wrap this up for today I'm going to post one more picture of my adorable curly-headed grandson because I can and I've been told that's what we grandmother-types are supposed to do ... right, Callie Ann?? Hope everyone had a great weekend!!

Mathew enjoys his birthday cake & ice cream
**Addendum: I am so thrilled and honored, I got double-Schmoozed when Dixie awarded by me another Power of the Schmooze Award on Monday. Thanks, Dix!!!

Happy 1st Anniversary, Mike & Laura!

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Last weekend my son, Michael, made the trip from Rhode Island to Connecticut (a good stone's throw if you're any good at throwing stones!) to put in my air-conditioners for me. Having a bad back, I know it's paramount that I don't do it myself so it's a good idea to either rely on the kindness of someone with a strong back at work or call in the Prodigal Son. Considering that the Prodigal Son also had a second guitar peripheral for Guitar Hero II that he wasn't using that I wanted to borrow it made for the perfect "kill two birds with one stone" situation. Hmm, perhaps it was the same stone that was thrown over from Rhode Island?? Well, either way, I digress.

While Mike was here he asked me why it was that my blog always referred to my having two daughters but there never seemed to be any mention of a son. Granted, I have made mention of he and his wife in past posts but he's right, I haven't really mentioned him much at all recently and with my template and pictures, etc. it would be very easy for one to say "what? you have a son? I had no idea!" I hope to rectify that error of omission with this post!

Tomorrow, July 1st, marks the very first wedding anniversary of Michael and his bride, Laura. If I remember correctly, it was an awfully hot summer day in Rhode Island but the humidity wasn't bad so that was a real plus!

Mike & Laura's wedding was only the second wedding I have been to in Rhode Island and it wasn't all that far from the first wedding I attended there which was that of Mr. & Mrs. Bulldog, a regular commenter on this blog. I have to say that both were very special occasions and, despite the fact that I have stated that I don't dance, I reluctantly admit that I danced at both weddings. I had actually completely forgotten that I danced at Mike's wedding until Jamie reminded me of it recently just as Bulldog reminded me that I danced at his. I'll chalk it up to old age that I had forgotten both occasions - well, either that or I really, really, really wanted to forget them and was hoping that everyone else had also! Sadly, that is apparently not the case!

Anyway, all talk of dancing aside, I find it rather hard to believe that it has already been a year since my son who proclaimed that he was never going to get married proved himself wrong. As my cousin Amy likes to say, don't ever say you're never going to do something because as soon as you do, you're going to end up doing it (that and "only idiots buy soundtracks", right cuz??).

If Mike had chosen to never get married based on his mother's track record, I could certainly understand that. I haven't exactly been a shining example of wedded bliss having tried and failed twice at the "till death do us part" thing. However, where I have been less than a beacon of light when it comes to matrimonial success, my parents' marriage was a perfect example and two of my brothers seem to be doing pretty well with it, too. I hope that Michael emulates them and not myself or his father - another not so shining example though at least he had the good sense to have only tried marriage once!

To Mike and Laura - I wish you many more years of happiness as well as a successful partnership as I think that's really what makes for a good marriage. It's not easy to put your own needs aside and take into account those of your partner and children but many, many people (other than myself) have proven that it can be done. Happy Anniversary!!

Oh, and for those who didn't realize that in addition to having a son and a daughter-in-law I also have a grandson, may I present to you Mathew Kendall? This isn't a recent picture but that's because my son who owns a digital camera never sends me any new ones! Hint, hint!