Cousins

During my childhood, I was smothered with familial interactions, with aunts, uncles and cousins. I had a large extended family, and many of Grandma J's siblings and their children lived nearby. So, I have a lot of memories of time spent with family.....

Take for example, the many bike rides, SHARING THE BANANA SEAT, that I took.....all while under the age of 5.....and the driver of the bike with the baby? None other than Beach Bum when she was barely a teen. and I wont even try to describe the craziness of such a bike ride to a farmers house, where he chased us off his property for stealing the pomegranites off his tree.....when I wasnt even 5! Or, Aunt Julianne taking me to high school with her, I think just to show me off and use me as a novelty to win over the new foriegn exchange student that she had a crush on....

Good times, but anyways, I wont share them all now.....

But, my children do not have many local relatives to hang out with, no cousins, or aunts and uncles to put them in harms way. Nope....we are our own little California family. (Aunt Julianne and her crew do live 30 minutes away, but now we are talking 2nd generation....)

So it was a special treat, this past week, when my kids got to enjoy the company of their Colorado Cousins. They were so wound up with anticipation, that I thought they might take flight. They bounced around the house for days, asking ...every few minutes....."how many more minutes until our cousins are here?" This went on FOR DAYS!

When they finally came together, it was a wonderful moment. My kids were all over their cousins, whom they hadnt seen in over a year.

We immediately took Pooper and Beauty to the water park with T and Z. Ill admit, that Little One was left out of a lot of the festivities....due in part to her serious committment to napping.

The Fantastic Four hung out, splashed around, and had a great time. Beauty in particular, could not keep her self from clinging to Z....and, honestly, Pooper wasnt much different witih T....the touchy-feely-ness that my kids enjoy was in full force with their cousins. And, I dont think the cousins minded the love and attention.






Later, the kids enjoyed a BBQ together, Little One, in particular...just look at that face!




By night, we did fun things like set ourselves aflame....just kidding, we roasted marshmallows and savored s'mores.







We also enjoyed a snuggly slumber party each night. (that black stuff is my hurried attempt to cover up Beauty's panties.)




The time together was brief, less than 48 hours. Not enough for my kids, not nearly enough time with their cousins.

The last morning, before my kids headed off to swim team, they all gathered together for their "til we meet again" exchange, and spent the next 10 minutes with a flurry of hugs and kisses, and more hugs and kisses.









Goodbye cousins, we missed you as soon as you drove away.

Internet games

Internet games, and Im not talking about the kind that Francisca (God bless her soul) and "anonymous" play on dating websites...no, Im talking about internet games, like "tag" or whatever.....

One of my favorite bloggers, who is also one of my favorite people, but also the person that broke my heart when she told me, "we cant go to Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, because it's not real." is Grandma J , and when I say "favorite" that is generous considering all the times in my life that she made me do chores, with lysol.

Grandma J is into internet games. Games like, "tag, you're it, now go and do X, Y, And Z."

this time, tag is the, "Arte de Pico" award....which is like, pico de gallo in a paint factory, but with gilded angels or something.

Here it is, see for yourself:



so anyways, the way this game works, Grandma J gave posted this award on her blog, "ask grandma J" and then told about 5 blogs and how great they are. One of those blogs was mine...and, it's not as much that my blog is great, but that, hello, she is my mom, she'd be in a bit of trouble if she didnt give the award to me, especially since Im her favorite, smartest, daughter, sorry....but, that's the truth.

So, now, I am to pass along the award to 5 other bloggers.

Let me just get this out there.....if this had happened a year or 6 months ago, I might have been all "gaaa!" over a certain blog. But, that blog has gone soooo commercial, that honestly, the new format caused me to lose interest, and not to mention, HELLO, throw me a $500 VISA gift card or a high end camera printer lady!! And, yes, I know, your fireworks display is better than Disneyland, and your lodge, I know!! Actually, it's a fantastic blog, but, it's not getting any award, sorry.

Nope, my awards will go to those blogs that I hurry to each hour, or day, or however often Ill admit to logging on....

The winners of the Arte de Pico angel with the golden wings award are:

My new friend, hippo brigade Her blog is light, funny, fresh, and well written. It doesnt drag on and on like mine, nope, she is short and very sweet. Go visit, tell her I sent you.

Another tres nouveau friend, Pumpkin Delight is worth visiting often. She is funny, which is a big important thing when I consider which blogs to read each day.

An oldie but goodie, Suburban Turmoil She is pretty much a professional blogger, but I wont hold that against her, because she is funny, and let's face it, there is a reason that people's blogs become popular - they are entertaining!

A blog that is more serious than funny, but that deserves an award: The Running Girl The gal trains for sporting events galore, to raise money for blood cancers....I mean, totally inspirational, but, I dont advise settling in with a box of bon bons or anything, unless you want to feel fat and guilty.

Finally, my favorite; Bossy I realize she is on the cusp of Doocing it, but she hasnt forgotten the little guy...no siree....in fact, I even met her on a her world famous tour, where she met those of us that admire her and stalk her. She was nice! And, her blog is the bomb!

Go check out those blogs, they are worth reading....dont worry if you are at work, the boss will never know. And for the SAHMs, so what about laundry and dishes, grab one of the kids pudding cups and relax, and read.

Q and A

As I was writing up the last post of loose ends, I realized there are many other unanswered questions that have come forth through this blog.

Sometimes people ask questions, which I expect to answer in an upcoming post....and then I get distracted. Or, there are special things that I elude to and promise to post, and my media guy is too busy to accomodate my requests to put up videos, pictures and such, and then the whole topic goes without explanation.

So, I thought now would be a good time to answer any questions that might be out there....I realize Im not Grandma J but you can still ask :)