January 2012 - Forever In Mom Genes

Oh So Awkward Photos

Jan 31 2012

I couldn’t very well ask YOU to show me yours without showing you MINE. So here’s one of the many awkward photos from the Thornbury archives. Note the expression on my husband’s face — the bell necklace he was forced to wear clearly put him over the awkward edge. Thanks to everyone who entered the Awkward Family Photo game contest and sent in an awkward photo. Scroll to the end to find out which photo has been awarded “Most Awkward.” Here they are in no particular order. 1. Toothpaste Is For Chumps 2. Prima Ballerina in the ill-fitting tutu 3. I don’t care if my face stays like this…she’s driving me batty! 4. Nanny Mc Goatee 5. Sears Catalogue Reject 6. I’m With Frosty, yo! 7. Flanked By Chihuahuas 8. Smoke ’em if you got ’em. 9. Rub a dub dub two grandparents in a tub 10. I asked for a Baby Alive doll. Santa’s kind of a jerk. 11. I’ve just found next year’s Christmas card pose (and he thought the bell necklace was bad!). And the winner is…. #9! Congratulations Claudine! You have won an Awkward Family Photos board game (Courtesy of FamilyFunGames.com) for you to enjoy with[…]

Super Bowls & Slow Cookers

Jan 29 2012

<—- This is a rather super bowl don’t you think? My daughter made it for me at school. But I digress. This post is about another kind of <—- Super Bowl. I find football about as entertaining as well, football. Boooring. However I do enjoy The Super Bowl — if only for the unique commercials, Half-Time show (wardrobe malfunctions in particular) and the super bowls of food! Chili, wings, chips and dips add up to a tongue touchdown which makes the “sporty bit” easier to digest. This year we’re going to a friend’s house to stuff our faces cheer for our favourite team (*Mental note: find out who’s playing BEFORE the first half). I’m bringing a cheesy dip in my Citrus Slow Cooker. I love these little guys made by Hamilton Beach for Proctor Silex. They come in four cool colours and the 1.5 quart size is perfect for appies. I plan to bring my Super Bowl dip in it and leave the slow cooker behind as my hostess gift. Hamilton Beach knows a thing or two about making a great slow cooker – portable cookers with lids that latch (great for bringing with[…]

Jan 26 2012

Canadian winters are long and sometimes we’re trapped inside for days on end. It’s kind of fun at first, until someone finally goes all Jack Nicholson in The Shining. “Heeeere’s Mummy!” I’m not above using a Dora episode (or five) or iPad apps or video games here and there to break up the day or so I can make an important phone call in peace. However, there are lots of easy Winter Boredom Busters besides TV and tech. And when I say easy, I mean for me. Games that require the least amount of prep and effort on my part, win. I’m happy to report that I have yet to chop down any bathroom doors to date thanks in part to these indoor activities: WORD GAMES: These can range from simple classics like “Eye Spy” with versions including colour, shape, function, location in the room {high, low, under, over. between}, to more complex riddles and word problems. My son enjoys creative word games like “Fortunately/Unfortunately.” One person starts with a scenario like, “I know you enjoy donuts, but unfortunately, I ate them all.” The other player counters with a statement beginning with fortunately, e.g., “Fortunately, a donut truck overturned[…]

Jan 23 2012

The only thing better than a raucous games night with friends is, um, nothing. It’s good clean fun. Clean, minus the FOUL, trucker-mouthed answers during our last game of Awkward Family Photos. It’s serious pee-your-pants fun. Okay ya, that’s not exactly clean either. Clearly Games Night is a whole lotta dirty fun. The game is played using a stack of awkward, like really awkward, photos. One player rolls the die and reads aloud the corresponding question from the list of questions surrounding the board. Players write an answer specific to the card in play. After hearing all of the answers, the roller will most likely look like this —> After wiping her nose, she picks her favourite answer, and then guesses which player wrote which answer. If your answer was chosen as the fave, you get to put one of your chips on the board. If the roller guesses three correct answers, she gets to put one of her chips on the board. The first player with all her chips on the board, is victorious! The question for this photo: On the cover of what magazine (real or made-up) should this photo appear? Players’ Answers: – White Rasta[…]

Jan 20 2012

Winter birthdays stink; my husband and I can both attest to that. His birthday, a few days before Christmas, is consistently lost in the storm of holiday preparations. On his last birthday, my aging husband worked all day, came home to a house in chaos, a stressed out wife and absolutely no birthday regalia. None. Granted I had bought him a birthday present weeks before — a sweater {which he loved}, a shirt {which he returned} and jeans {which he claimed were too small because of the style, not the size}. He ended up making his own dinner and dishing out his birthday cake. Not even a real b-day cake, but a Lemon Too Tall cake, my favourite, served still in the box. What? I opened one side. “Lovely presentation.” he said. I went upstairs to work and he put the kids to bed. Poor guy didn’t even get any birthday bumps. “It’s the thoughtlessness that counts!” he joked. His only consolation was that at least HIS birthday didn’t fall on the most depressing day of the year. That would be MY birthday. Having a birthday mid January is kind of a joke. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s depressing.[…]

Archive - January 2012

Oh So Awkward Photos

Super Bowls & Slow Cookers

Winter Boredom Busters For Kids

Awkward Family Photos Game

It’s The Thoughtlessness That Counts