We made it back to California in time for New Years Eve. All of Mr. Crazy's brothers and sisters had gone to their in-laws as well for real Christmas, so we had round two on New Years Eve. Grandpa Crazy LOVES Christmas and often does most of the shopping. One year we all got luggage (great gift, but it all looked the same, so that caused confusion on the first family trip...), the girls get perfume almost every year, the boys get at least one dress up outfit, the kids get toys that light up or have small pieces (you know, the kind that mom and dad won't buy...). It is really fun. There are also tons of DVD's. When we have a Crazy Christmas, there are always DVD's involved. We never buy DVD b/c we know they are bound to come our way at some point. This year they did Yankee Swap w/ the DVD's. That was pretty funny. If you don't know what that is, not only do you clearly NOT watch The Office, you also haven't been invited to the right parties! Yankee Swap (aka White Elephant) is where each person picks a present and the next person can either get a new one or take one from a previous person. The gift can only be "stolen" three times. :-) We managed to dodge "Ruthless People" and "Die Hard 3" (I didn't say they were all GOOD DVD's.... now you know who buys all the ones from the 5$ bin). Lauren scored "Little Miss Sunshine" and Jacob got "Curious George". We were sad not to hang on to "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" but you can't win them all, and like I said, we dodged not one but TWO copies of Ruthless People. :-) Best White Elephant gift I ever got? A real armadillo that was also a purse....... it doesn't get better than that folks.
Norah and Sweetie (that is what we call Grandma B)The other fun tradition that I love is the book box. Derek's grandparents always send a box of books to each family. Everything from novels to history, best sellers, biographies and classics. It is basically a free for all and everyone manages to take something that they haven't read home. I love this because it keeps me in reading material for weeks. I am a voracious reader.
Jacob got these glasses from Aunt Ashley. He LOVES them.For New Years Eve dinner we had King Crab Legs. I am not a seafood fan. I have come a long way and will eat many things, but this one didn't become a favorite for me. Derek's family lived in Portland for awhile and also overseas where they ate seafood all the time. In fact, they all eat everything. They love stuff like Liver and Onions (my husbands favorite dish--no lie, he will order it if he ever see's it in a restaurant), sushi and sashimi, all veggies, etc. They all ate this stuff at a very young age. But, back to the crab legs.... the kids LOVED them. Actually, Lulu could take them or leave them, but is is obsessed with butter so she was happy. She would eat cat food if we told her that she could dip it in butter. Derek and Jacob were in heaven. It was fun to watch everyone "opening" their dinner. I can't imagine what the actual crab looked like if these were just the legs. :-) I've seen The Deadlist Catch and the crabs on that looked MUCH smaller.....
Extra Credit: The anatomy of trying to take a family picture this year......
That isn't too bad considering that this was last year.......
27 comments:
Ha Ha! I love these pictures! That Jacob of yours is all over the place! Lauren needs to get him in a tighter head lock! Or she could sit on him (like that one pic)and you could prop Nora up on the side! CUTE!!
Super cute pajamas!!
Was Lauren disappointed that her movie is rated R?
. . .or are they outfits? Anyway, they're cute and your kids are darling and I can come to the Crazys' for Christmas/dinner next year?
I meant, can I?
OK, darling pictures, per normal, but I have to side with Lu-Lu-Bird- Crab is perfectly exactly a simple vehicle for delivering BUTTER to the mouth. YUMMO!
Lulu was just happy to be able to read the word "SUNSHINE" on the cover... I however was happy b/c I wanted to hear the directors commentary (I am one of those weird people who like that part). She won't be watching it, but I DO watch R movies...if they are interesting.
Those are the Christmas Jammies. There is a store called This Little Piggy Wears Cotton (or as my husband calls it This Little Piggy gets a divorce...). There is one in Phoenix. It is a high end childrens toy and clothing store. Want wooden sushi? Here is your place. Have you been searching for Paul Frank PJ's for infants? Found it. MOst of it is stuff I would never buy...but they have a house brand of soft clothes (think Hanna Andersson type stuff) that are not too expensive but are SO SOFT and can wash and wash and wash... so they are our Christmas PJ's... :-) I love soft Jammies....
and I love toile and I love orange. I had to have these.
And YES, you should come to our house for Christmas. We will not travel again (EVER EVER EVER) but we love visitors. :-)
Tracy, Amen to the butter. That is why I love artichokes...
Great pics! That crab looks delish. I'm so sad I did not appreciate the finer points of seafood until I moved inland (well, it's not like with six kids my mother was serving King Crab Legs ever either).
Little piggy gets a divorce?!
Anyway, love the kids all together and at least you got more faces this year and a little less legs!
I simply LOVE the idea of having 2 Chrismases! My favorite pic is of J enjoying his crab legs. I've never seen such a young kid eating them. I have to admit I've never had them because I'm not a big seafood fan.
BTW - my family pictures turned out very similar.
Suzi, you have to post them...
Compulsive.. the closest we got to seafood was fishsticks. Ironically, Jacob's other mom asked us last month if he liked seafood b/c her other kids LOVE it. I had to reply that I didn't know, I never cook it. Judging from this picture, he loves it. He also eats salad w/ dressing, peperoni (not the pizza) and his all time favorite food is, ready, broccoli. Really. :-) He ate about 5 crab legs, he didn't even crack them, he just sucked the meat out...
He calls it This Little Piggy Gets a Divorce because I spend too much money there (I occasionally buy baby shower gifts there for people who really do want Paul Frank Jammies....). Meaning, we will get a divorce if I keep spending money there. I figure that if the baby shower invite came on Crane stationary, it is either there or Neimans for a shower gift. It is a whole different world out here. How I long for a good old fashioned shower that you can shopt at Target for..... :-)
I think if I could get crab legs that size every time, I'd be more apt to order them/buy them.
I love your sense of humor. You should write for a sitcom or write funny greeting cards..I know they would sell
The pics of the kids are really funny.
Little Lauren looks like a fed up Mom in one of them.
Before you mentioned that your family does the informal Christmas thing and the inlaws are more formal. You could really tell that even from the pictures. Nice to have traditions that are distinct.
Love the pictures - you have the cutest family. Jacob's glasses are the best. He is such a little rock star.
I love liver and onions too! I was just craving some the other day. I'm also crazy about seafood, especially shellfish.
I still can't believe those orange toile PJs--they are freakin adorable!
Norah is getting so big! All three of them are adorable :-)
Looks like pure fun and pure joy!!!
I love their matching jammies! Too darn cute!
Wendy from Flippin' Sweet
I'm the same way about crab. . .I could take it or leave it. . .Matt's mom grew up in Maryland, so they grew up every summer going back there and eating steamed crabs all summer. . .they go crazy with them. . .me? not so much.
Looks like a fun time. . .love the jammies
I'm with you on the directors commentary. . . If I have time I always go right to it after watching the movie. . .
Crab legs and fab shades! What more could you want in a Christmas?!!!?
Hey, when we moved to CA, the realtor (also originally from back East) said we wouldn't have to travel to go visit anyone anymore; now that we lived here, they would all want to come visit us! Mostly he was right.
Meantime, absolutely adorable pictures! Now, can I have that crab you didn't want so much?... Hey, let me tell you about ordering a softshell crab sandwich in Maryland. You order one, and you get these claws dangling out of the bread, scritching your wrists when you awkwardly try to bite into the thing. The guy who'd taken me out to lunch, whose dad had been a crabber on the Chesapeake Bay, thought it was so funny, after recommending that one to me... I bet Jacob would love it!
HE would, he would probably eat the shell and leave the meat!! I think that I might have to just keep trying this until it grows on me.. if it tasted a little bit less crabby I might be fine....
My favorite pic is of little Norah in Grandma's arms... she is a gorgeous baby.
That sequence of Lauren trying to make her little sister and brother cooperate for the pics...are awesome...
I love CRAB... but King Crab is a little too... I don't know.. BIG.... for me. The flavor isn't my fav either. There's this Chinese restaurant on Castro that has the BEST crab...I'll have to ask my parents what it's called. I think Kirin?? Can't remember... but it's crab that's been stir fried... OH...and Strait's Cafe has the Pepper and Spicy whole crab that are YUMMY... my hubby and used to order them to go when we went to dinner... so later that night we'd be up to our elbows in shell and seasoning...
Have you tried Orange Roughy? That fish is one of my favs (shares the spot with Tilapia) because it's like eating crab ...but the payoff is greater because you don't spend most of your meal exercising your fingers to get an itty bitty piece of succulent meat. Le Poi... ;-)
Straits Cafe is right across the street from my old condo. :-) I also have liked Talapia. I tried it fro the first time in Africa and have since had it at home......
Thanks for heading me in the right direction...
What about that pic of blondie tackling little precious by the tree trying to keep him still? That is a classic!
I'm so jealous... I have had this constant craving...since we moved from the Bay..3+ years... I liked the straits in Palo Alto... they had these little plastic monkeys they'd attach to drinks... I saved them... somewhere.
I emailed Straits to tell them to move to Folsom...they're building a Santana Row-like center and it would be PERFECT...
what in the world? why have i never seen the orange toile jammies? must have orange toile jammies.
Post a Comment