XMAS 2010

Ornaments All Aglow Christmas

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Tuzie Tuesday Safari Edition

Christmas

FYI - family Christmas swap. Do correct me if I am wrong.

Charlene buys for Steve's family
James buys for Mindy's family
Missy buys for Cindy's family
Steve buys for Jenny's family
Mindy buys for Brian's family
Cindy buys for Charlene's family
Jenny buys for James' family
Brian buys for Missy's family

Recognize Anybody?

I totally know where we get our smashing good looks!
Not to deny the obvious comeliness of this line up of lovely ladies, but you have to admit Grandma is the run-away beauty.
It is evident that her good looks were transmitted to her progeny.
And one in particular line got a big heaping of spunk!

Remind you of someone?

You will have to excuse the potty talk but this was just too funny not to post.

Yesterday while Coach was in the bathroom he called me in by saying, "mom come look at my big pooh." For some reason I obliged maybe for fear he might threaten to throw my shoe in the toilet if I didn't. When I went into the bathroom he said, ta da, look how big. I am guessing I am in for a lifetime of this. Now I am just wondering if this reminds you of anyone else in the family?

Check One Off the Bucket List

While my out of state siblings might be able to boast about the unique and interesting things that could attract Glama and Bampa for a visit besides their darling children I am afraid that we here in San Anton may have your Freedom Trails, Quakers and Space Needles beat. We have a living national treasure here in our town. Jazz great Jim Cullum from NPR's River Side Jazz. As if being the front man to NPR show was not enough the talented Mr. Cullum is a trumpet player! It was fun to see Bampa sneak up on him and talk shop about their trumpets. I also heard Bampa REPEATEDLY tell him that he needed to come to SLC and that he listens to River Side Jazz every Saturday from KUER. Seriously a fabulous night, come again soon!

Just for posterity sake two photo's of Mom and I taking the hit

Onlu Mom had enough wisdom to hide behind the menu.

The Black Sheep

The Black Sheep of the Family

Utah Trip

Our knarly green toes
Baking yummy cookies with Glama Tuzie

Partying at the park with Nick

Cousin Bonding time

and finally some birthday celebrating. It was a busy week and the concensus is that a week is not long enough. We love our Utah family!

The Third Piece of Advice

While in Boston with the Bennion clan, Missy showed me her first Family Blog Book. It is a masterpiece that will certainly become a family treasure. As I was looking through the book, I came upon a post she did years ago after Sam was born where I gave her three pieces of advice. Missy could remember two of the three for the post. I believe I now remember the third item.

1. The first was, not to be heroic or wonder woman when you come home from the hospital. Get all the rest you can especially during the first several months after bringing a little one home. One can endure and survive almost anything, if they have some rest so my advice to her was to allow Brad to help even during the night. I realize this is hard when mom is nursing the baby and there seems little a husband can to do help out. We have been blessed with wonderful sons and son-in-laws that jump in and fully co-parent with their wives and are rearing fabulous families.

2. When we moved from our little home on 2700 South and lived Aunt Jeannie's while Dad and Brother Joe where remodeling our new home on 300 East to make livable for our family, I learned a real lesson in humility and giving. This was a very hard time in our lives. Family finances was pushed to the limit in the remodeling so there was not extra cash to hire labor. Dad worked hard and tirelessly on the home before and after work. I remember standing on the second floor of the home looking down through a large hole to another hole on the first floor into the basement wondering how we were ever going to put the house back together again. As I was crying, I said to your Dad, "We didn't put that much money down on the home, maybe we can just walk away." The project was mammoth in scope. Brother Joe famously would say..."We just need to put a "little" hole right here....." The words always conjured up great fear in my soul, for there never was such a thing as "just a little hole" or he would say "there are two ways to fix this problem, the easy way or the right way, what will it be?"

It was during this time, I learned the second great lesson. We had so many wonderful friends stop by and volunteer to help out on the home in so many ways such as demolition, sheet rocking, painting, hanging cabinets, helping with the counter tops etc. I learned although it was hard to be in the place of accepting help, it was a blessing in our lives to have the help. I believe it is harder to be on the receiving side of other's kindness, but it is important to learn accept the help graciously. Although you may never be able to repay the kindness to a certain person, your responsibility is to pay the kindness forward and help someone else in need. Teach your families the importance of kindness.

3. The third piece of advise I gave Missy came from my mother. I remember calling her one day when Mindy, Cindy and Steve had just made one of their super messes in our little home on 2700. Now if you remember, this was not a very big little home for 5 children, 2 parents and 2 dogs and a Grandma. I could have not ever been too far away, I would turn my back for just an instant and these three little minds worked fast and furiously in creating destruction. One of their favorite tricks was to take all of the eggs out of the refrigerator and crack them and smear them all over the coffee table in the living room. Some times they would add Tang to the mixture for good measure. Another favorite trick was to crawl up in the hall closet and get the cleanser and shake it all over the kitchen and living room. It was like one brain moved three little bodies, hands and feet to mischief. I called mom totally distraught at whatever destruction they had just performed. Her advise to me was...."when you think about it, it is really kind of funny. You have two choices, you can break down, sit in the middle of the room and have a good cry and that would be okay, or you can try to look for the funny side and have a good laugh. Most things have the funny side; so laugh, life will be easier. If you can laugh at it, you can live through it."

On this Mother's Day, I feel so very blessed to have such wonderful children that have added greatly to my life. You have all given purpose to my life. I love you all and are so grateful for each and every one of you. I am glad you came into our home and I did not miss out on any one of you.

We've Got The BEST ONE!

We're all heartbroken around here. We loved having Glama all to ourselves. We've been scheming of ways to get her to come back soon. When Tadpole found out that Glama would be leaving he came to me and said, "Mom, can I go on the airplane with Grandma?" I wish we all could. She is the BEST!

Glama's Threatening Ashy Squats!

There have been a few casual inquiries about the whereabouts of the newest little Phrogbottom. The status is, there is no change in status. No worries, Glama has come with a bag full of tricks, and I think she may have gotten some goodies from Mindurs!

You know what they say about paybacks... I think Mindurs sent Glama on a mission of revenge. I have to admit that I most definitely deserve it after making 38 week pregnant Mindurs run Glama's staircase and squat with Ashy at the top all to satisfy my need to see my baby nephew Coach born. I'd like to point out, I didn't. He was born the day after we got home.

So, after listening to Glama threaten the Ashy squats all afternoon I took matters into my own hands and suggested we go for a rugged stroll through our favorite estuary. Still no baby, but it was a magnificent evening. I am a sucker for that moist warm ocean air with a little breeze. Mix that with some of my favorite Phrogs and it is a little slice of heaven. We all agreed it could only be better with more of you there too!

And the Winner is...

Drum Roll Please.

After a panel of non-biased judges closely studied the Philthiest Phrogbottom Phaces (FOR MONTHS), they came to a TWO-WAY TIE!!!

K-Man for his passion and attitude after a fine spaghetti dinner

AND

Abizella for the incorporation of multiple appendages in the consumption of chocolate and general mischievousness.

Congratulations to our Philthy Little Phrogs!

Look for your prize coming soon to a mailbox near you, and enjoy a big 'ol drippy COLD STONE ICE CREAM CONE! ...hope to see the pics HERE soon!

Still Waiting For Those Judges...

I will show YOU dirty faces!

No One is messy than our boys, and here is K-Man's serious face just to prove it.

As you can see the Pool Side Pollywogs know a thing or two about dirty faces and are serious contenders.

Although he may not have mastered the patented "Davis Cup Cake Eating Technique" we still think K-Man deserves points for style

A full body shot for your viewing pleasure

Sweetest of messy faces

Still waiting for more messy phrog pictures

Come on Cindurs, Nersey, B, and James. I bet you guys have some messy phrog pictures. You can even dig in the archives and pull out some pictures of yourself.

To Sure Up Our Bets...

Don't mess with a kid with a sand goatee...

The cover girl for the Phrogbottom Refining School brochure...

...yes, that crazed look in her eye does mean that she did lick her foot.

And here is the post Pi-Day pic. True to form, Superkid has a distinguished pencil line goatee, Tadpole has the 2-yr.-old characteristic chocolate drool, and Abizella, well she just can't help herself. I promise I didn't encourage the kids at all. She just HAS to throw herself into everything she eats.

Messy Mush Face

Our little lady doesn't get nearly as messy as her cousins. But this picture will have to do. Too bad we didn't pull the camera out on lasagna night.

Name That Bischon

Phrogbottoms:


Hey, we have had this wonderful little, new member of the family Davi for 3 days and we noticed something missing. She has no name. We think it is time. There have been some fabulous names suggested. Please refer to the following names and pick the one you like or add a new one. Mom and I will make the decision in the next two days and it will be announced at dinner on Sunday at 6:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time. Names may or may not be female (it has never mattered before), preferably of Celtic derevation and have 2 sylabyles (sp). Have at it family. I'll bet the grandchildren will have the best names. Here is the list so far:

Lilly Belle Bryn
Lilly Maddie
Missy Misty
Miss-E Sophie
Zoey Gracie
Sadie Fiona
Sister Rose
Sissy Lucy
Sassy Door Belle

The petigree papers show that for several generations the women in the family line all had the name Belle attached. Anyway please give us your best names.

More dirty phroggy faces

Christmas Eve clown face

Lipstick face

Utelovin Phrogs face off

Since Missletoe didn't specify how many pictures we could post of each child I posted a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

The Classic Spaghetti Face. Check out those two little chompers and those big beautiful eyes.

The camping face -yogurt with a little encrusted boogars Click to get a better view.

Spaghetti face with crusted over chicken pox and a band-aid mustache.
And my all time favorite PUDDING all over the face. This picture is courtesy of little Missy. That cute girl always snaps a picture of my boys when they do something adorable.
I know these faces are not dirty, but I couldn't resist putting them up.

Some Philthy Phrogs...

New Insight On The Old Family Couch

As I was chasing around three agile little Toads this morning to scrub down their filthy little faces, I was reminded of being chased myself by Glama. I have to admit, part of the reason I put forth the effort to chase and scrub the kids before taking them into public is due to Mom's insistence that NO PHROGBOTTOM would EVER be seen in public with an icky face. Too big of a disgrace. I remember hearing the water running in the bathroom sink and running like a mad girl to the couch. Then I would bury my face as deep as I could into the corner. Hey! There were a lot of us and if you managed to be one of the lucky ones to secure a couch corner you were untouchable.... well, at least until all of the other's had been scrubbed. Then Mom would snag those of us with our faces buried in the couch and rake that rough wash cloth (now filthy from all the other's grime) over our faces. ...or at least what was left of the grime. Now that I have to scrub down my own couch on a regular basis, I have no doubt that a lot of the face cleaning was done before the wash cloth came into the picture. Don't give any of my Toad's any ideas, my couch is filthy enough, the last thing I need is a memorial of every meal, snack, or cup of chocolate milk.

So here is the part where I was going to introduce the, "Filthy Face-Off". The idea was to post pics of grimey little grandbaby faces and have Bampa and Glama judge who is the ickiest. While I know the Phrogbottoms love a little competition, I'm not sure Glama and Bampa want to be exposed to choosing favorites. ....wait a minute... what am I saying? They obviously have no problem in that arena. It is no secret who is #1 with them (I think you are the best too Glama and Bampa!) So let the games begin! Post your grubby little pictures here! I will send the prize. Glama and Bampa, you are the judges... unless you choose to make an entry yourselves. Then you must find a disinterested party to pass the buck to.

Here are the rules:

1. Picture must be a Phrogbottom (which is of course any original Phrogbottom (see 1996 family photo where I earned the name "BIG MISSY"), Phrogbottom by marriage, Phrogbottom by lineage, or Phrogbottom pet).

2. Photo can be from past or present.

3. No photo-shop. We want the real deal.

4. All entries must be posted on Phrogbottom Phorum by March 16th. Winner will be announced on St. Patty's Day.

Happy sloppy eating!

Missy Davis Bennion's Wart Removal

When Missy was in high school we noticed her limping around the house. She finally admitted to having an enormous wart on the bottom of her foot. She had tried self surgery several times but it kept coming back. Mom made an appointment with the family "wart" doctor and I was assigned to take her on the adventure.

After the customary humility tour of his waiting room the good doctor saw us in an examination room. He took one look at the infected wart and looked at me like I was a sadistic serial child abuser. His frown said it all. "What kind of a family let's their most precious daughter suffer such pain and indignity." He leaves the room (I was really expecting him to return with a case worker from DCFS or at least a SLC police squad in SWAT gear) but it was only a needle full of wart killing poison.

There we were Missy stretched out on the table, the doctor poised to start the multiple injections and me holding the cowering Missy in my arms. Her usual self-assurance was gone and she was poised for pain. When he started the injections her whole body tensed up. But in classic Davis fashion Missy and I began laughing. First it was nervous little tee hees but by the time the good doctor was finished we were into serious (and loud) belly laughs. I wonder if the doctor noticed there were tears streaming down both of our faces?

Glama Toosie's Green Thumbs

When Glama Toosie was here 2 major things happened. She received her new name "Glama Toosie" and Glama instilled a hankering within me to want to garden.

 Here's the scoop, we hit up Costco for some choice roast for dinner when Mom saw the flowers. A flat for $10. She kept looking back as we walked further and further past them. It was killing her, all of the people with the flowers, virtually everyone with flats in their carts. Yeah I saw them too but I didn't seem to notice them so much, yup they were pretty but so are all flowers. What would I do with a flat of flowers anyway. Glama made up her mind, I had to have the flowers and she was going to plant them. So be it. Truth is, I love them. I go out the front door to see my LOVELY flowers Glama planted for me all of the time. Thanks MOM!

When I was a kid I remember thinking gardening was for old people and I was never going to do it. Now I want to plant a beautiful little garden on my front porch/yard. I packed up the family today and headed down to Home Depot so I could look around in the gardening section. We got there and I realized it is overwhelming. So I propose this to Glama Toosie, perhaps you can update the phrogbottom phorum with the developments of your hill this spring and provide all of your lovely gardening fans with some tips and tricks. What flowers are the easiest to maintain? When would I water them? What kind of flowers dont need much sun? We all know Glama knows the answers and more. Time to spill it. If you do it I will keep you posted on the development of my budding garden as well. You in?

The other major event was simple, Davis Calls Glama, Glama Toosie. Its perfect and I vote for it sticking.