History of the Grandparents "nicknames"

Yeah, this is a boring one, no photo's....but definitely worthy of an explanation.

When Jake was little, he had a hard time figuring out who all his different grandparents were. He never knew where we were going and who-was-who! It did not take him long to come up with his own little nicknames for them and they just kind of stuck. All 4 of our kids still use the same names......11 years later! The only problem, our parents still can't get it right!


Grandma Siddoway (my mom)
Nickname: Aunt Jill Grandma

My little sister Jill was still in high school and living at home when Jake was born, so every time we went to my mom's we would say "We're going to see Aunt Jill and Grandma". They became one person and the name stuck! Jen's girls call her "Grandma Sally" so my kids hear them say that and still have absolutely no idea who they are talking about!


We took Grandma and Jill down to Mystic and had such a fun day! It was a little chilly, but the boys loved it and Jake never misses an opportunity to do something silly in a picture. I cannot believe how small the kids were....time for new photo's. Aunt Jilly's had 2 little girls since then! :)


Grandpa and Grandma Wahlquist (my dad and step mom)
Nickname: Grandpa and Grandma Robin

This one is actually really funny! My dad is always teasing....anyone & everyone.....it does not matter who you are, no-one is exempt from the teasing! Robin is my step-mom and so Jake would always hear me call her by her name. My dad was tormenting my 2 yr. old one night as we were leaving and had him all confused on names. The next time we went back, he had affectionately become Grandpa Robin. NO matter how hard he tried, he could not convince Jake to change it and the name stuck and all my kids call them that! I love it...it's by far my favorite!

Again, a really old picture. This was actually right after Ethan was born, my dad came out for Ethan's blessing. The only one I could find with all 4 kids. I get so excited to see everyone when we are in Utah, I forget to take pictures. That needs to be high on the priority list this Christmas!

Grandma Neeley (Jarrod's Mom)

Nickname: Pat Grandma

My mother-in-law, who I call by her first name "Pat". We spent a lot of time with her when Jake was a toddler and I think this was the first nickname he came up with! and yes.....stuck, although she still thinks it's "Grandma Pat"!

Grandma Wahlquist (my grandma)

Nickname: Great Grandma

This is my grandma and she is still alive. Her memory is not the best and I think she only remembers Jake. Jake and I spent a lot of time with her when he was little and he has great memories. When I was little she would put puzzles together with us on the hearth in her family room. She did the same thing with Jake, even the same puzzles....from the same closet in her basement! I love that he has those memories with her, my other little one's will not have that.

I will treasure this picture as it is the last one I will probably have with my kids and their Great Grandma. This was taken Christmas 2004 and I wish I had a more recent one. She loves Christmas and it will be so sad to not see her house all decorated this year and have Christmas Eve dinner with her (even if we don't eat the food, it's still a memory!)

So, the boring explanation as to why my kids have funny names for their grandparents. Now you will not think it's a typo when reading my posts!

10.21.08

***Found a few pictures of my kids with their grandparents and had to put them up! Still looking for one of Pat Grandma, I will get that one up shortly.

Ethan's Birthday

This has to go down as the worst b-day ever! This poor little guy spent all day in the freezing cold rain for the big boys baseball games! I wish I would have taken a picture of Ethan and Alexia all bundled up in the blue chairs. I sat them in the middle and built these little tents around them so they would stay warm, you could just see their little pink faces poking out!

They were so good about it and did not even complain. Ethan asked for Dino Chicken (yummy!) for his b-day dinner and ice cream cake. My last attempt at a cake did not go well, but I was really excited to try this one. There was no baking involved, so not much to mess up! Again, went to the store, bought all the ingredients, had everything ready to go and nothing about this day went as planned. We were on "baseball stand-by" all day. Game-on/Game-off all morning.

By the time we got our little popsicles home, there was not time to make an ice cream cake, we ended up buying one from Ben and Jerry's. Ethan did not care, he had more fun playing basketball and riding his scooter in the kitchen. He is such a little boy and so easy to shop for. I can never resist wrapping up something that I know my kids will make a face at! Now that he's a big boy and potty trained, I had to wrap up underwear.....it was too funny! I must get the urge to do obnoxious thing from my dad!

I always want to make each of kids birthday's their own special day, and in it's own way....this one was definitely memorable. One that I will never forget!

Here are a few pictures, we've been having problems with our camera and the quality is not great. Time for a new one!

Movies and Color Wonder from Aunt Jill Grandma.

We absolutely love Color Wonder at our house,

no-way for him to color the walls!!!

Ethan wanted a bat and glove like his brothers.

He loves to do everything they do.....he was

not too excited that they did not look

exactly like the big boys though!

Just what every little boys wants

for their birthday.

Socks and Underwear!!!

The face is priceless!

What did I say in my previous post

about getting a picture of my kids

NOT doing something obnoxious!

I'll take this though, this makes the

whole icky day worth every second!

We try to tell him it's rude to point,

but it does no good! It's become his

trademark, along with sticking

his tongue out at everyone he

sees.....we actually tell people

it means he likes you!

The cake was yummy, and he was happy!

(No-one is allowed to comment on the fact

that there are matches in the cake.....I could

not find the candles!!!!!)

This was the highlight of his day, because mom
never lets the big boys play basketball in the
kitchen or ride scooters in the house! Did not
have the heart to tell him that it was all
moving outside in the morning!

Jake's Birthday!

Oh my gosh, I have a teenager! Where does the time go??? He is no longer that giggly, mischievous little 3 yr. old that had to be watched every second. (although he is the one that keeps me on my toes and running non-stop!) Jake has got such a funny, quirky personality and I love to just sit and talk to him. That's not to say that he is not developing what I call the "teenage moodiness"! I'm sure it will get worse.....before it gets better.

Since we've been in CT, birthday's are CRAZY!!! Jake and Ethan's fall right at the beginning of baseball season, end of the year projects and field trips and so we are usually throwing something together quick! This year was no exception. For the first time ever, Jake actually made a dinner request....and it was actually something I could do. He asked for kabobs on the grill and he wanted me to make an Oreo cheesecake for his cake!!! (see photo's below, that one did not turn out so well!) We were able to eat a quick dinner as a family, which does not happen very often in this busy house. He even ate my cheesecake, what a good sport!

These pictures definitely need some explaining.


I'm sure this comes as a shock....but my boys LOVE the Red Sox! "Aunt Jill Grandma" (I will explain the grandparent nicknames later....that takes an entire post!) called a couple of months ago and asked me if I thought the boys might like Red Sox Nutcrackers for their birthday's. She seemed so excited about it and I did not have the heart to tell her NO! They love her so much and Jake was a good sport to smile so I could have a picture to send to Grandma. I believe Ethan has tried to crack everthing imaginable (including his fingers) in this thing and he managed to break Cameron's......yes, Cam got one too! (sorry MOM, I could not resist, it was just too funny!)

This would be the Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake that my son asked me to make him. I have never made a cheesecake in my life, I really don't even like Cheesecake...or Chocolate! I looked online for the perfect recipe, bought all the ingredients and followed every single step. I have no idea what went wrong, but we all decided it was the ugliest cake we had ever seen!!! I always tell my kids that the word "QUIT" does not exist in our vocabulary and that it's not allowed in our family. So, I am not quitting.....but "RETIRING" from Cheesecake making!

Another thing that I should "RETIRE" from.....trying to get a picture of all 4 kids......smiling and not doing something obnoxious in front of the camera! (and getting Jarrod to smile would be an added bonus!)
Against my better judgement, we decided to get Jake a ripstick! If you don't know what they are, look them up online. They are scary! It's kind of like a skateboard, but it's all bendy and twisty. I was actually excited that he asked for something that was not a video game!

Red Sox # 1 fan!!!

The season officially started yesterday and I have some pretty excited boys in my house. The DVR is already full of pre-game, the actual game, post-game, highlights, and I think we even recorded it twice! I don't think anyone would argue that Cameron is their #1 fan. Mr. Stockwell (the para in Cam's class) knows how much Cameron loves the Red Sox and he kept checking the score for him yesterday, and gave him frequent updates!!! I love it. This is what I thought having boys would be all about it. This child lives for Red Sox baseball.

So, yesterday I got all the facts on Tokyo. "Mom, did you know it's a 13 hour time change...do you think the players are tired, did you know they play in a big Dome, did you know Dice-K and Okajima are from Japan, do you think they are happy to be home, will the Red Sox learn Japanese, Manny and Moss hit homer's.....etc" That's all I can remember, he was talking a mile a minute! (hmmmm, wonder where he gets that from???)

Well, this morning I wake up to the tv blaring from the family room and Cameron talking to himself! I go downstairs and he's ready to go! "Mom, did you know Terry Francona gets in trouble for not wearing his uniform, Beckett's arm is hurt so he's on the injured list, do you think Manny will hit another homer today, do you think J.D. Drew is really hurt...he's probably just really tired with the time change, guess what....Pedroia shaved his head, he has little spikes all over!" With my eyes half open and my mind spinning, all I could do was smile and try to process what he was saying so I could answer him...I just wanted the questions to stop! I don't know how the kid ever falls asleep at night. His mind seriously must run in overdrive all day long.

I think I am getting my payback! I remember waking up at 5am everyday and I know that it made my mom crazy. I may not have been shouting off baseball stat's, but at that hour it really doesn't matter why they are up....it's just annoying that they are up and when one get's up....the other's are soon to follow! It's a good think one of us is a morning person, and NO, that person would not be Jarrod!!!

I guess I should just be thankful that all the games are not in Japan and I don't have to worry about anymore 5am games. Well, it's definitely "Game On" in the Neeley house. Ready for another season of Red Sox baseball. Anything you want to know, give him a call....I'm sure he would be happy to share his knowledge with you and it will give us a break from listening!!!


***The pictures are from a game they went to last season. Jarrod got tickets to the Hartford box and was able to take the boys. I honestly don't think I've ever seen the boys so excited, esp. Cameron. Jarrod let them wander around before the game and being the brave one that Cameron is, he was able to get down by the dug-out during warm-ups. He started yelling "Hey Big Papi!" a guard told him he had to get out of there, but not before Ortiz came over and signed his ball for him! I think he almost hyper ventilated!!! David Ortiz is Cam's favorite player and my new hero!

Easter Egg Hunt

It's been so much fun establishing new traditions with our friends in our neighborhood. They are just like family to us and we love spending holidays with them. We started this little easter egg hunt last year and it almost got forgotten this year. Easter kind of snuck up on us but we pulled it together and despite the cold weather enjoyed the afternoon with our kids and our friends!






















It's not easy to get this many kids to stand still for a group photo. I must of snapped 20 pictures to get one with them all looking at the camera. You'll notice Cameron is not in the picture. He had a small melt-down because his mother would not let him leave the house in a t-shirt and shorts. What a mean mom!





























He perked up and decided to join us. He even shared some of his eggs with our little neighbor next door, it was so cute.




























Ethan was too cool to hang out with the other kids!





















The big boys had just found out that there were 2 eggs with money in them and started ripping through there eggs to see who had the $$$. It ended up being Cameron!























Our little one's could not wait to get inside to check out their candy. They all plopped down right in the middle of the front yard and went to town!






















Another group shot. I think I put this on by mistake and can't figure out how to get it off!




























Ethan filled up his basket in about 2 minutes. He was so cold, 5 minutes later he was inside messing up the boys video games!






















We tried to make it a little harder for the big kids so we put all of their eggs in the woods behind our house. They were still up their hours later finding eggs.




























I think Lexi may have been more excited to see her friends than to find eggs. She is such a little social butterfly.