Happy Thanksgiving!!!

So Thanksgiving started with another new tradition.

FOOTBALL!!!

No, not watching the awful Lions lose - we actually played the 1st annual Mac/Groveland Turkey Bowl. The game pitted neighbor against neighbor, brother against sister, friend against friend. The crew consisted of Allie, TJ, Andy, Doug, the entire Johnson clan and the Weisman clan (+ roommate). We played a grueling game to 10 touchdowns with the final score being 10 to 8. After the game, we all headed to the Hodson-McGrade Headquarters for beer, mimosas and snacks.

Unfortunately, Chrissy and I could not stay long because we had guests coming, a house to pick up and a bird to put in the oven. Scott and Kelly came over for a great dinner.


Doug and I were on the same team.

The losing team, I might add...

That is me throwing a mean block on TJ.

No, TJ is not wearing a pink jersey in support of a cure for breast cancer. He is wearing the shirt because he lost to Doug the previous weekend in fantasy football.

I don't know what happened to Thanksgiving pics. This is seriously the only picture we have.

Ethan and Anne

2 years down...

16 to go...I still can't believe that little clown is two. So to recap a great weekend for Ethan that incorporated most of E's favorite people in this world:

E's Birthday weekend started getting picked up from school by Mom, Grandma Sharon and Great Grandma Eleanor. The group headed to get E's haircut (not short enough for some people in his life, mind you)

I then met up with everyone to get the birthday boy new shoes and dinner at Rosedale Mall. We had the 1st 'Happy Birthday' song at Macaroni Grille.

On Saturday, we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma's D&T's. E's guests included the usual suspects, such as Nick and Christy, GF Steve, Bridget and company, Weinke Clan, the Johnsons, Allie, Andy and Jenn - and two very special guests, Ms. Tara and Ms. Stephanie, Ethan's favorite teachers and the two people who have probably spent more time with Ethan than Chrissy and I combined.

After some good food, good beer (especially beer that I made) and great company, E opened his presents, ate his cake, and finally ended up taking a nap about two hours late.

I hope you enjoy the pics half as much as Ethan enjoyed his weekend.

Sis and Grandpa Germ - we missed you both.

From Left to Right: Alex, Allie, Leighton, Addison, Ethan, Alissa and Lucy.

Great GrammE and Ethan. Yes. He is wearing an Adrian Peterson shirt. Damn you, Andy and Jenn!!! Damn you!!!

This kid and his 'Llama' book. Only my son's favorite animal would be a llama....

E on his second piece of cake. Maybe it was his third.

E and Grandma Sharon. I can't believe I left that shirt on for that long...On a good note, the badness of Purple Jesus is being offset by Grandma's Bears Sweatshirt. IT says, 'Champs' on it. Is that from 1985??? Go ahead and laugh, Vikings fans...As least we have shirts that say 'Champs' on it.

That is Ms. Stephanie. Or as E calls her: Teppy. Bridget and Nick look like they are having a grand, old time, don't they???

Wow. I wish I could sleep through someone coming in and taking my picture. Yes, those are Star War pj's. Yes, you should feel very sorry for him. In my defense, Chrissy actually bought these.

Check out the new do!

Ethan and his good friend, Lucy. Way to go for the older women, E!!!

The Ruiz Family circa 2009. Any grey hair you see can be directly traced to the 27 lb bundle of joy to the far right.

What Up, Dogg???

OK, still doing a bit of catch up.....But I thought these Halloween pics belonged in their own post.

So this year was Chrissy's year to choose the costume so of course we had to go with 'cute.' After some protest, I have to admit he did look pretty darn cute....So after some quick pics at home, we headed over to T&D's. After some punch (more on that in a bit) we headed out as a crew with Jenae's kids and did about an hour's worth of candy collecting.

E did great. He refused to be carried and finally caught on by the end of the 1st block...although he did keep trying to walk into everyone's houses.....just like his big sister, Layla, likes to do...

We got back and had a great night, with E finally going to bed around 10. This was one of his latest nights ever.....

So Chrissy made this great punch using Dry Ice. Andy and I could not leave well enough alone, so instead of just enjoying the punch, we decided to make a dry ice bomb....

After several explosions, we finally ran out of plastic bottles...which was probably for the best.

Just remember, E. Do as I say, not as I do....

E and Jenn.

E getting his makeup done by Allie.

Catch Up

This picture pretty much sums up how we all feel about the Bears this year.....Although I am proud to say, E and I are still ardent Bears fans....No fair weather here in Minnesota.

I love the stern stink eye E is getting from Grandma Trish.....dang Viking fans.....nobody is safe - not even 2 year olds....

I know - Pumpkin Patch posts in December.....Sorry, E. get used to this....you are a Ruiz, remember????

We had a great time here with G&G Doug and Trish. We met up with the Weinke clan to pick pumpkins. Chrissy was somewhere.....hard to keep track where in the country she was. Do I sound bitter????

Though this was over two months ago, I do remember later that night E and I went to watch the game and carve pumkins and guess what. You got it. Bears lost.

I love this picture b/c it looks like we have a football game going on with the pumkins.

This is E on what he refers to as his, 'donkey.' Although he does not watch much tv (much to my dismay, especially if I am hungover) he does like to watch while sitting on said donkey....Wouldn't that be great to have something like this as an adult??? I guess we do. But instead of a donkey we call it a lazy boy....

These pics represent a project Doug and I started the weekend after Thanksgiving....This time while Chrissy was globe trotting in Paris and London. After four days, Doug and I finally finished...OK, let's be honest, I was not Norm to Doug's Bob Villa....but I was good at ordering pizza and getting Arby's. Although this week was pretty tough on me (on top of work, E and the bathroom I got sick and lost my voice) Ethan had a great time. We even slept over one night at Grandma's.....At least someone had a good week....

I am close (just some caulking and final touch ups to go) to being done - I will post pics of the finished product soon (hopefully next week at the latest)

Long Time

So I think I will be going from 'guest blogger' to the main author of E's blog. Luckily, Chrissy is a better wife and mother than she is blogger....

I am posting this as a test to see if my 10 year old Dell can handle the job.

I am not confident considering I got the following message when I attempted to go to an artist's website, 'Sorry! Your browser is over 8 years old and doesn't support the rich media we're displaying on this website.'

WHAT? My machine is so old I can't even open the site? Crazy.

Anyway, if this works I will throw some more pics on. Otherwise, I will have to wait to use my work computer.

Cross your fingers.....

Happiness, Sadness, Old Pictures, Bad Pictures and Just For Fun

And not necessarily in that order...

1st order of business

Happy Bday Sis. I love you and miss you.

2nd order of business

Disclaimer 1: I am on Day 5 as Mr. Mom and it is 11 pm at night. (although Teri Garr was a blonde and Chrissy is a brunette, I still have a job, and unlike Michael Keaton I only have one kid...so maybe a bad analogy.)

Happiness: Look at the last picture. How does a little boy that runs around in his underwear, using a fake, pink Dora cell phone while wearing Mardi Gras beads not make you smile???

Old Pictures: The picture immediately following is an old zoo pic - taken during another one of my Mr. Mom stints (bad analogy or not, it is working for me so I am sticking with it.)

Bad Pictures: If you remember two posts ago, I already told you I am not a good photographer. It does not help matters that Chrissy took the good camera leaving me with the Gen 1 digital camera from 1999....Might as well replace my cell phone with the back pack communication system used to call in aerial attacks in Vietnam...

With Pictures 2 and 4, E and I are not winning any modeling contests any time soon.

Just For Fun: You can never have too many pictures of me and my serious face. (although to be honest, the real reason I took this picture is because Ethan mangled my sunglasses. So after 18 minutes of adjustments, I wanted to see how straight (or crooked) they were...Not bad not bad....

Disclaimer 2 - Chrissy hates these glasses. No, I am not cool. But I now make a mean Blue Cheese Spread for heirloom tomatoes. Love me for me, so they say....

Disclaimer 3 - Any resemblance of my hair in this picture to that of Gumby is purely coincidental.

Sadness: The picture starting this post is a picture taken in Tacoma, Washington in 2003 - it is a photo of my cousin Jeneva, my grandmother Felipa and me - taken by my uncle Mike (you can see him in the reflection if you look closely.)

My Grandmother passed away a month ago....I still don't think I have dealt with it.

Why is this on E's blog, you ask?

Easy. He never met her. He never will. I harbor regret.

Not only for the fact that I can't post a picture of E with his great grandmother, but for the too few calls, etc.

So at the risk of channeling Ann Landers: call the people whom you care about often. Get pictures of your babies with the people who are important to you.

The babies won't remember.

That is what the pictures are for.

Good night.

Bachelor Pad!!!

With Momma in Chicago this week, E and I are living the lives of free men....

Unfortunately....my freedom isn't quite what it used to be these days when Chrissy travels.

One of the (many) things I promised to do was to add a few posts so Chrissy could keep up on the Ruiz Men.

So Sunday started with me putting together Ethan's big boy potty, which is an attachment that goes on top of the toilet. Let's just say Ethan is not ready yet.

If you zoom in on this pic, you will notice that it is the parents' guide to potty training that Ethan is standing on. 'Nuf said.

After some morning toons, we turned our attention to the real work of the day: FOOTBALL!!!

After gathering up our tailgating gear, we headed over to the rival Viking house of G&G Trish & Doug. We enjoyed brats and dogs and other goodies that are still counteracting all of those boxes of Cheerios I have eaten for the past three years

Yes. I know. It is terrible. That is a Viking bib that Ethan has on. Those are purple beads.....And that is Allie - another Viking fan. In my defense, I have Adrian Peterson on my fantasy team....

Doug - you have no proof I was cheering for AP on Sunday. That is my story and I am sticking to it...

This is Monday morning. Remember the monthly photos from this chair??? Where oh where has my little baby gone????