On Gear Live: 2025 Mercedes G-Wagen AMG G 63 Review: The Classic SUV Finally Hits Its Peak

Latest Gear Live Videos

Gear Live Gets Scrooged

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Internet,

Andru Scrooged Sparky Elved

Obviously, we can never get enough of DIY photo applications and this seasonal one is no exception. ElfYourself was available last year from OfficeMax and now ScroogeYourself has been added. Do yourself, your family, your friends, your co-workers, or anyone else you think needs memorializing. It’s fairly simple. You just use a head shot, make a couple of adjustments, and the site will do the work and save it for you. What do you think about the pair of these guys? We call it some serious attitude!

 

Read More | OfficeMax

Advertisement

Our Hidden Talents—They Might Scare You

Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Family, Humor, Personal,

Andru and I have been secretly taking some dance classes, inspired by the talents on So You Think You Can Dance, one of my favorite shows. I don't like to brag but heck, I never knew I could look that good doing the Charleston. And Andru? Wow. Danny, forget the 100 pirouettes you can do in under a minute, psh, you have nothing on Andru's fancy footwork. I think I can take Lacey...what do you think? Scary that we have so much talent eh? Yeah, we like to pull a few tricks out once in a blue moon...keeps things fresh. I think we deserve a spot on the Hot Tamale Train, choo choo! Have a looksy for yourselves, but don't be hatin' on us cause we got the moves.

Diddly-Dink is My New Favorite Word

Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Alijah, Family, Humor, Movies, Personal, Tommy,

wormsThe funniest thing I heard today came from an actor in the movie How to Eat Fried Worms. I was watching this with my two kids while Andru is at Gnomedex literally all day and night. I will be joining him, kids in tow, at the party they are throwing tonight at the Seattle Aquarium where they have giant octopi that suck your brain out quietly while you are none the wiser, or so Nate says. But till then, I had to try and get the two boys to sit still and not argue for at least an hour. It seems that I enjoyed the movie much more than they did...okay now who couldn't with a line like this? Uttered from a preschoolers lips to his older brother--"You're shaking my bike and it's touching my diddly dink!" I have never heard that expression before, I think I will start using it in random conversations as it will go down as one of my favorites. No, I'm not 12.

That Is What Elmo Gets

Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Alijah, Family, Humor, Personal,

AlijahSo, following the mass hysteria of crazed parents dying to lay their grubby hands on the new Tickle Me Elmo TMX, we shelled out our grocery money for the week, a whole $200 for the rights to spoil our child the way we see fit. Okay, we gave up our food for the week for a good cause, we bid on Elmo at a silent auction at our older son's school to raise money for the kids, so we can live with having to starve our children for seven days. What I am hesitant to mention though is that my brilliant husband in his greediness to win said auction actually guarded the piece of paper with his last winning bid, as if his life depended on it. He actually created a sort of hood around the piece of paper with his ginormous shoulders so that no one dare ask him to move out of the way. What he did next he will never live down; the announcer counts down 2 minutes left till the silent auction is over, so hurry and get your bids in. A woman approaches, another psycho parent with that hungry look in her eyes, wanting to take a peek at the last bid on Elmo, but Andru pretty much shoulder blocks her, like he was in the freakin' NFL. What I did not know was that he was so freaked out by her presence that he pretended to be actively looking over the last bid and when she made another move to see the bid, he takes out his pen, crosses out his last bid, and OUTBIDS HIMSELF.

Click to continue reading That Is What Elmo Gets


Missing My Boys on the East Coast

Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Alijah, Family, Personal, Tommy,

Alijah & Andru
Andru and Alijah left for New York Tuesday morning, and I feel like they have been gone an eternity already. This is the longest stretch of time that I will be away from Alijah since he was in the hospital for 11 weeks after he was born 2 1/2 years ago. I don't know if I can take the withdrawal. After the harrowing trip all alone with a two year old that has discovered the independence of his own two legs since the last time we flew, they finally made it to their destination after the most awful trip in recorded history. There were moments I imagined that their plane had gone down, or that they were sitting in the airport, disheveled and too tired to move. Andru emailed from the plane that the flight would be delayed for take-off for an hour because of inclement weather in N.Y. but that they could choose to get off the plane as long as they took all their belongings with them. Do these airline pilots not have kids? What are they thinking? After lugging an awkwardly huge carseat, a laptop bag, and a diaper bag, as well as trying to keep a hold of a 2 year old that just wants his freedom, the last thing a parent wants to do is try and maneuver all of that mess off the plane just to turn around 15 minutes later (because it took 45 minutes just to get off the plane) to get back on the dang thing again. My poor boys, they had only the snacks I had packed for Alijah- a granola bar, raisins, grapes, and a pudding cup to keep sustained.

Click to continue reading Missing My Boys on the East Coast


Lavender Lovelieness (And A Great Husband)

Posted by Monica Edwards Categories: Family, Personal,

I love my children. Their smiles, infectious laughter, and their constant need for "Mama" to be near. That is why I needed a vacation from them. Mothers all over know what I am saying, it is a double entendre- you can love your children to death, therefore you need to get away once in a blue moon, to be sure that you don't. I escaped to a world of Lavender Loveliness thanks to my husband's reassurance that the boys would be "just fine" without me for the day, that he would indeed "feed them". I don't give him enough credit. It is because I am the caregiver from morning till around 6 pm when Andru can take a break from staring at that glaring rectangular box we rely on for our livelihood. I know he can handle two active boys for a whole day but it took me about 20 minutes to finally cut the strings and realize that this was the opportunity for a "vacation" that I was so desperately hinting to just two days before. Still I reluctantly jumped on the chance to go to the Lavender Festival in Sequim with my sister and her husband.

Click to continue reading Lavender Lovelieness (And A Great Husband)


Advertisement