Family Halloween Costumes — the Easy, the Funny, and the Scary as Hell

– Posted in: Family, Holidays, Things To Do with Kids, Worst Mom Randomness
Banana flasher costume

Once again, Halloween is upon us. And yeah, I know it's only September, but you have to plan for this stuff or else you'll be the idiot who pays overnight shipping for a T-rex costume -- not that I'd know anything about that. Anyway, we're not really the "everybody in the family dress up" people, [...]

How to Throw a Kick-Butt Harry Potter Birthday Party: Part Two

– Posted in: Holidays, Life is Dangerous, Parties, Personal Insanity, Things To Do with Kids, Videos, Worst Mom Randomness
How to Throw a Kick Butt Harry Potter Birthday Party -- Little girl in sorting hat

This is the follow-up post on how to throw a kick-but Harry Potter birthday party (we did this when my daughter, Elfie, turned nine). Part One describes all the prep work. It's really not as scary as it sounds... So this post is meant to walk you through the actual execution of the party. Basically [...]

How to Throw a Kick-Butt Harry Potter Birthday Party: Part One

– Posted in: Accidents, Holidays, Life is Dangerous, Mouths of Babes, No Good Deed, Parties, Personal Insanity, Shopping Hell, Things To Do with Kids, Worst Mom Randomness
How to throw a birthday party at Hogwarts

Thanks to my lack of organizational skills, we left my daughter Elfie's 9th birthday party planning until the very last minute. Not a big deal if my husband and I weren't insane. Unfortunately, we've set a precedent of throwing wildly fantastical theme parties for her birthday, complete with treasure hunts that involve multiple adult actors [...]

Camping. . . at the Super 8

– Posted in: Complaining, Family, First World Problems, Holidays, Mawage, Personal Insanity, Road Trip, Tenzin, The Great Outdoors, Things To Do with Kids, This Is Supposed to be Fun, Travel, Vacation, Worst Mom Randomness
family hanging out at Super 8

Today, while everyone was writing sentimental posts and acrostic poems about dads, I was hoping to baby Jebus that my husband wouldn't remember it was Father's Day. Not that he really would've remembered. Tenzin and I are sort of famous for not making a big deal out of holidays anyway. Truth be told, I wasn't [...]

The Best Mother’s Day Present? It’s Over.

– Posted in: Family, Grief, Grown-up Friends, Guilt, Holidays, Logan's Story, Momless, Personal Insanity, Stuff I Probably Shouldn't be Thinkin', Tammy Thinks, Worst Mom Randomness
mom with son and daughter at brunch on Mother's Day

So Mother's Day is over, and all I can say is, thank the gods. I know most moms look forward to Mother's Day. Probably because they're normal and well-adjusted people who are totally chill about spending a nice Sunday with family, getting an over-priced piece of jewelry designed by Jane Seymour, and maybe going out [...]

Happy Adoption Day — To the Dog

– Posted in: Bright Side of Life, Dogs, Grosser than Gross, Holidays, Jasper, Personal Insanity, Puppies, Tammy Thinks, Worst Mom Randomness
Yellow dog in car -- Lab Finnish Lapphund

Today is Jasper Adoption Day. One year ago, we brought home our little 10-pound puppy. Now he's a whopping 70+ (frankly not sure of the exact amount because I hurt my back trying to weigh him the last time). I love having a dog. And I wouldn't exchange Jasper for any other one, even though [...]

How to Have a Birthday Party for the Dog

– Posted in: Bright Side of Life, Dogs, Family, Gratitude, Growing Up, Holidays, Jasper, Personal Insanity, Puppies, Things To Do with Kids, Worst Mom Randomness
Birthday party for the Honda Pilot

Yesterday was my dog's first birthday. We actually thought it was this coming Monday (based on our best estimates), but our friend* who got a puppy from the same litter posted her dog's picture on Facebook and, well, oops. I'm guessing most people don't celebrate their dogs' birthdays. We're a little odd**. On the one [...]