Monday, June 16, 2008

Father's Day at the Bro's


Are you tawkin ta me? Are YOU tawkin ta ME? Heeheeheee! Isn't that what it looks like Dad is saying? It wouldn't be a stretch for this Bronx Man!

My family is forever cracking me up and it's usually not from a joke, or from anyone purposely trying to be funny. When we're all together, "funny" just happens naturally. I guess we're a fairly typical Italian-American family from New York. We've actually lost most of the "Italian" but won't admit it to anyone. We like to eat, we like to talk, and we're fairly often completely crude and rude. Cursing is commonplace and none of us look at it as being declasse if we're just among ourselves. It seems that no topic is too personal or sensitive to touch on, and I do believe we have run the gamut of "Too Much Information!" conversations. Let me put it this way. When my father had his prostate exam and biopsy? Well, I was given a blow by blow of the entire doctor visit and it wasn't pretty!

Yesterday was a typical day at my brother's house. My sister-in-law, Pat, in the kitchen preparing dinner, Mom cutting a watermelon,
Justin, Mikayla, Alexa and Madison in the pool and the rest of us hanging out on the screened-in porch.
Of course Jill was there, with Poopy Pants glued to her the entire day. And all the kid did was eat and eat and eat. I honestly don't know where she puts it in that tiny body of hers!

Now, I've got three nephews, but the older two are elusive little buggers and not often seen by the human eye. The oldest, Jeffrey (20), had to go to work, so I didn't get to take a picture of his oh-so-handsome self, but I did manage to snap one of 16-year-old Jonny, when he was in a contemplative state. Probably wondering how he is surviving among these crazy family members. 10-year-old Justin is a whole 'nother story. He's a ham and was easily captured by my camera. He's looking a bit worse for wear here, as he'd just gotten out of the pool.

I can't even tell you what caused one of the many fits of laughter yesterday. I know there was talk of sesame seeds and sex drive, and then a bit about my father's complete obsession with burning DVDs and making the covers look "Better than what you buy at the store!" Now this isn't just any old hobby to my dad. It's an ART FORM. He's got copy paper in every color of the rainbow, he's got ink refills coming out the ying yang, just in case he runs out, he's got stacks upon stacks of blank DVDs, and he even installed a special program for movie labels. He's literally got thousands of movies now, all packaged beautifully, each one sporting an outside label telling what year the film was made, if it won an award, etc. The following pictures depict what happened after my brother acted out an automated DVD burner that my father should create in his bedroom.





























I'm telling ya, this family thinks they are normal, but they are so NOT. Everyone always points their fingers at me as being the cuckoo of the nest, but when we're all together it's anyone's game! We CAN be normal.









And we can be serious.




But mostly we're goofy...






... and borderline crude...








As crazy as we are, there's nothing I like better than spending time with my family. We may not be the classiest bunch, but we do have fun together. And the most important thing is that there's plenty of love between us. So the next time you point your camera at someone and they flip you the bird, don't jump to the conclusion that it's a bad thing. Sometimes, at least in this family, getting flipped the bird is sign language for "I love you!"

Until next time, Justine :o )

19 "Sister" Lovin' Friends Said:

  • SG

    Aw. I love your family. They seem really cool. Maybe it's just the NY thing. We are drawn to each other.

    Poopy pants is getting so pretty! Look at those curls! She has beautiful hair.

    Glad you had fun.

  • mrsben

    Looks like a good time was had by all! I had to double check how you American 'flip the bird'. Conclusion....you do it the same way we Canadian's do :) (I've been know to 'flip' on occasion. Glad I'm doing properly.) Have a beautiful day Justine.

  • Bridget

    I think Schmecky has a good point, NY families HAVE to be close because you New Yorkers don't trust anyone else! LOL It's nice to see a family having a good time together and I enjoyed seeing all of your photos of everyone. You have a very good looking family. Your nephews are hotties, they must be beating the girls off with sticks!

  • Tootsie

    what a beautiful family! that baby girl gets more pretty every day!
    I am glad you had a good weekend.

  • SG

    Okay Justine. I added some zing to the end of my boring story.

  • Anonymous

    Awwww great entry, great family and great fun :) wish i could have been there!! looks like fun.

  • jsilly

    Hi Justine! Thanks for your nice comments on my non-existing blog! :)

    I'm so embarrassed I didn't think anyone would see my empty blog yet. ha!

    We got married in Vegas and a really nice makeup artist from the hotel salon did my makeup..she really did a great job...I don't know anything about makeup.

    Your family looks like they are so much fun to be around. I bet you all laugh a lot. I just tend to laugh at Schmecky...more her looks than her sense of humor ;) ha ha ha

  • Raxx - A day in the life

    I think your family is a hoot! Class!? Who needs it? Among family class boring! lol

    Raquel

  • SG

    Hey! Jess! Not nice. lol.

    Justine I think this reply was for you. Both you and my sister are a mess:
    jsilly said...
    LMAO!!! I know...leave it to my own sister to point that out. It does! Unfortunately the stupid bouquet came with the wedding package...it wasn't my taste, I would have liked something a lot smaller and simple...and something that didn't make me look like a Yeti.

  • janet

    hi justine...your family reminds me much like mine, never know who is going to say or do next...glad the dads had a great fathers day...and the little girl is sure a sweetie, seem like yesterday when mine were that young. Im new at this blogging thing but rather enjoying it.
    janet aka decorfun

  • janet

    hi justine, im glad i found you too....i was just getting use to names on RMS and they all slowly started to disappear....not too many are looking familier anymore....i think your froggy blog is adorable. Im sorry to hear about your husbands arthritis, dont wish it on anyone, i have heard of the one he has and yes raynauds is a syndrome, which is common to have with other auto immune diseases....the biggest symptom is that with the slightest cold your finger tips are very painful and turn white, even taking food out of the freezer hurts....
    have a super day!!!
    janet aka decorfun

  • SG

    Oh I've been wanting to say that I think Jill is really cute. She comes across kinda sassy and sexy in pics too!

  • Dazzlemama

    Great pictures Justine - looks like a great Father's Day!

  • Buffie

    I'm SO in love with your family! I want to come over for a big dinner, I'll even help cook!!!! My kind of people!

  • Buffie

    yo a sexy ho too Tiney! : )

  • Anonymous

    Wow... I love this story of Father's Day. I really think someone could write a movie on our family and our experiences. We are like a **cked up version of the Soprano's. I look forward to every visit we all have together and believe me when I say it they are never ever DULL!

    Jill

  • Anonymous

    Wow... I love this story of Father's Day. I really think someone could write a movie on our family and our experiences. We are like a **cked up version of the Soprano's. I look forward to every visit we all have together and believe me when I say it they are never ever DULL!

    Jill

  • Anonymous

    Awesome!
    Fathers day looked like a blast. I'm sooo jealous@!!! miss all of you so much. gonna go cry now. buhbye.
    chessie

  • Justine

    Chess, if you miss us so much why don't you fly your asses down here already? We've got a whole room upstairs for you, and you know Jeff and Pat would have you any time too!!!!!!!