Wednesday, December 31, 2008
New Year's 2009!
year - so enjoy the view from the booth and have a splendiferous new
years! See you in '09!
Can You Get This At Your Local Super Walmart?
These are all of the things you can get at the service counter at our hometown grocery store in Michigan.You cannot, however, get a gift card, as we discovered when the lady at the counter gave us a very puzzled look about the idea of a such a card. Fortunately she had a computer and a printer and made us some gift certificates.
By the way, those smiles? They're free.
The Obligatory Christmas 2008 Report - Now With New Author!
Liz here. I've abandoned my defunct blog for Doug's highly acclaimed site. Cousin Kyle notes that this makes us the Blogsmas.
The 10 day trek of family visitation through Michigan and Ohio has been completed with gusto. Aside from lots of snow, a lot of driving, and getting a 24 hour flu bug on Christmas night, it was a pretty successful trip. We didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few highlights:
The nephews! As you can see from the previous post, we got to spend lots of time with my brother, wife, and their three kids, ages 6, 5, and 3. Everyday is a party at their house! A few of my favorite conversations:
Alex (age 5): "I want some orange juice."
Me (holding glass of juice): "Okay, here's your orange juice, but first you have to tell me who's your favorite auntie?"
Alex: "Aunt JoJo!"
Me (holding glass a little higher): "Yes, but I have this glass of orange juice, so tell me again, who's your favorite auntie?"
Alex: "Aunt JoJo! Aunt JoJo!"
Fortunately, bribery still works with the other two.
Grandma Pam: "Athan, who did you sleep with last night?"
Athan (age 3): "Um, a lot of white people!"
"I just kinda love you. I just kinda love you" - lyrics from Athan's original song "I Just Kinda Love You."
Games. When we set foot in Michigan, we are required to have our Scrabble, pinochle, canasta, and euchre skills well-honed. We played dozens of games this week. A new addition for this year was Wii sports and Mariokart. My favorite? An 8 man tennis doubles tournament into the wee hours of the morning.
Cooking for the fam. We love cooking for people, but rarely have the opportunity to cook for our family from far away. Doug and I took over the kitchen for Hillman family Christmas for a nontraditional holiday meal of fish tacos, homeade black bean salsa, and jalepeno cornbread.
Gifts! We gave and received some really fun and thoughtful gifts. Doug's mom got me a book called "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", a 922 page book on homesteading with topics such as growing mushrooms, homemade bug spray, delivering a baby, calculating harvest yeild, building a mud oven, cooking wild animals, tanning hides, turkey reproduction, you name it. Not only is it a highly interesting gift, it also makes the Blocksmas marketable to join a commune should our financial system collapse entirely.
A great Christmas, but we are glad to be home where the sun shines and we go to sleep at reasonable hours. Happy New Year to you all!
The 10 day trek of family visitation through Michigan and Ohio has been completed with gusto. Aside from lots of snow, a lot of driving, and getting a 24 hour flu bug on Christmas night, it was a pretty successful trip. We didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few highlights:
The nephews! As you can see from the previous post, we got to spend lots of time with my brother, wife, and their three kids, ages 6, 5, and 3. Everyday is a party at their house! A few of my favorite conversations:
Alex (age 5): "I want some orange juice."
Me (holding glass of juice): "Okay, here's your orange juice, but first you have to tell me who's your favorite auntie?"
Alex: "Aunt JoJo!"
Me (holding glass a little higher): "Yes, but I have this glass of orange juice, so tell me again, who's your favorite auntie?"
Alex: "Aunt JoJo! Aunt JoJo!"
Fortunately, bribery still works with the other two.
Grandma Pam: "Athan, who did you sleep with last night?"
Athan (age 3): "Um, a lot of white people!"
"I just kinda love you. I just kinda love you" - lyrics from Athan's original song "I Just Kinda Love You."
Games. When we set foot in Michigan, we are required to have our Scrabble, pinochle, canasta, and euchre skills well-honed. We played dozens of games this week. A new addition for this year was Wii sports and Mariokart. My favorite? An 8 man tennis doubles tournament into the wee hours of the morning.
Cooking for the fam. We love cooking for people, but rarely have the opportunity to cook for our family from far away. Doug and I took over the kitchen for Hillman family Christmas for a nontraditional holiday meal of fish tacos, homeade black bean salsa, and jalepeno cornbread.
Gifts! We gave and received some really fun and thoughtful gifts. Doug's mom got me a book called "The Encyclopedia of Country Living", a 922 page book on homesteading with topics such as growing mushrooms, homemade bug spray, delivering a baby, calculating harvest yeild, building a mud oven, cooking wild animals, tanning hides, turkey reproduction, you name it. Not only is it a highly interesting gift, it also makes the Blocksmas marketable to join a commune should our financial system collapse entirely.
A great Christmas, but we are glad to be home where the sun shines and we go to sleep at reasonable hours. Happy New Year to you all!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas in Ohio
with nephews, eating way too much, and having pinochle battles until
the wee hours of the night. Happy holidays!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Blocksma Bowl Pick'Em!!
Yes, it has been eerily quiet 'round these parts of late, but i promise we are doing well, have had some visitors, are tired of christmas shopping, and will be embarking on a 10 day midwestern adventure this Saturday.
BUT
something more important begins this Saturday, when College Football Bowl season descends upon us like the ever steady hand of fate.
I realized a little late in the game this morning that i had not setup a friends and family pick'em pool yet, so i had best get on it, tout suite! So, click right here, or go to the Yahoo Bowl page and search for Group ID#: 46222, password: spartans.
BUT
something more important begins this Saturday, when College Football Bowl season descends upon us like the ever steady hand of fate.
I realized a little late in the game this morning that i had not setup a friends and family pick'em pool yet, so i had best get on it, tout suite! So, click right here, or go to the Yahoo Bowl page and search for Group ID#: 46222, password: spartans.
I can't remember what i promised the victor last year, or if i even delivered, so for now let's just say a hug for the winner (contingent upon physical altercation that is already bound to happen) and well wishings for at least a week. Maybe later we'll bump it up to a Christmas ham or something.
Happy Pickings!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
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