The Kleiber Family Timeline

Category: General Day to Day

General Events

  • Bronners Spring 2016

    Our first stop usually when entering Frankenmuth is Bronners Christmas store. Bronner’s promotes itself as the “World’s Largest Christmas Store”. Designed with an Alpine architecture and operating year-round, the building is 7.35 acres in size with landscaped grounds covering 27 acres. Here is a little trivai – The electric bill alone is $1,250 per day – John Wayne ordered his Santa Suit from Bronners in 1976 – Over 100,000 ornaments are hand painted at Bronners each year.

    While primarily known for Christmas, they do have a large selection of the other holidays available year round which makes it a great place to stop for people who enjoy any of the holidays.

    (more…)

  • Pool Time 2016 Begins

    Our little pool has made it to its third year, although we had to replace a hose and a pump. Still a pretty good value for us because we actually compared reviews and this pool was the only one at any price that did not get any bad reviews. This year James picked out a new light that is really cool and acts like a fountain. It’s actually on the exit side of the pump, attached with a hose, and the light is generated from hydro power in the same way bicycles generate light from peddling. In the evening it creates a colored atmosphere on the whole inside of the pool which should be handy on July 4th when James stays up late and watches fireworkds from his pool.

    James spent about an hour in the pool today (mid 70’s so its still a little cool around here) and enjoyed the new sprinkling water from the pump (during the daylight you cannot even tell there are lights in it unless you look real close).

    (more…)

  • James Achievement Award Pics & Video 2016

    James was honored for his work at school, specifically in Geography, and everyone was thrilled with this academic achievement. James is having a very good year at school and we expect bigger and better things from him next year. He is learning discipline, albeit somewhat slowly but he is getting there. Each morning he does his Yoga exercises before a two hour bus drive to school so his school day is a little longer than most but he has learned to make the best of it. James and his family wanted to thank his teachers for their efforts and patience with James who can be a bit of a handful at times.

    (more…)

  • Abbotts Flea Market 2016

    Mary and James worked a table at the 2016 Magic Flea Market which is now known as the Hank Moorehouse Flea Market and Auction in honor of the man who started it almost 40 years ago. James loves this event because he enjoys both selling and buying. The event was very well attended and had many magicians show up either selling or buying magic. In the past we have found some very good values here and sometimes Halloween stuff. After the event we traveled to the Three Amigo’s restaurant in Jackson and feasted on a late Cinco De Mayo meal that tasted that much better because we were all tired from the long day. Once we got home, Mary found a package containing a shirt she won on Ebay so it was a fitting conclusion to a very fun day.

    (more…)

  • James Roller Coaster Project

    For the past few weeks James and other students at LPMS have been working on a roller coaster project to demonstrate potential and kinetic energy. The roller coaster could be built out of any material you like and would be a big part of his grade in class. James picked out material from home (pvc and tubing) and bought some flexible tubing at Home Depot (the kind you use for air conditioners to vent the water). James worked with other students on this project and we received this video from his school as he explains where the potential and kinetic energy reaches their highs and lows.

  • Leap Year Puzzle Day 2016

    The weather the past few days has been warm with mild 60 degree weather. 1/15 percent to 21/300 percent of puzzle complete. We could of start a 3000 piece puzzle but it would be a 20 day early start from 2/29/2016. The 2,000 piece puzzle took 1/2 month without break from puzzle. 2000 piece puzzle time line is 9/18/2015 to 2/8/2016. The warm weather in February is awesome and we hope it continues for March, although it is expected to snow tomorrow.

    (more…)

  • New Bed For James

    James will be getting his new bed delivered toward the later part of the week. This puts him and Thelma on notice that the days of their small bed is limited so they are enjoying the last few days snoozing in the bed they both grew up on. The new bed (besides being bigger) has storage space under the bed so we hope this extra storage space will help keep his room a little more organized. Check out the pics to see the bed in action.

    (more…)

  • Warm Temperatures Create Puzzle Opportunity 2016

    After the last few winters (which were brutal, cold, snowy, and long), James got a break this year when the late January temperatures reached the mid forties! James took advantage of the weather (and a weekend without football) to work on his puzzle still in the garage from the fall. Its a 2000 piece puzzle and James is half way through it which would make it the largest puzzle (piece wise) that James had ever put together.

    The warm weather has also helped us get an early start on Spring cleaning. Last year at this time we were chipping ice on the sidewalks with most of our free time, this year we have been able to do a little cleaning under the steps and for one of the few times in the history of under the steps, it does not look bad.

    Tomorrow it should be in the mid forties again although we may hit 50 so James is planning on a couple visits to relatives and then a full afternoon of working on his puzzle.

  • Winter Visit To “Past Tense” 2016

    We made the trek to “Past Tense” in Lapeer Michigan this weekend to check out the displays and were happy to find that the awful construction and detours they have had their the past year are finally over and we shot right through the town of Lapeer. Past Tense has Halloween and Christmas displays up all year long, in addition to being one of the most unique garden shops in Michigan. Our friend Dynamike joined us as he does a lot of gardening in his front lawn and while he was looking at gardening and antique idea’s, Dad was in the Halloween section (as expected).

    Next we stopped at the antique store there and checked out what was new (or old as the case may be.

    After the antique store we stopped for treats at their restaurant (the one with the water wheel) we headed back home, noticing how early the sun sets in January. By the time we got home (around 6pm) it was pitch dark. Spring is getting close but not quite around the corner.

    (more…)

  • James Weather Blog Snow and Thunderstorm of 2016