James synced his Ipad2 with the TV to make sure everyone knew when 2012 ended and 2013 began.

James at the store spending the money he got from relatives and friends at Christmas time.

James began celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve as we went to breakfast with Grandma then everyone visited Aunt Peg who is scheduled to leave the rehab center January 3rd. Upon returning home James was allowed to open one gift and it was Battle Ship from Criss and Kenny.

Christmas Day Idgie was the first up looking for gifts, then Mom, and finally a tired James made his way to the Christmas gift opening. Lots of good educational toys for James this year. Mom, Dad, and Idgie got gifts from James as well. We then sat down to Christmas lunch and watched the final season of Smallville while James played with every gift he got. The snow came down pretty hard and we had a definite white Christmas this year.

James went out after Christmas to spend some of his Christmas money on Angry Bird stuff.

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Aunt Peg was in a rehabilitation center because of her legs and did not make it home in time for Christmas, however we were able to visit her Christmas Eve and exchange gifts with her.

We all felt bad that she would not be coming home till after the New Year (We just got the news she would not be home for Christmas or New Years a couple days back) but we want her healthy and this is the best way for her to get healthy. They hope to release her the first week in January, but that is tentative and depends on how well she does in her therapy.

Peg and James have a little message for everyone this holiday season. Check out the video below!

A trip to Frankenmuth in December is special, especially as the sun sets and all the Christmas lights turn on. We usually make this visit anytime but Christmas but we felt that we had to visit both Frankenmuth and Bronners at Christmas time (Actually Christmas Eve Eve Eve to be exact).

Meanwhile Mary got to visit a cupcake bakery that she had seen on Cupcake Wars (a reality series on cable). Seems this bakery in Frankenmuth came in first place so we bought some cupcakes while we were there and ate them on the way home.

As the sun began to set the Christmas lights came on in the city and it was a gorgeous spectacle. We drove through the town and across the covered bridge then headed home for the evening.

Continue reading “Christmas Visit At Frankenmuth 2012” →

We had planned to get to Bronners to surprise James with a Titanic Christmas bulb which we saw in an ad. James also got a Statue of Liberty bulb and a free bulb for spending over $25.

We usually visit Bronners when its not Christmas time so the crowd was a little bigger than what we are used to, but everyone was still as friendly as ever and we had a great time. They have a giant Christmas telescope that you can look through that I thought was cool, and an elf fishing in a swimming pool which was colorful but I did not really understand the purpose. I think it was meant to be ice fishing but it looked more like a swimming pool to me.

The weather outside still had snow, so that made it a white Bronners visit which is something we don’t often do.

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Once again we attended the Colon Christmas Celebration. James got plenty of treats as pretty much everywhere you went there were cookies, juice, cocoa, and even a chilli contest. Mary got to shop at the antique stores and James got to see Santa and also pet the live reindeer that were outside the library. Inside the library James got to pick out a free book – he chose a Madlib book. Outside the library James got to pet a couple live reindeer!

The elementary school had a craft show which included some awesome tasting snacks and some homemade Amish bread. A Santa parade went down mainstreet and there were carolers on the corners. A fun time was had by all.

Below is a demonstration of the virtual Santa that we got from Abbotts, it makes it look like Santa is really in your window.

Continue reading “Christmas at the Magic Capitol 2012” →

It was a traditional Detroit Thanksgiving for us. First James watched the parade and enjoyed it, later Dad watched the Lions lose (again) on Thanksgiving (this time in overtime, an agonizing defeat). The meal Mom cooked was delicious and everyone gobbled their share of turkey, stuffing, and deviled eggs. Later we pulled out the Christmas decorations (at James request) and got to work on setting up Christmas inside and outside.

The highlight for James was setting up his Christmas countdown ornament which is on its third year. Mary and James will add more bulbs and ornaments later in the week and we will be all set for Christmas 2012 (assuming the Mayans are wrong).

The small collection of pictures we have here are of James and his Mom making devil eggs for our Thanksgiving feast!

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Each year Mom goes out and buys Dads birthday gifts at the After Halloween sale. People often ask where we get the Halloween props and the secret is to purchase it after Halloween when everything is 50 – 70%.

This year we went to the Halloween store the day before to see what they had left and decided on 3 new animations that we felt would fit into our display. The next day we got there about 50 minutes early to wait for the half price sale to begin (we were third in line).

Our 3 main items were “The Howler” werewolf to go with our other werewolf. The “Popping Goblin” which is really nothing more than one of those plastic pumpkins, except the back moves out and a Goblin pops out of it.

The Witch from the Wizard of Oz was the final one on our list. The Halloween store had two left and when Mary lifted the top one, another person immediately lifted the one below hers so it took about two seconds to sell out. Good thing we got there early and waited.

We also stopped at Jo Ann Fabrics and picked up some Halloween crafts and decorations at 70% off and Marshalls where Mary bought a bunch of stuff for $12.

James came home from school and one of the Hoover teachers (we don’t know if the teacher wants us to use her name or not) gave us a haunted house cookie jar!

Finally, KMart had one Jason left at 60% off and that concluded our after Halloween sale. Our next purchases for Halloween will be in the Spring when the garage sales come around again.

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James and the entire Hoover Elementary class participated in their annual Halloween Parade. James went as skeleton (as he did last year) because he figured there would be many Mario’s (which is what he is trick or treating as tonight).

The parade went into the residential area which was different than previous years. It was also held on Halloween day, Oct 31st, which I don’t think it was in the past. The parade stretched well over a block in length and was very impressive to see.

Great time by all and the weather, although 42 degrees and slightly wet, was good enough to get the event in.

Continue reading “Hoover Elementary Halloween Parade 2012” →