Friday, November 28, 2014

One Little Joy of Christmas....

 
The day after Thanksgiving - the day that NorthernMommy insists on decorating the house for Christmas. It's kind of a sickness with her - the family must assist her in dragging a tree home, stringing lights all over it, and hanging ornaments. When that is complete, the family must help with placing an amazing assortment of Nativity scenes, snowmen, and other decorations all around the house.
It's all good, and the house does look festive and welcoming when it's all done, but there is one thing that always ends up driving NorthernDaddy insane.
 
The Snowman.
 
This snowman hangs from the doorknob and, any time the door is opened, plays "Feliz Navidad". Now, "Feliz Navidad" is a perfectly fine holiday song, but there's a problem with the doorknob that LittleNortherner insists that the snowman be hung on:  it's the door that NorthernDaddy has to go through in order to get to the recycling bins, dump the compostable scraps, and go outside for chores. In short, this door gets opened approximately three hundred times each evening.
That's a whole lot of "Feliz Navidad".
 
There's no escaping this evil singing snowman. For the past three years, LittleNortherner has insisted on hanging the snowman in the same location. NorthernDaddy has tried switching the voicebox "Off". LittleNortherner constantly checks the switch and turns it back to "On".  Daddy has taped over the optical sensor that triggers this serenading snow-devil. LittleNortherner is too old and smart for Daddy to get away with that trick.  Removing the batteries, whacking Frosty with a stick, and hiding the snowman have all failed - LittleNortherner is dedicated to reviving his little snowman-shaped Jose Feliciano.
 
If this wasn't a family blog, there would be a post with a short video showing this snowman meeting a loaded shotgun. Barring that, NorthernDaddy must live with the mocking holiday sounds of the World's Most Despicably Evil Snowman.
 
 
Don't fall for the cute look - this snowman must die!
 
 
 

Friday, November 21, 2014

Gobble, Gobble


 NorthernDaddy made these  RiceCrispy Treat Turkeys for a work-related Thanksgiving lunch.
 
 
Yeah, they're too cute!

Trick or Treat?

 
NorthernDaddy neglected to post this one in a timely manner, but he's got a little story from Halloween.
 
The Northerns live on a street that is most definitely not conducive to trick or treating. It's a heavily-travelled road with minimal lighting, and the houses are spaced just a little too far apart. Knowing this, LittleNortherner was informed that the family would be trick-or-treating in some other neighborhood (one of the rich ones with lots of candy).
 
LittleNortherner was concerned about the possibility of some young Halloween reveler stopping by the Northerns' house and not being rewarded with candy. He devised a plan. There would be a bowl of candy left outside on the step. He carefully crafted a sign. It instructed would-be trick-or-treaters to take one piece of candy from the bowl, and asked them to use the honor system so that each visitor might have a piece of candy. He painstakingly placed the bowl and the sign for the optimum presentation to any and all visitors.
 
LittleNortherner led his parents off to complete his rounds of trick-or-treating, secure in the knowledge that any young ghoul or princess that stopped by would be taken care of...
 
...except that NorthernDaddy and Mommy forgot to leave the porch light on. 
 
 
The Northerns returned to a darkened house and a full bowl of candy....