Christmas greetings!

We were limited in our hard copies this year (maybe a good thing - this is pretty random).



Caroling, caroling now we go
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling thru the snow
In Michigan still living.
Joyous Genghis's one and a half
Can say 2 letters of the alphabet
Ding, dong, Genghis Gong sends his Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling thru the town
Gongs send Christmas greetings
Caroling, caroling up and down
Our family keeps growing
Mark ye well child #2
Still has 3 months in utero
Ding, dong, Baby Girl Gong sends her Christmas greetings

Caroling, caroling near and far
Erin goes consulting
For museums and libraries—the non profit sector
But any paycheck’s rewarding
Abe’s teched up with web development,
Cloud computing plus a new hair cut
Ding, dong, Parents Gong send their Christmas greetings.

Happy Holidays!
From the Gongs
2011

friday photos

Getting cozy - two new favorites for Genghis.

remember the time i had a blog

Yeah, I barely do, either.

No Friday photos today because I'm not at my home computer. Instead, I offer a collection of random thoughts for the weekend.

1. I made these bar cookies for a party this week. I don't usually like bar cookies but when Abe took the leftovers in to work I had to call him halfway through the day to request that he go snag a few to bring back home for me tonight. My one Christmas wish is that you try making them yourself before the end of the month.

2. While making said bar cookies and other party goodies on Wednesday night, I think I worked myself into pre-term labor. Not because I was working particularly hard in the kitchen but because I had just stuffed myself with delicious Chinese seafood and couldn't stop eating the cookie dough. I had to give up before everything was done and go to bed. The cramping had stopped by morning. Kublai seems just fine now.

3. I love the rain but have mixed feelings about it in December. It's too early to be complaining about weather, though, so I'll just leave it at that.

4. For a while Genghis had the habit of walking around the house saying "money, money, money, money". We weren't sure what he was really talking about but it was an endless source of amusement for us. About a week ago, he became an almost overnight expert in identifying "Dada" and "Mama". This has been very heartwarming for us. Then a few days ago, he started referring to me as "money mama". Abe encourages this. I don't know what to think.

friday photos

We were apparently too busy making and eating delicious food to take any good Thanksgiving photos. My parents came into town for a few days, and Genghis loved having their undivided attention. We spent Thanksgiving day with them and with some good friends.

Genghis spent most of Thanksgiving dinner chasing this cat.


My dad, the food scientists (specializing in dairy and cheese), trying out some of Zingerman's offerings. Still looking for Parmesan that doesn't have a dirty feet/baby spit up aftertaste.


Mom got sick the last day she was here, but put on a bold face.


We had our first real snow this week. After many tears and kicks, we got Genghis bundled up and headed out for a few minutes. He was wary of the snow, especially after falling hands first in it without gloves. I think I'll put him through a regimen of indoor boot training for the next 2 weeks. He couldn't stay standing in his (let alone walk), so we had to go with regular shoes which soaked through pretty quickly.