Month: December 2016

2014’s Christmas Card all the girls made their own Gingerbread houses and it’s fun to see that each house truly reflects their personality!  

If you are looking for a simple and kind of old school Christmas gift….check this out.  It is one of the Schrafft family’s favorite past times for sure.  Freddy and I first discovered “Shut the Box” while wasting away a rainy afternoon on Nantucket with a few Bloody Mary’s at what used to be the Atlantic Cafe.  We probably played for hours…and looked forward to popping a squat at the bar and playing a few rounds during later trips to the island.  We were both sad to discover a few years later that the Atlantic Cafe (the A.C.) was no longer there…nor was Shut the Box.

Several years later a friend of ours bought me one of our own for Christmas.  I had totally forgotten how much fun it was.  I actually then purchased one for my classroom as it turns out that it’s a great way to learn simple addition math facts.

We introduced the game to Thatch and Finn a while back and they immediately took to it as well.  We’ve clocked some hours playing on the coffee table at home, by the pool at various hotels, and in front of the fire up north.  The boys look forward to it as kind of our thing. I like that it is part luck of the roll…and part strategy. For me it’s a win, win, win with the boys.  They’re practicing their math reasoning, we’re spending some quality time together, and (my personal favorite part) truly anyone can win!

The same friend who bought it for me years ago, sent me a link this fall when a “Four Family Family Shut the Box” became available on Zulily.  So, I obviously bought it for them (us) for Christmas.

They started to play at halftime during yesterday’s Patriots game….so I took a quick video.

Here’s the gist….

1.  One player goes until they can’t go any more.
2. You roll two dice at a time and add up your score
3. You then decide which slots of the box you want to close….to add up to the same number.
4. For example…if you roll a total of 9…you can close just 9, or 8 and 1, or 7 and 2, or 6 and 3, or 5 and 4….or even three slots, like 5 and 3 and 1.
5. You keep rolling and selecting which slots to close….until you roll a number that you can’t make with your remaining numbers.
6. You add up what you have left….and that becomes your score.  For example, if you can’t roll a 7 and you only have slots #8 and #3 left…you can’t go…and your final score is 11.
7. Obviously, the lower your final score the better.

Every once in a while you actually “Shut the Box” and close all the slots…getting a score of zero.

When one person is done, they record their score, and then the next person goes.  We usually play 5-10 rounds and add up our total scores.  The person with the lowest total wins.

2016

This year we got the red ribbon tied in the middle as opposed to 2012  green ribbon tied at the end.

2012

2011

Tony Gross Comes Through With The Annual Swedish Coffee Bread!

Posted on December 24, 2011 by Joey C

2010-

Tony Gross Comes Through Again With His Famous Swedish Coffee Bread

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Joey C

Every year Tony makes Frank and I a loaf of his much sought after Swedish coffee bread. I’m afraid to open it because once you eat the first bite i can’t stop til that whole sucker is gone. (I’m not sure if he puts heroin in it, the stuff is so damn addicting).

Tony Gross 2009 Swedish Coffee Bread

Tony Gross’ Swedish Coffee Bread

Posted on December 21, 2009 by Joey C

Every Christmastime Tony Gross, the skipper of the lobsterboat F/V Sandollar makes a ridiculous number of Swedish Coffee Bread loaves and gives them out to friends.  I made the mistake and called it Nisu but because the recipe comes from an elder in Tony’s family he insists it be called Swedish Coffee Bread.

It’s delicious and best eaten within a day of cooking.  I sure am glad I’m on the list of those who get one every year!

Period Partners is a local donation drive to provide menstrual products to local shelters, and we could use your help.

Homeless shelters, food pantries, and prisons rarely have adequate supplies of tampons or pads to meet the needs of the populations they serve. As a result, when people get their periods, they often resort to unsanitary practices, such as using socks or layers of paper bags. Because it’s something we rarely talk about, people don’t often think to donate these items. Access to menstrual hygiene products is a basic survival need, but for many people in America this need goes unmet.

Our goal is to provide Wellspring, the Action shelter and the Grace Center with enough supplies to meet the needs of their clients for one year.

You can drop feminine hygiene products off at Captain Joe’s, or send in a check made out to Period Partners. THANK YOU for your help!

I had to dig out the “albums” for this one because it was taken with a good old fashioned film camera! There’s many Christmas cards that the kids won’t let me share with the FOBs but this one was one of the early years when they collaborated and came up with this idea.  Lindsey was headed to college with all her stuff…Abbey was getting her license and Mel was hanging off the back reluctant to be left behind!  Hoping everyone is taking time out to enjoy their own flashbacks of some great holidays of

Here’s my list of stuff that I 100% put my name and reputation on based on pure awesomeness that are products that I know first hand are WINNERS and that EVERYONE will love.

The 30 oz Double Walled Insulated Stainless Cups Keep Your Iced Coffee With Ice All Day But Guess What?  It also works in reverse, keeping hot coffee hotter way longer than anything else.  There wasn’t a single person that I turned these on to last summer that wasn’t thrilled with them.  This is the cheapest price I’ve seen it at $9.99 half of it’s regular $20

30 oz Tumbler | Double Wall Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel

Here’s the link to purchase

Victorinox 3-Piece Kitchen Knife Set

I’ve had my Victorinox knife in my draw at work for over five years and use it daily and it stays insanely sharp.  Almost dangerously sharp where it goes right through stuff like tomatoes without messing them up.

You could literally buy this set and throw all your other knives away.  On sale today for $15.76, normally $20

Here’s the link to purchase

Ugg Slippers for Men or Women  This was on my list for two years now.  Want to know why?  Because simply put they are far and away the absolute most luxurious, most comfortable, warm thing you can put on your feet.  They might seem expensive dollar wise, but I can tell you and anyone I know that has them will tell you that if they cost double I’d still have to have them because they are THAT GOOD.

For men- these are the one’s I have

UGG Men’s Ascot Slipper

Here’s the link to read the reviews and purchase

For women- these are the ones Kate wears-

Here’s the link to read the reviews and purchase

UGG Women’s Ansley Moccasin

Etekcity 3 Pack Portable Outdoor LED Camping Lantern with 9 AA Batteries (Black, Collapsible)  Regularly $69.99 on sale for $15.67

With the inevitable power outages we will be facing this winter these LED Lanterns that are just over $5 each are a no-brainer and everyone that’s got them, again, raves about how well built and awesome they are.  Shhh, don’t tell them but each one of the kids are getting one for their rooms at the crib in their stockings.

Click here to purchase

The New GMG Logo Cap Steel Gray (Click to Purchase)

The new GMG Lids Are Straight Fire And There’s Only A Handful Left So get Em Before They’re Gone.

Good Morning Gloucester 2017 CD Case Calendar (Click To Purchase)