Elf Recap 2011

We had such a great time with our Elf this year.  Last year it was more of a ploy for them to be good because Santa's messenger was watching them.  This year it was more of just a fun thing to wake up to and see what kind of mischief the Elf had been up too.  A couple of our kids know the truth of Santa and such now, but they still got a kick out of it.  Here is a recap in pictures.  I think the only time I forgot to get a pictures was when he was hiding in the advent calendar (which we forgot to move him he liked so much, he stayed there for 2 days. Woops!).

Hanging from the curtain rod:

Sugar snow angel:
In the fridge.  Brrrrr!
 Brought some snowman poop (donut holes) from the North Pole to share along with a personalized note.  We made sure that he added a P.S. that he was just kidding so that they would eat it.
 My favorite day... the hot air balloon.

Brought some bubbles and set up Lily's bubble machine!   Left out some notes with disappearing ink...





Which led them to the stockings. Zip lining all the way across the dining room into the living room.


Stuck in a jar.
"Hanging out" on the art wall
Locked out!
 Parachuting.
Using the computer.


Getting into the true meaning of Christmas.
Snowball fight.


 

Drawing on our family pictures.  Some of the kids thought it was funny, some were a bit insulted.  Eden said "Our Elf is kind of naughty!"  We thought Lily looked like the Hulk. Tanner got a little mad and erased the art before the morning was over.
But then he forgave and left a not for the Elf.  "To Elf: Tanner Spdioroio. We love you.
Having a good read.
Snuggling with our sleeping santa under the tree.
Fishing.



Peeking out from the top of the cupboard.  We were getting a little weary of being creative every night toward the end.
Playing chess with a Sponge Bob doll.  He even used the four moved checkmate for the win.


On Christmas day he was hiding in the food pantry and had gotten into the hot chocolate! We found him once all of the morning festivities were over.  He also held a note telling to kids to look out the front door for a big surprise.

Even though I preplanned and prepared everything ahead of time and put it all on the calendar, this was still quite a project.  I am not sure if our little Elf is going to be up for this again next year.  Okay, he probably will.  It is a pretty fun tradition.  I love making life fun for my kids.

Christmas Cards

This was our card this year.  I was planning something totally different, but this idea just kinda evolved one afternoon.  Tanner was cracking me up.  He was such a supermodel. Everytime the camera would click, he would change his facial expression.  This was a crazy afternoon getting these pictures done, but it was fun.

Journaling

Wow, life is so crazy busy right now!  I am actually looking forward to Christmas break starting so that I don't have a double life.  There is all things Christmas all month long  on top of the coming and going of school schedules, library books, homework, special assignments for 3 different kiddos.  Its a job in and of itself.  Yay for the break starting today! Boo for the Penguin Patch store at school though.  I decided to give each of the kids $10 to do their Christmas shopping this year.  I thought they would be able to buy tons with that and we could be done with it.  They came home with like 5 things each and it was a bunch of junk.  I mean really like way worse than the dollar store.  Thinks that should have cost .05 were like 1.00.  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip off!  I am ticked. 

Here are a couple of things that have been awesome this year though. LOVE these pop up tape dispensers that fit right on your hand and give you a piece whenever you're ready.  I found them at the Dollar store too!  I also bought a fresh pair of scissors there so that we can easily cut paper with a nice sharp blade.  I got 2 sets of these things so that Peter and I can have a wrap fest without the back and forth with materials and "were are the scissors?" every 2 minutes.  Yay! 

These Fudge kits rock!  It is so easy to make, no fail, quick, super yum and even comes with a tray so you don't even have to have wax paper.  I found them at Winco for 4 something dollars which may be even cheaper than buying all the materials separately.  I have already made 4 boxes for parties, neighbor and teacher gifts.  Easy is what I need right now.

I was going to try to blog each day of December, but it is all  becoming lumped into a blur, so I am going to try to catch up.  I don't know which day was what anymore as we have shuffled things around as needed so its just gonna be a mishmash of the month.  At least I am trying right?  Not having internet is getting old sometimes.  Blogging is the hardest thing to stay on top of now and that makes me sad. It is my creative outlet.  I think I am ready to get it again now that I have broken some over use habits, but the hubs still likes the simplicity.  Some day.. 

I am totally done with the kids Christmas shopping, package sent to my parents, and almost done with Peter's family.  I think we may be on the home stretch finally, but next year I am for sure going to do everything online.  I only did Peter's that way this year and It has been crazy trying to find moments to slip away to shop.  I have tons of fun pictures of all the fun things we have been up to so stay tuned.

Pinkalicious!

A couple of years ago somewhere out in cyberspace I saw and fell in love with the idea of a pink Christmas tree.  I dreamed of  getting one with all pink decorations for my girls some day.  I checked into it a bit this year, but thought it would be spendy and didn't see just what I was hoping for.  Then I went to Walmart and couldn't believe that they had this sweet little 3 1/2 foot tall pink tree!  It was $20 and even pre-lit.  There was also all pink trimmings, including ornaments, garland and even a skirt and a star which added up to be only about $15 more.  Total : $35!

Sometimes it is just so fun to celebrate being a girl.  Eden and I had a ball together putting it up in her room.  It was a special moment.  Peter totally didn't get it when I told him about what I bought, but as we were putting up the tree in Eden's room, he came up and watched us as we got all giddy about all the pink. He was quite entertained and said he gets it now. When the boys asked why they didn't have a boy tree, I told them that was why we have a Christmas tree train and all the outside decorations.  They seemed happy with that. 
It just makes sense. Girls love pretty things and Christmas is a great time of year for a little extra pretty.
This is just exactly what I had pictured in my mind and I loved making this new tradition with my girls.  Something just for us to do together.  We call it our Pinkalicious tree since it even has cupcake ornaments. The kids stare at it until they fall asleep.


Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. -Gordon B. Hinckley

December 3rd

Our Elf got into the sugar and made a snow angel!


It was fun to watch what everyone got involved in when we put up our tree.  People just started finding something they could do and doing it.  Dallin was really into helping his dad set it up.

Eden ran and got a cup of water for it next.


Tanner found the skirt and put that on.Carter found the train and did a great job scattering it all over while he waited for it to be put together.

Dallin helped me put on the lights and all the kids got going with the ornaments while I started putting the train together. This train is on its last leg.  After much taping we got it going...barely. 





 



It worked out perfectly that by the time we were done it had gotten dark outside so we turned the lights off and everyone sat around the tree for about an hour watching the train and listening to the Christmas songs that it does.  It was a magical moment.  Lily was napping so when she woke up to this, she was very excited. 

December 2nd

The kids found the Elf hanging from the curtain rod:

Our activity was to cut down a Christmas Tree and to get out our decorations. Our toddlers are a bit challenging lately so Peter went to the U-Cut right by our house with Dallin, Eden and Tanner.  They had a great time and it only took about a half hour total.