A Month in Photos {December 2013}

December… How did December pass so quickly?!? It was a chaotic fun-filled month with family and friends!

Our Elf on the Shelf returned for some mischievous fun
Count down to Christmas
School Talent Show
We celebrated Christmas with family in MN, WI and IA
A skateboard - EEK!!
We got together with college friends for our annual Holiday party

Planning for our Elf on the Shelf

Last year was the first year that our family had an elf – we avoided it for a few years!  As we gear up for the upcoming weeks of elf mischief, I decided to review many of the ways our elf, Clyde, had fun in our home last year.

You can read more about our elf’s first arrival and the letter he came with here. 


One of the things we quickly learned about having an elf was that every mess left behind by the elf must be cleaned up by someone. Sometimes Clyde left a mess that Anthony could help with, sometimes not.  This led us to be very selective, mostly choosing mischief that required very little clean-up afterwards! 

Below are a few of the fun ways that our elf caused trouble at our home last December -
(The majority of the photos are iPhone photos taken in poor evening light, so I apologize for the poor quality!)

Every good elf loves a Christmas movie with popcorn!  Don’t forget the root beer!


Enjoying a bowl of cereal with an extra big spoon while sitting on recently delivered packages!


Reading some books.  Lego books have been a huge hit this past year!


Riding one of our many reindeer decorations…


Checking out Anthony’s stocking!  This photo definitely was taken in very poor light – our woodwork is a dark brown, not orange!


Having some fun with our first formal family photo, taken just a few weeks after we brought Anthony home!


Sleeping in Anthony’s bathroom.  A cotton ball makes the perfect pillow with a washcloth as a blanket!


Oh you know, just listening to Anthony’s iPod!


Enjoying some hot chocolate at the table… (just a cup FULL of marshmallows!)


Getting some exercise in the office – it was the perfect size for him!


Messing with a new sticker book…


Hanging out in a lantern…


Climbing to the top of a tree…


Climbing to the top of another tree!


Opening a package the night of Dec 23rd…


Each morning from December 1st to December 24th, Anthony enjoyed the hunt of finding Clyde and seeing what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into.  Sometimes he thought Clyde was really funny, and other mornings he was really mad when he saw what Clyde had gotten into.

What are some things your elves have done?

A Month in Photos {December}

December is always one of the busiest months as we celebrate the holidays with our friends and family.
We traveled to both Wisconsin and Iowa this month - sure wish we lived closer to everyone!

Hanging with cousins.
Elf on the Shelf.
Matching MN Vikings Jerseys (aka “twin brothers!”)
Christmas Program at Church.
Family (self) Portraits.
Snow day.
Christmas Decorations.
Celebrations with friends and family.

Merry Christmas!

and Happy New Year too!

9 Years Ago Today {and basement/home randomness}

9 Years ago today we found ourselves moving into our home. We had quickly sold our first home (after the first showing!) before we even broke ground on the one we were building.  As a result, we had to move into an apartment while our house was built. We lived there for 5 months and on December 22, 2003, we moved in to our home! You can read more about what our kitchen cabinets looked like at that time here.

We were worried about impacting our family and friends around the holiday season, so we ended up renting a U-haul and moving the majority of our belongings ourselves. We did ask one friend did come and help us for about 3 hours – there were a few things that I was not able to help lift down the stairs from our apartment (TV, TV cabinet, couches, etc.). We were so thankful to have the help that day!
It’s crazy to thing about all of the changes we have made to our home over the last nine years and we have been loving every minute of it!

The basement is currently consuming a lot of our free time (and money!!). After focusing on tiling the shower and the basement entry, we moved on the family room. We hung the mantel over the fireplace and construction on the built-in cabinets has begun.  (Which you know if you follow me on Instagram).
Here are a few random pictures from the basement – the work continues!

This picture is from weeks ago, but here is the shower before grout. All of the tile in the basement has been grouted for weeks and the fixtures have been installed. I just haven’t taken the time to take any updated pictures…





We were “mid-grout” here:



After we were done with the tiling, we put up the fireplace mantel and now the built-in cabinets are being built. Hubby brought in the bases for a quick “size check” so we could get a feel for how they would look. The cabinet on the right side will be angled into the room since that is where the TV will be. They are farther along now – more pics once they are installed!



It has snowed here a few times and we just recently had a blizzard here in Minnesota. Here is our front porch after one of the snowfalls – all set for Christmas!



Happy Holidays to you!

Santa’s Arrival

Every year Santa “arrives” on the roof of the old city hall on the 1st Saturday of December. We have attended every year for a few years now and it’s always been a great family event! 

While waiting for Santa to arrive, Anthony and I were being super silly – can you see the spunk in his eyes???  There is always so much energy and excitement as we wait for the man in the red suit!


Mrs. Claus is always there too.  After he arrives, they are both available for the children – Mrs. Claus often will read stories while other children wait in the extremely long line for the 60 seconds with Santa.  The kids LOVE it and tons of families attend!


Anthony had a very serious question to ask Mrs. Claus.  I’m pretty sure he asked her if she makes breakfast, lunch and dinner for Santa every day!  Ha!


After much anticipation, there he is!  Some years they try using a microphone so Santa can talk to us, but not this year.  The crowd has been more fun in pervious years too – often caroling (Jingle Bells, jingle bells…") while waiting. 


Another fun fact – there is a couple in our city that covers their home in Christmas lights just like the Griswold’s, only they almost take it to another level beyond! This year they even have a workshop in their backyard. The best part? The guy dresses up like Santa almost every night (sometimes Mrs. Claus is there too) and you can stop by to talk to Santa and he will give you a candy cane.  He LOVES bringing a smile to the faces of the little ones in our community. We love it too!

Annual Christmas Gifts {Photo Ornaments}

We have sent photo ornaments to a few special people every Christmas since Anthony has been with us. I always pick up a few photo ornaments (sometimes an ornament set like the one below) and find a nice picture of Anthony to include inside. We have been sending these ornaments to Anthony’s birthmother, birth-grandmother, and godparents each year. After a couple of years I realized that they would all have a photo ornament of Anthony from each year, and I hadn’t even been making one for us! This year I decided to make one for us to keep too.  (I’m also going to make a photo ornament for each of the years that we "missed".)

Here are a few of the ornaments for this year, although Anthony’s godparents will get a different one (they follow the blog and I’m not sure when we’ll get it to them, so I had to make sure to not reveal it online!):

I love the classic red and white of this ornament set!

One of these will go on our Christmas tree this year.  Any suggestions for which one we should keep?

Our Christmas Mantel

Our fireplace is 3-sided which makes a nice division between the living room and dining room, and is wonderful for heating the main living areas of our home.  Unfortunately, having such a small back wall and not having a “front” makes it extremely tricky to decorate – at least for me!

This year I decorated for the holidays in classic red/white/silver.  I used some mercury glass vases and candle holders (from West Elm last year), some red vases (from Ikea), candles, a KWO smoker (from Germany!), and some inexpensive glass ball ornaments.

Here’s our fireplace, looking in to the living room:




Hubby’s aunt works in sales and used to be a rep for the KWO line and she has given us a couple KWO smokers over the last few years.  You can see another one in our office, here.






 Isn’t he cute?  I just love the classic look of this guy!




 Next year our fireplace in the basement will be ready for holiday decorations – I can’t wait!

I would love some new ideas of décor for the 3-sided fireplace – any suggestions?

Linking to: The Lettered Cottage, The Shabby Nest, Ten June, Uncommon Designs

Elf on the Shelf {The First Arrival}

We really were not sure if we wanted to jump on the elf bandwagon, however after dragging our feet for years, we took the plunge this year.

After doing some research about how to get started with the elf, I found this site on Pinterest, where an elf was first introduced to a family. I tweaked the letter to better suit our family and we were all set for the introduction of our elf!



When the box arrived on December 1st, Anthony was so excited to have a package from Santa!



When he opened the box he found the elf, a letter from Santa and the Elf on the Shelf book – initially he was not sure what to think about all this. 



Then he read his letter from Santa to us… (letter is shown below)



After reading the letter and learning that he is not supposed to touch the elf, he was a little nervous that the elf had already lost his magic. We carefully set the elf back in the box, carried him inside and dumped him on the table, where he waited for his first night of festivities…



Here is our elf, Clyde, on his first night with us.  Anthony was so excited to find him the next morning!


Here’s the letter that we used:

December 1^st, 2012
Dear Anthony…one of my favorites!
First off, I have to tell you that I think you are very special. I know that you are filled with love for your parents, all of your family and your friends. I know that you love Jesus too and so do I! That makes us especially special!
I want to send you a very special treat for this Christmas season. This elf is a dear friend of mine. He is from my workshop and he is coming to help you get ready for Christmas. I would like for you to give my friend a very special name, a name that your family can call him, as he will be with you until I visit again on Christmas Eve. You should know that he tends to be a little naughty. I know that by making good choices, you will help your elf learn to make good choices too!
One important thing about this elf… elves are not exactly the same as humans. He will stay still during the day and because he is magical, you shouldn't touch him, for fear his magic will leave him. You can talk to him and tell him stories – he will hear you and love you. While he is quiet during the day, he loves to play at night once everyone else is sleeping. That’s when he gets in trouble, so you’ll have to watch him carefully!
When I told him that he was going to come and stay with you, he was so excited! He really loves listening to the piano, so maybe you will get a chance to play some music for him.
Have fun, and I’ll be back to pick him up on Christmas Eve when I come to drop off some surprises for you!
I love you very much!
SANTA

P.S. Please read this book, to learn more about my friend!

The elf will improve little boy's behavior, right?? We are definitely hoping it does! Especially for our 1st grader who is already asking if Santa is real. It's way too early for that discussion - I was definitely not prepared when he came home asking about Santa...

Do you have an elf at your house? What types of tricks has he been playing for your kids?

Family Fun During the Christmas Season

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? Not for me!

There have been so many variations of lists like this popping up all over the place and I thought a Christmas version would be fun.

Here’s what I started with:



Yup, that’s my Dad! Somehow I ended up with some old framed pictures of my Dad and I happened to have two identical old frames with the this photo. I needed a frame for this project, so sorry Dad, your photo has been displaced. That doesn’t make me love the picture any less!

A couple of quick coats of spray paint later, and the frame was ready to go.  I just added some scrapbook paper, used my Silhouette to cut out the words “Jingle Bell's'” and put together a list of things to do this holiday season.

Since it’s behind glass, we can cross things off the list as we go, using the frame like a dry erase board!



Plus, I painted the frame with chalkboard paint, so once the holiday season is done, I can find another fun use for it!



Let the holiday fun begin!

Linking to: Organizing Made Fun, The Shabby Nest, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hi Sugarplum!