The Christmas Train

Yes another year and another successful outing with our family and our Christmas train!   Yes the kids go to bed like any other night and then shortly after we say good night we come back with their tickets and their Santa hats and we board the Christmas Train!     We have Christmas music, decorations in the car, Christmas blankets, a snack (oranges this year!) and we go on an adventure to find great Christmas light displays.   

During our outing we allow the kids to choose the direction from time to time and they love it.  We go out for about an hour and then come back home and put them to bed.    It's a great tradition that we've done for a couple of years and they asked several more times if they could go again on the Christmas Train!  Can't wait until next year!

Christmas 2013

Our Christmas was great!   ...And I am woefully behind on blogging about the close of 2013!  Goodness, I'm going to try and play some catch up and so there will be some blog bursts.  I know, I know - the only acknowledgement to Christmas so far in my blog has been about Ivy the Elf... not even the focus of Christmas in our house!     2014 I'm going to try to be better about blogging and keeping up! Resolved?  Eh maybe.  ;)

Now for Christmas 2013 let's enjoy a photo array of our morning!  This year I did an elapsed timer with the camera set up on the tripod.  I got it going and then just let it go.   Leaving me hands free to enjoy time with the kids and not trying to grab a shot of them opening presents.    It was great!  Later in the afternoon I grabbed the camera and got a few more close up shots of them with their fun.  

The traditional shot at the top of the stairs awaiting the word they're allowed to come down!

Reading the Christmas Story out of Luke before we begin the presents

Merry Christmas, Pixel!

Legos from Grammie!!

Present for dad!  Another Walk Rock Jar they painted (the first one was full!)

Pose for a couple shots here!

Legos and Ninja Turtles.  All boy!

Someone was introduced to Calico Critters this Christmas and she's super excited about them!

We got to chat from afar with my family for 90 minutes.  While my nieces showed me all their presents and I got to laugh and spend time with my family.    I love technology.

We had a wonderful Christmas season!   We hope yours was too!

Ivy the Elf

Yes, for the third year a little elf came to visit our family after Thanksgiving.     For the second year in a row we did the North Pole breakfast which was festive and fun.    The elf arrived and brought donuts, Pez, candy canes, and their 'Christmas' pjs!    Yes, Ace's were Hulk pjs but well he's green... and red and green are traditional Christmas colors.  ;)   He was thrilled.   It was a fun morning (though mommy was quite unhappy with picture quality, fooey!)

The kids again enjoyed the game of hide and seek - they are allowed to touch our elf and play with her throughout the day once both kids have found the elf in the secret spot and as long as she wasn't up high.   If she was up high - mom or dad had to get her down first!   Ace was quite frustrated some mornings because his sister had little desire to find the elf.  It didn't concern her in the least but he desperately wanted to get her before he left for school.   It caused some tension sometimes, but again they loved the elf and the hide and seek game that we make of it in our family. 

As December waged on Ivy the Elf got herself into lots of festive places and at time antics!    There were a few parental favorites and one request from a friend for where/how to hide the elf.    There were a few "phoning it in nights" (Ivy under tree skirt, Ivy in bucket of blocks)  and one night that must have been so lack-luster I didn't take a picture and I can't remember where she hid one night.    Overall not too shabby! I *do* have to pat myself on the back that while there were many nights it was right as I was going to bed I remembered to hide the elf every night and only once had to get out of bed to do it and the elf did move every night!  ;)

There were a couple of nights when the creativity bug got a hold of me and we spent a decent amount of time being *THOSE* parents that other people blog angrily about regarding elf mayhem.   Sorry folks.  :)   To be fair we were only those parents 25% of this holiday elf-hiding season.

My first wave of creativity came when I wanted Ivy to sail the seas, then I thought a battle scene would be fun and so it just evolved after that.   It probably did take 20 minutes, but let's be honest a good part of that was cleaning enough so that I would be willing to capture that space of my house on camera. 

And well we couldn't just let Ivy get away with charging attempting to take over the Pea's land...couch?  and so I wanted to build a jail out of tinker toys... but Ace had dispersed them amid the house and my best efforts to collect them from his room (and Mae's) before they went to bed was not enough to construct something with them alone and thus the Zoobs had to be brought out and the husband called in for some serious construction assistance - but I have to say the jail is still intact and in Ace's room... pretty sure the minion is still in it.  ;)

On another night as I was ready to just go to bed I was hunting for a good spot for the elf to hide and I was struck with inspiration for drawing on the chalkboard and so I went to work drafting up a drawing for Ivy to have been posed to draw.   There was also another good 5 minutes of shoving stuff away from the easel and if you panned the picture out - to the right would be a pile of crap that normally lives under the easel.  True story. 

We recently have been undergoing construction.  New floors, new paint, new fireplace, new mantle.   Our fireplace and mantle before was this ugly shabby chic brick.   Not shabby chic pretty - like shabby crap.   Like there once was tile stuck to it and it was ripped off.  Not pretty!  HOORAY for family that is good at stuff like this and was willing to do the job of building us a new mantle and tiling up the fireplace nicely for us!  Love it!    So I wanted to unveil the mantle in an excellent display of photos of Ivy.   Alas my excitement and all of my toner spectacular photos were upstaged and barely noticed because it snowed the night before and there Ivy sat all day with barely a notice.  

Finally for you fine readers I present to you this delightful elf!  My friend sent me a picture of another elf in a Christmas tree sitting on an ornament, someone (the same person that posed it, or maybe not)  had posted the ever so infamous Miley song lyrics along with it... my friend begged me to please do it!   Since I'm mildly obsessed (in the way that you can't stop looking at a car wreck) with Miley's utter train wreck of the last year of her innocence I couldn't resist and thus this fabulous (and carefully posed) shot was taken! 

Merry Christmas, Ivy!  Now off you go until next year and a new personality will be born! 

Black Friday 2013

First, I have to say that I was incredibly sad that my partner in crime for the last six years was under the weather and unable to go with us!   I can't say how disappointed I was to not be traipsing through the mall and various stores and inexplicable hours with V.   Now that said, my SIL had planned to join us so while we were missing a key player we certainly didn't lack in Black Friday (and Gray Thursday, hehe) fun!    

After SIL's power nap we headed out around 10:30 - music cranked, seat warmers on, gas filled up - we were on the way to Target!    We got a pretty decent haul - I had one tote with me and filled it to the brim, got several movies, a few gifts, and a lot of fun - we got in line that literally was wrapping in and out of the outer aisles of one half of the store.  It was great fun, met some fun people in line,  we sang happy birthday at midnight and we were only in line there for about an hour and unlike when I went in 2011 the line was constantly moving.    SIL stepped out of line and got us Starbucks while I maintained our place and it was grand ol' fun!  :)    

Next stop was the mall and a great adventure getting many presents taken care of at the Disney Store!  We found a parking spot right away and headed into the mall!  We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes in order to get into the store (or at least it felt that long, it was nearing 1am)  The line wasn't quite as long as Target but for a store that's like 1/6th the size it was still impressive.   We headed home and were in bed by 2:30. 

We slept until around 7:30 and were up and out the door again by 7:50 for the next store - in which we spent 3 hours there and knocked out several more presents and purchases!   It was great and so much fun to go out with SIL!    

Upon returning home I commenced my sad face and pleas to persuade the husband to get out the Christmas tree - which for the most part didn't take too much effort - he loves me! ;)      We got the tree out, got all the lights on it, and then each of the kids grabbed an ornament and put on the first two ornaments of the tree while we captured the moment.  :)  And so begins the wonderful Christmas Season!!

Thanksgiving

Another great year with the family!   Auntie and Uncle Kai came to our house late on Wednesday night and were here for the whole weekend,  the kids love them, we love them, it was great!    The kids woke up at the same time that Uncle Kai and Loving Husband did, which was around 6am so they could head out for our church's mud bowl, so while we tried to keep them contained a while longer the morning began early!   

Since I was up nearly three hours before the parade I decided to get a head start on some of the kitchen prep while my co-chef was off playing football.   Breakfast supplies seemed so normal and boring so I put together some pumpkin bread to kick off the morning.   Next up before the parade I blended together the herb butter that was going to need to smother the turkey.    Kai and I had spent the last couple of weeks collaborating on a menu that we would enjoy cooking and exploring.  



The Chefs of 2013

We went with a southern theme to our dinner and our menu was as followed:  Herb Roasted Turkey,   Corn Bread Stuffing,   Green Beans baked with oil and garlic, Sweet Potatoes soufflé, Mac & Cheese with ham, Cranberry Relish (a family staple from Grum), Butternut, Apple,  and Cranberry Bake,  and then for dessert Gran brought her pumpkin pie and Kai found a delicious recipe that was entitled Is It Really Better Than Sex? Cake -  we substituted the pineapple for mangos and around 10:30am our cooking began.  For the chefs and the other two folks that were corralling the kids, I put together some Boozy Berries and we enjoyed some mimosas while we cooked.   We moved a small tv into the kitchen so that I could watch some football while we cooked as well.  We had a good time and moved quite efficiently with all the various steps that the dishes required.  Sometime around 3pm I realized that I had yet to even break to go to the bathroom!   

Prior to getting started cooking we enjoyed watching the Macy's Day Parade and the kids played with Auntie.   It was a great day and the meal with tasty and oh so many leftovers were around.    Dinner was an hour later than we had planned and we began plating the meal around 5pm.   Less than 20 minutes later, with no nap from the little miss, Mae asked to go to bed.  It was so sweet and so I cuddled her up and toted her off to bed.   

Dinner was wrapping up by the time we got back so I had a few more bites of food and then dove straight into desserts and they were delicious!    Yes, I had 2 helpings of that cake and we ate it throughout the weekend - so yummy!    Then of course the silliness ensued with the family as it often
does around the table. :) 

After we got Ace into bed and said goodnight to the grandparents we sat around chatting for a while before 9pm rolled around and Loving Husband headed off to bed at 9pm... and Auntie headed downstairs to take a power nap before we began our late night shopping!   Thus leaving, somehow, Kai and myself who had spent nearly seven hours in the kitchen cooking the meal to then clean it up.   Halfway thru clean up we acknowledged this injustice and declared that in 2014 the siblings would be cooking the meal and we would wrangle the kids and then post their bedtime we'd leave the siblings to clean the meal up and he and I would go out (as we find sleeping at 9pm laughable, sorry fam.)  ;-) 

The Adventures of Ellie

Yes our little Ellie the Elf had a grand ol' time - she even got to venture to another state!  What fun!    This was another great year and this year Mae had a lot more fun with trying to seek out the elf.  Ellie did make some repeat adventures to some of the same spots that Holly her predecessor had, but there was still plenty of new places to seek out and trouble for Ellie to get into!  

Ace really enjoyed the hunt but Mae loved to hug on Ellie once she was found!  Can't wait to see what next year will hold for the little elf and my two!

The Little Elf Express

Last year with a nearly one year old M and an adorable three year old boy one evening while Loving Husband was out working late I took the kids out 'hunting' for Christmas lights.  We had a lot of fun and driving around aimlessly searching for GOOD Christmas lights.  :)     It was so much fun that  this year I wanted to punch up that theme a bit more so off to Photoshop I went to draft some tickets and turn our vehicle into a Christmas Train:  The Little Elf Express.

With tickets printed, an evening where the whole family could participate, and two kids believing they were headed to bed - I disappeared and decorated the car.  I had battery operated light strung through the garland above their heads.  Ellie the Elf was in the car hanging out in the back on a strand of the garland.  We had warm apple cider in all the cup holders and we had some red and green M&Ms to keep us munching.     I brought out to the car our Christmas themed blankets and then Loving Husband and I switched - he got the car going with warming it up and put on some Christmas music and I presented the kids with their Christmas hats and their tickets to ride the Christmas 'Train'  the Little Elf Express!

They were so excited to go!   They enjoyed all their treats and Ace even made the cute statement "Mom, I won't eat too much because candy makes me hyper."  :)    Mae was adorable and was on the hunt for every snowman that she could find after seeing a giant blow up one at the first house we drove by "NOMAN!!!!"  It was cute - she would just giggle so loud and full of joy it was so much fun to listen to!

At one point in the adventure we allowed Ace to give the directions - we give him options of "left, right, or straight"  (sometimes only a combination of those three)  and he chooses.    He chose really well once and he guided us to an amazing house that was covered in a million lights.   Bless them and their electric bill, yikes!    We pulled over and let the kids unbuckle and take it all in!   It was a good find and a good way to (almost) end the evening.

 

 

I say almost the end of the evening because you see Miss Mae here - this is at the giant display.  She had fallen in love with Mickey Mouse.   She did not want to get back into her seat.   So Mommy promised her a visit to a different Mickey (there was one we had previously driven by) so she complied in order to go say hi to that Mickey and we were on our way.   On our way to see that Mickey we drove past a super sized Mickey and turned to go see that one instead.   It was a lot of fun and they headed to bed as soon as we got home.  
An excellent beginning of a fun tradition with the whole family!  :)  

The husband grabbed this shot in which he claims this captures the theme of the evening... aka mom with her camera.  I have to say - I only brought the cell phone camera and I did not take many more pictures than the husband did.  ;-)

A North Pole Breakfast

Once upon a time there lived a little elf named Ellie who lived at the North Pole - she decided to come visit and enjoy a bit of frivolity around here for an extended game of hide and seek!  Oh boy what excitement - well she likes to arrive in style and in doing so she brought Ace and Mae breakfast.  :)   Last year, Ace had a great time with Holly the Elf so we can't wait to see the enjoyment that Ellie brings to our lives this year!

Welcome, Ellie!

Thanks to Pinterest in a few key links my inspiration for menu choices and decor were brought to life. Although I have to give a good shout out to Little Pumpkin Grace ... and Hudson too! as she was my main inspiration for this project.  :)  Ellie's helper (me) got to work to make a winter wonderland at the kitchen table.

The kids woke up and Ace came downstairs and lit up with excitement!  Ellie had brought marshmallows (which she had thrown everywhere!) donuts (which she had sampled) a few frosty friends from the North Pole to hang out, candy canes and hot cocoa.  

Ellie had also brought socks for the kids!  Ace was adorable asking - "Did Ellie really bring these or is it just pretend?"   He knows the reality of Santa and so he's always trying to figure out what is real and what is pretend.  It's sweet and I said it's pretend, but we can pretend that it's real!  That made him smile that Ellie had brought him socks from the North Pole!

Mae enjoyed dressing up in the table decorations and putting all the marshmallows into her hot chalket.    She did not drink any of it.  :) Eventually the candy cane went in the drink as well. 

Ace had a great time and wanted to eat lunch at the North Pole table too. Sounds good to me, little man!    Happy Holidays!!