The Elf on the Shelf

Our family has started a new tradition this year and I wanted to pass it along. It's called The Elf on the Shelf. Have you ever wondered just how does Santa know if you've been naughty or nice? It's all because of the Elf on the Shelf! I don't want to give too much of this book away, but if you have kids I highly recommend this precious book. It's about a magic elf who comes to live with you during Christmas time and magically flies to Santa every night to give him a report on whether you've been good or bad. The elf then magically flies back home before you awake. He can see you and hear you, but you cannot touch him. We named our elf Snowflake and every morning my kids run to see just where Snowflake landed this morning. They get so excited when they find him. So far, he's landed in a different spot, but I told them he's sure to find a favorite spot and may land there a few times. He's also helped with discipline at our house because Brady & Hudson know Snowflake is watching them and they want him to report good things to Santa. I bought our book at Mistletoe Marketplace and the author was there signing the books as you purchased them, but you can order it online. My kids think the book is from Santa and that he wrote a special message to them...it's really cute. I had no idea this book would bring sooo much fun to our house....it's definitely worth the $30 bucks. Click here to get your very own copy of The Elf on the Shelf.....I promise you won't be disappointed!!!

Ella's 1st Piggy Tails!

Ella's hair is getting fairly long so I thought I'd try to see if we had enough hair for piggy tails. Much to my surprise we did!! This was my first attempt at "piggy tails" and ,well, as you can tell from the pictures a squiggly 17 month old and an unexperienced hair dresser don't mesh so well. I took a few pictures of our first try and then redid them....she wasn't having a third try....she definitely does not enjoy playing "salon". I thought the second try turned out okay, especially for someone who is terrible at fixing hair! I can't believe our baby is now 17 months old and big enough for "piggy tails". The little things I that I just couldn't wait for are happening way too fast!


My very 1st "piggy tails" on top of my head

Am I cute or what??

Our 2nd try - more like "piggy tails"


Post nap "piggy tails"

Trip to the Zoo

The weather was beautiful on Saturday, so we decided to take our three little "monkeys" to the zoo! The kids had so much fun. They were very interested in all of the animals and the sounds that they made. I really thought they would loose interest very quickly, but much to my surprise they wanted to see every exhibit. It was soo cute the way they would ask us what the animal was and then try to repeat it....Hudson was the funniest....we would tell him what type of animal we were looking at and he would then tell all of the other spectators as if he were the zoo keeper or something. It was too cute. Once we finished all of the animal exhibits we headed over to the train station for a train ride around the zoo.....my kids love trains! It was so nice to just have some fun, stress free time with the family.

Happy Halloween

Anakin, Luke Skywalker, & Princess Leia


Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia

The Life of a Princess...even if it is in a Galaxy Far Away!

Anakin showing off his Light Saber

Brady showing off his contribution to his Class Project

Brady helping work the booth sponsored by his class



WOW!!! What a busy Halloween! We started out at 5:00 heading over to the neighbors house for pictures.....great idea but it just wasn't happening with my 3 little ones. They were all interested in their own agendas and it didn't include sitting still for a group picture. We then headed to Brady's school for their Fall Festival which was WONDERFUL!!! There were TONS of games and inflatables, a dunking booth, a train ride, horse rides, karaoke, and lots of yummy food. It definitely was a GREAT alternative to trick-or-treating. Brady and I worked his class booth and then we headed off to play a few games and play on the inflatables. We left the festival around 7:15 and headed back to our neighborhood to meet up with our neighbors for the tractor hayride and trick-or-treating. My kids were sooo excited about the hayride and the fact that a "real" tractor was pulling the trailer.....okay, I must admit we did have the best hayride....thanks Tiffany & Jack! I think my kids may have trick-or-treated at 5 or 6 houses. They were way more into the hayride than trick-or-treating. Once everyone was done trick-or-treating we headed back to Tiffany's for some yummy fresh cotton candy! Tiffany's mom comes over everyone Halloween and sets up her cotton candy machine and they pass out cotton candy....it probably was the BEST cotton candy I've ever eaten...thanks again Tiffany & Jack....you guys definitely win the Best Neighbors Award & Coolest place to Trick-or Treat! Needless to say we were EXHAUSTED! There was no argument at our house when we said "bedtime".