Thursday, December 27, 2012

Elfie the Elf

I LOVE Elf on the Shelf. Our Elf's name is Elfie and we have so much fun with him. Because our December was going to be hectic, I even made a schedule for us to follow so I knew I had all of the supplies at the house and I wouldn't have to think to hard on what to do with Elfie.
 
Elfie showed up this year bringing all of us breakfast! He brought Christmas Tree cakes, powdered donuts, and hot chocolate and the kids loved it. They were so excited to see Elfie, too!
 
Day 1: Elfie brought us breakfast

Day 2: Elfie turned the milk green!

Day 3: Elfie zip lining in the living room
 
Day 4: Elfie was caught fishing

Day 5: Elfie drew on our pictures - the kids loved this one

Day 6: Elfie was riding Rudolph

Day 7: Elfie was taking a bath in marshmallows

Day 8: Elfie decorated our Christmas tree with the kids underwear

Day 9: Elfie was playing cards with friends

Day 10: Elfie was building snowmen with marshmallows

Day 11: Elfie was riding Lightning - Blake did NOT like this. He actually pulled the car from under Elfie and he fell to the ground. He had to apologize and he kept talking about how Elfie had to go to the hospital to get better.

Day 12: Elfie needed a chocolate fix

Day 13: Elfie made breakfast!

Day 14: Elfie followed us to French Lick and showed up in the closet hanging from the hangers

Day 15: Elfie making a snow angel in sugar

Day 16: Elfie left a message on the bathroom mirror

Day 17: Elfie was planking on the ceiling fan

Day 18: Elfie made a mess in the living room with toilet paper!
 
Day 19: Elfie left stuff to make our own Christmas tree candies! Austin and Katie spent the night so they got to make one too!
 
Day 20: Elfie got comfortable in the pitcher

Day 21: Elfie brought the kids some gum

Day 22: Elfie brought the kids some crayons and a Christmas tree picture to color

Day 23: Elfie painted everyone's noses red like his and rudolph's! Kylie was so excited!

Day 24: Elfie left seeds for the kids to plant so that something will grow overnight

Day 25: Look what grew...Cookies!
(Kylie told me later that she wanted grass to grow)

Day 26: We found Elfie with his head in a bag of M&M's

Day 27: Elfie spelled out the kids' names with cheerios

Day 28 (last day): Elfie left reindeer food for the kids to spread on the lawn
 
And lastly here is my calendar I made up so I didn't have to think too much, but still be creative. There was a few changes I made along the way but this was very helpful since I got all of necessary products before Elfie came. I will be doing this next year as well and there will be even better ideas for Elfie! I know I had so much fun!
 
 

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas Traditions - Part 2

Something new we did this year was visit the Galt House KaLightoscope display. The kids really liked it so it may be a new tradition for us. We went one day after work so it wasn't crowded at all.
 






 
 
One last thing we did with the kids this year was take them to Lights Under Louisville. We went to it last year and the kids loved it so we decided to go back. If you have never heard of it, I think it is pretty cool as do the kiddos. It is a huge light display all underground in the Mega Cavern.
 

 
Next posts: Our Elf: Elfie & Our Christmas Celebrations!!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Christmas Traditions

I love starting new Christmas traditions with the kids. Now that they are older, it seems we all enjoy them even more. This past week we participated in three of our Christmas traditions – two that we have previously done and one new one.
 
On Thursday, we visited my mom’s work at Norton Audubon Hospital where they had “Light-Up Audubon.” It was the kids’ first time visiting Santa this year so they were VERY excited. However Kylie was upset because she didn’t understand why Santa didn’t give her what she asked for. I had to explain to her again that the visit was to just let Santa knows what she wants and if she was a good girl he would bring it on Christmas morning. I still don’t think she gets it. This year she has asked for fingernail polish and a guinea pet (Zhu Zhu pet). Blake told Santa that he wants trains and Batman.

 
On Friday my mom, sister, niece, Kylie and I went to the Nutcracker. We took the girls for the first time last year and they loved it. They seemed to love it this year as well but next I will be sure to bring plenty of snacks since Kylie always seems to be hungry right after we eat dinner. Nana bought the girls a pretty dress to wear to the play so they loved to get dressed up.
 

 
 
 
 
On Saturday we headed north to the Polar Express in French Lick, Indiana. If you have never heard of it and live around it, I HIGHLY recommend it. The kids LOVED it and the entire experience was great. We stayed in the indoor water park across the street from the train station so the kids got to play in the water all day Saturday then we headed to the train ride later that night. Blake and Kylie have watched the Polar Express movie 75 times (no exaggeration) since last Christmas so they kind of knew what to expect with the train ride – the ticket punch, elves, hot chocolate, Santa, singing, dancing. We all had a great time. We are already planning our trip for next year since tickets sell out almost a year in advance (we bought our tickets last December).





 
 
 
 
 
We also stayed at an indoor water park called Big Splash. The kids got to play most of the day Saturday before we headed to the Polar Express so by the end of the night, they were completely exhausted. The water park was great and it never got too crowded. The kids really enjoyed it.
 



 
Of course we also have a special Elf that comes to our house every night for the second year in a row. His name is Elfie and the kids are so excited to see him and what he has done every morning. Elfie will have his own 2 part post very soon. He is so mischievous!