Our Christmas - Part One

I hope everyone had a very, merry Christmas! We sure did and it was so nice to be home for a few days with the kids. It makes me miss them so much when I am at work!

This year we had four Christmas celebrations. We were exhausted by Christmas morning but it was all worth it to be with family. Our first Christmas was actually a week before Christmas with my dad's brothers and sisters and all of their kids. It was sad since this is the first year without my Mamaw and Papaw. Plus on top of it all, my dad was still working in NYC for FEMA and my brother Jonathan was still in DC. It was still good to watch the kids open presents and see the look on their face when they did.

 

 

 

And I had to share this picture of the girls. I made their dresses! 

 

 

The second Christmas celebration we had was with Aaron's family. It was another great celebration since it was our nephew John's first Christmas. Of course it was bittersweet because we were all missing Paula so much and John has helped with that void.

 

 

 

 

John wanted to give Blake kisses in this picture. He just couldn't get enough of his big cousin Blake! I can't imagine the trouble they are going to get into when they get older.

 

Our next Christmas was with my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins on my mom's side of the family. We always play some sort of card game so some pictures below are from our game of 'Pass the Trash'. It always gets very competitive with our family!

 

 

 

 

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!

 

 

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!!