Elfie 2014 - Part 2

The month seems to have flown by and tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to Elfie once again. I shared with you his beginning of the month antics in a previous post and I wanted to show you what has gone on the last half of the month. He definitely keeps life interesting this time of year!

Hot chocolate goodies! You can see the mugs HERE

Elfie brought us a beta fish! The boys named him Tsunami.

The goodies to make gingerbread cookies

Elfie having a little breakfast before Samuel got up

Elfie recreated the scene from Shrek the Halls when Santa ate the Gingerbread men. Jordan wrote a letter to Santa letting him know what Elfie was up to.

Santa responded to Jordan by putting Elfie in time out after having him bring us new goodies.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve which means, if tradition holds true, that Elfie will be bringing new pajamas for the kids. What are some of the traditions your elf on a shelf keeps up every year?

Merry Christmas!

**If you read this before December 31st, 2014, would you mind doing us a favor? Elfie is entered in an elf on a shelf contest through our kid's dentist. If he wins, we are donating the prize (a Kindle HD 6) to a friend whose husband is going on a missions trip to India. He will be able to auction it off as part of his fundraising. Simply click on the picture below and it will take you to the picture on Facebook. Most likes wins, all you have to do is like it. Thanks!**

DIY Holiday Mugs {for all the people on your list}

There are those Pinterest ideas you see, love, pin and never do anything with. Then there are the ones you see, love, pin, revisit, and not only do something with but do EVERYTHING with....that would be these mugs for me. I think we have all seen different versions of these DIY mugs. Simply write with sharpie, pop in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, let cool and you are good to go. Anyone can do that! So I did - over and over and over. Thought I would share the versions some of the people on my Christmas list are receiving this year.

The Papa (insert any loved one) Mug:
The idea behind this one is cute. I actually saw this it through an advertisement on Facebook for a personalized gift company. It said something different but had all the grand kids faces around it which I thought was cute. I browsed Pinterest for a saying I liked best and settled on "All my MOST favorite people call me papa." I then {attempted to} add all my kiddos faces. An artist I am not. In fact, my kids themselves probably would have done a better job. Thankfully, Papa loved it nonetheless.

The Teacher Mug:
I found this one on Just a Girl and Her Blog and knew it would make the perfect gift for my kiddos teachers. She even makes it easy for you and includes the printable tag! Nathan goes to PEP one day a week and has two teachers there on top of his and Jordan's regular teachers so I made 4 all together. I filled the cup with peppermints and spearmints, a cute striped straw and a gift card to Starbucks. Along with the printable tag I attached an ornament that I also found at the dollar store. Actually, everything but the mugs and the gift cards came from the dollar store and the only reason I didn't get the mugs from there was that someone had already cleaned out all the pure white ones. A totally reasonably priced gift that is still super adorable and useful (Lord knows I NEED coffee in my life!).

The Snowman Mug:
I pinned these along time ago as a gift from Elfie and had originally planned to have them at our North Pole Breakfast but didn't have them ready in time. So I used them as part of a hot chocolate treat he brought instead. I picked these mugs with the cute red band at the top because I thought they looked like hats for the snowman (and you guessed it, I got these at the Dollar Store!). They love having their own mugs with their names on them and these will be fun to pull out during the holidays each year.

Have you tried this Sharpie mug method yet? How'd it work for you? Baking them is supposed to keep them from wiping off but we noticed that when we hand-washed the snowman mugs they did fade in some areas. Not sure how to remedy that but if any of you have suggestions I would love to hear them.

I will tell you a tip that helped when I was working on these - Magic Erasers will take off the sharpie if you make a mistake drawing on it in the first place so don't panic if you make an error!

Elfie 2014 - Still going strong!

Can you believe that this is the 4th year Elfie has visited our house? Me either! Now, not only are the bigger boys anticipating his daily antics, but the twins are getting quite a kick out of finding him each morning. I honestly didn't expect them to really notice him yet this year but most mornings they point him out and grunt and laugh, repeatedly going back to his spot to show us. That newness through their eyes is an added bonus to this December tradition we have grown to love. So what's he been up to? Let's take a look:

He kicked off the season with our 3rd annual North Pole Breakfast. Delicious as always!

He tested out the jet pack Jordan invented and got stuck...oops!

The kids got behind on their advent calendars so Elfie helped them out a bit.

Just taking a soak!

Elfie brought their new ornaments for the year on tree decorating day.

Hanging out on the fire truck (we were seeing Santa at the Fire Station that day, I think he wanted to feel included)

Must have wanted a late night snack - why not popcorn?

The next day him and the angel swapped spots.

He was too warm and missing home so decided to "chill" in the freezer!

Elfie saving Woody from the evil ogre who was trying to feed him to the shark (Jessie was helping, she was just outside the picture on the line)

Whew...he's been busy already! What has your elf been up to this year?

Halloween 2014

Another Halloween is in the books! One of the things we most look forward to every year at this time is the pumpkin carving contest at the boys' school. They have had some great entries in the past:

This year's ideas were just as impressive, although this was the first time they didn't get a ribbon. They are still winners in my book! 

Jordan's robot

Nathan's working clock

The gears are already turning for next year's contest and we will have a third participant as Isaiah will be in Kindergarten.

Halloween night was equally exciting, the boys experienced their first year of Trick or Treating. In the past we have always attended the Harvest Festival at our church but the twins were sick this year so I stayed home with them and Jeremy took the oldest guys out. They had an absolute blast and are in their rooms trading candy as I type. Hope you all had a happy Halloween as well!

My Top 10 Must Have Baby Items for Boy/Girl Twins

It's been so, so long! We will have to catch up another time but I wanted to share with you my list of the Top 10 Must Have Baby Items for Boy/Girl Twins. You can check it out over at Every Best Of:

http://everybestof.com/1798-Top+Ten+Must+Have+Baby+Items+for+BoyGirl+Twins

Pin-spired Teacher Gifts

With the last day of school upon us before Winter Break, I have spent the week putting together little gifts to let the people in my kids school life know how much we appreciate them. All of these ideas where pinned to my Random Acts of Kindness board on Pinterest, so make sure to come follow along if you want to see what other gift ideas catch my eye!

Samuel has been seeing a physical therapist for a few months now and she makes the trek out to our house every week to do his therapy and is so good with not only him but our other kids, so we wanted to give her a little Christmas gift to thank her for all she does. This gift idea came from Taylored Expressions (where you can find the free printable tag to go with it) and includes some cozy socks and a bottle of nail polish. I put it in this cute Christmas tin I got for $0.99 at Walgreens:

The only people who spend anywhere near as much time with Nathan and Jordan as I do, are their teachers. We so appreciate the hard work they put in each and every day to teach and care for our boys so it was the least we could do to send along this small token of thanks. These tins full of Snickers and Almond Joy along with the tag that says To A Year Full Of Snickers and Joy is from Lil' Luna, head over there to get the free printable.

Finally, we wanted to pass along some Christmas wishes to the man who has the big task of picking up and dropping off our boys each and every day. This printable is actually a postcard meant for a mailman, but I cut off just the main message and crossed out mail to replace it with kids. Some M&M treats for the bus driver, as inspired by Who Arted?:

While none of these gifts were over the top or about to break the bank, I think it is the thought that counts. Taking a moment to thank someone important in your life, even in a small way, is the least we can do to show our gratitude. Hope you have been Pin-spired to do the same for those special people that surround you and your love ones!

Elfie 2013 - week 2

Another week into December means another week of Elfie's holiday fun. Here's what he has been up to:

That naughty elf tp'd our tree!

A book tower - mad skills, Elfie :)

Ever feel like someone is watching you?

Elfie brought the goodies to make Sugar Cone Christmas Trees

A little Rock 'em Sock 'em with Samuel's dog

Elfie, you are NO angel!

Want to see what he was up to last week? Click the picture to check out last week's post: