The Kitchen

 Continuing with the new house reveal :)  

Here is the kitchen and dining room!

Pogo the Elf Week #2

Our elf's antics continued this week!

He helped deliver Advent calendars...

Then he dressed up like a Minecraft Creeper in the tree...

He got into a snowball battle with Reindeer...leading the kids to ask who started it!

There was a paper sack race...that Pogo won...and the kids questioned Reindeer's sportsmanship!

And after watching the hamsters roll around in their balls when we were cleaning their cages, Pogo and Reindeer decided to test them out themselves!

With 2 more weeks to go, I can only imagine the trouble Pogo is going to get into!!!  

Oh, wait! I have have his calendar of events...lol!

The Return of Pogo, Our Elf

Several years ago we joined the elf craze and adopted an Elf on the Shelf, straight from the North Pole :).  It's become a labor of love for Daddy and Mommy, but something that our children absolutely LOVE and expect.  I personally love the magic it brings and the fact that the almost-teenager STILL believes.

I know there are a lot of elf-haters out there and I can understand - it's a commitment!  But it is a tradition that works for our family and we love every moment of it.  Eventually they will all lose the "believing" and that magic won't be so special - and I'm treasuring every moment of it!

The other frequent conversation I hear is - "We don't do Santa and the elf - we focus on the real meaning of Christmas."  I don't want to get into any big debates here on this little family blog, but trust me - we do focus on the real meaning first and foremost!  Growing up, my mom loved Christmas the most of any holiday and she did it BIG!  I work really hard to carry on that tradition.  We do Santa for the magic and mystery and child-like belief.  We also teach the real meaning of Christmas right along side of the fantasy.  Our children frequently discuss both aspects simultaneously!  We have Santa alongside Nativities.  Our advent calendars are both candy and bible verses.  Yes, there can be some confusion at times - Bubba is convinced Mary is married to Santa this year - but it just gives us great teaching moments!!!

So please enjoy the magic of our elf, Pogo!  He has lots of tricks up his sleeves --- that Mommy may have all mapped out on a calendar before he arrives :)

Our North Pole Breakfast...this year Pogo brought holiday shirts and made mini pancakes :)

Then he stopped by the bathroom to wish the kids a "toot"-a-rific day...and added in a musical toilet paper roll!

We found him hugging some syrup in our pantry.

And testing our his superhero skills!

He had fun playing with Bubba's dinosaurs (which made for an angry 4-year-old...lol!)

He added his touch to our family pictures and got caught with the evidence!

And to round out the first week, he shared his Naughty/Nice list for Santa...unfortunately, Bubba had a rough week at preschool and it was still undecided which list he belonged on!

(and sadly he's currently been added to the Naughty list...and is working on making a move...without much luck...4 is tough!!!)

A Little Bit of Life Lately - November

We've had a busy few weeks as November was wrapping up.  My best friend from Rhode Island flew in for a week and we soaked up every minute of it!  We shopped and explored and drank all the wine...and it ended all too soon!

Then we shuffled through Thanksgiving with just our little family and a nice case of colds!  The weather was beautiful and we loved every second of the warmer temperatures and spent a lot of time outside, cleaning up for winter and playing in the neighborhood.

Even though it was just the 6 of us, we decided to break out the fancy dishes and have a real Thanksgiving dinner.  The best thing we did was pre-make the turkey and filling so we only had to make a few sides and reheat things  - easiest meal ever!

That evening we joined our neighbors (who have kids that our kids love!) and headed to the local theater for a family movie date - Coco was super cute and all the kids behaved!

Friday, Daddy spent sometime being an elf for Santa and finished a project for the littlest one.  Can't wait to reveal it on Christmas Day!

Then Saturday, we had to make a trip to pick up Daddy's snow tires, which happened to be "all the way" in South Bend, Indiana.  Which was really less than an hour away.  While we were there we drove through the campus of Notre Dame and saw the stadium.  Some day we will go back and walk it all but no one was feeling it that day!

And on our way home, we made a stop to replace Sassy's hamster for the 4th time.  Poor thing has had zero luck with her pets in the past year!  She wanted another but was so over it she opted to stay home with her friend and have us pick it out for her! Ha!

Then Sunday, we bundled up and went hunting for a Christmas tree!  We went to a cute little tree farm with wagon rides to the tree fields, where you can pick your tree and they cut it down for you.  In RI and PA we used to tag trees in October and then go back in December to cut it down - apparently they had never heard of that here in MI...which is fine because there were plenty to choose from!

The new house has amazing vaulted ceilings so we were able to get a very tall tree and it looks so good!  I did have to go get more lights and ornaments but that's a minor detail :).

And finally, we got an early Christmas present from Papa and his friend.  I LOVE this little robot and so do all the kids!  It's amazing (and a bit embarrassing!) to see all the dirt and dust that I have missed!!!

Watch for more holiday posts as the month continues.  Our elf has returned and I have all his antics to share!  And we are having fun exploring our new home and discovering all the holiday traditions!