on my shelf

You either love him or hate him.  He’s the (little creepy) bribery tool parents use to keep their kids well behaved for the month between Thanksgiving & Christmas.  You guessed it….he’s the elf on the shelf.  For the 2^nd year now this little elf has graced our house with his presence.  I have to admit that he creeps me out a little, but he’s become a tradition in our house and my son looks forward to finding “Adam” every morning.   (If you’re asking yourself “What the heck is an elf on the shelf?” then click HERE) 

The elf has been around for many, many, years but has recently picked up in popularity.  If you do a google search or just log into pinterest you’ll find hundreds of ideas for this stuffed sprite.  Some of these ideas are outrageous and as a working mom I don’t have the time to dedicate every night to setting up some elaborate scene for my elf.  I can barely remember to move him every night so to spend 15+ minutes setting something up each night is exhausting.  Maybe that’s just me but my 4 yo is not going to give a hoot if the elf is hanging off the chandelier or if he’s riding in a hot air balloon that was home crafted out of paper, ribbons and a balloon.    He enjoys finding him regardless. 

I’ve tried to get a little creative only because I’m running out of quick ideas of where to put this thing.  Half of me wants to wrap him in an ace bandage and say that he’s had an accident and can’t move for a week. But I can't disappoint my son, even though I’m pretty sure that he is not buying the whole story about the elf and is just humoring us as we move him every night.  But for now he’s playing along and we’ll continue to move our elf every night until Christmas Eve when we bid him farewell for another year.

Do you have an elf on the shelf?   cast your vote – creepy bribery tool or cute holiday tradition??

elf acrobatics

 

chocoholic elf

 

going for a ride on the Sodor Railway

 

made his own design with our window decorations

flying home to the North Pole makes for a hungry elf

zipline!

 

 

O’ Christmas Tree

It’s that time of year again when we go looking for our annual family Christmas tree.   Last weekend we took a drive up north to pick out and cut down our family Christmas tree – a tradition we started last year.  We decided to try a different farm this year since we weren’t overly happy about the prices of last year’s place and from friends’ recommendations decided to check out Battenfeld Tree Farm.  A had so much fun running around the farm looking for a perfect tree and telling Daddy to cut it down.  Santa & Mrs Claus showed up to take pictures with the kids and there was a sleigh ride complete with mini clydesdales pulling it.  Throw in some hot cider, doughnuts and a big bonfire to sit by to keep warm and it made for a very cozy afternoon. Of course A wasn’t into Santa or the sleigh ride (just wanted to look from afar) but if you wanted, one could spend the entire day there.

Once we got the tree home A wanted to help us put it in the stand and then anxiously awaited me to put the lights on so that he could decorate.  My little elf did a great job helping. Only two ornament casualties later….we have our fully decorated tree.  All ready for the big guy to leave presents under!!

Annual Family Vacation

Every year my side of the family gets together for our “annual family vacation”.  Since my siblings live all over the country (my brother on the west coast, my sister down south) each year we choose a destination and get everyone together with my mom for a week of family umm…. togetherness.  This year’s destination was Williamsburg, Virginia.   My husband didn’t have enough vacation time left to go with us, so he drew the lucky stick and stayed at home while A and I made the 6.5 hr drive down south.

All in all, we had a nice week filled with amusement parks, water parks, playgrounds, mini golf and lots and lots of swimming.  We even managed to squeeze in lunch with Elmo and his friends :)  It’s always wonderful to spend time with my siblings and to see my niece and nephews.  Now that A is older he had so much fun playing and interacting with his cousins.  Of course there were some hard moments since I had to deal with A on my own (he was being clingy for a lot of the week) but overall it was fun….and it beat being at work all week! 

How quickly vacation time fades, though.  I was back at work not even a day and it felt like I had never left :(  I already feel like I need another vacation.  Good thing we have another one lined up for next month – and this time hubby and I are going alone!!!  Wohooo!

Here are a few pictures from our week.

A Griswold Family Christmas

This year we (well, really I) decided it would be nice to go as a family and cut down our Christmas tree.  So yesterday we went to Wilkens Farm in search of the perfect Christmas tree.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. The weather was cold and windy which made for a cranky husband and an even crankier toddler.  We walked out to the area where they had the trees and quickly tried to pick the best one. I felt like we were the Griswolds!  We found a tree, had the guy cut it down and quickly hopped on the tractor to ride back to the main barn.   Back at the barn they had hot cider and doughnuts for us to eat while we waited for our tree to be tied up. 

Despite the cold, I thought it was a fun experience and would like to make it a family tradition.  If you ask my husband though, he’ll probably have a different answer. 

Making memories…that’s what it’s all about.

Before:

After: