Elf on the Shelf

If you know me, you know that I love creating traditions for my kids. I'm always looking for fun and new things to do with the boys. These are things they will remember and it's my hope that our family will stay close and strong because of them.

When I was young, we had a Christmas tradition that I always looked forward to. Our family didn't really have a ton of traditions growing up so for some reason this really stuck out for me. Looking back, it's really quite simple and many of you may think "so what's the big deal?" Who knows. Maybe Julie and I just created a game or something but regardless it was something we looked forward to. Each year, after the Christmas tree was assembled and trimmed, Julie and I would choose the perfect spot for our elf. My mom had been given this elf by a family member. He was small and cute and he completed our tree oh-so perfectly. Unfortunately, our elf got lost after Julie moved away. Since then we have talked about that elf and about how much we enjoyed him each year.

So, you can only imagine the excitement I felt when I got a call from my mom a few weeks ago telling me that she found a similar elf. He's about the same size, although our elf had green in his outfit. He's not made as well (isn't has heavy as our original) but he will serve the purpose. Our elf has made a comeback as "Elf on the Shelf." It's a brilliant idea! I can't wait to start this with the boys tonight.

This set comes with an elf doll and a book. You read the book to your children and explain the purpose of the elf. You must decide on a name together as a family.

The idea is that the elf watches the children and then each night he reports back to Santa. The next day, the elf is in a new spot (so you hide him in a different place every night and the kids will look forward to finding him each morning) It's a great way to talk about manners and being a good friend....and not hitting your brother........... You can start this any time during December and then on Christmas Eve the elf returns to Santa and doesn't come back until next year.

Thank you mom for giving me the elf. I know our family will love this tradition just as much as Julie and I did!

Speaking of traditions, Jason and I have one of our own. Each year, sometime during December, we watch Christmas Vacation together. That is one of the funniest movies ever. So, on Sunday night we tucked our boys snug into their beds and then started the preparations. Jason went to Chili's and got our favorite- chips and salsa. I had a big ol' Dr. Pepper and our favorite candy too. It was a fun "date night" for us. It's something we look forward to each year.

So, what fun traditions do you have with your family?

North Pole Express

Today I gave the boys their new jammies. Each year it's a tradition for me to get them new Christmas pajamas. Hudson was SO excited about this. The boys were running around the living room because it was a great day.....they got new jammies and they got to wear them tonight when we rode the North Pole Express. It felt kind of weird walking out of the house with their jammies on- especially when we made a quick stop to McDonald's for dinner.

Hudson with his ticket

Warm house shoes to matchBefore the train ride, we went into a covered tent and sang Christmas songs......led by a girl that couldn't sing her way out of a paper bag. Jason and I tried so hard not to laugh but it was bad.

Waiting on the train
"Tickets Please!"Hudson was really disappointed with his single hole punch. I noticed his face and when I asked him what was wrong he said "he didn't punch a word for me".........I guess he was expecting it just like in the movie. Also, when we got onto the train he asked me if it was magical. Too funny!

We got a quick little visit from Santa on the train

........then after the ride we went into Santa's workshop and had our picture taken with him. Hudson told him that he wanted a camera, a phone and a pumper......yes, a hand pumper that you would use to air up a bike. I guess it's better than suckers and lemonade which was his list from last year!

Annual Christmas Dinner and Other Stuff

Last night was our annual Christmas dinner with my college roommates. It was so fun to enjoy a nice meal together, without kids. My recent post where I put the 2 different pictures of Hudson made me realize that I have not taken a picture each year with the girls. Man, why didn't I do that? How cool would it be to post and look at pictures from the last 7 or so years? I'm not sure exactly how long we have been doing this but I'm thinking it's been since we have all been back in this area. For a couple of years after college, some lived out of town. Anyway, I decided to start this year and continue on. These girls are so precious and I'm so blessed to have them!The neat thing is that every year one of us seems to be pregnant. I figured it up and we've been pregnant 9 times between us over the last 5 years. This year, Laura and Robyn are both expecting.......in just a few short weeks. We can't wait to meet these little ones.

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I know I've said it before but I'm still amazed at how different my boys are. A couple of years ago, my sweet friend Valerie gave us a ton of cars before they moved. Her son had outgrown them and she wanted Hudson to have them. He has never been into cars so these basically sat untouched until Cooper came around. This kid loves them and is in hog heaven with all the choices!

This is another Christmas decoration that Cooper really enjoys. You press the hand and Santa rocks back and forth while music plays.

Cooper is really getting into Mr. Potato Head. Wow, it seemed like just yesterday that Hudson got this and was fascinated with him. He used to carry him around, almost like his little doll. He even put Mr. Potato Head into time out when he didn't "obey." Where has the time gone?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We got our decorations out the weekend after Thanksgiving and by Sunday, our house was decorated. Hudson had a good time with the tree. It was funny to watch him- he put all the ornaments on the same branch..........and as he turned to get another one from me, Jason would move one that he had already hung and he placed it in another spot. It was pretty funny!

I was looking back at my archives and I found a similar picture of Hudson from last Christmas. Last year he had a good time playing in the Christmas tree box so this year I asked him to get inside so that I could snap a picture. He's sure grown in the past year!

Christmas 2006Christmas 2007

Helping his dad troubleshoot the lights..........that was right up his alley!

I'm sure he'll love me for this picture one day!

This is one of the favorites at our house. If Hudson had his way, we would have the huge version in our yard. The boys love to push the button and watch the snow and hear the songs.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H.........on the tippy toes in order to reach the button

Look at these piggies....I just could not resist. He is using every little inch in order to reach.

This is another favorite........Hudson loves to pick a new ornament every morning and place it into the pocket. I love it because now he can visually see how many days are left until Christmas. I know this will be something they look forward to for many years to come!!

We have many fun things planned over the next few weeks. I LOVE this time of year!

We Are Blessed

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, hence my lack of blogging. It's so typical of me to fill my plate to the max (especially during this time of year) and I find myself exhausted at the end of the day. Yesterday we were able to spend Thanksgiving with family. What a blessing. We started our morning out with a trip to Granbury. My dad is in town so we met there so that my grandparents and sister's family could all get together. Hudson and Cooper with cousins Colton and McKenzieAfter lunch we headed over to Jason's mom's house. We had Thanksgiving dinner with them. We also got to celebrate Jason's birthday since it fell on Thanksgiving this year. Thanks Aunt Pearl for the delicious cake.

The details of this cake were really neat. Jason loves to fish so this cake was certainly appropriate.

The kids always enjoy a trip to Mimi's house.....especially since there are lots of "new" toys for them to play with. Cooper was fascinated with this toy and carried the balls around all night.

Hudson liked the sticky hand that Mimi gave him. He threw it on everything.......including our dog, Rudy.The last couple of weeks I have been asking Hudson what he is thankful for. He has said family (named specific members on different days), friends, and fans. I've also shared many things I'm thankful for so that he can see that many things in life are privileges.

• I'm so thankful for family. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful family that I am close to.
• I'm thankful for true friends. These are hard to come by but once you find one you know it! Thank you to all the friends in my life.
• I'm thankful for health. Besides the occasional cough and cold, our family is very healthy. I think about my uncle and various people that are facing cancer or other illnesses.
• I'm thankful for my mom. I really wanted to write a post about her but this year I couldn't muster the emotional energy to do it. This past Sunday marked 2 years that my mom was involved in a horrible car accident. One day I will write about this because it's important to remember- mostly so that I won't take her or life for granted. I also want my boys to know the story.

There are many more things that I'm thankful for but I don't want this post to go on and on. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Brotherly Love

The boys are finally at an age where they are starting to play good together. Not only is there a 3 year age difference but they have very different interests. These were taken a couple of weeks ago, when it first started getting cold at night. I love long sleeved jammies!

Hudson running through the house......not typically allowed but he was doing something funny at the time.
Getting tickles from dad. Sorry about the bright pic. I had my camera on the wrong setting but I love his huge smile so I couldn't not include it.
Playing cars

Hudson with his prized screw drivers. He is lining them up in order of size- he says "here is the small one, the medium one, and the large one."
In Hudson's defense, this pink screwdriver belongs to me. My mom bought me one of those Lady Tool Kits long time ago and this came from that set.

Playing together
The boys love playing with Rudy. At night, he will sometimes get frisky and run around the living room really fast. They get a kick out of that.

That's about it around here. We are enjoying the cooler weather!

What happens when mom goes out of town?

I went out of town this weekend and came back to find Cooper looking like this. He is one huge scratch. Jason took the boys to his dad's house and Cooper fell down a step outside and banged his face up really good. I know that Jason feels bad about this- so this post is just a way to joke around with him. He's a great dad and the boys had a fun time with him while I was gone.