Elf on the Shelf - Day 3

I think Mike truly enjoys this tradition . . . I just adore how fun my husband is!

Elf on the Shelf - Day 2

The Big Christmas Book Wrap. Mike graciously helped me wrap 100 Christmas books. . .yes, 100 Christmas Books. The idea is that the kids will get to unwrap a book each night and I will read it to them.



In other news, Jack-Jack got his first haircut. If this isn't a "SAVE ME MOM" face, I don't know what is!!

Elf on the Shelf - North Pole Breakfast

When I was a little girl, my daddy used to hide these UGLY little elves around the house. They were some German-pine-cones-turned-elf. He would hide them every Christmas around the house and Kristopher and I would have a fantastic time finding them. Well, fast-forward a few years and out comes The Elf on the Shelf Tradition. It couldn't be more perfect of a Christmas tradition for our family.
Last night Mike gave me the Quintessential Christmas night! First, he helped me set up our First North Pole Breakfast. Mike had a blast making the donut snowmen! Then he plugged in our Christmas tree, built me a fire and put in White Christmas. We snuggled and fell asleep downstairs watching one of my favorite movies. He is the BEST husband in the world!

We had the elf give the kids Manger Senes for their bedroom as a reminder that Although Santa and Elves are fun and important, Jesus and his birth are MOST important!
Each Child got a note from the Elf.

(yeah, at 12:00 am last night, I misspelled Family's . . .sigh. . .).
Zach "read" his note: "Dear Zach. You are a good boy and will always be on the nice list. I love you so much." Close son! Look at the concentration on his face as he "read" :)

We sat down to our North Pole Breakfast. They had the snowmen that Daddy made, Hot-Hot-Hot-Hot Chocolate and (to redeem my sugar-buzz breakfast) banannas. I love how Jax isn't even in his seat and he's shoving a doughnut in his mouth!

I read them the book (excuse my bed-head)

Then it was time to name the elf! Lorén wanted to name him "Miss Lorén."

Zach wanted to name him "Art"

And when I asked Jax what his name should be, he said, "NO!" Mike and I cried we laughed so hard!

So Mike combined all of the names and our Family's Elf name is Art Noel.

Can't wait to see what Daddy does with Art Noel tomorrow!!!!!

The Official Rapunzel Tangled Party

Can you believe little love is SIX!?! I had a hard time with this birthday. I don't know why. Perhaps it's that she just grew up so much this year. She is turning into a little lady! This year has brought a lot of joy but also a lot of hardship to her little life. She has withstood it with grace. I am beyond proud of her. My Little Bunny, doing this party was a joy because I knew it would make you smile. Lorén said to me, "Mommy, my birthday party was everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be!" That makes it worth it!!!!

On the day of her party, I let her wear her special birthday outfit. I bought the shirt and the tutu from wonderful women on Etsy. She got to use her "NUT DAY" card (No Uniform Today). She thought she was hot stuff!
I did her hair in a "Star." I bet that lasted all of 1 hour at school :) She loved it though.

Before her party started, The boys gave Lorén a special birthday gift just from them.

No, not Zach

Or Jax

JAMMIES! Special (dang expensive) Jammies to match her party! Oh boy was she THRILLED! She had been worrying all day about which ones she would wear that night! Sly mommy! After the gift, we kicked the boys out to go to Castle Grandma's house for their own special slumber party!

Now that we kicked out the boys, LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED! The decorations were complete! Twinkle lights decorated the TV room, Frying Pans held the food and Lanterns were hung by her "Lantern Scene Cake."


All of the girls LOVED the hair craft! They got to glue flowers onto their braids. They loved wearing them all night!

The crown craft was another huge hit! Thank God for Andrea and all of the help she gave me!

Lorén just adores her best friend Celia. They are so funny together. I think that if Loren didn't have Celia, she'd be lost half of the time! Celia is a mommy-in-the-making! They are more sisters than buddies!

Then there was the EPIC dance party! HOLY COW! I think I laughed until my sides split!


Then we played two rounds of "Pin on Flynn" The first round was to pin noses on Flynn Rider. The second round was to pin frying pans on Flynn Rider. It was pretty funny!


Look at those Game Faces

Cake time! She was very proud of the cake I made her :) That made me happy!

I had the idea to put the candles in sideways to give it a "lantern" feel. It turned out cute!

The kids were so proud of their blue teeth :)!

Present Time! Lorén was so blessed!!!

And what slumber party is complete without Hair and Nails. AGain, thank you to Becca and Maddie! Without you two I would not have been able to do this for Lorén! Thank you girls!!


The girls even got the cat ready for bed. That dumb cat loved all of the abuse!!! Would you believe she stayed in that blanket forever?

Time for Tangled, Popcorn and glow sticks! Surprisingly, they slept from 11 - 7. I think that's pretty good! 4 girls ended up actually spending the night. Two got nervous close to the time and we called mom to get them. . .that's quite alright as this was most of the girls first birthday party AND first sleepover attempt!




Happy birthday Lorén! We love you!

Tangled Party T-Minus 2 Days

Tonight Zachy had daddy's night at his school. I thought it was precious that he made Mike a tie! They had a lot of fun. While they were gone, Aunt Lisa and Maddie helped me get ready for this party!

I got the banner up:

The braids for the craft made:

And finally, the cake made. I decided to ensure my daughter and her friends had a propper sugar buzz!
First, you add milk chocolate to the frosting:

Then you stuff the cake with said frosting! I tasted one bite and it was way too rich for me!

Then of course you let your sons lick the spoons! :)



Viola!!!

Tangled Party T-Minus 3 Days

So I made these crowns tonight. That took for dang ever! I cut each purple felt piece. Then I cut the gray ones. THEN, I painted the white one with Mod Podge and added white glitter so they would look like diamonds. When I cut out the "diamonds" I made a huge mess!!!

Then I also made this "Snuggly Duckling" sign for the food table. There were no images on the internet that I could use! So, long story short, I had to create this and it took a while :)! I think it turned out okay for a non-artist.

I also got my baking done! I made these Peanut Butter Nuttella Swirl cookies for Zach and Mike's Daddy night tomorrow. I also made chocolate muffins and blueberry muffins for the girl's breakfast.


Finally I made this braid to hang the banner from. It was tough to braid all of this yarn. I finally had to tie hair-bands the length of the three strands and braid those three strands. It was rough but it's done

That's a lot of yarn!