Day 23: Funny looking stockings.

We haven't been able to find Matthew's stocking. I don't know if it didn't make the move or if it is hidden away in a box in the garage. So, I have been searching store to store to find one that matches the girls'. They are just the basic red and white Santa outfit-like kind. But I haven't been able to find an exact match. I finally caved yesterday and bought one that is almost the same.

I stayed up really late last night wrapping presents. And when it was time to move Clyde, I was tired and just wanted to do something simple. Enter the underwear! I decided to do the funny trick where the elf switches out the stockings for underwear. Some advice though, plan ahead and get the underwear out of their drawers earlier in the day. I had to sneak into their rooms while they were sleeping. With the littles, it was easy. They are really heavy sleepers. I used my phone as a light source as I dug through their messy drawers to find some undies. No problem. Jillian is a light sleeper. Her clothes are on shelves in her closet. I almost got caught! I held my phone against my shirt to block the light and held as still as possible until she rolled over and went back to sleep. But it all worked out. :)

I did forget to cut a ring off Clyde's paper chain countdown. But I did it later in the day, when the kids were busy watching the snow blow through the back yard. A few minutes later, I casually asked how many days were left until Christmas. They informed me that there were 10, but that there were 11 rings on Clyde's paper chain. And to prove it, Katie walked over to the chain and counted them. She counted them 3 times! And she couldn't believe that there were only 10! They had all counted them this morning and there had been 11! They were all impressed with Elf Magic. It was really cute. :)

Don't worry, I have already cut a ring off for tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't forget that again. I'm sure I'll forget something else. You'll have to wait and see what that will be. :)

Day 22: Snow!

We have tons of snow outside and Clyde decided to bring some snow inside. He laid out some "snow" as a tree skirt.

He also left a note suggesting that I get some presents put under the tree. I don't like to start putting out presents too early. That just starts all the speculation and comparison. I don't even put tags on the presents! I use a specific wrapping paper for each child and I don't tell them whose is whose. It tends to keep them from bothering the gifts or complaining that so and so has more or bigger gifts. I love it! And if they ask, I just say I don't know. ;)

Jillian's pine cone bird feeder is now completely covered! Poor, little birds would need a bird-sized snow shovel to get to it now.

A few days ago, Matthew found a free toy in a claw machine. It was just sitting there behind the door-thingy. It was a really nice, well-made, cute bird. The light green Happi Bird. Apparently, there is a series of 6 Happi Birds. I thought it would be fun to try and catch another one for Katie for Christmas. I know! I know! Those machines are a trap to suck away your money. So, I set a limit. $5 bucks. But after $4, Jillian and I both caught one!!! She was in on it with me. :) I caught the purple one and Jillian caught the turquoise one.

 So, then I had the problem, "How do I wrap them?" Good ol' Dollar Tree saved the day! In the mailing supplies section, they have cardboard boxes. 10 x 8 x 6, the perfect size for small to medium stuffed animals. If you have one or two or 1,089 small to medium stuffed animals to wrap this Christmas, head on down to Ye Ol' Dollar Tree and pick up one or two or 1,089 cardboard boxes. :) You're welcome.

They come flat. You might not notice them right away. I just happened to have a packing tape gun lying around to put it together. It's not Christmas without a little packing tape! Hee, hee, hee!

Help a little boy fulfill his dying wish

Dalton Dingus is a 9 year old boy with stage four cystic fibrosis. His dying wish is to break a world record by receiving the most Christmas cards ever! So, we decided to help. :)

If you want to help Dalton reach his goal and spread a little Christmas cheer, here is his address:

Dalton Dingus
HC 62 Box 1249
Salyersville KY 41465

Day 21: ELF!!!

Clyde is quite the acrobat! He appeared in our pantry hanging upside down. It was the best angle for him to get at the good stuff: SYRUP!!!

I got this great idea from Lil Blue Boo, (LOVE HER!). Luckily, he's so light that a box of Rice-a Roni could hold him in place. I was worried about the straw sinking too low, but the height of our shelves worked out just right that it could sink all the way in and be at the right level. Regardless, the syrup is thick enough that I could move it to a different position and it would stay.

And we don't have a syrup addiction, we just shop at Sam's Club. That's why there are two huge jugs of Mrs. Butterworth's in our pantry.

Christmas isn't complete without watching this amazing, hilarious movie! ELF!!! Clyde happens to know that Dad is working tonight, so he specifically wrote "with your mom" so that we could watch Elf tonight. I'm sure we'll watch it again with Dad. Just like I'm sure I'll watch Love Actually again this month. Probably while wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. It's kinda become my personal tradition. :)

Yesterday, we finally got around to hanging our homemade bird feeders outside on the giant blue spruce in our front yard. There are actually two giant blue spruces in our front yard. If I could afford to, I'd love to get them covered in Christmas lights. Anyways, we tied lovely Candy Cane striped baker's twine onto the stems of the pine cones and hung them where we could see them from our large picture window near the dining room table.

Matthew:

Katie:

Jillian:

Again, this was yesterday. This is today.

 This is Jillian's pine cone. It is now resting on the ground! It is still hanging from the same branch that was about 6 feet in the air yesterday. I guess this is Welcome to Flagstaff! School was cancelled and we decided last night to deliver the neighbor's cookies today. Well, it'll be much cuter in the snow! :)

Beautiful giant blue spruce. I hope you have a very, merry White Christmas!

Day 20: Making cookies for the neighbors

My husband told me that some of the nurses he works with were asking about Elf on the Shelf. They were wondering what this whole thing is about, so he directed them to my site. Now, they are super excited to get started. Don't worry, it's not too late! It's never to late to start a fun tradition with your family.

This morning, Clyde appeared in a beautiful snowman cookie jar. I'm not really sure where the cookie jar came from. Either I bought it so long ago that I forgot about or, more likely, it's my mom's and we accidentally packed it when we moved. Oops! It does match her Christmas china. Don't worry, mom, we'll return it!

Here's what the cookie jar looks like with it's head on.

So, now that everyone is well, Clyde thought it was time for us to go back to the cookies for the neighbors idea.

Once the kids got home from school, we got to work mixing up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. It was the first time we've baked cookies at 7000 ft. I made sure to follow the high altitude directions!

Katie, too!

Don't forget the chocolate chips!

The high altitude recipe produced really yummy, beautiful cookies! Yay!!!

I picked up a cute tin to deliver the cookies in from Dollar Tree. I can't say enough how much I love that place!!!! I'll post pics of the kids delivering them later. :)

Day 19: Making crayons for neighbor gifts

We all (ALL) have broken crayons hanging out around our house. I don't know about at your house, but at mine they show up EVERYWHERE. In the clothes hamper, the kitchen, the bathroom (what?!), and I can't even vacuum their rooms without finding at least 5. At least! I used to just toss them. We have so many crayons around here that they'd never miss the broken ones. Every year at school supply shopping time, I buy 8-10 extra packs of the 24 ct boxes. I mean, c'mon, they're only ~20 cents a piece! On a cold winter's day, what could be better than a fresh box of crayons! Well, there is one thing: a package of cool shaped crayons!

We made these last summer as a way to break up the summer boredom. So, now when I find a broken crayon, I save it. We have several ziplock baggies full of them, sorted by color. I found the instructions on Pinterest, (where else!). We made solid color ones, rainbow layered ones, shades of green layered ones, all kinds of combos! That was part of the fun! Designing new, cool crayons was pretty exciting.

We had these old boxes of crayons sitting on a shelf in the garage. It was the perfect place for Clyde to show up. This house doesn't have very many places to hide and I feel like I'm recycling the same ones over and over. Katie was looking EVERYWHERE and was getting a little worried. I told her to go check in the laundry room, which is through the garage. She didn't see him on the way to the laundry room, but she saw him on the way back. :)

We don't know many people here yet, but we do know a few neighbor kids. I thought it would be fun to make these crayons as a little gift. Incorporating the spirit of giving as much as possible!

We used the stove top method. But the oven method is probably faster and less messy, but then you can't do the layered ones. The oven method is great for the confetti style mixed colors. But I just love the layers. You will need: old broken crayons, a tin can(s), a small pot, wooden dowels or chopsticks, (I prefer chopsticks), and some molds. Molds, what kind of molds? I used whimsical ice cube trays. There are seasonal ones available at Dollar Tree and I also love the twisted star ones from IKEA. They are only a dollar, too! :) I wasn't sure that they are oven safe. That's one of the reasons I like the stove top method.

I can't find the original website we used for instructions. :( It was so long ago! But it's simple. Use an old, washed out tin can as a double boiler. Put it in a pot with an inch or so of water surrounding the can. Put peeled crayons in the can. (Get the kids to peel the crayons!) With this method, you can actually leave the the wrappers on and once the crayons have melted, fish the wrappers out of the can. Use the dowel or chopsticks to stir the crayons as they melt. Pinch the top of the can to make a pour spout and create!

Some examples:

I made a whole collection of bug shaped ones, too. But I didn't get a photo before I gave them away.

You can use a separate can for each color or layer. First pink, then red, then orange in one. Yellow, then light green, then green in a second. Blue, then purple in a third. It's also fun to melt your own colors! :) Go crazy!!!! 

Day 18: Two weeks til Christmas!

I love making paper chains at Christmas. We usually do red and green, sometimes with white. But in the U.K., it's traditional to make them with all the colors of the rainbow. I love that, too! So bright and colorful.

Clyde made a tiny paper chain to count down the days until Christmas.

He taped it to the side of the refrigerator. The kids didn't find him right away, because it was a little out of sight. They counted the little rings to make sure there were 14. :) Silly kids! Of course the elf got the number of rings right! And he'll be removing one ring each night.

The little boogers made me go out and get some construction paper so they could make some rings, too. :)

Teeny, tiny rings. :)