December 29, 2011

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

what a whirlwind, but then again isn't every holiday a whirlwind? we opted this year not to do anything at all for Christmas. and by anything, i mean we didn't do anything, no travel, no family, no parties, nothing. it was kind of nice not packing up the truck with a butt load of gifts and driving 24 hours round trip, or getting all dressed up for 5 minutes of an eating frenzy. i think the kids enjoyed themselves, but who wouldn't with a 5 foot high pile of new toys!

we decided to take the kids to see Santa a little differently this year. about 30 miles away there is an actual vintage train that takes the kids on a 30 minute ride with a surprise guest...yep, Santa. i think P-Donculous was the only one truly excited about the whole thing. he was all giggles and grins when he saw the man in the red suit. (i guess i should have uploaded the picture they actually took with Santa, maybe later...)

now, on to the big day...let me just say, do you know how upsetting it is to find out that your camera battery is dead on Christmas eve? and then to remember that your battery charger was in the bag that was stolen when you were on vacation last month? momma was one sad panda with no camera on Christmas. so, the only pictures we have are from my phone (very disappointed). anyway, the kids were very good about not waking us up until 8am! you can see from the picture that we like to position ourselves just perfectly before opening any gifts. once the green light was given, it only took about 10 minutes before the pretty picture was turned into a mountain of boxes, paper, and ribbon. Santa was very good to us this year and we have a lot to be thankful for, other than the ungodly amount of toys he brought. i think my favorite gift was the replacement family photo (don't get me wrong, i really enjoyed the new fancy crock pot and North Face jacket too)...





Merry Christmas Y'all!






December 15, 2011

hating on the elf...

i normally won't post about silly little things, but for some reason this really bothered me. it seems there is a little backlash towards the Elf on the Shelf. i've been seeing quite a bit of re-posts of a certain person's blog (that i'm not even going to bother re-posting). apparently there are those out there that are offended by the antics of some little elves. how can you be offended that some people just like to put the extra effort in to having fun with their kids during the holidays? as you can tell, i'm on the side of the "over achieving elf on the shelf mommies". our elf, Rex, likes to get into trouble. he may not be mischievous everyday, but he does know how to have a good time. the kids really get a kick out of getting up every morning to see what he's been up to the night before. i feel sorry for the kids whose parents aren't really into it. if they don't enjoy the antics of the elf, then why did the elf come visit their house in the first place?

how can you not find the humor and fun in something so simple? even if your elf rummages through your underwear drawer and replaces your stockings with the family skivvies....get over it people and quit being so crabby, it is the holidays after all...