Our Elf on the Shelf

I finally got an Elf on the Shelf. Finally. I had been wanting one for awhile. The kids named him Jack.

Here he is- photo via my phone.

The other two kids left but I read the story to P. When I was done she crossed her arms, stuck out her bottom lip and demanded to know why we had to get that stupid elf anyway cause all he was gonna do was tell on her.

The first morning after his arrival, we found Jack perched in the Christmas tree. P was excited to get up and see where he would be.

Imagine my disappointment when a mere twenty-four hours after Jack's arrival, P announces that all she has to do is touch him and he will lose his magic and then he can't fly to the North Pole and tell Santa on her. She also decided that we already had presents under the tree so we didn't need any from Santa anyway. How does a four year old come up with this stuff? Hi-lar-i-ous!!!

Salt Dough Ornaments

I decided to make salt dough ornaments with the kids the other day. The recipe I used was:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

Mix flour and salt together and add water

Mix until doughy then knead until it is smooth (about 10 min.)

If it is too sticky add more flour or if it is too crumbly add more water

Roll out flat to the thickness you want your ornaments to be

Use cookie cutters or whatever you have on hand to make shapes

Bake at 250 degrees- it can take 20-30 min up to a couple hours to bake depending on the thickness.

I used some funky homemade cookie cutters cause I don't have any.

Next time I think I will use a glass to make better circles.

Some of the finished product:

P's hand print and brother's fingerprints.

These don't look nearly as pretty as others I have seen on the Internet, so I think I need to try again.



I put the dough we didn't use in a baggie in the fridge. I think I need to try again.  ; )

Christmas Card Pics

I had been planning on shooting pictures for a Christmas card since Thanksgiving but just never got around to it. So the other night I made the kids put on coats and stocking hats and pose in front of our tree. I was planning on doing outdoor shots but that didn't happen.

Cowboy/ninja child.

P not looking.

P with a funny look on her face.

P missing from the picture.

P pretending to sleep.

Finally...

Dress, KU headband, and Spiderman socks

This morning for school P, who usually refuses to wear pants anyway, insisted on wearing a cute shirt and skirt with leggings under it. I tried for pants just because it's so cold here- brrrr! Along with the skirt she had to wear her sister's KU headband ( which I was ok with even if it totally didn't match- Rock Chalk!!). And.... her brother's spiderman socks. I didn't even fight her on it. I was just happy she didn't try to go without socks. The other day she tried to insist it was ok to wear her tennis shoes without socks (EW!) when it was twenty degrees outside. That was a fifteen minute fight right there just to get socks on her. I was going to post a pic of her outfit but the second we walked in the door she took most of it off and is now watching cartoons in her underwear...

I hate Walmart

I know I shouldn't get on here and blast Walmart, but I just can't help it. I hate Walmart. If I had any other options in my small town I wouldn't shop there. Their clearance prices are a joke. The checkout lines are always a mile long no matter how few people are in the rest of the store. Today I went and got a dog house. They were on the top shelf and I couldn't find any employees to help. Finally after awhile of looking, I had someone paged. After about twenty minutes of waiting, I decided to climb up and get it myself. Finally after I had gotten it down (just to have the price checked because it wasn't marked), a manager walked by. He checked the price for me, got me a different one down, carried it up front, and then even had someone come up just to check me out so I didn't have to wait. Overall my trip to Walmart this morning wasn't pleasant, but that one manager's courtesy helped to make up for it.


On a more hilarious note, I got my daughter home from preschool and she is rambling about whatever comes to her four-year-old mind. She asked, "Mom, how did you get me in your tummy- cause it didn't feel like you ate me". What!!!! How freakin' funny! Sometimes I don't know where she comes up with this stuff.

Feelin' the love

Sitting on the floor in front of the tree eating chicken nuggets and watching a Winnie the Pooh Christmas show.

On the way home from getting said chicken nuggets while sitting at a red light:

 P- "Mom, if you don't wait til the light turns green you will have to go to jail, right?"

Me- "Sure, I guess."

P- "If you had to go to jail Mom I wouldn't care. I would miss you, though. But I still wouldn't care."

Me- "Thx, P. I love you, too."