Our Elf on a Shelf….

So Keagan has an elf….and well his name is, Elf. He was introduced to our family last year after Thanksgiving. The day after Thanksgiving this little guy randomly showed up at our door. For the next 30 days he would hide out around the house during the day and then at night he’d fly back to the North Pole to report to Santa how Keagan did for the day. Christmas Eve last year was the last time we saw him because then on Christmas morning he went back home to be with his Elf brothers and sisters for the rest of the year.

Well guess what……He’s back!!! We got back from the family’s house on Thanksgiving and lo and behold there he sat in the middle of a plant. The little guy is quite the character…We find him in all sorts of random spots. Each morning Keagan wakes up and runs around the house to see if he can spot where he is for the day. Here are some of the random spots we’ve found him:

Not only does he provide a fun game of hide and seek around the house but he also leaves little treats. Everyday there is a new piece of candy in the advent calendar and on one occasion while Keagan was at school he dressed his room up for Christmas. What a nice surprise that was for him!!

We love our elf! It’s a great reminder for the whole month of December that Keagan better mind his P’s and Q’s because each night when the elf flies home to speak with Santa a good report is always wanted!! 😉

I’ve even been told by a little birdie elf that Easton may be lucky enough to get one next year….

I am dreaming tonight of a place I love…..

I love Christmas time! Decorating the house for Christmas…Getting the family excited for Christmas..(which isn’t that hard with a 4 year old in the house…) 🙂

Today we went and picked out our tree. We go to the same guy every year. We’ve become regulars-as a matter of fact he even gave us a $5.00 discount this year (and off of $60…We’ll take it!.) We come home and put the lights on the house, set out our stockings, play some Christmas music, and decorate our tree.

**Daddy, Mommy, Keagan, Easton, and even little Boodro’s stockings hung by the chimney with care…***

**Decorating the tree is a very special time for the family. Each year we all get a special ornament from Santa. I also pick up special ornaments throughout the year and our family always gives us some good ones too…This is Easton’s first experience with a Christmas tree. I believe it’s a hit!** (Aspire’s photo challenge…It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!)

**I took a peek as an outsider to see in my home…From an outsiders perspective it looks like pure bliss. Nice big tree, warm cozy fire…I could see the silhouettes of all the boys wandering around. It warmed my heart watching this.**

**I couldn’t go without snapping a picture of my two boys by the tree. And even with the picture a little blurry, both of them are the poster child of happiness **

25 Days of Thanks: Day 18….Our yard

Our yard right now reminds me of…..a bag of Skittles….or maybe a box of Crayons. Either way, I just love it! Our yard is pretty no matter what the season. Blooming with flowers in the spring, a sea of green in the summer, a gorgeous array of colors in the fall, and in the winter it provides the perfect play area for our family.

These pictures were taken today while I was home with my sick little Keagan. I thought our trees were turning a little late and maybe they are….but I’m still just as excited! I can’t wait until we can rake up the leaves and jump in them.

On this 18th day of November I am so thankful for our yard!!! It was such an important part of our search when we were looking for a home to buy and I don’t think we made a mistake in this choice.

30 Days of Beauty: Day 21

Somewhere in my 30 days of beauty I have to give credit to my husband. He starts working every year in late summer/early fall cutting wood to ensure that we have enough to keep us warm by fire when Old Man Winter finally arrives. Of course we have heat in our home too but who doesn’t love sitting by a warm cozy fire, drinking hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, and enjoying a good movie on T.V.

And in the meantime before its even close to time for a fire….I enjoy watching him get the wood ready!

So what did you do on your day off…..

I had all these plans today to do NOTHING! Those are always my intentions but then life just gets in the way. I always tell myself that I’m going to sleep all day…Or lie on the couch with a good book and then watch all the crazy talk shows that I never get to see. Somehow my day goes by and I end up doing none of that.

I started out this morning drinking a nice POT of smooth hazelnut coffee. I then proceed to do all the laundry that had piled up. Next I figured I would tackle both bathrooms which is a job I dread every time! Now on to the kitchen floors. What a mess! I not only swept, then mopped but I then thought, “what the heck….” and also wax them. Look how shiny!

After Aaron came home for a quick lunch break which our lunch consisted of several organic cookies that we had left over from the batch I made Keagan’s class last night….I then decided today would be a good day for a hair cut. See, I do take time for myself!! 🙂 When I got there she asked how I wanted it and I said, “Dunno….Just shorter! I’m tired of this mess.” She asked me if I was interested in donating to The Locks of Love, which of course I was so she measured out 10 inches and we decided to go from there. All in all, I like the hair cut. Personally I prefer shorter hair on me, anyday…It’s just easier that way.

My donation to the Locks of Love....

And without further ado….. (Please excuse the picture! Really, I’m camera shy as is….and then taking a picture of yourself never does justice….)

Then off to the grocery store I went to pick up everything I needed for the family to make homemade pizza and also some homemade chicken pot pie. I’m not sure which one we’ll tackle tonight. I guess I’ll leave it up to the munchkin.

Once I was home, I thought about sitting down and reading for a bit but then the lawn mower got the best of me. How does this keep happening….?

The yard looks great, doesn't it?

And now here I am…It’s about time to pick up the boys. Not once have I turned the TV on, sat down to read my book, taken a nap like I promised myself, or even taken time to piddle in the garden….Some would maybe chalk this up to one of those crazy three letter acronyms like a smidge of OCD or ADD but I just chalk it up to Me….I guess I’m not wired inside for a day of rest and relaxation. Regardless though-I have enjoyed my day off and feel nice and refreshed for my day back to work tomorrow….

Transformation of the backyard…

We have or I should say, we had a beautiful Dogwood Tree in our backyard. Actually when we first moved in we had two of them. One was pretty diseased so we quickly cut that down and the other one we enjoyed for the past 2 1/2 years. I was sitting outside the other day looking at our backyard and it finally hit me that the left over Dogwood Tree was right smack in the middle of our yard. It was beautiful but was a constant aggravation. When playing ball you had to try to hit around it, when playing in the sprinkler or pool you had to arrange around it, it was a pain going around it mowing….Nothing about it was on my pros list except for the fact that it was a beautiful old tree…. I mentioned to Aaron about cutting it down and of course he was on board! I think any excuse to get the Bobcat out and he’s all over it. So here we are the very next weekend and it’s time to transform our backyard. I didn’t quite expect the sadness I got from watching the tree go nor did I expect to see Keagan crying over “his tree” either. 😦

Before:

Long live the tree!

Keagan sad over “his tree” being cut down. This really tore at my heartstrings…:

Okay, we’re done being sad….Let the fun begin!

Defeated!!

We also decided since we were changing the look of our backyard, we would upgrade our fire  pit. Here is Aaron’s first attempt at making us a pit. How ugly! I hated it but it got the job done and it sure beat our 55 gal drum we had at the very beginning

Goodbye to the Ugg!

Watching our new fire-pit being built!!

TAA DAA!!!! I love it!

Just another day in Paradise….

Well here we go again. Another episode with our air conditioner. This time the outside unit is working but whatever it is in our attic that keeps it pumping has sprung a leak. I was walking down the hall this afternoon and couldn’t help but to notice this:

All this is coming of course only a few days before we have an appraisal scheduled….so now not only do we have a major problem but we also have a nice water leak stain on our ceiling and going down our wall!

With no hesitation Aaron climbs up into the attic and locates the problem. Luckily he thinks he can fix it but of course not until everything dries out. So we’ve got a fan running up there and a washing machine of wet nasty towels:

And of course while we wait for it to dry out so Aaron can hopefully fix the leak-we can’t have the AC running….So of course on this hot 95 degree day the temp is slowly starting to creep up in the house.

Right now it’s still somewhat comfortable. I just hope we can get it fixed before another hot day tomorrow. And what it boils down to is I just have to remind myself to laugh just to keep from crying…. It all reminds me of the Phil Vasser song, “Just another day in Paradise”

The kids screamin’, phone ringin’
Dog barkin’ at the mailman bringin’
That stack of bills, overdue
Good morning, baby, how are you
Got a half hour, a quick shower
Take a drink of milk, but the milk’s gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on, and I put it back
There goes the washin’ machine
Baby, don’t kick it
I promise I’ll fix it
‘Long about a million other things

Well, it’s okay, it’s so nice
It’s just another day in paradise
Where there’s no place that
I’d rather be
Well, it’s two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night, ooh
For just another day in paradise