Reddy the Elf

Last week we added a little extra fun and an extra watchful eye to our household for this holiday season. Our little elf on the shelf that Caleb named Reddy is joining in on our holiday merriment and so far he has been so much fun...along with being a little mischievous!! The first night he climbed up into our tree and sat right next to our first family ornament and watched with his careful eyes!!

 Another night he got into our art closet and pulled out some crayons and a Thomas the Train coloring book and had some fun!  

 He has also gotten into the cars and had some fun spelling out Caleb's name in the playroom!  

 And then over the weekend, while Caleb crashed out on a couch in the living room he had a sleepover with Mickey & Tigger in Caleb's bed!  

  This is our first year with an Elf in the house and I now I know why my other mom friends had so much fun with their kids and elves in past Christmas'. It really does add fun, excitement and some great holiday magic to the season!!!
I'll try to post some more photos of Reddy and his shenanagins over the next week!

Super Late Holiday Photo Recap

This post is super late and won't have a lot of words, but I know that the grandparents have been waiting for these photos! So here is Christmas and New Years in snapshots...Enjoy!

Going through his stocking...with the aftermath of opening behind him!

Proudly showing off his bounty!

And now he's crashed out on the floor in his new monster towel! So hilarious!

Chris, Caleb & nephew Keola at Grandma's house for Xmas dinner

Chris' birthday is also Christmas Day...here he is in his "special" crown

Happy 34th Birthday sweetie!

Sparklers on New Year's Eve...first year they are legal in AZ!

Caleb & Chris using the outside fireplace to light their sparklers!

It was a really fun year, mostly because Caleb was finally old enough to completely get all of the holiday traditions. A very wonderful fitting end to the year...and I can't wait for the many more memories that will come throughout 2011!

Buttons - A Kid-Friendly Holiday Recipe

Last night I began embarking on my annual Christmas baking. It is a huge endeavor. It is usually planned out for about a week. Shopping must be done. Lists must be made. And hours are spent in the kitchen. This year, however I have an extra pair of hands to help me. My little munchkin. He just loves to help mommy bake in the kitchen...mostly because he likes to taste test everything and lick the beaters. I don't blame him though...if the batter & frosting didn't go straight to my hips (and thighs...and belly...and ass) then I would be doing the exact same thing!

Since I have a little helper this year, I had to modify my usual list of goodies to include some items that are very kids friendly. Things that are easy for the little hands to help out with. The first of my posts about Christmas goodies is a little recipe called Buttons. It is a very simple (but yummy!) recipe that uses only 3 ingredients and your little ones will have so much fun making them!

Buttons

Ingredients

• 70 Round or Checkerboard Pretzels
• 70 Hershey Kisses
• 70 Red & Green M&M's

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 200 degrees
2) Place pretzels on a baking sheet
3) Top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss
4) Place in oven for 5 minutes to soften the kisses. (Note: the kisses will not lose their shape)
5) Press a M&M on top of each Kiss
6) Let your "Button" sit and the chocolate of the kiss harden back up. Enjoy!

These are really good and a great holiday project that the kids will have so much fun making. You can modify it for different holidays all year round! Use the red & pink M&M's for Valentines day; Use the Easter or Halloween ones during their seasons; Or you could use different types of Kisses (caramel, hugs, etc.) The possibilities are practically endless!

Enjoy!

Why it's important to get family photos

So, in what seems to be the theme of the year for me, I got a little bit of a late start on the Christmas cards. Me late on something...no, it never happens. Now I know that you are thinking...it's only the 10th of December. You're not late at all...but for me I usually have the cards already in the mail at this point, so I feel behind. Very behind. And with the little get together that we are hosting this weekend, I probably won't get the cards into the mail until Monday or Tuesday and that is late, oh so very late!

Since having a kiddo, we have done a photo card each year and I have always made sure to get our photos taken professionally, but this year we haven't had the time nor have we had the money to get our photos done, so I had to go searching through the archives of photos that I have taken to find something that would work for the card.

The unfortunate thing about using our own photos is that I am the photographer for our family and that translates into mommy is never in any photos...almost every photo is just of Caleb or of Caleb & Chris, but no family photos. Boooo to that!!!

So here is our Christmas Card this year:

So because of the whole no family photo thing, I just went with a super cute one of Caleb and everyone that gets this will just have to try to remember what Chris & I look like. Hopefully their memories pull up the skinny Jenn! (ps. we got our cards at Costco this year...and they are awesome! Easy to do, done in 24 hours and you can get 50 cards for only $14.99. Score!)

And yes, a select few of you will be getting this handsome little devil to hang on your fridge. Be jealous everyone...be very jealous!

I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend, whether it be celebrating season with some holiday parties, getting some Christmas shopping done or just hanging around the house. Have a great one!


 

A Little Something For Me

I went out Black Friday shopping last week with a friend and while I made sure to pick up stuff for my family (and boy did I get some awesome deals!) I also picked up a "little" something for myself! It is something that I have wanted for years, but never got. Something that I have hinted at numerous times to my husband, but never got. Something that was on my wedding registry over 10 years ago, but never got.

So I finally just took the plunge...with the help of coupons, Kohl's cash and rebates I finally got myself a KitchenAid 5 Qt Artisan Stand Mixer in Onyx Black for an awesome price!

And it is just the perfect addition to my kitchen...it fits right in doesn't it?

I have already been using it! Mashed potatoes and cupcakes have already broken the mixer in and all of the Christmas cookies that I plan to make as gifts this holiday season are just waiting to get mixed in this sucker! Merry Christmas to me!

My Son's New Best Friend

So my son has a new best friend...it's our Christmas tree. From the way that he acts around the tree you would think that the tree was alive. He talks to it. He protects it from our cats and our dog. He rearranges the ornaments constantly.

It's super cute, but I'm getting really tired of hearing myself say all day long, "Caleb leave the tree alone," or "Caleb don't touch, you'll break something," or as it has morphed into, "Caleb...you know that Santa can see you and he knows when you do bad things."

Yep, after only three days of "Christmas time" I have already resorted to the old mom standby of using Santa as a threatening device. And so far it has worked...Let's see how long this lasts!

Decorating the tree

Add more "pretties" to the tree

Daddy trying to get Caleb to take a photo break

Caleb & Daddy working together to pick the "right" one

Proud decorator, next to his new "best friend"

Caleb & daddy

Caleb's favorite new photo pose

Caleb & mommy in the new favorite pose

I've started my Christmas Shopping

Lately the weekends around here have been so very busy with soccer, birthday parties, and doing things with family and friends. I feel like I don't even have time to breathe, let alone cook and clean my house....and now that the holidays are fast approaching, I hope that we can get a break pretty soon! (But, I don't think that will be happening!)

And now it is time to start our Christmas shopping. I always tell myself each year that I will start my shopping early, and this year I have almost done just that. It is the middle of November and I just bought my first presents today...and for me that is SUPER early! (Yay me!) I was at Target and shopping for a birthday party and I while looking I walked through the board game isle and I found two great toddler games for only $5 each! (They were 50% off! Do I get a 2nd "Yay Me?"!)

I picked up Candyland and Hi Ho Cherry-O for my little one. I am especially happy to be able to share two games that I remember playing at a kid with my own kiddo...I can't wait until we get to play them together!



ps. Thank you to the mom's for hosting the parties at indoor bounce houses because all of the jumping ensures that my little one gets a really good, long nights sleep!