Running and twigs

I'm not too fond of running alone in the dark so I took the pups with me. (Kyra's at her dad's house.) It was my first attempt at running alone with both of them. Kyra's accompanied us on the few prior occassions. I had hoped to wear them out, but they wore me out. Tasha is an old pro and was wonderful, but Riley was all over the place darting back and forth. I think I tripped over him a dozen times in the mile around the block. My back is killing me from all the twisting! As I mentioned, I had hoped to wear him out so he wouldn't get into too much trouble in the house tonight. But he still managed to bring in twigs while I kicked out a few more miles on the treadmill in the basement. Oh well, it could be worse. He has brought in a 4-inch diameter branch before...

Thanks to those of you that have given me positive feedback on the blog!

Shredded Ornaments :(

Now that the elf adventures have come to an end, I guess the focus is back on mischievous Riley. On the positive side, he likes the raincoat that Kyra's dad's family gave him for Christmas. It's too small for him to wear, but he enjoyed carrying it outside in the rain today.

On the negative side... I decorated our Christmas tree on 12/6. I put the most valuable ornaments near the top in case a pet decided to remove decorations. Our cat Tiger has been known to do so in years past. But I was quite pleased that noone bothered the ornaments... until tonight... Just before pet-dinner-time, I caught Riley chewing up a snowflake ornament. I fed the pets in hopes that real food would distract them from further destruction. It was successful for a while, but a few hours later I heard him chewing on something that didn't sound like a dog toy. I caught him with something sharp in his mouth and called Kyra to help me get him to "drop it". It was a girl scout cookie ornament that we had made when Kyra was in girl scouts in 1st grade, and it had a safety pin that had become un-hinged. Glad I caught that! As I walked through the room, I found other ornaments that he had chewed. Our cheerleader ornament (Kyra was a cheerleader in 2nd grade), a hand-made snowflake that Kyra and I made years ago, and my favorite sea-horse from the Chattanooga Aquarium. Bummer!

Movies and carpet destruction

We wanted to see two movies so we planned an afternoon at the theater today. I looked at the show times and thought I planned it perfectly. Bedtime Stories at 1 p.m., to be followed by Marley and Me at 3 p.m. In hindsight, I wish we had seen them in reverse order. Bedtime Stories was hilarious! We both really enjoyed it. Marley and Me was cute, but a few scenes were a little too mature for Kyra. At the end, we both cried. We wanted to see it because the previews had portrayed a movie based on a mischievous dog, which seemed a lot like our new puppy. I'm greatful that Riley hasn't chewed up any furniture yet, but could completely empathize when Marley chewing up the floor, papers, boxes, etc. I've been talking about replacing the carpet in our house for years now, but have kept postponing it because of the expense. However, it looks like Riley will complete pulling up our carpet to make room for the future hardwood floor installers in a matter of weeks... The photo shows what is left of a stocking that Santa brought for the dogs. It was filled with dog toys and had a plastic front. Riley couldn't wait for me to open it, so he tore into it himself and removed the plastic front. To the left of the stocking you may notice shiny metal between the tile and the carpet. I'm guessing that is the tacking strip that has been exposed after Riley has begun shredding the carpet in that location. What joy!

Yet another sprinkler

Riley is now five months old and is still a very entertaining golden retriever puppy. We laugh (or cry) daily because of the crazy things he does. Thankfully, Tasha (our Siberian Husky) woke me up this morning to let me know that Riley was opening a Christmas gift that I had wrapped for Rachel. Luckily, I got there just in time to keep him from doing permanent damage. This afternoon he decided to bring in yet another sprinkler from the back yard. (See my November 29th blog entry for the first one.) What will he think of next?

Christmas

I had too much caffeine yesterday and didn't get much sleep last night. So when Kyra woke me up at 5:45 a.m., I sent her straight back to bed. At 6, she said she couldn't go back to sleep, but I told her to try. At 6:13, she said she was too excited to sleep. I pleaded for another 20 minutes of sleep. I finally gave in at 6:30 a.m. and let her drag me out of bed. She was excited that Santa had come and left a big bag of presents for her under the tree.

She was thrilled with her gifts. She wanted a Wii last year and it was still on her list for this year too. Thankfully, the elves had put in a good word to Santa and he delivered. She loved her Breyer horses and stables, and was excited about the Club Penguin game for her Nintendo DS. These were three of the four items on her wish list. (She didn't get the bunny.)

She was so happy to see that the elves had stayed for one more day. And they even brought her a Christmas gift. They gave her a snowflake necklace and a snowglobe that had a boy and girl elf inside that looked a lot like Kendall and Edward. And they took her up on the offer to eat some of Santa's cookies :)

Kyra wanted to play with the Wii right away, but I was starving. I suggested that she unpack it and try to set it up herself while I made breakfast. She had it mostly assembled and connected by the time breakfast was ready. She only needed a little assitance from me to finish up the installation. After breakfast, she beat me badly in bowling, tennis, and boxing.

Mid-afternoon, we went to a friends house for Christmas dinner. I threw together a salad with spinach, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, pecans and coconut, which turned out to be a huge success. We thoroughly enjoyed our 2nd annual Christmas dinner with the Thornhill's. I really enjoyed it last year and was pleasantly surprised that this year was even more entertaining. The girls played Rock Band most of the afternoon and performed for us after dinner. Katie was such a cute drummer, Kyra was a serious guitar player, and Colleen sang Roxanne (by Police) as we adults couldn't hold back the laughter of our daughters performing this particular song. I laughed more tonight at this, and the crazy dinner conversation, than I have in months. Thanks so much Terri for inviting us over again this year!

Elf Cake Man

On the drive to Aunt Laura's house yesterday, Kyra played her Nintendo DS game "Cooking Mama 2". She would ask me what I would like to eat (from a menu selection in the game) and would then cook up the meal. The elves must have overheard this conversation and decided to get in a little cooking of their own during the night. We woke this morning to find a recipe for Elf Cake Man written in the notebook that Aunt Laura and family had given Kyra for Christmas. Kendall was stirring a pot of oatmeal and peanut butter filled pretzels. Edward was wearing a potholder. Between them was a piece of bread with ketchup eyes, nose and mouth; pretzel eyebrows, two candles, and pasta noodles for a body. We also found one of Katie's dolls in Kendall's sleeping bag.

We had a great visit with Aunt Laura's family. We played hair salon and I inserted a holiday themed hair wrap in each girls hair. I truly appreciate the photo collage gift that must have taken many hours to put together. The snowflake blanket was another favorite gift; it's very fitting with this years new tradition of magical snowflake elves. Thank you so much!

We listened to Christmas music on the drive and arrived back home around 7:30 p.m. I made my mom's traditional Christmas Eve meal of beef stroganoff. We enjoyed watching an older version of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory while the chocolate chip cookies baked for Santa. Of course we had to sample a few after they came out of the oven. Kyra was very sad that the elves would be leaving tomorrow. She broke down in tears. She decided to write a note asking them to stay one more night so they could watch her open presents on Christmas morning, and also asked if they would come visit once a week or once a month. She wrote that if they would stay, they could have one of Santa's cookies. I had no idea she would become so attached to them. Hopefully they'll stay one more day... I'm not sure I can handle a heart-broken Christmas.

Elf Jokes

I started packing the suitcase last night for our trip to Aunt Laura's house. I left the suitcase on the floor and had asked Kyra to pack her items. She didn't get around to it last night, but when she opened it this morning to add her clothes, she found a surprise. Both elves were packed and ready to go. Elf Kendall wrote a note to Kyra that said she was excited about going on a trip, and since sleep-overs usually involve sleeping bags, she had returned to the North Pole during the night and picked up a sleeping bag and pajamas. She also had a list of silly elf jokes to enjoy on the ride. Who lives at the North Pole, makes toys and rides around in a pumpkin? Cinder-elf-a.

Christmas with Uncle Wahkie

Uncle Wahkie and his family stopped by on their way from Aunt Laura's house to their home. I should have known better than to think that I could throw a roast and veggies in the crockpot at 9 a.m. and think it would be done by noon. So we went to plan B, a local favorite italian restaurant. Back at the house, we exchanged Christmas gifts. The kids played for a few hours while the adults tried to figure out how to install a new roll of paper onto Kyra's printing-calculator. I knew Walt could figure it out! Thanks for the wonderful gifts!

Go Jackets!

While Elf Kendall and Kyra were off at her dad's house this weekend, Elf Edward decided to show his team spirit. We're thrilled that Tech beat UGA this year. It must be because I bid on and won an autographed helmet at a charity event this year. Go Jackets!

Running Elf

Not quite sure what Elf Kendall is up to, but Elf Edward pulled out all the stops the morning. I guess he knew I was behind schedule on running, so he guilt tripped me into lacing up the shoes.

Atop Nutcracker + Holiday Class Party

This morning we woke to find the elves quite easily. They were on top of nutcrackers in the guest bathroom. Elf Kendall was on the head of the fair skinned nutcracker, while Elf Edward was on the head of the nutcracker with a complexion similar to his. Kyra pointed out this oddity which I hadn't noticed.

Today is the last day of school before winter break. As Room Mom, I organized a Winter Holiday Party for Kyra's class, which consisted of making a bead ornament, food, and me reading the Elf on the Shelf to the class. The time flew by quickly and I was greatful for all the mom's (and one grandmother) that were present to assist with the party. We all had fun. And I thought it was interested how the girls seemed to be paired up. At one point, Grace was sitting in Kyra's lap and they were spinning in a chair; Ally and Inaara were scrunched into the teacher's director chair together; Destiny and Susan were both wearing Santa hats; Radhika and Emily were two peas in a pod; etc. I didn't notice the same thing with the boys, but maybe I just wasn't paying as close attention.

Isn't my Gingerbread Buddy the cutest?

Frigid elves + Riley

This morning when I opened the refrigerator to pull out eggs to boil for breakfast, I found Kendall and Edward in the egg holder. They had moved the eggs to a shelf and took over the comfy bench. Guess they missed the cold weather of the North Pole!

And below is a photo of Kyra cuddling with her Ry-Ry. He's growing so quickly! He'll be 5 months old on Christmas Eve. He's a great puppy! I recently was complimenting on how he only chewed on his toys, and then... He started pulling up the carpet...

Conservation Elves

We found the elves this morning and had mixed emotions. We were glad they were promoting conservation/reuse, but were sad that Edward was crushing Kendall into the tiny space of the BPA-free water bottle.

Elf Reindeer

This morning we woke to find the elves hanging out with the reindeer in our window over the kitchen sink! Are they homesick?

Elf Alvin joins the fun

A week or two ago, Elf Cactus Man came to Kyra's class. He reported that his wife was pregnant and would be delivering babies soon. Mrs. Cactus Man delivered 22 baby elves. This was way more than she could care for herself, so she sent 18 of them to Kyra's classroom, one for each child. Kyra begged her teacher to let them take their elf babies home for the weekend. Her teacher was reluctant, because she needed the elves to keep an eye on the class for the next week. But then she agreed if the children promised they would bring the elves back on Monday. Kyra and her friend Grace brought Alvin and Albert home on Friday, but didn't sprinkle them with snowflakes. Instead, they kept them tucked away in their safe spots of their backpacks. But on Sunday night, Kyra decided that Alvin should have a little fun. She tucked Alvin into bed beside Edward and Kendall and sprinkled them all with magical snowflakes.

We woke in the morning to find them playing the piano, with music scattered all over the floor! I'm glad Alvin was able to join in the fun for at least one morning...

Elf Fishing + Gift Exchange Party

Yesterday, after Kyra's basketball team destroyed their opposition, we went shopping for teacher gifts. While at Hallmark, Kyra saw these small blown-glass figures of various animals. She really wanted them and they were only $2. I let her pick out a few (puppy, fish, frog) as a reward for making 100 on her Social Studies project which counts as a large portion of her grade this quarter. She set up a habitat for them in her bathroom. She used an old hermit crab tank, and cut paper and taped it together to make a dog house and water bowl. We woke this morning to find Elf Kendall and Elf Edward peering into the habitat...

Although we had planned this weeks ago, I didn't get around to sending out e-vites until a few days ago for a gift-exchage party. Thankfully, three friends came and we had fun playing, decorating cookies, and exchanging gifts via a gift-exchange game. Maybe next year I'll get the evites out sooner.

Colleen was the last to leave and she and Kyra were scheming their next major production. She spent the night with us last New Years Eve and they had fun making crazy videos. They were working on their next top video just minutes before her mom arrived.

Elf Party!

Yesterday I worked from home and picked up Kyra and Grace from school in the car-rider line. During the afternoon/last night, they had fun playing with Kyra's Littlest Pet Shop pets, playing Nintendo DS games, and drinking hot cocoa. The girls laid the elves down on the corner table by the couch and sprinkled them with snowflakes before they climbed into sleeping bags on the living room floor. When they woke this morning they found the elves had made a mess. Kendall and Gretel were drinking Kyra and Grace's left-over hot cocoa while playing Nintendo. Edward made a mess trying to pour cocoa into his mug. A few of the Littlest Pet Shop pals joined in the fun. Two of them had tiny mugs of hot cocoa too!

Pony Pals and Real Pals

During the night, Elf Kendall and Elf Edward decided to go horseback riding. They rounded up a few ponies and positioned everyone on the mantle (to be safe from the dogs' reach). They also picked up two books "Stolen Ponies" and "The Baby Pony", which fit quite nicely with the scene. Kendall was sitting on Kyra's riding pants. Kyra loves horses and she was quite thrilled to find them on this adventure.

This year at school, Kyra has become close friends with Grace. Grace's elf Gretel came to her last year and has returned for her annual visit. If we'd only known Grace last year our holidays would have been more adventurous... Well, Kyra actually did know her last year, just not well enough to know about her elf. We invited Grace and Gretel for a sleep-over tonight. We went to Stone Mountain and got our Elf on the Shelf book signed by the illustrator. We enjoyed dipping candles in colored wax, looking at the holiday lights, drinking hot cocoa, and riding on the train. We should have brought parkas and hats for the train ride; it got very cold!. Kyra doesn't like to pose with Santa, but I convinced her and Grace to stand beside the fake Santa for a quick photo with our new camera.

Elf Edward and the astronaut

Again, I'm not sure what Elf Kendall did during the night with Kyra at her dad's house, but Elf Edward was quite adventurous. I had to leave the hotel early this morning to drive two hours to Orlando for an 8:30 a.m. flight back home. Elf Edward left a note saying he had to help Santa with a few things, and that he would meet me at the airport. I had no idea where to look for him! I started to panic after checking my luggage and still hadn't seen him. I had a bottle of water with me and sat down just before the security screening to finish drinking it. I was admiring the large Christmas tree and worrying about Elf Edward. I continued gazing around the atrium and eventually my eyes landed on him. He was sitting on an astronaut statue! I was so relieved!

Elf Edward watches the sun rise on the beach

I'm not quite sure what Elf Kendall was up to last night, but Elf Edward went with me yesterday on my business trip to Vero Beach. I sprinkled him with snowflakes before bedtime. I woke this morning and didn't see him right away. I put on running clothes and headed to the beach for an early morning jog. When I returned, I saw him sitting on the beach watching the sunrise. He looked so peaceful. I lost my nice camera yesterday, but thankfully I have a camera on my phone to capture this relaxing moment.

Elf Basketball

This morning, Kyra was quite worried when she couldn't find Elf Kendall. She looked and looked and looked. As it was about time to leave for school, I sent her back to the bedroom to get her earrings off the nightstand. She came back into the kitchen quickly, with a note in her hand, saying she knew where they were. The elves left her a note by the alarm clock saying "Wake up Kyra! Come and shoot hoops with us!" We found them outside on the basketball goal. The basketball was stuck in the net, Elf Kendall was hanging over the rim wearing one of Kyra's basketball jerseys. Elf Edward was attached to the net wearing another of Kyra's basketball jerseys. It was quite a scene! I took several pictures, then took Kyra to school and headed to the airport for my business trip to Florida. I had tucked my camera into my backpack, but later this evening I couldn't find it. My only guess is that I pulled it out and set it on a chair at the airport to get to driving directions and then forgot to put it back in my bag. I'm so bummed! It was a great camera! I'm highly disappointed that I lost the photos from today, but am greatful that I had downloaded the rest of them last night. Maybe I'll restage the scene once I get a new camera.

Elf Kendall hijacks the train

This morning Kyra woke at her dad's house to find that Elf Kendall had gathered a few friends and hijacked the train. They got tangled in christmas tree lights along the way.

Barbie makeover + Elf Edward arrives

This morning, Kyra woke at her dad's house to find that Elf Kendall decided to play Barbie makeover during the night. She applied make-up and painted fingernails. How fun!

Before Kyra went off to school on Friday I told her that I would miss her and Elf Kendall's shenanigan's. She said that I should write a letter to Santa and ask for an Elf to keep me entertained. So I did... Yesterday afternoon, after Kyra's basketball game, I stopped by the local park where the high school baseball team was selling Christmas trees as a fund-raiser. I decied that I would rather have a live tree this year instead of the artificial one that we've used for years. I brought it home and then drug out decorations. I spent most of the afternoon/evening decorating the tree. I had several boxes of Christmas decor left to unpack, but was tired and went to bed. I woke this morning to find that Elf Edward had arrived and had decorated the mantle! Thanks Santa and Elf Edward!

Elf Kendall makes snowflakes at Dad's house

Kyra's spending the weekend with her dad and really wanted to take Elf Kendall with her. I told Kyra to call her dad/step-mom yesterday to make sure it was okay. Her step-mom said it was fine, so I packed Elf Kendall into her backpack to take with her to school. It looks like Elf Kendall has adventures wherever she goes! Kyra woke this morning to find Kendall making snowflakes while sitting on her pants that were stretched across the room. She made quite a mess!

Elf Kendall and George Washington's Socks

Last night before bed, Kyra settled Elf Kendall down and sprinkled her with magical snowflakes. At bedtime, I read the latter chapters of George Washington's Socks to Kyra while Elf Kendall listened quietly on the nightstand. In the story, one of the characters (Katie) put George Washington's socks on her hands, and then her feet, to keep warm. Then another character promised to frame the socks if Katie would give them to him. Elf Kendall must have found these chapters amusing. So while Kyra was asleep, Elf Kendall got up, gathered a few horse friends, took all of Kyra's socks out of her sock drawer, grabbed a snack and began reading the rest of the story. We woke to find the microwave filled with socks, socks in a photo frame, socks on Kendalls arms and legs as well as on each of the horses legs, and scattered across the bar! What a scene!

Elf Kendall arrives!

Kyra spent last night with her dad and boy was I surprised when I got in my car to go to work this morning! That second letter that I wrote to Santa clarified the elf issue and he produced! Elf Kendall was in the backseat on top of Kyra's Build-a-bear Rudolph with the seatbelt looped through Rudolph's outfit. She had gathered five of Kyra's stuffed animals, put them on leashes and was talking them for a walk in the back of the car. And thankfully, she picked up their poop (m&m's) and placed it in a poop bag, attached to Rudolph, rather than letting it sit on the carpet. When I arrived at Day Care this afternoon, the first words out of Kyra's worried face was whether or not I wrote a letter to Santa. I smiled and told her that she should be careful in opening the car door. Her face lit up when she saw the elf antics. We sat in the parking lot for a few minutes while I read her the poem that came with Elf Kendall. It was quite long, but in summary said that her mission was to keep an eye out to report back to Santa as to whether Kyra's being naughty or nice, and that she would return to the North Pole when Santa brings presents on Christmas day. If she's sprinkled with the magical snowflakes that she brought with her, then she would play games during the night while Kyra sleeps.

Elves?

Yesterday, Kyra came home from school talking about Santa sending elves to children's homes. I was clueless. She explained that all that kids have to do is write a letter to Santa and ask him to send an elf to them for the holiday season. She said that if you sprinkle the elves with snowflakes at bedtime, they do crazy things around the house or hide in different places during the night while the children sleep. While I went down to the tennis courts behind our house to take some clothes to a friend that was playing, Kyra wrote a letter to Santa asking for a girl elf with brown hair and any color eyes. She put the letter on the mantle and asked Santa to leave her a reply note in the same place. This morning she woke up and went straight to the mantle. She began to cry after reading the letter that Santa wrote back. She said that Santa didn't understand! The elf that Santa said he would send was not the kind that she wanted. I spent quite a while with her on the couch hearing exactly what she wanted and reassuring her that Santa did understand, but maybe she interpretted the letter differently than what Santa intended. She was going to spend tonight at her dad's house, so I told her I would write another letter to Santa explaining it more clearly, and hopefully he would send the correct elf to her by the time she came back to our house.