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!