Fred, our elf on the shelf

This is Fred, our elf on the shelf. He shows up every year on the day after Thanksgiving. He watches the kids all day from a place in the house where they cannot touch him. Every night after the kids go to bed, Fred flies up to the North Pole and tells Santa whether the kids are being good or bad. The kids can also tell Fred what they want for Christmas and he passes the message on to Santa. In the morning, when he returns, he finds a new place to sit in our home and the kids have fun trying to find him. Christmas Eve is always bitter sweet for the kids, because on that night Fred leaves, not to return until the next year on the day after Thanksgiving.
Here is the last of Nana and Papa's puppies. The others have all found homes. This little guy came to visit us last week and will be going to his new home on Christmas Eve.
Sammy loves his Papa!

Finally! Snow!
Okay, so Jonah puked up three quarters of a Little Caesars Pizza last night. It was awesome because for the first time one of our kids actually had the where with all to make it to the toilet. We held him on the couch for a while and then Shelly tucked him into bed. While in the room she covered a sleeping Hudson with his blanket and did the same for our sleeping Sammy. Jonah observed this and asked Shelly if she fixes his blanket at night when he sleeps. "Every night." Shelly replied. "Oh," said Jonah "I thought that my Jesus did it for me at night." What a sweet boy.
On a side note: Jonah was so excited to tell the kids, this morning, that he puked out of his mouth and nose at the same time. They were impressed.

Our Little Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I Really Enjoy Beating My Kids...

...with our giant stuffed snowman.
Sammy is getting so big. This week he took his first steps.

He has been using the walker on and off for a few days. We kept making fun of him pushing around the girl's pink stroller, so he picked up the Star Wars toys, and started walking.He hasn't quite mastered it, but he's getting better.




A couple weeks ago, Emma asked if she could get an American Girl doll if she saved her own money. Shelly said that it would be fine but that they are almost $100. Emma instantly asked how much was in her bank (she already knew because she had made a deposit at the bank the week before). Shelly told her the amount (which was more than $100). Emma then said that she had saved enough money and wanted to order it. Well, she was right, so we ordered the doll and it came this week. She has been carrying it all over and is so proud of the fact that she bought it with her own money.
Last week we broke out the power tools in order to make a new stable for our front yard nativity. The old one was really moldy (we stored it under the deck) and even though mold probably added to the realism of what the actual stable was like, it was time for an upgrade. Hudson and Jonah really helped. They stayed in the garage for hours and helped me measure, cut and attach all the parts. They even came out the next day and helped me paint.