25 Days: HH Style, Day 9 & 10

Day 9: Go to Church Children's Musical

        Go to Kansas City Symphony Holiday Show

We had a little change of plans for today.  I was excited about going to the Children's Holiday Musical at church again as Boogie loved it last year, but we ended up having a great opportunity as well.  Edward Jones partners with the KC Symphony each year to offer special performances, invite only, to EJ employees and clients.  J has been sending clients for 4 years now, but we've never gone.  He ended up with two extra tickets this year so we decided to have a little date night and go!  It was a great time.  We got to check out the new [well, I guess it's not all THAT new anymore] Kaufman Center; which is beautiful, got to get dressed up and hit the town!  The show was great and we even got to perform with the Symphony! [well, they did a little sing-a-long section with everyone, but it sounds better saying we got to perform with them...]

Day 10: Have a Christmas Music Dance Party

I don't know what to say about this activity other than it was a total failure.  My kiddos LOVE to dance; I thought this activity was a shoe-in to go over well.  But, both kiddos were total grouchy pants all day. Sissy just wanted to suck her thumb and snuggle [which I'm not necessarily complaining about]...

 And Boogie just pouted in the corner...

On another note...Did you know that elves bathe in candy?? Who would have thought?

25 Days: HH Style; Day 7 & 8

Day 7: Take Family Photos by the Tree

[apparently I forgot to take a picture of the activity card for this day, oops...]

I really like this tradition.  Nothing fancy, just us in our jammies, seeing how everyone grows and changes year to year...

Daddy and the kiddos had a little story time by the tree before family pictures. One of Boogie's favorite books right now is "Are You Grumpy, Santa?" I have to agree, it's pretty cute, especially since Boogie can "read" the whole thing to us :)

Boogie thought the timer on the camera was the coolest thing ever [which made it hard to get him to sit still]. He thought it was hilarious to watch mommy push the button and then RUN to get in the picture!

This morning, Boogie again broke down into tears when he couldn't find Waffles.  He stopped still in his tracks in the kitchen, gave me that long, slow pout and burst into tears "Waffles!! Where are you?!" I tried my best to calm him down and distract him by saying "why don't we get some breakfast and then we'll look for her." I opened the cabinet door and Boogie jumped and screamed. "WAFFLES!!!!" And all was right in the world again...

Day 8: Visit Santa

I'll start with the Adventures of Waffles for today.  She got quite acrobatic last night.  Boogie spent a great deal of the day trying to hang upside down as well....

Today we had our Christmas Party with the families from our playgroup.  A pot-luck brunch and guess who made a special appearance?? Santa!!! I'll be honest, I'm a little skeptical.  I'm not sure it was really the Jolly Ol' Fat Man himself.  First of all, he really wasn't all that Jolly.  I would actually describe him more as grumpy and even creepy....but, the kids loved him! Actually, that's not true at all. The kids were terrified of him!  Sissy did pretty well with him though.  She's pretty chill and having a big brother has made her a pretty tough cookie so....creepy Santa ain't no thang!

Despite the shady Craigslist Santa, we had a GREAT time with all of our friends.  I can't say enough how truly blessed I am to have found these incredible mommies and their families!

25 Days: HH Style; Day 4, 5 & 6

Day 4: Write a Letter to Santa

We let the kiddos write their own letters this year. We made a trip to WalMart the other day and Boogie found some cars he's been talking about non-stop since and saying "Santa bring me cars!"  So, he wanted me to draw some cars on this letter for him to color.  Sissy...well, I'm not sure what she wrote, but I'm sure the jolly ole fat man is used to deciphering toddler scribble.

This morning Boogie was on top of looking for Waffles.  He's starting to understand that she likes to move around.  He found her really quickly; perched up in the corner...

Day 5: Make an Ornament

I'm really excited about this becoming a part of our holiday traditions.  Store bought ornaments are beautiful, but there's something really special about homemade.  I loved pulling out their ornaments from last year and seeing, already, how much their little hands and feet have grown! The first ornaments we made this year were super easy.  Just take a plain, clear ornament, open the top, squirt in some craft paint, replace the top and SHAKE!  Each person chose their colors to match our tree.  I love how different they all turned out.

Waffles was making quite the ruckus downstairs this morning.  I had no idea what she was up to.  Turns out she went on a little joy ride!

Day 6: Dress up in Silly Clothes

So much fun!! I gathered a pile of holiday themed dress up items and let the kiddos pick what they wanted to wear. Of course, Boogie picked the ruffle skirt :) This activity will be even more fun when they're a little older and it won't take 20 minutes just to get changed into new clothes!

It took us awhile to find Waffles this morning.  She changed it up a bit and ventured upstairs!! Now, I'm wondering if Waffles is also a diabetic or if she's just ornery....

We found her checking her blood sugar in the bathroom!

25 Days: HH Style 2012, Day 3

Day 3: Watch a Christmas Movie

Surprisingly, this activity did not go over well (at least not yet!).  Boogie is usually down for a movie any time you suggest it. Except today of course.  Maybe it's because we tried watching a couple of the old school Rudolph movies (which I've always thought were a little creepy) instead of Shrek or Toy Story or maybe he was just too ornery to sit still today.  But, I do have National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation recording from ABC Family right now, so as soon as this silly football game is over, J and I can watch! By far my favorite Christmas movie...not sure why we don't own it?! [Dear Santa...]

Definitely the more exciting activity today was bath time! I may have been a little heavy handed with the fresh bottle of bubble bath.....Tucker hopped into the tub and yelled "snow!!!"  It really did look like mountains of snow had taken over the bath tub.  Both kiddos loved making bubble beards and mustaches and hats and rubbing bubbles all over the walls...

And Waffles. Oh, Waffles.....we had our first meltdown in regards to Waffles.  Boogie came downstairs this morning and went right the tree where Waffles was yesterday and yelled "Waffles!! Where's Waffles!" J and I tried explaining that she moves to a different place everyday, but Boogie was too stunned.  He burst into tears when he couldn't find her.  Looks like we may have some issues with separation anxiety when Waffles has to return to the North Pole until next year....

We finally got Boogie calmed down and helped him look around to find Waffles.....there she is!!

25 Days: HH Style 2012; Days 1 & 2

Yep, it just started and I'm already late to the party!!  I've been slacking BIG time on this whole blog thing.  We've been so busy lately. Doing what, I don't know, but busy.  At least I have the "25 Days: HH Style" to hopefully get me back on track. Although, it's obviously not working so far...

I don't know about you, but last year I was kind of annoyed by all the facebook posts and pictures of people's tiny little elves on shelves (and in trees, in pantries, toy boxes, bathrooms and all other places they might have been causing mischief).  While it seemed like a cute tradition, it also seemed to have become the "in" thing to do.

Having said that.....we decided to "keep up with the Jones'" this year.  Yep, I gave in.  To be honest it's Boogie's 'terrible twos' that pushed me over the edge.  I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, this little (creepy looking) elf will help keep him in check....at least for a few short weeks.

In case you've been living under a rock and haven't heard the tale of the "Elf on a Shelf" here's a short summary:

• Santa sends said elf to your house
• Your first task is to name your elf 
• Said elf "watches" during the day, keeping notes on your behavior
• During the night, said elf flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa the happenings of the day
• Said elf returns by morning in a different place than she was the day before
• Each morning you have to look and find said elf
• You cannot touch the elf as this will cause her to loose her magical powers and she won't be able to get back to Santa to tell him how well you have been behaving (ie: no presents for you). [note that I referred to the elf as "she." Our elf is a girl, but some elves are boys...]

So, without further ado...I would like to introduce you to our elf, Waffles [name chosen by Boogie]:

She arrived at our house yesterday.  Unfortunately, there was no magical change in Boogie's behavior (darn!), but he does like to run around in front of her yelling "Hi Waffles!" and "look! Waffles is watching me!" So, I guess he kinda gets it...

Onto the 25 Days...

Day 1: [two activities today!] Put up the Christmas Tree & Go to the Holiday Luminary Walk

Since meeting Waffles, reading her story and naming her took up most of our morning, we were only able to get the tree up, but had to wait until after the kiddos went to bed to get lights and decorations on it.  Boogie had a lot of fun taking out the branches and spreading them out.

Boogie was much more excited about helping J put the lights up on the outside of the house.  Although, he was slightly confused by the ice cream man driving by while they were outside putting up lights...

Boogie is very obsessed with Christmas lights this year. Anytime we pass by a house lit up with lights he yells "Look! Christmas!" So, our second activity of the day was, in Boogie's words "Amazing" and "this is awesome!"  I agree. the Luminary Walk at the OP Arboretum is pretty awesome! The weather was MUCH better than last year; no freezing rain this time! Boogie and Sissy giggled and squealed with delight through the whole thing!

Today, we awoke to find Waffles in the Christmas Tree...

Speaking of Christmas tree.....here she is...

Day Two: Color Christmas pictures

This activity went much better than it did last year.  Everyone actually sat still and colored; at least for a few minutes.  I think J was trying to make up for his poor performance last year.  He spent about an hour and a half coloring his picture (the one with the presents).  Here are our masterpieces hanging in our new art display frame!