Saturday, November 29, 2014

The return of Elfie Picklepants

Yep, that's right....its that time of year to threaten my kids with "The Elf is gonna tell Santa" to get their best behavior.  I'm not ashamed.  Here's this year's calendar of Elf Shenanigans:
He made his appearance on Thanksgiving morning.  

 He brought toys, candy, coloring books, and an Olaf doll.
 And donuts!




 Give this kid new pencils and a math book and he's a happy camper.
 I made ornaments out of some Frozen figurines...Dom is gonna love it for his tree!
The first night, Elfie played Minecraft...

 He's such a creeper (you'll understand if you know Minecraft)...but ironically, he is kinda creepy.
Day 2 Elfie cut down a Christmas tree and tied it to his truck....maybe we'll do that this weekend too!  
 Well, we don't have the big tree yet but Vince decorated his...
 And Dom decorated his.....

We have some other things to cross off our Christmas bucket list: letting the kids pick out 1 ornament for the big tree each year (holy crap they're expensive).
 And circling  the toys they want from Santa when the catalogs come...
Advent Book reading: aka the worst form of torture ever....I HATE wrapping but I love reading these books so I guess its ok!

I'll try to post Elfie updates every week or so so keep checking back!  


November Recap

How is it almost December?  I mean really, Christmas is right around the corner...and I've only bought like 3-4 gifts.  Crap.  Anyway, now that I am totally stressed out, here are some pics from November.  

I spent a day off giving flu shots...whoohoo!
 Where do these missing socks go?  Seriously?
Sometimes being cooped up inside with 2 wild boys is enough to drive me crazy so I got the Jeep out and let them have fun....it was a little chilly but whatever!

My nephew, Matt (on the right) is gonna be a daddy soon.  HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???? The whole fam went to the baby shower. Man, we're obnoxious....see posts below....
 Me, Carey (sister), and Mom
 Michael (my other nephew) and me....
 There's that obnoxious part I was talking about....yep, we keep it klassy...
 Oh, even klassier.  Me copping a feel.
 and photobombing Carey and Sam's picture.
 I remember when this kid was obsessed with the ninja turtles and now he's having a baby.  Crazy!
 Me and Dommy chilling before bed.
 I love that sweet face.
 Erin K and I got a night out, complete with dinner, wine....and tacky outfits at Macy's.
 Shhhh....I kept Vince home from school one day for a much needed mommy day.  We did a little shopping (Toys R Us and Barnes and Noble), then went to Dave and Busters for some lunch and arcade games.

Then I took him to the best candy store in town (For the love of chocolate) and he picks out bubblegum.  I mean the smell of chocolate when you walk it almost knocks you over...and he picks out BUBBLEGUM?  Not my kid.
 Finished off with a haircut!  Such a sweet and handsome boy!  Love him.
 Funny faces with Dom...

Cadbury mini eggs and coffee for breakfast....don't judge.
 Clearly, I have a problem taking selfies with the kids at night....sorry.
 This kid joins me in bed at some point every single night....and this is how I find him when I wake up (facing the wrong way, on top of the covers).  No wonder I don't sleep well. (ps it was pitch dark and this was using flash...hence the blurriness)
 Last week was spirit week at Vince's school and one day was Disney Day.  He was Jake from Jake and the neverland pirates.
 Vince was so upset when I picked him up one day.  He got a yellow (not a good day and very unusual for Vince).  I saw the reasoning in his backpack.  It was all I could do not to laugh out loud when I read it.  Someone (aka the teacher) needs to get a sense of humor!
 Also, one day last week at daycare was Western Day.  Only a few kids dressed up so Dom's teachers just ate him up.  Cutest cowboy ever!
 Minecraft day!

 I finally splurged (with the help of bday money) and got the Toms booties I've been wanting...
 Who knew Vince was this strong...
 Terrible picture but me and the boys went to see Big Hero 6.  AWESOME MOVIE!

Here was an idea I saw on Pinterest to entertain the boys....
 They nailed it!  Good job kiddos!
 Took the kids through the Illuminate Light Show at the fairgrounds.  They loved it and they loved the building at the end with a bouncy house and this contraption even more!
 Rainy cold days call for big curly hair (and rainboots but those aren't pictured).
 Rainy cold days also call for hot chocolate in cute mugs....
 3 of my favorite guys on Thanksgiving....
Its no secret (at least to those of you who read my blog), 2014 has been one hell of a year....not in a good way...and I'm ready for it to be over.  There's an Etsy shop called Farm Girl Paints that makes cuff bracelets with whatever saying you want on them (and she's based out of Chesterfield - yay for supporting local small businesses).  I had been wanting one of her bracelets for a long time but never ordered one (she's only open certain times of the year and I never seem to catch that time).  When I saw her post this glittery sparkly cuff, I knew I wanted it but I wasn't sure what I wanted it to say.  I went through about 8-10 ideas but for some reason, this quote from Mother Theresa spoke to me the most.  "Peace begins with a smile"  I'm a smiler.  I've always been a smiler.  What's the quote from the movie Elf?  Smiling is my favorite?  As cheesy as it sounds, smiling really is my favorite.  It makes me happy, it makes others around me happy.  I haven't smiled as much lately and I hate that.  I'm hoping that if I remember to smile more, I'll find some peace and eventually I won't have to "remember".  The runner up saying was "Stronger today than yesterday".....saving that for my next one.