The Elf on the Shelf: Year 4

Admittedly, I wasn't really in the Christmas spirit this year, but I was determined to maintain one of my favorite family traditions! Thankfully, Brett helped me on more than one occasion, either reminding me to move our elf, Coconut E. Butterfly (Coco, for short), or else doing it for me. (Have I mentioned that he's awesome?)

Here's what Coco was up to in 2014. (Remember, he is not a naughty elf, so this is totally family-friendly.) Also, in case you're wondering, he usually makes his return right after Thanksgiving.

{Day 1: Sitting in the arm chair with a note.}

{Day 2: And he's already getting a bit carried away...}

{Day 3: Quick! Hide the elf. How about right here on top of the decoration boxes? }

{Day 4: Relaxing after folding all the towels}

{Day 5: I wonder what he was doing on the computer?}

{Day 6: This silverware drawer is just the right size.}

{Day 7: Toilet paper is cozier than you might think.}

{Day 8: Helping with the dishes}

{Day 9: Rock Star Elf!}

{Day 10: Coco is a Dolphins fan. Brett's idea, of course.}

{Day 11: Feeling a bit puzzled?}

{Day 12: Coco's on a roll... down the stairs!}

{Day 13: Splish splash, in the dollhouse bath}

{Day 14: Hanging out in the pantry with some elfin pals}

{Day 15: In Logan's room}

{Day 16: In the dog's stocking -- because we needed a quick hiding spot}

{Day 17: Hanging around outside Mia's room}

{Day 18: A friendly game of Uno}

{Day 19: Coco is a bit of a lightweight.}

{Day 20: Wheeee!}

{Day 21: A gentle reminder to brush those pearly whites!}

{Day 22: About to win a sack race!}

{Day 23: Buckled into Logan's car seat}

{Day 24: Coco loves a new Jamicure!}

{Day 25: Playing with Mama's jewelry -- the kids said he was hula hooping!}

{Day 26: Angry Birds has mass appeal.}

A Boy's World

Some days I think that I will never truly understand this kid. I really just do not know what goes on inside his little head. One thing is for sure. He often brings a smile to my face just by being himself. For example, today's snack time turned into a creative activity. The dinosaurs all got new shoes made from grapes and Goldfish crackers. (I am guessing this was inspired by yesterday's trip to the shoe store for new sneakers.) It's pretty ingenious, albeit impractical. But really, what's the point of always being practical? This life lesson brought to you by my four-year-old.

{Perhaps even dinosaurs need new shoes.}

The Creative Monster

Just when I think that I am not being much of a writer this month -- or anything creative, really --inspiration strikes. I empty the vacuum canister into the trash can, and what do I see staring up at me but a grinning "creative monster." He has just one eye, a straggler left over from some odd craft project. (This is fairly typical at our house, to step on a sequin, bead, pipe cleaner, or googly eye. Brett is always threatening to throw them away and then the kids grab them and find temporary hiding places for them.) All except for this eye, which apparently could not escape my vacuum cleaner's appetite. I think my creative monster is encouraging me to go create something!

{You see it, too, right? Or am I losing it?}

Rollin' On...

I now have two children who can ride two-wheel bikes without training wheels! How is that even possible? On Saturday, April 19, Logan requested that Brett take the training wheels off his bike. I was in the house at the time and didn't even know that this was happening until Mia came running in to tell me that I "might want to see this!" Apparently, he got right up and started riding like it was no big deal. Um, you think I might like to see that? And take photos and video!

{Tongue out in intense concentration as he gets started...}

{And he's off. Look at him go!}

Proud mama right here, folks. I guess all that practice on the Strider really paid off. He knew how to get started, balance, turn, and stop all on his own! With tons of confidence. And when he falls down (which is hardly ever) he just gets right back up. I am so amazed!

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In other news, I am pleased to announce the results of the giveaway sponsored by Path Publishing! Congratulations to Liz! Liz, I will be in touch with you soon.

Back in the Running!

Good news, everyone! I am officially back in the running for Mom of the Year. Yesterday, I figured out that if I arranged the grilled cheese sandwich slices in a pyramid shape and then nestled fruits and veggies into the compartments, the little dude would nearly make it into the "Clean Plate Club." (Not that I ever force the kids to eat everything, but you get the point, right?) This was huge, like 3-point-shot-from-the-half-court-line-nothin'-but-net HUGE. Go, Team Mommy!

{Mommy shoots and scores! Everyone wins!}

To make the pyramid, first cut the sandwich in half on the diagonal to get two triangles. Set one aside and cut the other in half to make two smaller triangles. Place the large triangle upright, with the flat side as its base. Then, set each of the two smaller triangles flush against the big triangle, so that the flat cut edges serve as the bases and the sides that rest against the large triangle. It should look like the two small triangles are pieced back together, with the other sandwich half dissecting them. This sounds slightly complicated as I am trying to explain it, but it is truly simple!

A Case of the Mondays

On my to-do list: make a card to go with a baby gift for an upcoming shower. Done, but I have to show you this goof that I almost made. While gathering materials, I came across some cute animal paper, which reminded me of the nursery bedding the mommy-to-be had registered for. I grabbed that and some other girly accessories, including a letter "k," the first initial of the baby. Then I assembled what I thought was a finished card. Once I stopped and actually looked at what I had created, I saw a potential problem...

{See anything wrong with this?}

"Special K Miracle?" Hmmm... possibly the next big thing in breakfast cereals? You get a new baby and then you can magically fit into your pre-baby bikini that same summer! Or not. I don't think Kellogg's will be paying me big bucks for this idea any time soon.

While this wording may have gotten a few chuckles at the baby shower, I really wanted it to be more thoughtful. Needless to say, I removed the "special" tag and replaced it with a more suitable one that read, "cutie pie." Crisis averted, and I am now off to tick more things off my to-do list on this Monday.

When in Doubt, Eat Chocolate

In case any of you were wondering, Why hasn't Meg updated her blog in a few days?... I have created a list of excuses reasons. In no particular order, they are:

• Two words: snow days. Oh my word, am I ever sick of these! Ten for this school year -- two this week --and it is still officially winter. In other words, I am not exhaling yet...
• The dog had surgery this week and she is trying to make me feel guilty. See Exhibit A:

{Fur baby guilt trip}

• I already have a heaping load of guilt on my plate, thankyouverymuch. Everybody else is talking about how they are signing their similar-aged kiddos up for kindergarten, and we are redshirting Logan. He truly is NOT ready, but still, it makes me feel like I have somehow failed.
• I was honestly avoiding my blog for a bit because I was thisclose to writing a snarky post about how much it stinks to be the classroom volunteer who counts and sorts the Box Tops. I do try to keep it positive around here, but I just have to show you this Exhibit B and I think you may understand why I am going slightly bonkers and will never again volunteer for this job. EVER! 

{Why would anybody tape these to a random piece of paper -- front and back -- why?!}

• I've been kinda busy coordinating meal deliveries for a couple of mamas in my MOPS group. Note, I am not complaining about this, just stating a fact. It is part of my job as hospitality coordinator, and it's one of the few things that has made me feel useful and good this week. So there's that.
• I will do just about anything for my children. This now includes scooping a rabbit carcass (and assorted innards) out of the road immediately in front of our house, tromping through the huge drifts of snow in the back yard, and burying it under a mound of snow behind a tree -- all so that when Mia gets off the school bus, neither child will see any evidence of the Easter Bunny's demise.
• The time change is kicking my butt. (And if I ever meet Benjamin Franklin, I will be sorely tempted to kick his butt! I think all the moms will understand.)
• I am doing 40 Bags in 40 Days as my Lenten sacrifice. Truthfully, I have not given up anything for Lent in years. I used to do this in the BC (Before Children) era of life, but since doing 5+ years of pregnancy and breastfeeding, I have a hard time wanting to give up anything. I am making pretty good progress -- only missed one day -- and I have completely sorted through both kids' wardrobes and already given a bunch of things away! So, this worked out well as a way to purge things I don't need without having to give up chocolate, and let's face it. If you just read all that junk I just unloaded up there, you can probably guess that I have been hitting the chocolate.

And that brings me to the happy point of all this. Chocolate. Mia was bummed last night because Brett told her that it was Pi Day, and I had not made a pie. (Obviously, I was tied up with all that other stuff, but how do you get a seven year old to understand that?) 

{Chocolate Strawberry Pie! Isn't it pretty?}

I went shopping and got a few things to pull together a pie today, but I wasn't really sure what type of pie I wanted. I had gotten both a graham cracker crust and a chocolate graham cracker crust plus strawberries. I was waffling between making strawberry pie or making chocolate pie. Then, this phrase popped into my head, When in doubt, eat chocolate! Yes, of course, chocolate was the way to go. 

After I made a batch of chocolate mousse, I realized that it would not be enough to fill the pie shell. Disappointed, I turned to Brett and asked now what? His suggestion was to add strawberries, (They are the bottom layer.) which made for a tasty and beautiful pie. (Prettiest I've ever made!) Perfect! I love when he comes up with the perfect solution to my kitchen quandaries. We're a pretty good team -- not unlike chocolate and strawberries.

{Somebody finished hers and then sidled up, hoping for more.}

Notes to self: This recipe for whipped cream came out better than previous attempts. Might be the stand mixer, or the use of powdered sugar over granulated sugar. Or maybe I just rocked it! Next time, try sandwiching strawberries between two thin layers of mousse.

Million Dollar Question

Some things in life are a complete mystery. Take, for example, this spot that has suddenly appeared on my kitchen floor. What precisely is it? I'm not sure. Any number of sticky things, I suppose. 

The real question, however, is How did it happen to take the exact form of a question mark? That, folks, is the million dollar question! Unfortunately, the world may never know. It seems that our mystery stain has a pending date -- with my mop. 

A Request

I have already shared the sad news with my Facebook friends -- several times in fact. The Livingston Parent Journal is in trouble and they may not be printing any future issues! Yes, this is the same publication that has run a few articles for me recently, but please read on to see why I feel compelled to make one last public request on their behalf.

When I became a stay-at-home mom four years ago, I felt lonely and isolated. I no longer had opportunities for regular adult conversation. To make matters worse, our finances were much tighter, making it difficult for me to feel like I could wisely take the children to very events. It seemed like everything had a price tag, and I was worried that the cost was too high.

Enter the Livingston Parent Journal. This FREE publication became my lifeline for family-friendly events in the area, and most of them were free or very low cost! Suddenly, I was connected. We were going places, and the whole family was so much happier. I know that there are many, many other families who are being impacted in this way, and I would hate for them to lose a vital resource -- the Livingston Parent Journal!

I recently read an article about a couple that claimed to have had the first crowdfunded baby, following a successful in vitro fertilization made possible in this fashion. While I am not asking you to help me make a baby, I do want you to consider supporting an important cause! You may be wondering, How can I help? #1 Click here to go to their crowdfunding page. You have until January 31 to make a financial difference. #2 You are, of course, welcome to share, share, share. I've always believed in the power of one person to make a difference, but truly the real power is when many people join together in support of something they believe in. Thanks for listening.

In other news, since we are experiencing another polar vortex, I thought I would also share a picture of something that we tried the last time the temps were so frigid: frozen bubbles! (Yes, it is easy to make a bubble freeze. The tricky part is getting a photo of it!) We used our favorite homemade bubble solution, but I assume any bubble solution will work. In my opinion, it's a whole lot safer than throwing boiling water into the air. Of course, you will need to make sure that everyone is properly bundled up, and that you don't remain outside for too long. Stay warm, have fun, and please consider making a donation to the Livingston Parent Journal!

{Here it is! A frozen bubble!}

The Elf on the Shelf: Year Three

Coconut E. Butterfly is back for a third year of pre-Christmas fun. (If you missed it, here is where you can read about year 1 and year 2.) I was really, really on the ball this year, so I made a list of possible hiding places for each day in December leading up to Christmas. This may sound silly, but it made my life a lot easier. Each evening, instead of scrambling to come up with a new hiding spot for Coco, I just consulted my list and picked a choice that I was feeling up for that night. If I was extra tired I just went with something simple.

I compiled my list using suggestions from these two sites:  ABC WOTV4 and Jenna's Journey -- along with a few random Pinterest ideas and some ideas of my own. In all, I have listed 24 ideas, complete with photos so you can see how they turned out. All of them are what I consider to be cute, fun, and most important -- appropriate for young kids!

Believe it or not, one of the most time-consuming set-ups was the tea party. I had to scrounge throughout the house for a few days in order to find the tea pot and party treats, while Mia was at school and Logan was otherwise occupied. I never did locate any of the tea cups, but I did come across some other cups so it worked out in the end. Mia was actually quite impressed, enthusing, "Coco found all of this?!" Yeah, he's pretty magical, that elf of ours.

Another "problem" that I encountered was that I couldn't locate my spool of fishing line. For the string of gumdrops, falling "snow" cotton balls, SuperElf, and the zip line, I substituted dental floss (as I had previously mentioned in this post.) It worked great!

Here are a  few more lessons that I learned from Coco's adventures in 2013:
#1 My kids will NOT drink green milk. Mia insisted that Coco had made it "sour" and refused to touch it.

#2 You can quickly make your own SuperElf cape with some felt, scissors, 2 print-outs of the Superman logo, and glue dots.

#3 Letting the elf make a snowflake out of Q-tips in the master bathroom (where they are normally stored) meant that excited children would be trooping into the bathroom while Mommy was in the shower. After that, he only hung out in the other bathrooms. I do like to steal moments of privacy, you know!

#4 There is no legitimate way to spell out "Santa Claus say hi" with Scrabble tiles. It is necessary to make one of the players cheat somewhat and place "hi" so it isn't connected to the other words.

#5 If your elf is going to land his paper airplane on the ceiling fan, you may want to dust it first. Otherwise, you are posting pics on the blogosphere for all the other mommies to judge.

#6 The kids did not believe that Coco roasted his marshmallow with that battery operated candle. Not for one second. They totally knew he used the actual candle, located behind him. Luckily, they did not question how he lit it. Also, Brett commented that he didn't know he "was such a little pyro." Really, I did not think that this would be the one everyone would pick apart, but now you know.

#7 Elf donuts: so cute! I made these on the same night we had done gingerbread houses (out of graham crackers) so I already had royal icing at hand. Again, I was a bit disappointed that the kids didn't believe that Coco really had donuts. Mia announced that they were just Cheerios, but that didn't stop them from happily eating three each.

#8 Fishing for Goldfish crackers was cute. I wondered if I should have put them in a bowl instead of the sink so that they weren't wasted, but I decided it was okay since it was just 7 of the baby sized crackers.

#9 It required a little bit of tape to get the elf secured to the candy cane for ziplining. This bothered me ever so slightly, but they kids did not notice or care.

#10 A small amount of cotton batting + a rubber band = a quick, easy Santa beard.

#11 Brett has always wanted Coco to ride the dog. I was really proud of my idea to finally make this work! I stuck the elf into her collar while she was lying down next to an end table, and quickly snapped some photos while he was still propped up. Then, I copied the files, shrunk them down, pasted them into word, and printed them out. I left some white trim around the edges because it reminded me of Polaroids. (I couldn't get them square without taking time to mess around with the sizing more, something that I wasn't willing to do, so this had to be good enough!) Then, I set the "photos" in Coco's lap and propped him up against the camera bag so that the kids could find the evidence in the morning. Perfection! The whole family was excited (with the possible exception of Ritzy -- she seemed to wonder what I was up to.)

{Day 1: He's back!}

{Day 2: Clean up, clean up...}

{Day 3: Getting crafty with the Q-tips}

{Day 4: Coloring inside the lines}

{Day 5: Movie night, complete with popcorn!}

{Day 6: Making a mini paper chain}

{Day 7: A friendly game of Scrabble with a stuffed dog, not pictured}

{Day 8: Reading to some pals}

{Day 9: Donuts for breakfast!}

{Day 10: Crash landing?}

{Day 11: Goody, goody gumdrops for our tree}

{Day 12: Playing with Logan's RC car}

{Day 13: Chillin' in the fridge, with that "sour" green milk}

{Day 14: World's shortest Santa impersonator?}

{Day 15: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!}

{Day 16: Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SuperElf!}

{Day 17: Gone fishin'}

{Day 18: Squeaky clean Coco}

{Day 19: We don't own a Barbie convertible, but this Harley is just the right size.}

{Day 20: All he needs are graham crackers and chocolate.}

{Day 21: We do, however, have a Barbie jet ski!}

{Day 22: The magic of photography saves the day.}

{Day 23: Tea is served. (At last!)}

{Day 24: Mission Elf-Possible! The grand finale this year? Coco ziplining on a candy cane!}