Our Elf on the Shelf

Our Elf on the Shelf comes to our house on the night of Thanksgiving while the kids are asleep. When they wake up the day after Thanksgiving, they are surprised to find him hanging out somewhere in our home. Our elf's name is Edward, named after my Grandfather on my Dad's side. This is the third year he has come to our house, and the first year where Jenny and Aiden both really understood. We had a lot of fun with him this year!

The first day he arrived he was sitting on Sophia's crib watching her. We think he must have come to visit her first since he had never met her before.

In years past, Edward has just moved from place to place without really misbehaving or doing anything naughty. This year, since the kids understood better, Edward misbehaved a few times and made a lot of messes! Occassionally he brought the kids letters from Santa and small gifts.

Jenny and Aiden can't stand not being able to touch him, but they truly believe that if they touch him his magic will go away. On one of the first nights Edward was here, the kids found him sitting in the floor reading The Elf of the Shelf book to some of his "friends". Edward didn't plan very well, and of course Sophia crawled right over to him and picked him up. Jenny and Aiden were very upset! They both thought for sure that Edward's magic was gone and he wouldn't return to the North Pole. Luckily, Santa sent them a note the next morning that said that Edward was just fine, and since Sophia was too young to understand, it was ok for her to touch him. Santa also made sure they understood that adults could touch Edward too. Jenny and Aiden were very relieved that Edward would be just fine!

Just like the story goes, Edward leaves our home on the night when Santa comes. Santa takes him back to the North Pole with him in his sleigh. On Christmas Eve, we blow him a kiss and tell him goodbye. The kids are always sad to see him go, but they know that he will come back again next year.

Four!

Dear Aiden,

You turned four years old on November 29, 2012! How is it possible that you are already four? I can't believe it!

You are the funniest kid I know. You are always making your Daddy and I laugh! Most nights, after you have gone to bed, your Daddy and I sit up and talk about all
the funny things you did that day. You just have the funniest personality. You have some of the strangest facial expressions I have ever seen - that is one of my most favorite things about you!

This was a big year for you! You are no longer the "baby" in our family. You are our middle child, and also a big brother. God has blessed us again with another wonderful older sibling. You do better with Sophia than I ever imagined you would. You have your moments, but for the most part you are so sweet with her. Sophia just adores you! You make her laugh more than anyone, and you just eat it up!

You are really enjoying Christmas this year. You understand it better this year and you are so excited! We have an Elf on the Shelf named Edward and this year has been the most fun. You wake up every morning and the first thing you do is look for him. I just know that this Christmas will be one of my favorites.

You have been going to Awana every Wednesday night, MOPS every other Thursday, and church on Sundays. You do so well in each one, and your teachers all tell me how you are so ready for school. You start Pre-K next August, so I am glad to know you are ready.

You are so smart! You know your ABCs, colors, and some of your numbers. We have been working on spelling and writing your name. You are getting pretty good at it!

Your favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, pizza, fruit, and Pop Tarts. You like to watch Power Rangers, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. You wear a size 4 pants, a small shirt, and a size 11 shoe.

You weigh 39lbs and you are 41 inches tall. You are in the 75th percentile for both your height and weight. You are a big boy! Your doctor was pretty impressed with your speaking skills. He said that you must be a talker - he is right!!

You are such a blessing to us! We love you more than we ever imagined we could. We enjoy spending time with you. You are our little buddy. We love you SO much!!

Just for fun, here is a picture of you when you were just a little baby....

Love always,

Mama & Daddy

The 25th Annual Lighting of the Tree

Every year we go to the Lighting of the Tree in our town square. This year was the 25th anniversary. There is music, singing, crafts for the kids, lots of decorations, and Santa Claus always rides in at the end on a fire truck! Here are a few pictures from that night:

Thanksgiving 2012

We went out to eat this year for Thanksgiving. I didn't take very many pictures, but I did get a few cute ones of Sophia. She had mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes from my plate.

Visit to See Santa 2012

We took the kids to the mall the day before Thanksgiving to see Santa. It is much easier to take them early as there isn't a long line and Santa will talk with them more and I don't feel like I'm in a rush to choose a picture and photo package. Here are our pictures from this year....

 

 

Macy's Pink Pig 2012

We took the kids to Lenox Mall again this year to ride Macy's Pink Pig, Priscilla! We went for the first time last year and the kids really enjoyed it. This year was Sophia's first time to go! We learned from our experience last year and we went much earlier in the season this time to avoid the long lines. We waited in line for around 30 minutes, much better than the hour we waited last year!

 

Just like last year we took the Marta Train to get to Lenox Mall. Here are Jenny, Aiden, and Sophia about to get on the train.

 

Sophia's first ride on Marta!

 

Daddy and Jenny on Marta - these two look more and more alike every day!

 

Mama and Aiden

 

 

Jenny and Aiden rode together in the front of the train.

 

Sophia's first ride on the Pink Pig!

 

 

 

On our way out of Lenox Mall we saw Santa!!

 

Macy's Pink Pig picture 2012