A Little Elf Inspiration

Apparently Percy the Elf has given Payton a little inspiration.
Payton decided to write a book based on an Elf, but in a diary format (picture "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" meets "Elf on a Shelf"). He worked all weekend creating his story, finding pictures on the internet for illustrations, and printing out each page at a time for us to read and review.

Now the he is finished, he has decided to spend his own money to make color copies for certain family members. So, here's a little peek at what it looks like in raw format. I'll post a picture of the finished product once it's completed.

And speaking of Percy, Payton also left a note for Percy asking him if he was on Santa's "Good list." So Percy flew back to the North Pole last night and returned here this morning:

On the arm of our Santa figurine with a special note tucked under Santa's arm.

This is what was inside the scrolled note:

A letter to Payton from Santa himself!!! Even on authentic Santa Claus letterhead!!

The note said that Payton is in fact on the "Good list" right now, but that there are still 7 days until Christmas, so he needed to be sure to continue his good behavior.

Payton really loved getting a special note from Santa... maybe your kids would too. ;)

 

In other Christmas news, Payton totally stole our neighbor's Santa hat yesterday and was wearing it all over the house. He looked SO cute! But of course I couldn't get a good picture.

"CHEESE!"

We also received an early Christmas present from my brother & sister-in-law.

Oh, we didn't open the actual gift.

The "present" was the box it came in.

This is the stereotypical situation where the child is in love with the box, and hasn't asked once about the wrapped gift that came inside the box.

 

Parker has made a little play area in this box every. single. day since it arrived.

 

I've had to duct tape the sides back together multiple times already.

And yesterday, I found both boys in the box eating their snack together.

Kids...gotta love em.

One last Christmas item.

Did you see the Elf on the Shelf movie that aired last Friday night?

It was SO cute!

We went to our church volunteer party that evening...

...and then after the boys were bathed and Parker was put to bed, the 3 of us snuggled up on the couch and watched the movie together. Payton loved it of course.

And I was the lucky recipient of homemade hot chocolate. 

I have no idea what all he put in it (probably whole milk and Hershey kisses) but it was GOOO-od!

I'm off to buy a few more gift cards to complete my Christmas shopping. Feels good to almost be done... and to know that we stuck to our guns about buying minimal gifts this year. 

Happy final shopping days everyone!

Chicken Recipe & Elf Update

I made a super easy Crock Pot dinner last night that I could have sworn that I had posted on here before, but I searched the archives and don't see it. So, I'm going to share it with ya below, along with a few Percy the Elf pictures!

Recipe: Crock Pot Chicken & Stuffing

This is one of Brian's favorite recipes, and the kids love it too, so that's always a win-win in my book. The only problem with it, is that it's not the "prettiest" recipe I've ever seen. It comes out sort of looking like brown mush. But that's because there is Stove Top stuffing on top, which technically is brown mush, really. Anyhow, try to look past the aesthetics and go with the fact that it's an easy and family-friendly recipe!

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (thawed)
• 1 can cream chicken soup
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 box Stove Top Stuffing
• 1 2/3 cups of water

Directions:
1. Spray Crock Pot with Pam and then place chicken breasts inside. Generously sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper.

2. In a medium size bowl, mix together the soup & milk until combined. Pour over chicken.

3. Using the same bowl, mix together the Stove Top Stuffing & water. Let it sit for a few minutes until the dry stuffing has absorbed the water. Pour on top of the chicken.

4. Cover & let cook on low 6-8 hours.

It's as easy as that! Serve it with veggies & garlic bread and you've got yourself an easy weeknight meal!

Now, on to more fun things...

Percy the Elf Update

There has been no shortage of craziness when it comes to our Elf lately. He's been...

Pretending to poop out a Hershey's Kiss:

Having an ice cream party with our salt & pepper shakers in the freezer:

And taking a marshmallow "bubble bath" in the guest bathroom (yes, there's water in that tub!).

 

The kids have really gotten into it this year. Parker wakes up and says, "Where Percy???" And then they both go on a hunt around the house looking for him. 

I love hearing their reaction when they find him - it's so funny!

It's date night tonight! I'm so excited. We haven't been out alone in too long. Sitter arrives at 5:45 and this mama is puttin' on her heels and headin' out... let's just hope it's not coupled with Parker screaming at the top of his lungs like usual. ;)

Christmas Barf

What a gross title for a blog post, eh?

Originally I meant it metaphorically, in that I was about to throw up a whole-lotta-Christmas cheer into this post. But then I realized that a stomach bug has worked its way through half of our family this week, so the title really seemed all that more appropriate...and gross, so sorry for that.

Anyhow...

Even a nasty stomach bug couldn't keep the Christmas good times rollin' up in here! Our Elf has been funny this week. On Wednesday morning, the boys found him doling out his favorite elf-sized Krispy Kreme "Junior" donuts. Complete with a tiny elf-sized note.

 This was the note (Percy has really sloppy handwriting):

 A little size comparison photo for you...this note was TINY.

Last night, Percy moved on to our Gingerbread house and was found digging in with one of Parker's bibs on! Sorry, no photo of that silliness.

BUT, speaking of gingerbread houses, I do have some photos of ours being created and they turned out unexpectedly funny.

I was just clicking away as Payton and his friend Avery decorated the gingerbread house with all sorts of candy & icing.

See? Cute pic of them working together.

Then notice the rest of the pictures how Parker stealth-fully makes his way from next to the table...

 To standing behind them on the bench...

To sitting between them on the bench...

To full-on decorating!

He's pretty sneaky, eh?

In the end, the house turned out cute...and FULL of candy & icing!

One other Christmas project I took on this week was to "Christmas-up" my front door wreath.

This wreath was a gift from my mom. She used to hang this wreath in the living room every year and I always loved it and commented on it. Then one year, she gave it to me. I still adore it and love to hang it during the fall. But this year, I wanted to give it a little Christmas cheer.

Here's the "before":

Beautiful wreath, right?

And here's the "after":

 I had ordered this monogram door hanger months ago, but it needed to be painted and then hung on something. Fortunately, I had just that "something" that it could hang on. I just attached it with some floral wire, so it can be easily removed. Then did the same thing with a thick red velvet wire ribbon.

I'm very happy with how it turned out! But if you know me, then you know how much I love monograms, and none of this really surprises you.

I think that's enough barfing dumping of Christmas cheer on you for one night. We've got multiple Christmas parties this weekend (2 of them I actually get to get dressed up!!) and a neighborhood block party where Santa will be making an appearance on a fire engine. So, no worries, lots more Christmas posts to come. Did I just hear a "sigh"...surely not! :)

Decembering

Yes, I made up a word for the title of this post. But it seemed fitting because I just want to share some fun things we've been doing around here to enjoy December and all of it's holidayness (yes, I just made up another word).

As you probably know by now, our Elf Percy made his appearance on December 1st. Payton was SO anxious for him to arrive! And he did so in grand style by "decorating" a picture of the boys with dry erase markers.

 Payton thought it was hysterical!

Parker just kept looking at it and saying "Percy! Percy!" It's pretty cute that he recognizes him already.

That same morning we kicked off the Advent calendar with chocolate bars.

"Cheers!"

And then had a "North Pole" breakfast complete with red & green chocolate chip pancakes.

 

After breakfast, I think the boys went into a sugar coma. They cuddled in bed and played together for a long time. It was SO nice!

After that (since we hadn't had enough sugar yet) we went over to our friend's house to play and decorate gingerbread cookies.

Payton & Lilly did beautiful jobs on their cookies.

After all that eating and sugar, we needed to burn off some energy. So we rode our bikes up to the park and played there for a while.

Payton loves to do this "zip line" thing. And Parker just watched him go back and forth about 15 times. He loves watching his brother perform "tricks."

That evening, Brian got home from his business trip. The boys were SO excited!

They laid in the fort for a long time and wrestled in our bed.

We also introduced Payton to the movie "Elf" this past week. He LOVED it!

What a great family movie that is.

And Payton busted out his Lite Brite to make a holiday message:

(it says "Mery Christ-mas" in case you can't read it)

Here are a few more pics of our Elf and his crazy antics:

Reading one of Payton's favorite books by flashlight.

 

Taking aim at The Grinch with Payton's Nerf gun.

It's SUCH a fun month, isn't it???