15 Elf on the Shelf Ideas

We've had our Elf on the Shelf for years and the girls love having him come and visit! We actually have two elves now, because one year we lost him and later found him. 

Our elves are typically pretty tame. I'll be honest that our elves have gotten less and less creative, and there are some nights that they're super creative and others where they just sit somewhere watching.

1. We use to go to Branson Thanksgiving weekend, so our elves would be waiting for us when we arrived home. Most years, they brought us a gingerbread kit, and they're bringing the girls another one this year. 

2. Use your Barbie accessories. 

Our elf is hanging out with some cool drinks and feeling like he's on vacation. 

3. Bring a letter.

The girls will often write letters to Santa and our elf will take them when he flies to the North Pole every night. The girls think it's so fun when he talks to them! 

4. Make a snow angel!

You can use flour or sugar. 

5. Hide him in the tree. 

6. Just put him up high. 

7. Ride the Ferris Wheel

We often use the girls toys as props, so one year, he took a ride on a ferris wheel. 

8. We try to hide ours around the house. One year he was wearing a Christmas hair bow and hanging out in the bathroom. 

9. Take a ride on the Christmas Train. 

10. Bring a North Pole Breakfast. 

11. Some people do the breakfast at the beginning of the season when their elf arrives, but we do ours on Christmas Eve morning when the elf says good-bye. It's a fun way to kick off the Christmas Eve day! 

12. Bring reindeer lollipops. 

13. Dress up and hang from your cabinets in the kitchen. 

14. Hang out in a Santa sack. 

15. Bring Christmas cookies to decorate. 

Each year on Christmas Eve we let the girls hug the elves before they go to bed. They love finally being able to give them hugs and kisses and saying goodbye. We let them touch them on this one night, because they won't loose their magic- they just go home with Santa and they don't need to fly home. 

Also, if our elves accidentally get touched throughout the season- we sing a Christmas song to give him his magic back. Remember,  "the best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." So, once we sing, the girls don't freak out so much about him loosing his magic.

And just for fun, here's some bonus ideas for you!

- Color a picture. Sneakily color it in throughout the day when your kids aren't looking.

- Bring a Christmas coloring or activity book.

- Bring Christmas shrink-a-dinks

- Bring Hot Chocolate Mix and Marshmallows

- Take a Marshmallow Bubble Bath

- Set him up with the remote control and have a "no TV" day

- Make an igloo with sugar cubes

- Bring a Christmas book and set him up reading it

- Have him go on strike if your kids are not cleaning their rooms or if they're arguing

What type of fun does your Elf on the Shelf have?

Life Lately

Hey, hey Monday! I'm sharing a bit of life lately with y'all today.... we've been busy, but we've also squeezed in some lazy afternoons, and honestly, we've just been trying to be together. I feel like I haven't had a ton to share, because we've just been in the moment. We're also in that mid-season weirdness of DJ being home more, but also still being gone, while trying to squeeze in some Christmas, but still having hard times adjusting to the move, school, life, and daddy being busy. 

And, it's not like this because of the move... it's just like this most December's when we have a bowl game around Christmas.

After the championship game, we had a full morning of DJ home, but then he had to be at work that evening, and he worked late, and then later in the week he went to New Orleans for a pre-bowl planning trip, and he had two practices, which meant a late night and early morning.

Anyway, it's just been a waiting game of sorts around here. 

When we were in Ft. Worth, we visited "cowboy" Santa. And, while I hadn't planned on visiting Santa that weekend, this may be my favorite Santa visit ever. The girls were so excited, and you can't get more "Texan" than a cowboy Santa. The girls each received a stuffed horse from Santa, and they all thought that was pretty darn cool! 

When we got back from Ft. Worth, the girls put on their Christmas pajamas from Gee. We've had them for a few weeks, but I wouldn't let them wear them until it was officially Christmas! 

Our elves also came back while we were away, and left notes along the entry way, letting the girls know that they were back. 

The next morning, DJ was home, so we decorated the Christmas tree and watched the bowl selections.

This is the 2nd year in a row, that, I have had a simple tree. We just let the girls put up our hodge podge of ornaments, and ya know what? I love it. 

The star was the finishing touch ;) 

The next morning, the girls woke up to their advent bags filled. Each day has a little activity for us to do together. I try to plan ahead, and on days that we'll be busy, it's something simple like reading a book, or doing a random act of kindness for someone. Other days, it's family movie night or taking cookies to the firemen. We started this tradition last year, and Megan asked about it several times before we decorated for Christmas. 

Megan wrote two of her friends letters, so we walked to the mailbox after school to mail them. 

We also received another package of goodies from Gee, with oversized sleepshirts for the girls. They're child size, but they would probably fit me! The girls didn't care and wanted to wear them to bed....... so they read a story, and after we tucked them in, they changed and put on pj's that actually fit! 

Megan started back to gymnastics a few weeks ago. She's there for 3 hours twice a week, so while she was on break, Addy snapped this picture of her. 

This little buddy and I went to buy our new stocking holder one day after school. She loved the one on one time and insisted on holding our package. 

Megan's reading has blossomed this year! She read me this entire Amelia Bedelia book before bed. 

Megan is also star of the week this week, so we worked on her poster this weekend and added a few family pictures. The poster will be displayed in her classroom so her friends can learn more about her, and then on Friday, she'll present it to the class.

So, that's a little Life Lately for ya! 

Life Lately

Whew, life lately has been a mess! Once we got back from our Thanksgiving trip, things got a little crazy! DJ was home in the evenings last week, which made life a lot smoother, but we had lots of after school activities and catching up to do after we were away! 

Addy Pearl was excited to be heading back to school on Monday! 

She and her friends had an awesome time in p.e.

And, i'm forever grateful for her teacher who sends us these snapshots! I'm compiling all of the pictures to make a photo book!

Monday evening, Gretchen had Living Nativity practice at church. I dropped her off and ran to Target, and then went back to pick her up. Practice was running late, so I was able to watch a little bit of it. Unfortunately, we found out today that she will not be able to participate because of our bowl game. She was super upset until she realized she didn't have to learn two songs! 

I started my teeth whitening challenge last week! I add a drop of orange essential oil once a day to my Thieves toothpaste, and at the end of the month, I'll share my results! 

Tuesday evening was Megan's parent night at gymnastics. DJ was able to join us and we watched her show off all of the skills she's learned! She is loving gymnastics! 

After gymnastics, there was a little photo area set up and they had cookies and hot chocolate for everyone! 

I love my little gymnast! 

Our awards assembly for the trimester was held on Friday and Megan received two awards!!! She received perfect attendance and an award for PE! DJ and I were so excited to be there to watch her and she was so excited! 

This came across my facebook last week and I died laughing. It's so true. This is my life. 

Friday night we had to run an errand and made it home just in time to meet DJ and then we had to run back in to town for a birthday party at a local arcade! Gretchen was so excited to see her friend Ella! 

After pizza, Gretchen and Ella went off to play which left DJ and I with the little girls. They rode tea cups, bumper cars, and played lots of games! Unfortunately, I think the tea cups were a little boring for them with no one to spin them around! 

Adalyn rode some little rides and the girls had the best time! We didn't make it home until 10, so it was a late night for everyone! 

Saturday morning we slept in, and picked up the house. With DJ home, the chores went by so much faster and he was a big help with the laundry! Gretchen had a birthday party, and I had a friend hosting a thirty-one open house, so I called up our old neighbor and asked if she'd like to attend the thirty-one event with me. After lunch, we picked her up, went to the event, found some goodies, and then left to take Gretchen to the birthday party. I dropped her off and was going to run my friend home, and then looked at her and said "do you want to go do something?" Because I realized that I was kid free and hadn't had a day out in forever. So, we headed to downtown and went in to the cutest little shop that I had been dying to go in. 

Restore House is a local shop that reminds me a bit of Magnolia, in Waco. It's charming, and there are just so many goodies to look at and find! I managed to find the perfect little pieces that I had been wanting to finish off the top of my tiered tray! I'll be sure to share those in my Christmas decorations post! And, I told DJ that he could just go ahead and get me a gift card to Restore House for Christmas! I could have bought everything in the store! 

Afterwards, we went to get a coffee for her and a hot chocolate for me. It was cool and rainy and we needed something warm and cozy while we walked the streets of downtown. 

We found the neatest little shop, 1907, that had handmade soaps. They may just be made with my favorite essential oils! I was so excited to see that they used essential oils and ended up chatting with the owners father for about 30 minutes! They told me that they held essential oil classes there every so often, and that they had a zyto scanner. A zyto scanner, basically scans your hand and will tell you which oils and supplements you need to be using. I was crazy excited when they offered to let me scan myself! Typically, you scan for lots of products, especially if you're body is off-balance, and I only scanned for Harmony. I ended up diffusing it on Sunday, and read about it in my reference guide. Harmony is a blend of essential oils that help you to regain balance and reduce stress. Um, no wonder I scanned for it! I'm going to be diffusing the heck out of it over the next several days! 

Saturday night after dinner and baths, we decorated the Christmas tree! 

We kept our tree simple this year, but the girls had so much fun decorating! I attempted some pictures with my phone and didn't have much luck. DJ reminded me that I should pull out my "good" camera, and I ended up capturing some of the sweetest pictures that I'll have to upload and share! 

We woke up Sunday morning and found that our elves had brought the girls reindeer pops! 

And, we couldn't wait to open them! 

We all got dressed for church, and when DJ and I went upstairs to get the girls, we found them like this: 

They were singing and performing with Gretchen to "Frosty the Snowman."

I think we need to build them a stage! 

Adalyn insisted on taking a picture with the John Wesley statue after church today! 

And then we decided to all go out to eat..... usually DJ is at the football office as soon as church ends, so it was nice to have a family lunch out! 

And since the house was cleaned and the laundry was fairly caught up, I took the afternoon to do some sewing. We had some Matilda Jane clothes that the girls had ruined, and I knew there was no way to sell what we had, so I decided to cut them up and use the fabric for applique shirts! 

While I was sewing, Gretchen made this picture about Jesus. She wrote a Bible verse, and then drew pictures that represented Jesus' life..... the manger, the cross, the temple, and his twelve disciples. This girl has a BIG heart for Jesus and I love her for it! 

And then the girls and I decided to tackle our gingerbread house.... unfortunately, the roof pieces were broken in to two pieces, and after we tried (and failed) to savage it, I let the girls eat it! Well, not all of it! We'll have to get a new gingerbread house and try again! 

Whew, so that was a little life lately! This week, our evenings should be slower (with only one after school activity planned), so I'm looking forward to some relaxing evenings with a fire and Christmas movies!