Jolly Little Elves

Our elves, Q.E. & Lucy, had a lot of fun this December! I didn't take their picture everyday because I didn't want to take their photo before the kids got to see them. I kept a record though of what they did during the first 24 days of the month. 

2023:

Ornaments (12.01.23). The elves & Sam the reindeer arrived with an ornament for each kid and a note to all.

Sleepover, so on top of bookshelf (12.02.23) The kids had a sleepover at their grandparents' house, so the elves hung out by the Christmas cactus.

Gingerbread party (12.03.23) The elves welcomed the kids back home from their sleepover with a hand-written invitation to have a gingerbread party. They supplied gingerbread cookies and some cocoa to be enjoyed in Christmas mugs! (Later on this day, the kids super disobeyed so the elves disappeared for a while as a warning and left a new note when they returned about a half hour later. The note was a reminder to be on good behavior.)

Inside mugs by backpacks (12.04.23)

Barbie clothes & nativity palm tree (12.05) Q.E. and Lucy borrowed some Barbie & Ken clothes from Avery's collection, and they procured the palm tree from the toy nativity so they could have a beach day!

Minion Bananas (12.06.23) On this day, they drew minions and Gru on some bananas with a Sharpie!

Hiding in pie safe w note saying 'find' (12.07) On this morning, a note was rolled up and placed on the coffee table. The kids unrolled it to reveal a self-portrait of the elves with a note to find them. The kids then had to search for where the elves might've been hiding. They were sneakily in the pie safe which has screens on the upper portion of its doors. 

In fridge (12.08)

In Nativity set (12.09)

In Christmas tree (12.10)

Campfire (12.11)

Brown-e's (12.12) On this day the elves left a note near the stove saying they made brownies. In reality, they cut up brown paper into capital and lowercase "e" shapes. Brown-e's. 

Put disco balls on top of little trees (12.13)

Riding in the wooden reindeer (12.14)

Near windowsill tree in dining room. (12.15)

Magic ice cream for lunch note (12.16) On this day, the elves wrote a note in magic ink that only kids could read and it said that they sprinkled magic dust on me, so if the kids asked if they could have ice cream for lunch, I'd say yes! This was on a Saturday so it was easy for them to have ice cream for lunch on that day.

In barbie camper (12.17)

Rockstar elf (12.18) Q.E. dressed as a rockstar and Lucy observed.

In the stockings (12.19)

Hiding in bottle brush trees (12.20)

Astronaut and telescope (12.21). I wish I had taken a picture on this day because it was really cute. Q.E. dressed in a tin foil suit-- he was an astronaut. And Lucy held a telescope (toilet paper roll with cling wrap over one of the open ends, and wrapped in tin foil, with toothpicks to create a tripod). 

In Christmas jars & bowls (12.22)

On the backpack nook (12.23)

Toilet papered the tree (12.24)

Here's a few of the photos I took this month. 

The kids all loved finding them each day & they took turns getting to have Sam the reindeer with them for sleepovers! 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Too Fast!

As usual, this Christmas season is zooming by way too fast for my standards. I want to soak up and treasure these days while they're this age. And as much independence as I want them to learn, I'm desperate to enjoy them at the ages they are- knowing they'll never be this young again. 

Here's a bit of our Christmas fun so far:

The Santa display area at Bass Pro was so cute so we got a few pictures taken by the decor (apologies if I've already shared these!). 

The frame of lights outside. This one is funny to me because Avery would only smile if she was in the middle. Her brothers were good sports. 

On Thanksgiving, Michael scored a turkey leg to enjoy later. 

Avery confided in Aunt Bethany that she asked for a baby goat for Christmas. A couple days later, this little cutie arrived! 

My mom has been working with Avery on how to blow bubblegum bubbles. One day when my mom was out of town, we sent this to her. 

Avery received flowers for the Nutcracker from her dad, her grandparents, and her Aunt Bethany! 

Avery's class made the CUTEST ornament and I loved it so much! Here she is posing when I opened it. Such a sweetie!

Avery loves practicing her reading skills, especially to Sam the reindeer! 

When we go shopping, I try to take pictures of the things the kids might want for Christmas. These days, they're some of the only chances I have to take pictures of my "too busy for the camera" sons. :)

I thought this picture of Avery on Sunday was lovely. She's wearing a dress I wore when I was in first grade!

Merry Christmas! 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

The Nutcracker

Avery's dance company performed The Nutcracker as their Christmas performance this year. It's the first time we chose to participate in the winter performance (usually we just do the spring recital). But since our lives were a little less hectic now, we decided to go for it! Avery loved it and that made it such a special experience! 

She's in 3 dance classes this year which put her on the stage a lot. She was an Angel, a Candy Cane, and a Gingersnap. 

I chose to be a stage mom to help with her costume changes & I feel this just might be part of my journey. At least for now. She REALLY appreciated me being backstage with her so I think I'll be doing that for a while which is totally fine. She's a great little friend. :)

Here's a few pictures that the director took and told us we could share. 

Merry Christmas! 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba

Christmas Decor 2023

Here is a peek of our Christmas 2023 decor in our first Christmas in our home! 

I bought a new tree this year and strung the lights myself. This tree is seven and half feet tall and is just perfect for displaying all of our ornaments! I love the "traditional tree" look with all of the mismatched, handmade, and sentimental ornaments. I want my kiddos to feel as though their ornaments matter, so I love displaying them and having a very full, family Christmas tree.  

This little wooden reindeer which used to belong to my aunt has a place on one of our front windowsills. 

I love this little mug and backpack corner! Some of my Christmas mugs are displayed amongst the others. We've hung fake mistletoe and Michael's very first stocking. 

In this windowsill by the backpack corner are two little tree with fun tiny ornaments or single earrings who lost their mates. I strung some fairy lights around them. 

On the backpack shelf, I placed a wooden nativity set and a recent craft from a ladies craft night at church. 

Our pie safe gets some festiveness with Noah's first ever stocking and a ceramic Santa on a shelf. 

Our TV stand is nativity central. My Fontanini set is displayed here-- it's probably about time I add another character. 

Avery has made sure that the toy nativity set is displayed front and center. All three kids like to take this one down and play with it! 

Some bottle brush trees (which I love!), our Christmas countdown, and a snowman round out the other end of the TV stand. 

When we designed our house, we made it an open concept feel. I love it, but I'm discovering that means we have less walls to adorn. I'm having to find creative ways to display some decorations, so one of my favorite Christmas banners is hung under the island. 

I love a seasonal dishtowel!  Here are two of my favorites. 

When I took these photos, Q.E. and Lucy were having a campfire hangout. 

The little nook by the toaster has some ornaments, festive dishes, and some decorated mason jars. 

Since we did not design the house with a fireplace, Aaron made this mantel for me! I'll work at making the space below it look more like a faux fireplace over this next year, but it gave us a solid place to display stockings and some Christmas art that the boys made. 

On the windowsill at the back of the house we have our Jesse tree (also adorned with fun little ornaments from Hobby Lobby like reindeer, snowmen, and gumdrops). Each day we read a devotion form the red book and place a corresponding ornament from the silver box onto the tree. The kids absolutely LOVE this! 

At the top of the bookshelf in the dining room rests our Christmas cactus and some more Christmas art from the boys along with a felt banner (made by Mandy!) that I absolutely love. 

On the shelves (which house our board games) I placed a few Santa pictures. 

On our big picture window in the dining room, I strung a new vintage-inspired Christmas banner, and Avery decorated the little tree for me. :)

The dining table tray got a festive makeover with some Christmas salt and pepper shakers and some ornaments in a glass jar. 

We love displaying our Christmas place mats that my Nana made. At Avery's and Noah's seats, I also have some place mats that my brothers and I made when we were kids (and they're covered in contact paper for easy cleanup). 

We set up a card table behind the couch so we could work on a Christmas puzzle! 

On the door between the living room and laundry room hangs our Nativity Advent. The kids have fun taking turns to put up the next character! 

And that's it for the main space! 

The kids have a pop-up Christmas tree advent calendar in their rooms which they're enjoying placing ornaments on each day. All three now have a small wooden Nutcracker thanks to my inability to say no in Dollar General. A simple string (or two) of Christmas lights finishes their special spaces and brings some Christmas spirit to their rooms. I have a small wooden German Christmas tree in my tree displayed on my dresser where I can see it each day while I work. 

We have festive smelling soap at each sink along with Christmas hand towels in the bathrooms. I tried to put a little bit of Christmas in every room. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba