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

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

Christmas Door Decor

 On November 30th, my school had a door-decorating competition. My festive seniors from last year are making their way in the world and were not around to help me plan for door decor this year. We also were given much less notice of the door decorating contest this year, so I was working with a mostly apathetic crew and limited time. 

We decided to go with an easy "Battle Plan" rendition from Home Alone. We printed off some quotes and images from the movie and drew Kevin's battle plan. We didn't win (didn't even receive recognition) but I knew my own kiddos would like it and that spurred me onward. I even made a last minute "Little Nero's pizza" with a printed label and an upside down school supply box. 

Like I thought, my boys really liked it! Avery did too until she realized the pizza was fake, then she was upset which is why she's hiding behind Michael in this picture. 

She did, however, really like my coworker's Chemistree. :) 

Until Next Time, 
Much Love, Reba

Lucy the Elf

 When we figured out we wouldn't quite be in our new house for Christmas, and knowing how difficult it might be for our original elf, Q.E. to find us, we adopted a new elf (a girl!) and the kiddos named her Lucy. We gave her lots of love prior to having her head to the North Pole on November 30th to get prepared. 

She showed up bright and early on December 1st with a note and ornaments for the kids!

Avery got a sweet ballerina ornament to commemorate her year in dance class!

Noah, our police car loving son, got a wooden ornament in a Christmas tree made of various police cars and trucks!

Michael, the video game guru, got a really awesome SNES console ornament that actually plays the theme song to Mario World! (Aaron loved it so much he may or may not have stood in the garage and video recorded the song from the ornament). 

These ornaments found a place on the tree until we can put up our own Christmas tree and join them with our own ornament collection. 

The kiddos love finding where Lucy is hiding each morning! More updates to come on elf fun!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba 

Christmas Tree Farm!

 The first day back at school after Thanksgiving break, Noah's class took a field trip to the Christmas tree farm to find a tree for his classroom! I secured a sub ahead of time and went with him! This was the first field trip I have been on since going with Michael to the zoo when he was in first grade (he's now in 5th!). I decided it was time to start participating in these memory making events even though it comes with the hassle of being out of school for a day. Guess what? It's worth it. 

This field trip was low key and a lot of fun.  Noah's class got straight to work searching out the best tree for their classroom. They ended up picking about a 5 foot tree! The crew at the Christmas tree farm were so great with the students. After the tree was wrapped up, the kiddos played around this big sleigh and rallied to make some s'mores!

After s'mores, the class played on the playground (read: slide) until it was time to go on a tractor ride around the Christmas tree farm. That was super fun!

Afterwards, we could choose to stay at the tree farm for a little while longer then go to a nearby park for lunch, or chaperones could go ahead and take their student home. Noah and I opted to leave and get some mommy-son time! We made it to the Walmart parking lot and ate our picnic lunch in the truck before shopping for his brother and sister in Walmart and Target. We had a great time and it was just what we both needed!

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba