Nature Walk

  We got out yesterday and visited a local park.  To say I was amazed is an understatement about the park.  I had been here previously to rent a boat, went fishing here and even visited the visitor center.  I have taken note of the playground but never of the actual history of the park nor the plentiful abundance of trails.

We set out to explore this park and to walk the trail.  My kids first started walking trails last year and thoroughly understand what is involved in a hike. The good bad and ugly.  Good being new sights and catching a glimpse of wildlife and some interesting sounds.  The bad being catching a glimpse of wildlife.  The ugly being slipping on mud.

 

I love the initial enthusiasm on their faces before we get started.  They know I have their water and maybe a snack in my bag.  They trust me in every way possible.  They look at me for fun, adventure and as their tour guide.  I prep them. Encourage them even when we are driving to a location.  I know you will do good and I know you can make the whole walk.  They always agree and are eager to get moving.

Time frames and miles mean nothing to them but they still lead the way or walk beside me happy to be together and ready to explore!  I laugh at the maps we pick up as it seems when I walk I seem to add on miles along the way my sense of direction is not always 100 percent but then again I think the map may be a little off.

  Regardless as long as I keep my kids engaged with what's around us they have truly become my favorite partners in crime.  They point out things I may have missed and get the imagination going as they tell me what they think happened to the crooked tree of why theres mysterious mud on our path.

Take your kids out and explore with them.  Getting them acquainted and comfortable with nature.  Explore a short .5 mile trail or a longer 2.5 mile one.  Tell them about the birds you see, a specific tree or talk about the current season.  I do have my phone out taking pictures but this is one time I do spend with them devoted to their attention.

There is an app on my phone that keeps track of my steps an I aim to keep it busy this year as well as regain control of my fitness.  I have started giving myself a weekly mileage goal and plan to increase it every week.  It will be nice to see new places, get in better shape and make new memories with my family.  

Last Day of Elf

  So I never did get around to posting out last day of Elf of day 24.  We regretfully didn't have a big send off.  In fact since we were housing the Elf away from the whole story line he is still with us now.

  He may or may not get packed up but I guess a going away party really isn't necessary when he's not leaving.  But now that I think about it we can't have a party for him arriving either if he's already hanging out with us.  I will have to evaluate this further down the road.  Until then he was up to a little bit of fun for the 24th.

Poor Elf was tucked in the refrigerator this morning.  I'm not sure how long he was in there but at least he had on a blanket.

My daughter also pointed out our milk had been claimed and tampered with.  No one was alarmed enough to not drink it though.

  He apparently liked colors today as he prepared the kids bath as well.

 
  Bubbles and blue.  Nothing could be better except for some exotic island with 70° weather and no sharks!

  Well with the Elf staying for now we shall see if he does any random acts of good or bad behavior.

  Again my children enjoyed him. They knew it was all in fun and my youngest daughter even made request for what she thought the elf should do or what she was thinking about making him too.  I think this way was just as fun as the don't touch, he definitely did it and he's going to disappear elf.

  I hope everyone had a great holiday!

The Day Before Holidays

  Do you ever find yourself resting up for the big day?  Are you that organized?  You prepared your list the beginning of the month all the way down to what meal you were making and who was sitting by whom.

  Maybe you even figured out a schedule of what houses you were going to at what time and for exactly how long.  Not me, not this house.

  Today we have been making crafts. Well I have been assisting and making with my youngest daughter.  We visited several stores and brainstormed some ideas yesterday as to what she could give to her family.  She desperately wanted to give her family members something.  She was aware of the gifts they had for her and she wanted to give them something too.

  She did buy 2 items for her sisters and then made and I assisted in her creating ornaments for her family.

A melted snowman being created by little hands.

 Laying the glue down for a stand up snowman.

Supplies for a ninja turtle for a certain little fan.

Last one was a going to a fan of yellow creatures.  I loved this one because she decided it needed to be two sided. So we made the otherside into something else.  Hop over to my instagram to see the final ornaments.

I even got into the crafty mood.

Happy Holidays everyone! I wish for everyone to have a happy, safe and festive day!

Day 5 The Elf

  So I had stayed up late last night.  I have a lot on my mind and am having trouble sleeping.  However lucky for me by 3 I was tired enough to finally make my way upstairs.  I couldn't believe what I saw.

  I see that Elf is making himself at home and has decided to take up getting acquainted with the other toys.

Although from his vantage point I'm not sure he was shaking hands with the monkey.

Kind of looks to me like a plan of attack.  You know how you get off the bus and unknowingly get bombarded with snowballs before you can even make one.  Before you even know what hit you.

What is that on your lap?

Oh, dear it looks like you ran out of snowballs and I came upstairs at the right time!  

Not nice Elf!  You are a guest in our house and I expect you to behave just like everyone else.  Which means if you want to throw snowballs at anyone you need to give them a heads up! 

Day 4 with the Elf

  Good morning Elf! Thanks for helping with giving the kids a bath today!  Of course I woke up telling myself the babies need a bath but I just don't feel like it.  However when I opened the door and saw how much work you went into getting it ready for them; it quickly solved my dilemma.

   I see that you even tried to make the water a lovely holiday color.

   You could have maybe skipped spraying my walls.  I'm glad the kids like to clean random things.

   I can almost see your name like you signed your work of art, really?

Well young man you will sit right here until you admit what you did or until the kids turn into pruney raisins.

The Elf day 3

  Woke up to another morning with that Elf in the kitchen.  Either he knows we like all things originating from the kitchen or he is unaware of his flammability.

  Today the Elf wanted some cocoa.  Why he didn't think of that yesterday with the cookies I don't know but that glass of milk washed down the chocolate cookies just fine.  I have had some good cups of cocoa that were satisfying treat in itself so maybe that's what he thought would happen be the out come today!

  I graciously volunteered to make it for him and the kids.   After all we didn't want to see the worst that could happen between a stuffed elf and a stove top burner.

  Found a simple recipe online and whipped it up.  It is a easy recipe and I doubled it to extend to accommodate more drinkers as this recipe was a single serving.  After I thought about it I thought we all would like a cup of cocoa. I wasn't just going to make it just for him.  Then I would have to hear it from the kids. " I want some."  "How come he gets some?"

  This recipe as most recipes you can easily convert to stove top from microwave.  I stopped microwaving my food cold turkey.  Ours broke about 6 years ago and we haven't looked back (we momentarily pause when we see a sale).

Here is the hot chocolate recipe we used: microwave-hot-cocoa

  He looks happy don't you think?  Good Elf! Treat the elf nicely and all will be ok! ;)

The Elf Day 2

  Day 2 of the Elf didn't start out with a bang like I thought.  My daughter doesn't rush out of her room to find him.  She doesn't know to look for him and he stayed in his hiding spot a good part of the day.

You can see his feet peeking out.  She is little although she doesn't crawl around I would have thought as many trips as she takes in the kitchen she would have saw him.  Nope.  Eventually it just came down to asking her to get a cookie sheet!

Oh hello there! Lol, she did laugh when she saw him.  I think since she knows it is not real it's just plain silly to move around the house. I do think she's amused at it moving just that she knows it's not moving by itself. So today the elf clearly wanted to make something.  

So we made some chocolate crinkle cookies.  We have made 4 different cookies this week already.  I wonder how many we will make this month? 

So starting tomorrow I'm going to have to get more creative with this elf business if it's going to succeed in my house.  Back to the drawing board!

The Elf day 1

  This is the first year with an elf.  I have different plans for him.  He will not be up to mischief as I have read about others.  He will encourage us to interact with each other, get out and about and play games.

  He was placed in position yesterday to been seen in the morning for his first activity with us.

  I have read where some families are not participating in the elf idea because they find it creepy that he moves.  My daughter thought it was cute that he was stationed by the door.  My son said he had to go with us since it was his idea.  They realize it's not real but it's a fun imagination game!

  We got some great books to read over the next few days and in the end it was a nice introduction for everyone.