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! ;)

December Goals

  Some of my goals for this month!  Making goals is a good thing it helps me feel accomplished but it can also point out what you didn't do.  Sometimes I just transfer what wasn't done onto the next month but after I do that a few times the item just gets retired.  It becomes obvious it wasn't meant to be.

  I have shortened my list to share with you.  So technically I have two lists (at least for this month).  I will work on both lists and hopefully I can clear off some items between the two of them.

1.  24 days of elfness (doing good with this so far although it's early and my two young ones seem uninterested I will try to stir up the entertainment and enthusiasm value)

2.  Without stating my goal numbers here I would like to increase my other social media numbers.  I did hit my goal for November!

3.  Post daily! I don't want to let this slip because one day leads to multiple days!!

4.  Read 2 books!!!!!!!!!!! How hard can this be.  That gives me 2 weeks for each book. Maybe I should set up a reward for if I do get them done.

5.  Continue cooking new recipes as it is so nice to taste different food and try different recipes.  It increases my culinary skills and builds my confidence!  The leftovers do leave a pain in the butt hurtle though!

6.  Youtube once a week (only 4 weeks this is not unrealistic)  This is a chore!

7.  Successful surgery and recovery hmm, all I need to do is show up!  

8.  Make cookies! (2 for me 2 for kids so far)

9.  Pass on kindness. Assemble care packages for homeless. Cookies to police and fire rescue. Shop for the Angel Tree.  I would like touch on all three of these but need to figure out the logistics.

10.  Make advent calender. It is already day 3.  So If I hurry up and make something up. They can get today's and have only missed two days.  I have seen a lot of ideas and know what I want to do just need to gather my ideas!

Ok, so there's my 10 goals in this 31 day month. I don't think it's that hard. Seems reasonable to me.  Do you have a few goals to take care of this month?  

What do you do when you don't complete your goal?

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!

Street Art (Wordless Wednesday)

  I recently went downtown for a dinner date and came across some wall art.  After that and a little research I realized some how I had missed out a arts festival.

  I missed out on all the bells and whistles, the unveiling and hoopla of the graffiti.  There was a tour containing a few miles of music, lights and art that seemed to have all gone on despite my absence.  I decided something must be done!  So in order to get slightly caught up I explored the area and sought out some of it myself.

The art was part of a celebration of art in the art district of Norfolk, VA.  I hope they are planning to expand and more festivals.  I will try hard not to miss it next time.  It would have been to see a different perspective at night with streetlights or moonlight highlighting the pictures. Maybe I'll drive by and catch someone at work.

  Not all art is bad.  We all have a preference.  However we must agree any of these works of art are much better to view than a plain brick or solid white wall.

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.

New Jersey Lighthouse Adventures Part 3

  Continuing on with my adventures in New Jersey for the Lighthouse Challenge 2015! There were 14 stops throughout various areas of New Jersey.  Some stops were actual lighthouses while others were life saving stations.  

  Tucker's Island in Tuckerton, NJ was the next stop.

steps: 40

   This building was a re-creation  of a structure swept up in a storm.  There was museum and a gift shop filled with a lot of goodies at this location.


  Atlantic City! In the city of Atlantic City is a lighthouse!  I have never been here and hope to visit again now that I know it's practically up the street.  It was neat to see all the sights and lights.  It would have been neater to see at nightime or dusk but then again I wasn't driving.

steps: 228

The Absecon Lighthouse in Atlantic City!  I didn't climb this one but it would have been nice to see all the buildings at the same level as the Lighthouse give or take.

  U.S. Life Saving Station 30 was down the street.  It is in the middle of being restored with hopes of a full completion in time for next year's Lighthouse challenge.

  I peeked in the door which was the only look you could get besides walking around the outside.  No steps to climb, no distance scenery to see here.  It would be nice to come back next year and see the end result.

  Thank you for reading part 3 of my Lighthouse Adventures in New Jersey.  I have one more final post (4 more stops) to share with you!