Elves Making Coffee and Happy Tappers!

Today, we awoke to Buddy making coffee!!  I don't drink coffee at all, but it was a sweet thought on his part.  Maybe he can make me some hot chocolate tonight instead......



I finally started pulling the Christmas decorations upstairs from the basement today.  One of the kids favorite parts of Christmas is playing with the Happy Tappers from Hallmark.  They are basically snowglobes that have little figurines in them, and they dance to songs.  They can all be linked together, or seperate.  Pretty cute little things if you ask me!  Abby was at school, so I was enlisting the help of Ry-man.....he was helpful for about 5 minutes until he saw the tappers - then it was over!  He had so much fun, and played with them for about an hour consistantly.  It was so nice!!  Here is a cute picture of him with them, and if I can get it to

upload, there is a video of him dancing with the tappers :)

 



Wednesday Nov 29 - S'mores Anyone??

Apparently Buddy got hungry overnight - we found him roasting s'mores over a candle this morning!  What will this crazy elf do next??



Tuesday Nov 28 - Do You Know Where Your Elf Is???

Today we awoke to find Buddy hanging upside down from the blinds in the family room.  The kids are pretty convinced that he was swinging and playing - and when when came downstairs this morning we scared him and since he doesn't move in front of them, got stuck that way......yup - ok - sounds good!  Silly Buddy......



Buddy is the Best Elf Ever!!!

The kids were SO excited to wake up Sunday and find all of the suprises in store for them!  Little did we know that Abby was going to come wandering in our room at 5am.  She was quite impressed with the tree, but we just played it off like she was a little crazy and told her to go back to bed.  How awful are we?  When she woke up that morning for good, she was still going on and on about the tree - we just kept playing it off and changing the subject.....finally, she got a little peeved and pulled me by the hand into the hall to show me.  She and Ry were SO excited!  They just kept oooing and aaahhing over it.  Of course, they made me take their picture with it.

When we went downstairs - they were all confused at first.  Then, Abby spotted the presents and the letter from Buddy and she was even more excited!  They of course wanted to open all their presents before eating, and who am I to say no to that?  They love their elf presents!

Abby reading the letter that Buddy wrote to them.



Abby checking out all the Prep & Landing gear...

They are big fans of the 'night vision goggles' aka sunglasses with a light up ring lol.

I will try to get a pic of all the stuff that Buddy gave them, but right now it is hard to get it away from them for a picture.  Where will buddy end up next????

Our Elf Buddy Has Arrived!!

Buddy is here!  Superdad and I came home on Saturday night and found a familiar little elf all dressed in his finest red outfit.  Buddy was back!  He was telling us his grand plan - he brought a tree for the kids to keep upstairs, breakfast for the family, and presents for the kids.  I thought it all sounded marvelous!  Buddy wanted to help the kids understand all aspects of 'elfism' so he picked up some gear that his friends over in the Prep & Landing department gave him.  The kids were going to learn how to help prepare the house for Santa's arrival on Christmas Eve!  In his gift bags, he was supplying them with night vision goggles, landing lights to bring Santa in (like in the airports), a scanner to make sure there are NO creatures stirring, and a special outfit!  They will love them.  Here are a couple of pics that I got of Buddy getting everything ready for the kids in the morning:

Here is buddy hanging the ornaments on the mini tree he got the kids for upstairs!

Buddy wrote each kids name on their own bag - he knows how much Abby likes finding her name!



Here are some pictures that I took of the table that Buddy set up for the kids - they are going to love it!

Buddy made sure he had everything done, and then thought that he would have a little rest and a snack.  He told us that he wanted to have a front row seat for the action tomorrow.  This is where he chose - a candle on the wall in the kitchen!  Of course, he had to have a donut for himself :)

Finally, I took a picture of the tree upstairs all lit up and decorated waiting on it's little observers in the morning.  It looks so pretty!





Pumpkin Pie - Oh My!!

My favorite thing to bake, besides my famous cookies - is pumpkin pie!  I got the recipe from my Aunt, and have been in charge of making them for about five years now to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.  This year I will share my secrets (well, sort of) with you!  I also tried something new in the form of making them 'pretty' if you will.  Here is my guide to pumpkin pie!

Here are the ingredients you will need: 29oz of Pumpkin, 2 cans Evaporated Milk,  2 Tbsp Flour, 1/2 tsp Salt, 2 Tbsp Pumpkin Pie Spice, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cloves, 4 Eggs, and 2c firmly packed brown sugar.  The reason for the non measurement on some of the spices - that's my secret lol.  Not too much of each :)  That is all I can give you!

Next, you need some extra special helpers - that makes the experience....Abby had her apron on!

Before I enlisted the help of the littles, I mixed all of the dry ingredients together in a 2qt bowl.  It just makes it a lot easier when adding the dry stuff to the wet. 

Then, with the help of my littles - I mixed the 4 eggs and the can of pumpkin together until well blended.  I used the whisk attachment.

After mixing the eggs and pumpkin together, then add the dry ingredients and mix until blended.

After you blend the egg mix and dry ingredients together, slowly mix in the two cans of evaporated milk and mix until well blended.  This was the littles favorite part!

After everything is blended together - this is what the finished filling will look like:

Next, you will want to line your pie plates (I swear by glass, but the cheap throw away tin ones are ok too). Now, I love to bake - but homemade crust is something I don't do often. So, these are just the refrigerated Pillsbury pie crusts that come in a two-pack.  I roll the edges down, and use the scoop part of the spoon to make a fun design in the edge of the crust.

To fill the crusts, I use a soup ladle.  I just alternate pans, so as to assure that there is an even amount in both.

All ready for the oven! 

I bake the pies at 425 for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 for 35-40.

I don't have any pics of this process, but I used another crust and just cut out leaves and acorn shapes and placed them on an ungreased baking sheet at 400 for about 8 minutes.  I did forget to score the leaves with a sharp knife to mimic veins, but they look fine without also.  Super cute and easy!

When the pies cool, I just used some of the decorations and made a cute design.  Here they are!

Pies are ready to go tomorrow, and I will be enjoying a slice!  Also - only TWO days until Buddy makes his appearance on Saturday morning :)  The littles are going to be so excited.  Off to bed - long day tomorrow with two Thanksgiving meals to attend!  I hope everyone has a very safe and joyful Thanksgiving.

Holiday Bucket List??

Yes, please!!!

I can't tell you how many times Superdad and I always say "Oh, we should.....", and never do.  It isn't because we don't want to, or can't.  We just plain and simply forget.  Well, the kids are getting older, and it is much easier for them to tolerate the cold of winter.  Some things I have wanted to do prior to kids, but just never have.  So, it is my mission this year: DO THEM.  While perusing Pinterest yet again, I came across this little gem of brilliance.  A winter bucket list!!  Check it out:

I don't know what genius came up with this, but I love it.  With the exception of shucking oysters (ewwww) all sound like an amazing way to celebrate the holiday season.  My personal favorite is the volunteer together.  It is never too early to teach your children about helping others.  They are too small still to actually go and volunteer, but there is no reason we can't sponser a family or something.  After all, that is the best part of  Christmas - the giving.  I hope that you can find some things to choose to do with your family off this list!  The only thing that I will add is Festival of Lights, and the Duke Energy train display at the Museum Center.

I always like to find creative ways of counting down the days....  Abby is always asking for a visual of days left until something, it makes it easier for her to grasp.  So, I found this on Pinterest also.  It is a great idea!  It is a calendar that you make and when Santa's beard is full of cotton balls, it means it is Christmas. So cute:

Finally, I found this one that I love!  It is so easy to customize and make it your own.  Baiscally it is made with 2x4's, scrapbook paper, and chalboard paint.  I found this amazing tutorial on how to make your own homemade chalkboard paint from Martha Stewart.  The best part of this tutorial is that it is super cheap - supplies can be bought at your local home store for under $5!  You can customize it any way you want by choosing ANY paint color.  There are so many more uses for it, this is just one:

I would love to do one of these for all holidays!  You just write the days left with chalk, and erase the next day writing the new number in.  It would be a great gift idea also. 

So, get to planning friends!  Make this holiday season one to remember and make your own bucket list for your family.  Thanks for reading as always, and check back to see how we are doing on our bucket list!