Welcome back Holly!

Holly, our Elf on the Shelf has rejoined us.  Rather than have her just show up on the shelf one day, I thought it would be nice to do something special to "entice" her to come join us for the holidays.  This is Holly's second year with us, and last year was dull.  She often sat in the same place days in a row without moving.  She certainly didn't look like she had fun.

Taking some inspiration from Pinterest, I decided it was time to have a little fun with Holly.  Needless to say, my daughter was all for it, especially when she found out what I had in mind.

If you eat Elf popcorn, drink chocolate milk, and watch "Elf on the Shelf" your elf will come back from the North Pole.  You have to make sure you save some popcorn for your elf though.  We put it in a paper bag and wrote Holly's name on the bag.  (You can see it beside Holly on the left side of the picture.  The white with blue snowflake cup was for Holly's milk.)

It was about time to watch the "Elf on the Shelf" movie and remind my daughter of the rules.  What's the best thing to eat while you watch a movie?  Popcorn.  Oh, but we should eat the same kind of popcorn that the elves eat since we're watching a movie about elves.  We should eat   ELF POPCORN!

What is Elf popcorn?  How do you make it?

ELF POPCORN

1 bag of Kettle Corn- popped
1/2 bag green melting candy
1/2 bag red melting candy

2 crushed candy canes
Green Sprinkles
Red Sprinkles




Instructions:  Spread the popcorn in a baking dish.  Melt first color of candy and drizzle over popcorn.  Sprinkle crushed candy canes over melted candy.  Add sprinkles of each color.  Melt second color of candy and drizzle over popcorn. I found it easiest to drizzle the melted candy by using a rubber spatula and scooping just a little at a time.  If it does fall off in clumps, just mix it in to coat the popcorn.


Enjoy with a glass of chocolate milk!


Hubby bought pink sprinkles instead of red sprinkles so we just used those instead.  Holly is a girl elf and pink is her faovrite color so it's ok to use pink. 

Thanksgiving: Need new traditions!

There are a good number of reasons we aren't sharing Thanksgiving with our extended family this year.  My hubby has his reasons for not wanting to go to certain houses.  I have reasons for not wanting to go to certain houses.  We don't want to choose between family members.  We don't want to deal with family drama.  We don't want it to be too stressful.  In all cases, it really comes down to the fact that we just aren't up to it this year.  

So, what's a woman with a three-year-old to do?  It's simple really; we must start our own traditions.

1.  Food must be involved.  Yes, I am a Gastric Bypass patient; therefore, I cannot eat a feast.  No, the whole day must not revolve around  food.  Yes, I will cook.  No, I will not cook the entire meal.  Some of it will be ordered from a favored restaurant.

2.  Elf on the shelf video must be watched.  As the Christmas season seams to be fast approaching, I have reminded S- that Santa sent Holly to keep an eye out last year, and that she will probably be back this year. (It's hard to miss the Christmas lights that have been displayed in Target for the last month, and my daughter has already started talking about Christmas.) 

3.  Holiday decorations should be pulled out and sorted through.  This year, though, we will be replacing our outdoor lights and decorations as they are several years old and starting to become dilapidated.  New lights have been purchased.  A decision must be made regarding lawn ornaments for our porch still.

4.  Holiday crafts should be included.  My munchkin likes crafts.  There's no denying it.  At some point during that day/week-end crafting presents for family and friends will occur.  I really think I like the ornaments on the right.  There will be more, but I really like these in particular.


5.  Purging/Donating:  It's important to me that my daughter knows she does not need to have a ton of things.  I want her to learn that there are people who do not have all of the things we have and that she should do her part to help them.   As part of Thanksgiving week-end, I want her to go through her toys and identify the ones that she simply does not/will not play with so that she can donate them to the Good-Will or Rescue Mission.  We will do the same thing with our clothing.

6.  Thankfuls tablecloth:  We can't celebrate Thanksgiving without taking time to think about all the things that we are thankful for.  As part of the meal, we will trace our hands on a tablecloth with a Sharpie and write 1 thing we are thankful for in the middle of that tablecloth.


There have been three deaths in my family in the last three years, and the holidays just seem to be weird now.  So many traditions have been thrown off kilter because of it.  This year, I want to ground and recenter myself.  This is a year to figure out what it's most important for me to teach my daughter and establish traditions that help her learn those lessons.