Elsie the Elf's Week in Review

Ok due to some fast approaching deadlines at work I've been off the grid this week. Whirlwind of code writing, application development, custom interfaces, and reports, plus getting a little time in with the family before bed makes for a very exhausted mommy.

I'm sure that getting 4-6 hours of sleep had nothing to do with it! Right.

Ok without further ado, I preset to you Elsie's finest moments of the week.

(Apparently it turns out that the Blogger app for iPhone will post the pictures willy-nilly, so I rearranged and added some captions from the computer.)

Swinging from the rafters...

Looking for goodies?

Doesn't look like there's anything down here...

Sweeping up the dollhouse.

Little Miss' amusement

Movie Night

Let's watch this one.

Over the river and through the woods...

... to Nonna's house we go!

Sunday Sweets

Sunday morning Elsie was holding an elf sized jar of candy for Little Miss. Elsie sure does have a sweet tooth - just like some little two year old that I know.

All day Little Miss was saying how she wanted to taste "just one" of Elsie's candy. She would look at Elsie for a few minutes and I could see the gears in her head turning trying to determine if she could get the candy without touching Elsie. Too bad I couldn't snap a picture if her expression. Priceless.

(By the afternoon I gave in and Little Miss eat the lollipop because Elsie wanted to give it to her. )

Frosty the Snowman

was a jolly happy soul. Elsie put some really old marshmallows to good use, this morning we found her making snowmen on the counter.

Little Dude first thought she was dismembering them... a sign we play too many video games? Perhaps, but for now let's just move on...

Little Miss especially enjoyed the sugar "snow" that dusted the scene. Maybe Elsie's best idea yet!

Redecorating the Tree

Apparently Elsie thought we had some ornaments in the wrong lace. Little Miss caught her red-handed in the Christmas tree this morning.

What a sneaky little thing. I wonder what she'll do tomorrow...

Fishing Elf-Style

Elsie's quite the fisherman! She hooked a goldfish with her Christmas magic. Can't you see the delight in her smile?

Little Miss was happy to see that Elsie didn't run away because she tried to be good girl and not a troll.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Oh Christmas tree, how evergreen your branches! Don't you just love a decorated Christmas tree all lit up and glowing? 

Old Faithful Angel

Little Miss sure does, she was so excited when "Her Christmas Tree" came out of the attic last night. Her squeals of delight were absolutely precious when we plugged in the tree and she came a-blaze with colorful lights.

Monkeying Around

Girls are much different than boys. All Little Dude was excited about at her age was plugging in the tree and what kind of presents were going to show up underneath it.

Shiny Sparkles

Getting it just right

This is what happens when you let a two year old decorate the tree without guidance... All the ornaments get stuck in the same spot.

Cluster Claus Decor

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Sweet Children 

Runaway Elf

Elsie just about had enough of this bad behavior. She left a note saying naughty children are scary and if Little Miss doesn't shape up she might be too scared to come back from the North Pole.

Runaway letter

A frightened Elsie

Elsie said WHAT?

Are you serious...

Let it snow, snow, snow!

Elsie decided that we don't have enough snow here in Texas, so she decided to make some herself. She strung the kitchen cabinet with puff-ball snowballs on red and green thread.

She just knows exactly how to make Little Miss smile...

Meet Elsie

Our elf. She came from the North Pole to keep tabs on Little Miss.

Seeing RED

Went to get a fill and pedicure today. I thought sparkling red would be nice for Christmas coming up.

Then I got home and Little Miss Toot said she needed to have toes painted like mommy. So this is what happened...

Awesome, Check This Out!

I found such a cute blog today! Click the link below to check it out >>>

Obsessed with Scrapbooking: Project, Cartridge and My Creative Time Stamp Giveaway!

Gotta Love a Good Pizza

I'm thankful for...

#26 - Having such a handy husband. My superhero picked up and installed our new super quiet dishwasher this evening after work. 

Which leads me to... 

#27 - Dishwashers! I'm pretty sure that if I had to hand wash all of the dishes all of the time, we would just use disposable everything...  

Phelps Family Pizza Pics...

The perfect touch...

Hmmm, this looks tasty.

Little Dude's finished product.

Say "Cheese"!

My masterpiece "Before" picture

Serving up some yummy goodness...

Being a silly boy!

My masterpiece "After" picture

Thanksgiving Has Come & Gone

Well, folks that wraps up Thanksgiving. Next up - Christmas.

WAIT - wasn't it just Halloween? The older I get, the faster my life goes by. Truly amazing. I continue to be in awe of God's work in my life and the lives of those around me.

Spending time with the family is always wonderful. Smaller group this year, but still nice. Each of us brought a side dish or two so it wound up being quite the feast!

I even did my fair share of Black Friday shopping. Which brings me to my next topic... Macys.com. I was sitting around at, oh a little before midnight, doing a little online shopping. I found two great deals so I picked out my colors and put them in my shopping cart. Then I went about shopping for other things but didn't see anything else I just couldn't live without, so I went to the online checkout. Then, what to my wondering eyes, should appear? Big red letters saying: "Please remove this item from your cart. It is no longer available."

Are. You. SERIOUS??

Apparently I was supposed to pick my Black Friday deals and checkout one at a time... I wouldn't get to take advantage of the "Free Shipping on Orders $99 or more" and I would actually have wound up paying for shipping TWICE. Really? Lucky for me, I was still able to get one of the deals at Macy's at the mall before 1 pm but the other deal is sold out - trust me I keep checking the website. Boo on you Macys.com.

Ok, that's my Black Friday rant for this year... on to better things, my Cricut.

Have you seen the results that come up on Amazon.com when you search for Cricut? I feel like there's this whole new Cricut world out there that I'm just now stumbling into. Apparently scrapbooking - and Michael's Black Friday sale - to satisfy my paper addiction is the gateway to getting me hooked on the Cricut. So naturally, I found things that I didn't even know I needed, like the Cricut tote bag, cartridge case, and of course cartridges that I didn't even know existed... oh the possibilities. 

Time to play catch up on Thankfulness List: Things I am thankful for...

#22 - Beautiful weather. The weather was fantastic on Thanksgiving Day. It was nice enough to not need a jacket during the day, and we were able to open the windows and let in the cool air in the evening because cooking the Thanksgiving Feast warmed up the house.

#23 - That I am NOT a crazy Black Friday shopper. Don't get me wrong, I do my fair share of shopping with the locals on Black Friday, but Black Friday news stories are crazy! From the man who left his girlfriend's child in the car while he bought a big screen TV at Best Buy and then took the TV home and left his car in the parking lot of the store. To the Black Friday shoppers that were nearly run over in the parking lot by a drunk driver. And of course, the regular parking lot campers who are intent on being the first one through the door. Most of the time these news stories have me shaking my head...

#24 - My family and friends are safe this Thanksgiving. I was shocked and sad after hearing about the crazy pile up outside of Houston, 2 people died and 80 injured. Yes, I probably found out about the story a little late, but at least I finally heard about it. I'm pretty much burned out on the news after the pre-election, during-election, and post-election crazy-beyond-crazy frenzy. Definitely praying for those involved and their families. 

#25 - Four day weekends. This little break really gave me some time to hang out with the family, get some much needed rest & relaxation, and get some cleaning done. It was starting to look like squatters were living here. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad but it sure did feel like it. Now, if I can stay focused and get the Christmas tree up and decorated tomorrow before heading back to work on Monday...

Thanksgiving is near...

More things I'm thankful for...

#20 - Listening to my daughter talk to herself while she plays in the bathtub. It's very entertaining and makes me wish that she would stay this little forever. It also reminds me that she soaks in everything that she sees and hears around her. From "Shoo-wee that diaper stinky!" to "SHHH! I'm talking on the phone..." to "Get a bite" in her southern belle accent I can recognize the people who she spends the most of her time around.

#21 - My son's helpfulness. Sometimes this preteen thing is about to kill me but most of the time he's still my sweet boy. The age difference between my mini munchkin and my not-so-mini munchkin really comes in handy sometimes. He's always willing to help out, sometimes it is building lego structures so that she can tear them apart, and other times it is setting up the Jenga game so she can just knock it down again. He can also help with the laundry and vacuuming and other household chores. Super big help and I'm sure I don't thank him enough!

Gearing up for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I've mixed up the fruit salad and pre-baked the green bean casserole. Now I'm ready to spend some time relaxing and pretending that my house is clean... I'll admit it - I just don't feel like cleaning! Big surprise? No, not really.