. . . Merry Christmas 2013 . . .

. . . Merry Christmas . . .

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year!  I love the feeling of excitement leading up to it and being around friends and family.  I enjoy hosting Christmas Eve dinner and waking up to Santa gifts Christmas morning.  Going to my parent's house for breakfast and opening their gifts and then coming home and playing with all of our new stuff.  I love seeing the magic through my son's eyes and watching the excitement when he opens gifts.  I really could go on and on but the point is I love Christmas and hope you have a very Merry Holiday!

I thought I would share some of my holiday decorating with you before it's all put away.

 It wouldn't seem right to have a photo without Roy in it.  On this day our little elf was helping decorate the Christmas tree.

 This is one of my favorite areas!

 Reindeer Games

 The Joy blocks my mom made years and years ago and it just doesn't feel right to not put them out each year.

 This little Santa and Snowman game is one of my son's favorites.  He can't wait to sit and unwrap the pieces each year when we pull all the decorations out.

 Red ribbon and little sprigs of pine or greenery make everything better!

My parents started collecting Department 56 Snowbabies for me when I was a little girl so I have quite a few of them but these are a few of my favorites.

 The Wizard is my all time favorite Snowbaby

I just had to have this snowman family to represent our little family of three.

 We have been collecting the Hallmark singing snowmen every year since our son was born.  It is now a given that if they have one out then he is going to get a new one to add to the collection.  These are just a few of them but love how they look above the cabinets.

Are those all for me?  Don't I wish...

Santa....I know him!

 One of my new favorite things...my red metal reindeer!

 Oh Christmas Tree!  Oh Christmas Tree!

 So many ornaments...

 I love every story behind each and every one of these ornaments.  

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas in 2013 and a Happy New Year!

. . . Lots more fun with Roy . . .

Little Roy has come up with some pretty good hiding places and has had us getting a good laugh every morning.  My parents even look forward to finding out what Roy does each day when I send them a text message.  Too funny!  I will miss this guy when he leaves on Christmas Eve.

 I keep a big jar filled with candy in our kitchen and our son knows it's not for him to just reach into whenever he wants but he has to ask first or earn a piece of candy so when we came downstairs and found that Roy had totally raided the jar he wondered if he had earned the candy.  So funny!

 Love that pink and orange lollipop Roy brought to eat.

 Roy must have a thing for candy because he brought my favorite kind of M&Ms and left a little message behind.  

 We call Marcus "The Kid" so he left a little M&M message saying "Hi Kid".  We thought that was pretty funny.  He right away said "Hey, that is what Bebe calls me!".  Bebe is my sister and she got that started years ago and it just stuck.

 Wow, now this is a jumbo elf that Roy brought us.  Marcus had a friend sleepover and they wouldn't fall asleep so the note said Roy had to wait a long time to be able to sneak in this big elf.

Love the cute notes that Roy always leaves for us!

 This was a very funny morning because Roy really blended in to our mantle and Marcus wandered the entire house over and over trying to find him and just was having no luck at all.  Finally he gave up and sat on the couch frustrated and looked up and saw Roy sitting between the snowmen.  He said no wonder he blended in because he even had a carrot nose!

 Easy to miss if you weren't looking right at these guys!

Look at that cute little scarf and carrot nose!  So funny.

. . . Elf on the Shelf Birthday Fun . . .

Marcus is a lucky kiddo because he has a birthday in December so Roy (our elf) always does something special for him on the big day.  This year Roy brought him a gift, cupcakes and hung a big banner up.  He even ate one of the cupcakes on his own mini plate with his little mini fork.  He is one very messy eater that is for sure--just check out his face.

 Check out that little fork and plate--so darn cute!

 A very messy little elf!

 One happy little boy to get a gift from his Elf on the Shelf!  

 Our birthday party theme this year was Doctor Who so Roy brought him a mini sonic screwdriver that lights up.  Perfect for hanging on his backpack.

 On the day of the party Roy stole the sonic screwdriver and left a little picture of Doctor Who with a special message.

. . . Snowman Soup with Elf on the shelf . . .

On a cold and icy Sunday we woke up to found Roy making soup for dinner.  Not just any soup but Snowman Soup!  He told us that you use snow, yarn, carrots and coal and simmer it all day long and then eat it up like all the elves in the North Pole.  Yummy!

 Not sure this looks all that yummy but our son said it was fantastic!

 I might have to give this recipe a try someday soon

 Good thing he left a note to explain his meal for us because it didn't look like much in the pot

Now that is some yummy looking Snowman Soup! 

. . . More Elf on the Shelf Fun 2013 . . .

Roy came for another visit and this time he was building snowmen out of marshmallows.  This got a real belly laugh out of our son.  He thought this was hilarious and didn't want to throw the snowmen away.  I kind of agree that they are too cute to put in the trash.

 Roy was busy through the night building snowmen out of marshmallows

 So cute!

 • • •

Another morning we woke up to find Roy hanging out in the kitchen with a messy face and a messy stove because he was pigging out on ice cream and it had melted all over the place.  So funny!  This is my son's favorite flavor of ice cream and he didn't think we had any in the freezer so he was mad that Roy finished it!

 

 Mint Chocolate Chip must be Roy's favorite flavor of ice cream!

 Look at this messy face!  

• • •

 Look at Roy leading the reindeer off to deliver packages.  He stole the reindeers from my Christmas decorating but it was pretty cute so I didn't hold a grudge.

The most famous reindeer of all...Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

. . . Elf on the Shelf Wordle . . .

Our son loves using www.wordle.net to create fun artwork so after Roy's first day here he asked if he could create a wordle for Roy.  Marcus left the finished wordle out for him and then Roy created one for him!  He even framed it and left it here for us to put out each year.  Marcus was overjoyed with this little elf visit because Roy left him a creative gift.  He also loved that Roy rolled up his wordle to take it with him.

 Elf on the Shelf Fun 

Roy is a very creative little elf!

. . . Elf On The Shelf is Back . . .

Every year we all look forward to December 1st because that is when our Elf on the Shelf, Roy, comes back to visit us and create all kinds of mischief.  Our son can't wait to wake up every morning to see what the little elf has done.  Some days are funnier and more creative than others but Roy always gets us giggling over his antics.

This year on December 1st we woke up to a family room full of balloons and streamers and signs that said "Let's Get This Party Started".  We had to wade through balloons all day to get around our family room but it was worth it just to see how incredibly excited our son was.  This one might have been one of his absolute favorites that our elf did.

That Roy is such a little trouble maker but we sure do love him!

 A roomful of balloons...

 Lots of streamers and...

 Let's get this party started signs!  

FUNNY little Elf on the Shelf!