Elf is in the building

Our trusty friend, Fred the Elf, came back to visit this Christmas season. 

 But...  

He wasn't very creative.  

Nor was he prepared.

Overall he was just tired.

And the reason he wasn't very creative, prepared, and tired? 

 Because (s)he was trying to bust out as many homemade Christmas presents as possible.  Thats why.

So anyways...

In no particular order (because the poor old tired elf has slowly been losing his memory as well), were are the pictures of his adventures at the Dominique household.

Opening letter.

Fred was hidden up inside one of the Santa hats.  

Not much else to decorate in the bathroom than the mirror.

Every now and then you need to stop and remember the reason for the season.  

Opening the last of the 2014 once a month movie and gift cards from my mom.

Delivering a letter of good news!  We are all going to Imagination Station for the evening!!

STOP!  HALT!!  GO NO FURTHER!!  No one was allowed in the basement.  It may have contain some top secret items that you don't need to see!

And sometimes, you can't go in the basement for a second day because big people get lazy and don't take care of those top secret items in a timely manner.

Breakfast time!

Lunch time!  

Just because there isn't much else to do....

Hid in the board game closet as a way to entice those children away from the nintendo and other electronics.  

Bree's beloved blanket got taken away due to some unwise choices.  Don't worry.  Fred kept it company.   

Who took the cookies from the cookie jar?  

Candy cane hide and seek!!  

Watching a little bumper cars in a vintage Christmas village piece.

All snuggled up in a pair of Jacob's underwear for some light reading.  

Rudolph donuts for breakfast

Last minute stash

And finally on the last day of his visit, he brought some special presents from Santa with him:

Christmas PJs!!

With none other than the Elf himself on them!!!

Jacob's Christmas Program

The church is always packed.

The stage is always full.

And my child always ends up in the back row.

So here is a front row seat to Jacob's Christmas program for your viewing pleasure:

Lost and FOUND!

Someone's discovered where the Christmas cookies are kept...

Now to figure out how to open the door...

Out of the ordinary

Thanksgiving Dinner..

Turkey...

Stuffing...

Cranberry Sauce...

Hobo Stew?

All the components of a traditional Thanksgiving meal... just not served in a traditional Thanksgiving style.

3 Month Check-up

Holly's 3 month check up with the cardiologist was this week.

A battery of tests including, yet another, ECHO need to be done to ensure the plug that was inserted was still exactly where he left it.

As the case is with many doctors appointments where many tests needs to be done, we had a lot of waiting time.

Drawing while waiting in the exam room.   

More drawing while waiting for the ultrasound tech.

She earned herself a sucker for being so patient.

But then she realized it was all a trick.

And did not want that sucker NO MORE!

But my favorite part of the day was the self entertaining way she chose to do an easy task

We received the news from the doctor a few days later that all was well.  All test came back great.  The plug was where it needed to be.  We are in the clear for another few months.

Dear God, Its me, Rachel

I am not questioning your infinite wisdom in the creation of all the beautiful, glorious things in this world.  

You have a purpose and a reasoning for everything you do even if we cannot see the bigger picture.  

And I know that one day, whether it be in the near future or someday when I'm sitting around with my grandkids, it will all make sense.  

But in the meantime, you leave me confused and dumbfounded.  

Are sunflowers really supposed to look like this??

Disney Here We Come!!!..... Eventually....

I'm not sure at what point my children discovered that Disney was a place and that you could visit it.  But when they did, it was all they talked about. So we made a deal with them.  Collect pop cans to recycle for money and help save electricity and water and we'll contribute that extra bill money towards the vacation.  

In order to see our progress I made a chart.

We sat down, counted all the money already in the vacation jar and filled in the spaces.

The chart is posted on the hall closet door so it can be seen everyday.  Its a reminder to keep lights off and not waste water.  We cleaned our house and had a garage sale to help get some extra cash.  Bree had her own brilliant idea to earn even more money during the garage sale.  A lemonade stand!

Any change they find on the street or money they are given for doing a kind act is their choice to put into the vacation jar or their own piggy banks.  

And you know what?  

They've always chosen the vacation jar.  

Its been a few months so its about time to pull the chart down, dump the jar and coloring in a few more squares.  

And you know what else?

I'm kind of excited to see just how much closer we are too!