Elf on the Shelf - Latest Adventures

Tonight we said goodbye to Spick until next year.  He left us a goodbye letter this morning, found here, and the children were allowed to cuddle and kiss him goodbye for a few minutes without breaking the 'magic'.

He has been fun, but not without a few mad dashes out of bed at 11pm to put him somewhere after I had forgotten.

Can't wait for him to join us again next year.

He covered the tree in the kids underwear, which upset Sprat the next morning.  Must remember not to do that one again.

Spick ran into a little trouble one night.

But with a bit of help from a few friends, Spick got his own back.

Activity Advent Calendar Day 18 - Crazy Christmas Photos

This is a bit of tradition each year, to take funny photos in front of the Christmas tree.  I downloaded the awesome photo props from here.

And I really just couldn't help myself.

Activity Advent Calendar Day 16 - Santa Bread

You know when you see something really awesome on Pinterest, and you make it, and it looks nothing like the really awesome image you saw on Pinterest?  Yup.  Santa Bread.

OK, it actually didn't turn out that bad.  The children were a bit miffed about the whole activity as it was more mummy hands on than them, but it does taste great and they enjoyed eating Santa. Next time though I think just making a batch of dough and letting them shape their own creations would of been more successful.

Original link and instructions here.  I am sure you can figure out which photo is the Pinterest one and which is mine?

Before cooking he looked pretty awesome though.

Actually, while we are on the subject of Pinterest fails, here is another one from earlier in the month.

Ahem ... yup, nailed it .....

Tis the Season for Giving All Things Good

The last two weeks have been packed full of kindy and playgroup breakups, school finishing, neighbourhood Christmas BBQ's, work and client Christmas parties and early family Christmas get togethers.  Its been fun but pretty full on, as each function has required a small token of appreciation to be taken along.

When the energy and time is right, I like to take along something homemade.  This year I have made batches of star shaped shortbread and packaged them in mason jars with lace and buttons as adornments.

These photos were taken off my phone.  Just too busy to take 'real' photos I guess!

When the time has been short Donovans Chocolates have come to my rescue.  I was lucky enough to receive a sample of their Dark Chocolate Caramels and Dark Chocolate Peppermint Delight.  I can never ever say no to chocolate.  Especially not Donovans.  Their cafe in Hamilton is not that far from home, its rather dangerous for me.  Especially the Chocolate Wheel - its a thing of dreams for a chocolate addict like me.

The hubby and I sampled one of the Dark Chocolate Caramels each before taking a photo, and we ate the whole lot in one go.  Opps.  They were amazing.  Dark chocolate salty chewy caramel goodness.  Easy to say I was sold, and have been buying them to take as gifts ever since.  

I am sampling the Peppermint Delights as I type this.  They have a jelly square centre, and the texture is so nice to sink your teeth into I just can't stop.  Or I am just a chocolate addict.  

I'll be off to New World again tomorrow as have 6 hampers to put together for our clients, and they will be definitely featuring Donovans Chocolates.  

I find I really just can't turn up empty handed to anything at this time of year.  I love to give small tokens of appreciation and spread cheer.  And to me, chocolate is cheer. 

Elf on the Shelf has Landed

We welcomed Spick to our household on 4th December.  If you do not know the story of Elf on the Shelf yet, check out the Elf on the Shelf official website and read The Tradition at the bottom on the page.

He so far has been reasonably tame.  In all honesty ... confession time here ... I often forget to move him.  Sigh.  And its a mad dash out of bed at 11pm to shove him somewhere else.  One night I did forget and had to tell the kids the reason Spick hadn't moved was because they were being naughty on bedtime the night before.....

Nothing we have done so far has been original.  Its also been meaning that Sprat has been getting out of bed each morning at 6am to be the first one to find Spick.  Sprat.  Spick.  Not to be confused with each other.  But still alot of fun, and surprisingly The Girl hasn't touched him yet, so he thankfully still has his 'magic'.

His adventures so far.

Looking forward to the next 11 days, and hopefully a few more creative (stolen off Pinterest) ideas.

Activity Advent Calendar Day 10 - Decorate Christmas TShirts

Today we got to decorate TShirts to wear on Christmas Day.  I picked up some fabric pens from Smiggle when they were having a big sale, and cheap singlets from The Warehouse when they had 30% off clothing.

Another simple project where the results were 3 children very proud of their creations.  The Christmas Spirit is truly thriving in our house.

Activity Advent Calendar Day 9 - Paper Christmas Tree Collage

Nice and simple activity today, decorating paper Christmas trees.  I have tacked these to the wall up the stairway.  The children are quite proud and so far have dragged two sets of visitors to the stairs to see them.

The Girl has informed me that Santa is going to leave a present under her tree, so I will have to have a chat to the man in red and ensure that happens.

Activity Advent Calendar Day 6 - Making Chocolate

The children's activity today was to make their own Christmas shaped chocolate.  The photos pretty much speak for themselves.  This was such an easy activity, and the children loved the end product.

Advent Activity Calendar Day 5 - Window Decorating

The activity for today was to decorate their bedroom windows.  I gave them liquid chalk and window crayons, and supervised closely.

The Girl, at 2, found it fun for about 5 minutes, before she realised there were scissors and scores of paper to cut into teeny tiny pieces.  Her latest obsession, and not much can keep her away from her scissors.

I had a turn on The Girls window.  There is definitely not an artist in me screaming to get out.

The hubby couldn't help himself and had to have a go as well.  What is it about liquid chalk that is so irresistible?

I love their concentration.

And the finished masterpiece.

Advent Activity Calendar Day 4 - Gingerbread Houses

Our activity for today was to decorate Gingerbread Houses.  I brought the mini kits from KMart and they were perfect for the kids, although I did add some extra lollies in to decorate with.

Its been raining all day long, so this ended up being the perfect stuck inside afternoon activity.

The ratio of lollies given to the ratio of lollies that actually made it on the houses was majorly in deficit.  There was a lot of excited hyper activity in our house after this!

I notice tonight as I walked past the dining room table that we obviously have mice. Well maybe just one mouse.  A large one.  Called the hubby.  My gingerbread house is missing half its roof ... ah well, it had to be eaten right?