Final Week: Elf on the Shelf

We said good-bye to Isabella last night. The Short Chic woke up at 5:30 a.m. this morning and immediately ran downstairs. She proclaimed to the entire house that Santa had been to our home because Isabella was gone {Never mind the gifts under the tree!}!

Let's review her last week with us:

Isabella was found one morning hanging from the kitchen clock. I think she was reminding us that Christmas was almost here!

As a side note, YES, the clock runs backwards. My Dad had a clock just like this one when I was growing up. It reminds me of him.

The next morning, Isabella turned our milk GREEN! The Boy was not too intimidated to try it but The Short Chic was. Finally she tried it, her response, "It taste just like milk. I thought it was going to be peppermint!"

Actually, I did not get a photo of the next day. But we found Isabella on the kitchen table with her head in a bag of M & M's. She spelled out CUTE in front of The Short Chic's photo with Santa. It was very hard to keep the family out of the M & M's that day!

When we woke up last Thursday, we quickly discovered it was storming outside. The wind was howling, the snow was falling and blowing all over the place! School was cancelled. We found Isabella hanging from the back door and she had wrote SNOW DAY next to her.

The next morning, Isabella was found in the Christmas tree bearing candy canes and sitting next to the BELIEVE ornament.

After that, we found Isabella in the bathroom brushing her teeth. She left a message for The Short Chic {The Boy had left to go spend Christmas with his father}. Can I tell you The Husband was not happy as that pink toothpaste stains. I had to show him how good old fashioned bleach cleans counter-tops!

Before she left to go back to the North Pole, Isabella spent a night with her new friends. I think they exchanged email addresses and promised to stay in touch. The Short Chic proclaimed this was just "too cute!"

On her final day, we found Isabella sitting on her suitcase right by the fireplace. She spent her time making paper snowflakes. There was a note from Santa Claus to the kids. The note said that Santa was thankful that Isabella had come to stay with us but it was time for her to return to the North Pole. Santa explained how he sent a gift to each child for them to remember Isabella and to remember to do their best in the upcoming year.

The note also said that Isabella would not need her magic tonight as Santa was going to be picking her up when he delivered our gifts. Since Isabella would not need her magic, the kids were allowed to hug her and kiss her good-bye. The Boy had little interest in saying good-bye but The Short Chic kept asking for one more hug.

Their gifts? It was a snowflake light that comes with a suction cup and sticks to the window. The kids loved them and quickly put them on our front room window.

We so enjoyed having an Elf On The Shelf this year. We are looking for her return next year!

Merry Christmas!

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget. Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world. In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things. What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil. We had to immediately see an ENT Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed. We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy. Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

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