holiday season

The girls are at the age where they ask a lot of questions. I don't mind it, but sometimes it's hard to find the right words. Morgan was so confused at us putting up the tree, yet it's not Christmas. Try explaining the holiday season to a three and a half year old. She basically thinks that every day is Christmas. Close enough for now. 

We did go to the mall on Black Friday and didn't buy a thing. But since there was no wait we stopped to see Santa. Both the girls are totally into it. Morgan cracked me up when she asked for a big girl bed for Christmas. Santa won't be bringing that, but Michael and I will be hooking her up before Christmas. I told her Santa asked us to.

Guess who's back??? Zarkle the Elf. He arrived Thanksgiving night. Morgan didn't remember him, but Addison sure did. She was so happy to see him.

The thing with Zarkle is you can't touch him or he will lose his magic. Then he won't be able to fly and report to Santa each night. On Monday he was found on the lamp shade. Addison decided she wanted to knock Zarkle down by playing with the shade. After realizing what she did she lost it. She was so upset and afraid that Zarkle was going to be mad at her and not come back. That night she left him a note. She wraps everything in wrapping paper now so I didn't read it until she went to bed. She's such a sweet girl. Michael and I left a note from Zarkle telling her that she was forgiven and all was well.

So the next night she leaves another note and her Christmas list with Zarkle. Again, it's all wrapped up.  She would like a new doll set and a sewing machine. I'm keeping every on of these. I left her a note from Santa saying that he got the list and that he and the elves were working on a few things.

All of this is really sweet, but I can't leave notes for the next 27 days. This morning there was no note and she didn't seem to mind. I think they were excited to see that Zarkle had gotten into the Oreos.

An elf after my own heart. Of course they wanted to finish the cookie. Since the girls are more into it I hope to be a lot more creative this year with the elf. It really is a lot of fun.

easter eggs

We had such a great time dyeing eggs this year. The girls were really into it and had a lot of fun. I did catch Morgan banging the eggs together and then wondering how they cracked, but it didn't matter. We dyed those anyway.

There's never a project without any tears. Morgan had to share the egg scooper thing because we only had one. She wasn't too happy about that. I think she was just so excited she didn't want to stop. 

They loved using the crayons to draw pictures and write their name on the eggs. After they were showered and the eggs were dry they decorated them with stickers and tattoos.

The finished product. They were so proud of the designs they created.

And yes. In our house we dye our eggs using Christmas towels. We're festive all year round.

Happy Egg hunting!

christmas odds and ends

Here is our tree. This is the first year as a family that we've had a real tree. I love it and everything about it. The smell, the fullness, the branches. I was worried about the needles falling off, but it's been fine. The only time they fall off is when I rearrange something.

Zarkle is back. The kids are in love with him. Looking for him is the first thing they do every morning when they wake up. One night he emailed Santa rather than visiting. Sometimes Zarkle is lazy like that. Using the elf as leverage is total genius.

Santa came to school last week. I didn't get to go visit, but Michael happen to be off that day. Addison was a little hesitant while Michael was there, but after he left she went to visit Santa with her class. She did much better. The school emailed me this picture.

Morgan wouldn't go near Santa on her own, but she did okay on Michael's knee.

We're going to see Santa again tomorrow so hopefully we'll have better luck. Or maybe we'll have one of those tortured, crying kid pictures. Oh, I can't wait.

until next year

Zarkle hitched a ride back to the North Pole with Santa. Or maybe he's hiding in my dresser drawer until he goes back in the attic.

Using him as leverage for the past month sure was nice. He will be missed.

zarkle

Meet Zarkle.

Every night he goes to report to Santa and ends up in a different place each morning. Addison goes on the hunt as soon as she gets out of bed. This morning he was in the Christmas tree. Addison decided to check him out.
The story specifically states that you can not touch your elf or he will lose his elf magic. Addison gets this close to him, looks over at me and says "can I touch him with my chin". Of course I tell her no and she's okay with that.
So instead she shared her boo boo bunny with him.
We're going to miss Zarkle.
(And yes, we do wear Halloween pajamas at Christmastime. Don't you?)