Sharing the Magic of the Season - with Elfie

It's that time of year, and Elfie has returned once again!

Elfie is our Elf on the Shelf, our personal "Santa spy" elf that comes the morning after Thanksgiving and stays through Christmas Eve. Elfie silently takes in the events that take place throughout the day, and each night flies off to the North Pole to report to Santa - Naughty or Nice.

 

This is the third year Elfie has been with us, and the boys anxiously awaited his arrival for at least two weeks before Thanksgiving!

 

Let's see what Elfie has been up to around the house so far...

 

His first morning back, he left the boys a message with Scrabble letters!

On top of the kitchen cabinets.

Taking a bubble bath in Mom & Dad's bathroom sink.

This morning Elfie attempted to make himself a hot chocolate - and ended up making a big mess in the process!

Swinging from the light fixture.

During the night before Clayton's birthday, we "barricaded" his doorway with crepe paper and hung paper lanterns in the hallway. Elfie joined in by writing Happy Birthday messages on the picture in the hallway and the bathroom mirror, and adding his own crepe paper decorations around the mirror!

Hanging around the dining room.

Fishing for 'Cheerio fish' in the toilet?!!

 

Reading the "Elf on the Shelf" book to some friends, over milk, carrots and milkbones.

We shared these photos with our friends at the Dairy Council of California, who also have an Elf encouraging healthy eating habits - #HealthyElf

Hiding out in the wreath on the pantry door - it took the boys well into the afternoon to find him here! Clayton was getting concerned that they had done something wrong and Elfie had not come back from the North Pole!

After Daddy had a talk with the boys about their attitudes one night, it became clear that Elfie is also listening in on the grown-ups!  Hmmmmmm.......

This morning we found Elfie camping out in the living room, tent, snow, trees and all!

 

I wonder what Elfie will be up to over the next few days!

 

Here is a little of what Elfie was up to last year!

Guardian Angel

As I tucked our boys into bed tonight, our youngest casually mentions that we all have a Guardian Angel that watches over us. I said, "That's right, who told you that?"

Cole, 4 1/2 yrs old: "My brother."

Me: "And who is your Guardian Angel?"

Cole: "God."  

Me: "I think God is everyone's guardian angel. We each have our very own special angel, who is yours?"

Cole: "Jesus."

Me: "I think Jesus is also everybody's angel. Who is your very own, special angel? Is it a boy or a girl?"  

Don't ask why, for some reason I expected to hear him say GG Bob or Great-Grandma D, both of whom have passed away in the past few years and are constant topics of conversation in our house. 

Cole: "It's a boy. His name is Camel, he's a camel."

Me: "Your guardian angel is an animal?"  No rule against that.  "Where did your camel angel come from?"

Cole: "Mom, he's the camel who watches over the baby Jesus, he watches over me, too."

And so tonight I learn that the camel in our nativity scene pulls double-duty as a Guardian Angel for one of the most precious gifts in my life.

For this camel, I am eternally grateful and I am so glad that this conversation happened, or I may have never known.

I am thankful to be reminded of the faith, trust and magic held in the heart of a child. Tis the season for magic, and in this case, a little will go a long way. I suspect that tomorrow the tables will be turned, and I will be the one facing the questions. Trouble is, I am guilty of getting caught up in 'grown-up stuff' and losing sight of the magic. I do believe its high time I reconnect with my guardian angel, so that I am prepared when he asks who it is.

And so I pose the question to you... Who is your very own, special Guardian Angel?

30 Day Series: Day 9 - The Army Guys

This post contributed by our 6-year-old.

 

I am Thankful for the Army Guys.

 

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The majority of the time, "I am thankful for the Army guys" is the first response I get when I ask our son what he is thankful for. In all honesty, "Army guys" to him really translates to be "any member of US Military". There is a military recruiting office just up the road, so it is not uncommon for us to run into members of the US Army, Air Force, Marines or Navy. One day there were members of the Navy and Army both behind us in line at the grocery store. After the boys stared in awe, they mustered up the courage to go shake hands with the young men.

 



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Conversation ensued about how the Army was different from the Navy, aside from the difference in green vs. blue camo uniforms. Before we got our groceries loaded up, the "Army guy" came back over to the boys and gave them each an Army Strong bracelet. They were thrilled and wore them for days on end!

 

I, too, have great respect for our active and veteran military members, and on this Veteran's Day Weekend, I can't think of anything better to be thankful for. 

 

To all members of the US Military, active and veteran, Thank You for your Service!

 

 

I am also Thankful for...

Day 8 - A Hot Cup of Coffee

Day 7 - The Farm Life

Day 6 - To be a Stay at Home Mom

Day 5 - Girlfriends

Day 4 - Modern Medicine

Day 3 - Indian Summers

Day 2 - Firepit Fridays

Day 1 - Dishes 

 

Check out these other fantastic 30 Day Series farm bloggers! 

My Generation: 30 Days of 5 Things

Confessions of a Farm Wife: 30 Days, By the Numbers

Janice Person: 30 Days of Giving Thanks

Beyer Beware: 30 Days of #farmsmatter

Pinke Post: 30 Days of Women in Agriculture

Homestead Hill Farm: 30 Days of Views from the Hill

Thoughts on Life: 30 Days of Ranch Life Memories

farmgirldays: 30 Days of Farm Related DIY Projects

Snapshots of a Kansas Farm: 30 Snapshots of a Kansas Farm

Life on a Real California Dairy Farm: 30 Days of Thankful

Morning Joy Farm: 30 Days of Family Agriculture

Minnesota Farmer: 30 Days: After the Harvest

From My Front Porch: 30 Days of Live.Laugh.Farm.

Rural Route 2: 30 Days of Farm Girl Memories

Tales of a Kansas Farm Mom: 30 Days of Blogging

The Field Position: 30 Days of Family, Food & Fun

Sounds Like Home to Me: 30 Days of Randomness with a Pig Nutrition Grad Student

Carolyn Cares: 30 Days of Thanksgiving

Kelly McCormick Photography:  30 Days of Simply Being

Wag'n Tales: 30 Days of Thinking

Ag Tech Talk: 30 Days of Ag Tech

Life of a Future Farmer: 30 Days of Life Through the Eyes of a Future Farmer

Anna-Lisa Smile: 30 Days of Life in Rural Nevada

Pannill's Gate Farm: 30 Days of Vivacious Redheads

Oskee 97: 30 Days: All in the Name of Good Fun

PVF Posts: 30 Days to a Sale

Willow Lea Stock Farm: 30 Days of Life on our Northern Illinois Farm

My Cows and Pigs: 30 Days of Cows

Dark Creek Farm: 30 Days on Dark Creek Farm

30 Days Series kickoff: 30 Days of Thankful

The past couple of years, I have posted 30 Days of Thankful to my Facebook feed. A daily "I am thankful for..." post that helps me reflect on all of the blessings in my life, big and small. 

This year I have decided to team up with a group of bloggers and post a 30 Day Series, a blog series that runs the month of November, and post 30 Days of Thankful here rather than on my FB feed. 

 

 

I'm looking forward to checking out themes in the other 30 Days Series posts! Check out dozens of other 30 Day Blogs here!

A little Thanksgiving painting project

Last Halloween, we made our own rendition of a Pinterest inspired canvas painting project. The boys created Jack-O-Lanterns to display each year, that I could not wait to hang up this year.

 

Ever since, I have been slightly obsessed with coming up with canvas paintings for every holiday! A while back, I bought 2 - 12"x24" canvases, but could not figure out what to do with them. Then I came across a pin that had a child's name spelled out, and that's where I got the idea for this project.

All you need is a blank canvas and a roll of masking tape. I measured the board to be sure that I had the letters semi-centered, and then tore the tape into bits and pieced the letters together.

 

This is what it looked like when I got done taping. 

Then came the fun part! I used a single sponge brush and 3 paint colors - brown, orange and yellow. I figured they were "fall-ish" and the yellow would help to brighten it up.

After about 2 minutes, it looked like this - and I realized that I had squirted enough paint for 1, maybe 2 more canvases! Oops.

Once the paint had dried, I peeled the tape off. At times I had to use a razorblade to lift pry it from the paint.

 Then I used a Sharpie pen to trace the letters, following the paint line. The lettering is a bit more 'edgy' than I like for a Thanksgiving look, so next time I'll try using longer tape strips to create a smoother look.

I've got one more of these 12"x24" canvases left - I'm thinking a Christmas or New Year's message... maybe some glitter over the paint to add some sparkle!

 

Just a tip, if you are interested in creating a canvas collection, check out Aaron Brothers. They have sales that include Buy 1, Get 2 Free on canvases!

It's just a salad.... isn't it?

Months have passed since my last post. School is out, Summer is in full swing, and today we are celebrating the 4th of July!

 

As I was throwing together a broccoli salad, literally, dumping ingredients from their containers into a bowl, and tossing it together, I began thinking about all of the hands who helped bring the salad together.

 

Not in the hands-on form of help, my little chefs are an hour deep in their afternoon siesta, but the hands of farmers, and the farming families who brought this salad to our 4th of July table.

 

I came across this recipe about a month ago on the AllRecipes.com site (my favorite for quick recipe searches!), and gave it a try. It's called Sweet and Tangy Broccoli Salad, and it is absolutely sweet and tangy! This is the second batch I've made, and both in large quantities! Yum!

 

 



I would like to take a moment to Thank A Farmer, well, quite a few farmers...

 

The broccoli farmer - for the beautiful broccoli florets;

the hog farmer - for the delicious bacon I fried and chopped;

the onion farmer;

the grape farmer - for the raisins;

the sunflower farmer - for the tasty sunflower seeds;

the cashew farmer,

the dairy farmer - for the shredded cheddar (thanks due here, as the butter from our milk would not have made this salad taste the same);

the chicken farmer - for the eggs in the mayo - mayo is Not a dairy product, you know;

the sugar cane farmer;

the corn farmer - for the distilled white vinegar, did you know that vinegar was made from corn?

 

As you can see, I added a bit to the recipe listed on the AllRecipes site, cashews, sunflowers and shredded cheddar just put this salad over the top! Thank you to each of the farmers who made it possible!

 

As we sit down today to celebrate with friends and family, please remember to give thanks to all of the servicemen & women who have and continue to fight for our freedom! Happy Independence Day!

 

 

 

It seems that this time of year is salad season! Check out my favorite Pasta Salad this time last year!

Valentine's Day

It's the night before Valentine's Day, and I'm up until nearly 11 baking cookies for our little guy's class celebration tomorrow.

They definitely did not turn out like my mom's have ever since I can remember... But they will have to do.

Any special Valentine treats making an appearance at your house this year?