Our magical December continues. Every day starts with so much excitement and joy, but it also starts SO early that I’m exhausted!
There are just not enough words for how exciting and fun Elf on the Shelf is. The boys are so amused and excited and entertained. I’ve stopped working out in the mornings because I want to be there when the boys discover the elf, and throughout the morning as they excitedly discuss it and make hilarious comments. Each day (except Wednesday) they have been so happy. On Wednesday morning, Xander came upstairs (everyone else was still in bed) and announced, “the Elf did the dumbest thing today. It wasn’t even funny.” I thought it was clever to have Hulk smash the elf (using candy canes), but Xander wasn’t at all impressed. Meanwhile, every time Augustus walked by it, he would grab a pinch of peppermint dust, and eventually, just put his tongue directly into the pile.
On Saturday morning, there was a secret message that the boys had to decode. At 6am, Xander came upstairs and told me what the elf had left and that he had “just solved it without Augustus because he would have just slowed me down”… hello Natalie King in group projects all the way through school… “just do it myself because it’s easier”. He told me what the secret message was, and he was right. But when I got downstairs, the paper was blank. He had just stood in front of it and memorized each letter without writing anything down. I couldn’t believe it!
This week, Xander and I baked cookies. The boys spent a lot of time with Sam and Abby. Augustus went with Nate to his office and got to be part of a toast with Nate’s office mate and their new office admin. Every moment I wasn’t working, I was making macarons. At the end of the week Augustus and I made gnocchi from scratch using his Yummy Box that he will be getting every month from Grandma and Grandpa. We also made sweet potato cookies which were actually very good. We had so much fun with the recipes. We got mixed reviews on the actual taste of the gnocchi, but I’m ruling it a win anyway.
Saturday, I took the boys to Camp St. Croix for their Santa breakfast event. We saw the Grinch and Santa. We made a bunch of crafts. We ate waffles and pancakes and eggs and sausage. It was SO fun and I was really impressed with the overall event.
Random side story- on the way to the camp, I asked the boys if they wanted to go to day camp again this summer. Xander said, “no, I think I’m going to get a job” and without missing a beat, Augustus said, “yeah, he’s going to work at Taco Bell!” I BURST out laughing! They’ve never even been to Taco Bell and I am not sure why my 7 year old thinks he will be working, but it was such a hilarious conversation. And they will both be going to day camp.
When we got home, we all went right down to Sam and Abby’s house. The kids all played outside for over an hour- working so well together building a fort. Nate and I hung out with Kelly and Silas and watched the Vikings game. I’m not a sports fan, but maybe I could be if every game was as exciting as that one! When the game ended, we all went home for a little rest time and then met back up with everyone for dinner and drinks at Surly. The kids all ate really well and stayed occupied and busy after Aaron (the favorite neighbor of all the children) handed them a handful of quarters for the pinball machine.
We got home and put the boys right to bed and then Nate and I went back to Kelly and Sila’s house for neighborhood game night. I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt by the end of the night. Another friend of ours once compared our neighborhood to a college campus- just walk out the door and down the block to hang out with friends; always something going on and someone to hang with. An accurate description. 1am bedtime, followed by a 7 year old waking me up at 6am is literally killing me, but December is nonstop fun and I’m just hoping to stay healthy, despite a lack of sleep.
On Thursday morning, Xander decided he wanted to make special treat bags for his teachers (art, french, kindergarten and gym teachers). I told him I had cookies for his teacher, but he had chosen other special teachers and when I came downstairs, he had pulled out ziplocks, treats, and labeled all of them himself. He is so sweet and thoughtful.
On Saturday morning, my little helpers and I delivered cookies and Christmas letters to our neighbors. I found cute jars in the shape of winter hats that were perfect.
Today the boys spent the morning with Grandma Debbie. They went swimming and then went out to lunch at Shake Shack. Then they came home and spent the whole afternoon with Sam and Abby. Before dinner, we joined them for a brief kids vs. grown ups snowball fight. It was very chilly outside!
Tomorrow is the first official day of winter break. My children have 18 days off (including this weekend). That is a LONG stretch with no schedule… I’m already a little anxious about how it will go, but we do have a lot of very fun activities planned, so bring on the holiday magic!