Mele Kalikimaka

Let's start with the Elves... Barney & Holly made every morning a little more exciting for the kids, they loved waking up to figure out where the elves were, sometimes this was NOT good, because SOMEONE (ehhem, Daddy Elf) would forget to make sure they moved, so Mama Elf would have to rush downstairs to make sure they moved before the kids got downstairs for breakfast.

Here are Barney & Holly checking out some of our Christmas cards

Here are Holly & Barney taking a camel ride

Whew, am I glad that's over!  Madi no longer believes in Santa, but still believes the Elves are moving all over our house, I'm not sure how that works, but hey, I'm going to go with it.  As long as she still believes in the magic of Christmas, I'm happy!!  Both Barney & Holly left nice notes for the kids & told them they can't wait to come back to see them next Christmas, I will just have to remember where those Elves are when Christmas comes around next year!! 

Back to the sad part about Madi & Santa...  I can't remember where we were, but she just asks me "mom, is Santa real?" I just looked at her like I just got caught stealing her last piece of candy or something - deer in headlights - that was me... my response "uh, what? psh" {yes, I know, I'm a quick thinker} apparently that wasn't a good enough response because she looks at me and says "and I want the truth" so like the Mom of the Year that I am, I said "psh, what are you talking about" and then changed the subject.  Way to go Mom, skirt the conversation & act like it never happened, I'm sure she won't ask again.  A week or two goes by & we're sitting with Rick & Sheila at Willie's.  Boston was sitting by Rick playing his DS, Madi was by me and Sheila was at the end of the table.  Boston got up, Madi moved over to sit by Rick & play the DS and then DJ walks over to talk to us.  I tell them that we're not going to go to dinner at the place we had discussed earlier that week (we were all going to dinner in a few days in KC to celebrate my mom's birthday and then to pick up Madi's Christmas gift from Santa - a piano) and Rick says, "but we're still going after the piano, right?" This is Sheila, DJ & I - mouths WIDE open and staring at each other, then we all turn to look at Madi and she is smiling from EAR to EAR.  Yep, of course she was listening.  After that she was jumping all over the place for days - "I'm getting a piano, I'm getting a piano".  She was really good about not doing it in front of Boston though.  After a couple of days, I had to figure out what we were going to do, she already had doubts about Santa and now she knew she was getting a piano - what the heck was Santa going to bring her now?!  It was just her & I one afternoon:

Me:    Madi, you asked me about Santa a couple weeks ago, do you still want to talk about it?

Mad:  Yea, is he real or what?

Me:    Well baby, it's kind of complicated.  Santa isn't just one person, he's a lot of people, so technically HE isn't real, but there are a lot of people who get to be Santa.

Mad:  You mean like the people who dress up as Santa at the stores & stuff.

Me:    Yes, them too, but you know how you found out that you were going to get a piano for Christmas?

Mad:  Yea

Me:    Well, that is Santa's gift to you & do you know how many people get to be Santa just for you?

Mad:  {She's smiling REALLY big} No, how many?

Me:   Well, Me & Daddy, but then Uncle Brian, Uncle Cody, Grandpa, Papa, Uncle Mike & Brandon.

Mad:  {SMILING STILL}

Me:    That's a lot of people who love & care about you isn't it?

Mad:  {STILL SMILING} Yes!  How are they all going to be Santa for me?

Me:    Because we need all of their help to pick up the piano, bring it to Atchison & get it in our house, all without you waking up.

Mad:  That's cool.

Me:    Yep, but you can't tell anyone about Santa, and now you get to help be Santa for Boston.

Mad:  {HUGE SMILE}  YES!

So, that's how our talk about Santa went, just hope she continues to keep the "magic" alive for Boston!  I think she will.

On to Christmas festivities.....

I have TWO pictures from Christmas!!  Like I said, Mom of the Year, here!  {Pretty sure my certificate is in the mail} My mom has some pictures from Christmas Eve at their house & Sheila has a few pictures from Christmas at our house, but I don't have any of those with me.

Christmas Eve we went to Kansas City to celebrate my brother's birthday and Christmas with my family.  The kids loved all of their gifts!  Boston hit the TMNT JACKPOT and Madi got a lot of art supplies!  They got to have Dance Party USA in the living room at my parents with their cousins, it was hilarious!!  We gave out hugs & told them we would see them in a few days then off to Kilee's we went. 

Christmas morning Madi woke up about 7, her norm, but Boston wasn't ready to get up, so Madi & I came downstairs so she could see what Santa brought for them.  She started jumping up & down when she saw her piano - LOVED it!  And I love that it came from a family friend.  I played around on it when I was her age.  After the boys finally got their butts out of bed and came downstairs we opened our gifts from Santa and then made breakfast.  My parents got to come up to watch the kids open their presents & have breakfast with us!!  Yay for not living two hours away anymore!  After breakfast the mayhem began.  The kids took turns opening presents & Boston acted as if everything he got was the best thing E.V.E.R.  He would pretend to pass out on some of the things too.

Madi in front of HER new piano!!

Grandma & Grandpa went home, we {and by we, I mean me} picked up the front room & prepared for round two or three or four? Who knows at this point!  Madi & Boston help put the rest of the gifts in piles for each person.  The piano was constantly being played by one or both of the kids.  DJ got Boston's helicopter all charged up & they flew that {I think DJ liked it more than the kids}.  Cody, Jenn, Carter, Mammo & Papa came over and we opened up MORE presents.  Boston again acted as if everything he opened was AMAZING and Carter wouldn't open presents he thought were clothes.  It was so funny.  He would unwrap a corner of the present, see that it wasn't a toy and then throw it back in his pile of gifts & pick something else.  I know we shouldn't have laughed, but we couldn't help it, the kid knew what he wanted, and it wasn't clothes!!  On to Mike & Diane's for round ?!!?!??  We had a late lunch and then home for NAPS!  We were all exhausted from all of the Christmas festivities!  After naps we headed to Shelly's for dinner {Boston ate grapes & pineapple}.  Came home, DJ & the kids built a firetruck out of lego's while I had a glass of wine {in one of the new glasses DJ got me for Christmas!!} and watched them.

Boston flying his helicopter

We are blessed!  Not because of all the gifts we received, but by all the family and friends we were able to be surrounded by this year!  We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, I know we did!!

Elfmania

Never fret, our elves have been moving, I just haven't been blogging.

Here are Barney & Holly doing some online shopping for Santa

- lazy elves can't even make him a homemade gift!

This is the same day as the online shopping but they moved in the middle of the day

- I'm thinking someone needed to use the computer

Holly & Barney must be ready for Santa to come

- I know Madi & Boston are!

Of course, all Elves LOVE syrup, here is where we found them this morning

Hide & Seek

Our "Elves" must not have been feeling very mischievous last night because we found them playing Hide & Seek in the presents under the tree.

Even Elves *LOVE* Cats

After a big win last night, is it any wonder that our Elves were found sitting atop a K-State basketball?

obviously Holly & Barney have caught CatFever by living in our house!

Elf business

Thursday night I may have let the kids stay up a little later than normal because we were having a good time playing Wii together....well, I think Barney & Holly were a little jealous because this is how we found them yesterday morning:

And they must have caught the same "game bug" Boston has because this is how we found them today:

Heavy Hearts

It is another sad day in our small town.  Today was the funeral of Sgt. David Enzbrenner.  His life was ended when a man shot him while on duty serving a nuisance violation.  It doesn't seem fair that this would happen to anyone, let alone a man who has a wife & three girls (all of which are school-aged) AND at Christmas time!  I didn't know David, his wife, or three daughters, but I couldn't help but be saddened by this tragic event.

Something like this puts the "important" things back into perspective.  I will hug my kids & husband a little bit tighter tonight and remember to count my blessings before bed.  I can't imagine the pain that Kerri & her daughters are going through right now, I just hope that David finds a way to send them comfort, especially during this Holiday season.

Life goes on for all of us, but for the Enzbrenner family a part of their life will be missing from now on.

Rest In Peace

What's with this weather?!

That's what our elves are asking!!  60* high on December 14th?!  Hey, I'm wondering the same thing! What happened to a white Christmas?  Well, our elves have had enough of this weather & went in search for something colder . . . this is where the kids found them this morning (please pretend there isn't only junk food surrounding them)

Snowball Fight!

Those elves were up to no good again last night!  They built lego forts & had a snowball fight in our living room.  They even got snowballs in our tree!

More Elf-ness

Well, after Boston FINALLY woke up on Sunday morning, we came downstairs to see what those Elves had done... Ol' Holly was just having fun on the reindeer but Barney was sitting in MADI's favorite chair watching tv & had ate one of MADI's drumsticks.  Oh man, Boston thought that was GREAT!  This MUST be his elf if it's jacking with his sister already!  Boston was laughing all day at the fact that Barney got his sister's last mint chocolate drumstick.  I thought night two was going to go much smoother, he had already said during the day that he didn't mind if Barney came in his room now.... bedtime was a different story!  He told me when I tucked him in, "Please let Barney know that I don't want him in my room, ok?", "ah, of course buddy, I'll let him know he needs to stay downstairs so he doesn't disturb anyone up here sleeping, ok?" "yea, dat sounds good."  OK, so whew, we're good...WRONG.  He had a bad dream again about "his stuff".  Those damn elves ;)

Here's how we found them yesterday morning:

lushes.

He was happy to see that the Elves had been messing with Mommy & Daddy's stuff & not his.  He was also happy that they had a "party" and we slept right through it.  {Madi swears she heard them downstairs}


Last night, we said that Barney still was not allowed upstairs & there were no bad dreams.  Madi & Boston came down for breakfast to find that Holly was stirring Barney into the puppy chow she made . . . or maybe Barney fell in while he was trying to eat it?!

Madi calls it "puppy chowder" HA!!

Can't wait to see what those Elves will be up to tonight . . . they seem to be doing things together now, I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing...

Elf on the Shelf...

As with everything else, we're a little behind on getting this started!  I heard about Elf on the Shelf early this month, but all of the adoption centers were out of elves :(  I have loved seeing everyone's silly elf pictures on Facebook, but a little jealous too!  Yesterday DJ had the entire day & night off, we headed to NKC to do some shopping and let the kids go to Chuck E. Cheese.  While in KC I found an adoption center with ONE Elf left, say wha?!  Yep, that elf was coming home with us!  Later that night we went to another adoption center & there was ONE elf left, blue eyes & their was a skirt available!  Not that I wanted to spend the money on another elf, but I thought it would be good for the kids to have their own elves for later in life when they have their own kids.

DJ & I were pretty excited to start this tradition for the kids (I know it's REALLY late in the game for Madi - she just asked tonight if Santa was real, "and I want the truth- is Santa real?") but she'll I know she'll have fun finding her elf every morning!

We got home late last night, read our Elf books, named them, and headed for bed!  Five minutes later, Boston came downstairs crying... "my elf fweaks me out".  I gave him lots of hugs & told him that if he didn't want his elf to come in his room, he wouldn't, we would just have to let him know.  He seemed ok with that until he went to sleep... Bad dream!  He woke up crying, all I could get out of him was "my stuff".  I think he's worried about his elf jackin' with his stuff.  He woke up a couple times & then showed up in my bed.  He's still sleeping now {9:22am} but I'm hoping when he wakes up to see what his elf has done, he'll be ok with the elf living with us during the Christmas season.

Meet our elves, day one:

This is Barney, on his very first night he's already acting like a man!  Watching TV & eating ice cream.

This should make Boston happy because that is Madi's favorite chair (now she can't sit in it all day)

AND her mint drumstick.

This is Holly, she decided to go for a ride on one of our reindeer.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . .

We LOVE Christmas at our house.  We start decorating RIGHT after Halloween... NO we don't skip Thanksgiving, we celebrate & are Thankful, but we LOVE Christmas decorations!  This is our first year in our new, old house!  It's like it was MADE for Christmas!!  We don't have nearly enough decorations, but we have a nice start.  I can't wait to get more & more every year!!

Love our gold snowflake & Santa picture

Recycled wine bottles

Of course the wine bottles need sweaters!

"Believe in the Magic of Christmas"

My Grandpa will be happy - FINALLY got my nativity set out of the box!! 

We won't say how long ago he bought it for me!!

Madi's sign - "Dear Santa, Leave Presents, Take Brother

So it's not finished & I want SOOOOOOOOOO much more, BUUUUUUUUT I also want to have Electricity, Gas, Water, Presents to put under the tree etc, etc.

Tonight's activities - Warm Jammies, Christmas Music, Hot Cocoa, Gingerbread House Building, & then snuggle up with the kiddies to watch a Christmas Movie!

Fa La La La La

The rest of my Thankfulness . . .

So as always, I'm behind - AGAIN.

Day 22...

Today I am yet again thankful for Willie's ...actually, I am thankful for Nick & Jake's.  A while back (years ago) DJ & I (ok, DJ) were looking for somewhere in KC that had the MLB network so we could catch a Red Sox game, his old business partner, Tyler, had told us about a place he liked to go, Nick & Jake's, they would for sure have the game.  Well, Nick & Jake's was a pretty good trek from my parent's house, where we were staying, so we called & asked, yes, they would have the Red Sox game.  When we got to Nick & Jake's they asked if we were the people who called for the game (I dunno how they knew with DJ draped in Red Sox gear HA!!), we said yes, they put the game on the biggest screen they had AND turned the volume on for us.  WOW!  What an impression they had made on us.  That was our first experience there & with the food being excellent, we've been faithful customers since!  DJ & I have always remembered that experience when people come into Willie's & whenever possible have tried to meet guests requests.

Now, tonight on the other hand was something ENTIRELY different.  Stephenie & I went to KC for some Christmas shopping, we were in North KC and I asked her if she would mind if we went to BrewTop Pub & Patio.  They were also chosen by Sysco to go to on a (pretty much all) expense paid vacay to Las Vegas at the same time we went, so I wanted to see what they were all about.  We got there, sat down, immediately greeted by a waitress, got drinks & were looking at the menu.  The KSU game was at halftime but it was on ONE of the 20 TVs they had.  I asked the bartender if it would be possible to put the game on one of the TVs that could be seen from my table, his response . . . "well, I'm about to have the KU game, MU game and the K-State game on all at the same time, so you're gonna have to work with me" . . . I was dumbfounded!  I was like "uh, um, ok" and turned around and walked back to my table.  As I asked the bartender for this "obscene" request what I can only guess was a manager was changing and getting TVs ready for the upcoming games, he had every opportunity to ask to get ONE TV changed, but I watched, and he didn't.  We asked our waitress if she would mind if we moved so we could watch the game, "no problem", we ate our meals and watched the game.  I went to the restroom & on my way back the bartender asks me "Did they get your game on for ya honey"  ....WHAT?! DID YOU ASK ANYONE TO GET MY GAME ON FOR ME HONEY?!  "uh, no they didn't".  We finished and left.  Needless to say, I won't be back.  I was so disappointed.  They had the same 2 games on all of the other TVs they had there and the MU game didn't even start until after the KSU game was OVER!

So, for today, I am thankful for a staff that takes requests straight to a manager or bartender instead of saying "uh, no" and not trying.  You never know how you're going to make that person feel - good or bad!


Day 23 -

Today I am thankful for mornings with my little guy!  Madi stayed the night last night with her friend Katy (it was her bday party & no school today!!) We hung out, watched a movie . . . and then big sis & Katy showed up at our house... I am thankful for that as well.  We all hung out in my bed.  The kids took turns playing "Guess Who" and I painted the girls' nails and then we all went to have lunch together.  Boston aka Harry went home with PaPa to help do work, Katy went home & Madi and I went home to hang out before I had to work.  It was exactly what a "break from school" day should be!



Day 24 -

Today I am thankful for TURKEY.  JK.  I am so thankful that DJ was able to go to TWO family Thanksgiving dinners with us!  A lot of times it is just me & the kids, but today (whether he liked it or not) he went with us.  We went to my mom's family Thanksgiving in KC and the kids played H.A.R.D.  I think they may have ate, but I know they played!  After that we went to Overland Park for Sheila's family Thanksgiving.  We didn't get to stay long, but we did get see everyone for a little bit.



Day 25 -

Today I am thankful for mini-reunions!  I picked up Miss Casey Lee from the airport and we headed to Olathe to see The Long family!  We got to see Sarah & Derek's new house, the kids got to play with Aiden, Pax & Harper, and we got to visit with Sarah, Amber & Amy!  It was a little late getting home, but worth the drive!  So glad we got to hang out for a while!



Day 26-

Today I am thankful for dinner's at home!!  I feel like we have been on the go non-stop lately and tonight we were able to stop and make dinner at home . . . and enjoy it!!



Day 27 -

Today I am thankful for Christmas parties!  I attended my ELEVENTH Willie's Christmas party in Manhattan.  I took Casey & Steph as my dates and we had a great time - but I'll say this - I'm not 21 anymore, pssshh, I'd settle for 25 even!!



Day 28 -

I don't even know what to be thankful for here... what a LONG day it was!!  I'm thankful for my in-laws again, Madi and Boston did NOT want to ride to KC to take Casey back to the airport and I didn't want to listen to the complain the whole way, so they called Mammo & Papa to see if they could stay with them, of course they said yes!  Little did I know, I wasn't feeling entirely sick because I was hungover - I was getting SICK ... waaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!



Day 29 -

Today I am thankful for my bed!  I was a mess at work (I tried to be around as few people as possible!!) My nose was running, I was sneezing, my head hurt, I was a mess!  I couldn't wait to crawl into my bed ... and that's exactly what I did!  AHHHHHHH!



Day 30 -

Today I am thankful for my parents & asking us to go to the KU game with them.  DJ has never been to Allen Fieldhouse & while we are devout KSU fans, I think everyone should go to a game there once.  I was happy to be going with my parents & my brother and sister-in-law, but I was not feeling well enough to be around other people.  Boston went in my place and Madi stayed home with me.  We had soup & sandwiches for dinner and chilled the rest of the night.  Boston didn't like the game :(  I really thought he was going to LOVE it, he LOVES going to BC games!  But he said it was too loud, everyone was yelling and he couldn't see.  I guess that's understandable.  When we go to BC games, he sits within the first 3 rows and knows half the players playing!  Maybe when he gets older!

Happy December everyone!