Weeks 51 & 52: Some more of the elf, and other visitors

Christmas (and before and after) highlights. Happy 2017, everybody!

Minecraft play dates

Day 18: The closest she got to TPing anything.

Day 19: Flossing mishap on the bathroom shelf

Charlotte's first experience with a three-sided mirror at Target was priceless. "There's two a me. There's three a me! Mommy! There's ten a me!!"

Day 20: The kids loved her climbing up the window.

Day 21: Playing with Gabe's Minecraft toys

Gabe's class holiday party

Day 22: On Charlotte's dresser. She was fine with the elf there all day, then got sort of creeped out at bedtime.

Day 23: Ally was running out of places to hide.

Playing lots of video games together. Or trying to, and then fighting about it.

Building gingerbread houses

Styrofoam for Charlotte.

The boys got their own icing bags this year, then used them for about 5 seconds before declaring their houses completed.

Day 24: A goodbye letter to the kids. Charlotte was really upset that the elf was using her megablock car.

Sprinkling reindeer food

Charlotte's not sure it's actually going to attract any reindeer.

The blur of Christmas day

Grandma, Emily, Bailey, and Nathan arrived two days later.

Zach's crystal (still need a photo of the result)

Gabe's Minecraft Lego set

Charlotte's jewelry

Nathan's code-a-pillar

Grandma's birthday

Watched lots of movies

Played lots of trains

Zach and Bailey played in the snow

Wah hoo! New TV!

Dress-up was hilarious

To infinity and beyond!

Chili's

New Year's Eve fondue

and a magic show

Sending 2016 off in style!

Code-a-pillar fun

Having fun with cousins and the silly code-a-pillar!

Week 50: Frank's birthday and Angela's graduation

We celebrated Frank's birthday with a homemade pie, continued to capture pics of our funny elf, and Frank traveled to Angela's college graduation. I am still doing things to get ready for Christmas but took a day this week to paint some more in the boys room while Charlotte was at daycare.

Day 11: Coloring a self-portrait

Day 12: Hiding in the pantry

Day 13: Posing for photos in a ballerina outfit

Day 14: Enlisting her tsum tsum friends for a photo shoot

Day 15: Hanging out with all the stuff in the boys closet

Day 16: (Gold)fishing

Zach made cookies all by himself.

Yay, Angela!

Day 17: Hiding behind the TV

Weeks 48 & 49: The elf arrives

I'm slowly but surely catching up with sorting through photos. The biggest excitement the last two weeks has been Ally, our elf on the shelf, arriving, and the boys rushing around in the morning to find her. We've had our share of other holiday activities too!

Day 1: Spying from the top of the fridge

We attended the tree lighting in our town for the first time.

Day 2: Making a mini-s'more

Day 3: Hiding

We gave Zach a tiny iPod for his birthday. We've never heard him thank us so many times (and he continues to!). He's been wanting "his own music" (mostly Kidz Bop) for quite a while.

Day 4: Our tree went up, with Ally keeping an eye on things.

Day 5: Hiding again

Zach hung the stockings. We only have eight hangers, otherwise I'm sure they would have added more stuffed animal stockings!

Day 6: Ally replaced the stockings with each person's sock then decided to relax on the top shelf.

Zach's cub scout pack collected mounds of toys. He's growing fast and needs a new uniform shirt!

Day 7: Riding a dinosaur on the boys' dresser

A renewed interest in Mario Kart lately. Charlotte's not half bad!

Day 8: Ally gave the kids letters-to-Santa kits.

Zach's first allergy shots (2 in each arm!) He isn't wincing, he's just breathing out as the nurse instructed. He agreed that shots really aren't that bad.

Day 9: Napping, while still being able to watch for misbehaving children.

Gabe was an elf in a play and had four lines, which he said perfectly. Awesome visit to his classroom :)

Day 10: As much as Zach would love for her to toilet paper the tree, there have been no shenanigans so far. We have a kind and loving elf.

Week 46: Tribal fair

The week before our Thanksgiving trip was mainly about packing, a visit to the allergist, and Zach's tribal fair at school. I was annoyed to have so many different things to get done, but it all worked out. We discovered that Zach has developed allergies to a bunch of new things (environmental, not food). He started weekly shots last week; he'll do those for about a year, then monthly for a few more years.

The third grade tribal fair required a couple of projects, including me making him a costume. It was a little rushed but ended up being great. I went to his class to to see the projects and hear how much they all learned about the Native American tribes.

Frank's shot of the super moon.

Not sure if this is a tribal dance move or a dab.