Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Frosty the Elf

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf who comes to visit you each Christmas? We do! Our elf is named Frosty and he usually arrives around December 1. This year, Frosty got into all sorts of trouble at our house, so I snapped pictures of most of his antics. I only have pictures from 21 days, so I missed a few in there. 

Frosty built himself a Lego airplane and flew it all over!


He ate our nuts...and made a huge mess!


Frosty helped us redecorate our tree after it came crashing down.


Here he's making his Christmas wish list.


Some light reading in front of the tree.



Writing his letter to Santa with magnetic letters.


Playing Rush Hour Jr.


Drawing!


Waiting for hot cocoa. He had a mound of marshmallows here!


Making a rainbow loom bracelet -- note he stole my bracelet and wore it as a scarf. In his defense, it was chilly out!


Tied up with a field day balloon.


Found presents under the tree.


Sitting on the Cub Scout popcorn.


Frosty made a snow angel out of powdered sugar!


Back to the nuts -- this time he sorted them by size.


Admiring our stack of holiday cards.


Riding the rocking horse puzzle.


Sitting in the box of Harry and David goodies from Gene's aunt and uncle.


Hanging out on the advent calendar -- just two days til Christmas!


He found one of Henry's magformer sculptures.


And on Christmas Eve morning, Frosty found his way to the manger.


The boys had such fun finding Frosty each morning. Til next year!

Christmas in Kingwood

Gramma and Grampa were a bit under the weather before Christmas, so this year we celebrated Christmas in Kingwood on the 26th. There's nothing like spacing out the gifts and the fun!


We got to Kingwood a little before lunch. The boys had just enough time to break into their big present from Gramma and Grampa.


This boy has asked for a marble run for two years and finally got one! It was at the top of his Christmas wish list and the Q-Ba-Maze is awesome! The best thing is that Gramma and Grampa picked it out without even knowing that Will wanted a marble run.


Gene and Will had it set up in no time. 


Hours and hours of entertainment...


We took a break for lunch and then got right to work opening more gifts. Mythology book for Will -- another huge hit for my Percy-Jackson-loving boy.


Potholders with the boys' artwork for the grandparents.


My parents also got the boys these little Cubebots. They are wooden toy robots that fold up into a cube and they are awesome! Henry, in particular, is obsessed and takes his Cubebot everywhere. 



After presents, it was time for dessert. Gramma passed out whipped cream beaters for the boys to lick.




My dad makes krumkake every year. It's a rolled Norwegian cookie filled with whipped cream, and it's traditionally served around Christmas time. They are so good!



After dessert, we played with the new toys. Will built with his snap circuits


and helped Grampa play Pathwords Jr. 


Even though our celebration was a bit delayed,


we had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas in Kingwood!

Christmas with Nana and Pop

After presents and breakfast at home, we headed over to Nana and Pop's to continue our Christmas celebrations. The boys and I played games before we opened gifts.  


Little Michael immediately found the biggest gift and started opening it. Fortunately, it was for him!


Top gifts: chemistry set for Will,


Zoob cars for Henry,


and an air + water powered car for Will,


So happy.


Back to the theme of A Christmas Story, we got Mike and Pop bottles of Yule Shoot Your Eye Out beer from local craft brewery Karbach along with some Life Buoy soap.  




Other pics from the morning: 






Microscope for the boys!


And a new bike for Mary.


Pop declared this year a "Heritage Christmas" which didn't make sense until later when Nana and Pop brought out some special gifts for Gene and Mike. They were surprises indeed.


Nana gave Gene this musket that has been in the family for over 200 years. Family legend says that it belonged a man who fought with in during the Revolutionary War. It came a long way, through various family members, to get to Gene, but with his love of history and knowledge of military weapons, it is definitely in the right place.





Mike's gift was passed down through Pop's family, and is a chalice and paten that belonged to a cousin who was a priest. If you know Mike at all, you'll know this was the perfect family heirloom for him.




The last gift was a beautiful ring for Nana from Pop.


And then we sent everyone outside to get some energy out, so the kitchen could be peaceful for dinner prep. 



I snapped a couple of pictures of Mike's family too. 




Baby David's first Christmas! 



Our Christmas feast: standing rib roast, baked oysters, corn pudding, scalloped potatoes, green beans with pecans, and roasted cauliflower!


After dinner, baby David was passed around.



And another beautiful Christmas came to an end!