Elf on the Shelf

Yes, we did "Elf on the Shelf" this year.  It was sparked by finding this great little guy at a thrift store for $3.  We didn't do the book thing where it said that the elf was watching you each day and reporting your behavior to Santa.  Mary knows the story of Santa but knows that it is a fairy tale.  She also knows who the real Saint Nicolas was.  So I just did Elf on the Shelf for fun.  We treated it with the concept of Toy Story, where the toys come alive when you are not looking and freeze when you see them.  Mary had so much fun with this.  She was so excited each morning to see what he was up to.  As you can see we had him playing Candy Land with is buddies, dancing the Nutcracker with Barbie, to getting ready for an ugly Christmas sweater party. He also read the Christmas story in Luke after we set up our nativity set.  I got a lot of my ideas from Pinterest and I also thought up stuff from the things she had in her room.  It was great fun and here are little thumb nails shots of what we did each night. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to our friends and family.  May you have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful year!

Christmas Music From Many Years Ago...

I had a nostalgic moment today. I was at Walmart getting all the last minute Christmas stocking stuffers and goodies. I walked by a bin of Christmas CDs and was looking at them. Near the bottom I spied a CD called the Light of the Stable by Emmy Lou Harris. It brought back memories from a long time ago when I was young. I went to the library (I know this will really date me) and checked out a Christmas record by her and loved it. I am not usually a big Country Western fan but I really liked her clear sweet voice and the upbeat happy songs she sang. So I made a cassette tape and played it. It was during a time that I was a young adult longing for a family of my own and this album seemed to comfort my heart and give me hope. Well, when I got home tonight I put the CD on and Mary loved it! She loved it so much she began to dance around the Christmas tree. She listened to every song. I thought, wow, could I of ever imagined such a scene those many years ago of my beautiful little girl dancing and enjoying that music as much as I did.

 

Here is the first song on that album:

Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/Yem_U7lcW3U

Jacksonville

We went to Jacksonville to spend the day, last Sunday.   Jacksonville has Victorian Christmas celebration and we thought Mary would get a kick out of that.  It snowed in the morning so that made the day even more special.  We had brunch at the Jacksonville Inn.  Mary's little elf on the shelf got to come a long too!  After our meal we went shopping.  We met up with Santa but missed the carolers, I guess they got too cold and went home.  They did have hot apple cider and roasted chestnuts.  We had the most fun shopping at our favorite cooking supply store.  I just love the beautiful decorating on the outside of the buildings.

 

Decorating with Grandma

Each year Mary has fun helping her grandma decorate for Christmas.  The last 4 years it has been this small tree.  They had a larger tree but it became too much for them, so they gave it to us and they use this sweet little tree.  I am so very thankful that Mary lives near her grandparents and has a wonderful relationship with them.  I know these images will be treasured by her all her life.

Christmas Piano Recital

Sunday was Mary's Christmas piano recital.  She played Silent Night as a solo and then we played, Oh Christmas Tree as a duet.  She was so excited she could barely contain herself.  Grandma and Grandpa gave her some money for her birthday so we went shopping and got her this dress for the recital.  I put a snowflake and a holly clip in her hair.  She did very well and we were so proud of her.  I have included a video of our duet.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the link to the video: https://youtu.be/RI3p_iaPsDs

The Holidays are Here!

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Now on to Christmas :)  Yesterday we set up our Christmas tree.  Mary is at the age where she did most of the tree decorating.  We have a lot of ornaments of all kinds.  I have been collecting ever since I was in my 20s, so a lot of memories.  It is fun to tell Mary the stories behind them.  She really saved my back from all that standing and bending.  She loved having more input on where the decorations should go.  She also gets a kick our of the stockings, hats and stuffed Christmas toys we put under the tree.  She couldn't resist putting a Santa Hat on Mac.  He wanted to play with it but he did hold still long enough for me to snap his picture.   Today we tackled the school room.  Mary changed the calendar and I worked on the bulletin board.  We were happy how it turned out.  We do our supply shopping at the thrift store and get some amazing deals.  Also my sister, Linda, has gotten her a lot of things over the years and we have really used them these last couple of years.  Mary said it was amazing how pretty you can make something out of a little bit of stuff and a lot of love!  Well, I will post our pictures.  We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

 

 

This was a Christmas wreath making event at Hanley Farm.

 

We will put a candle on each day with a name of the Lord and read the scripture where it is found.