Our 1st Christmas Gift of the Season

I admit it. I hit the malls on black Friday (and really enjoyed myself)! Beth & Bill happened to be doing their radio broadcast from there. I had been watching for a few minutes when I noticed on the producer's desk that she had The Elf on the Shelf box. I had heard about this from my cousin and had been wanting to get one for my kids this year, but hadn't seen one anywhere. On a commercial, I leaned over and asked her if she knew where I could buy one.

She said, "Here! You can have it. Merry Christmas!"

I was so excited! I never get anything for free! Made my trip to the mall all the more worth it.

So Friday night we decorated the tree. . .

And Saturday morning when the kids woke up, they noticed this waiting for them underneath the tree:

Chloe saw it first and ran and got the other kids. They couldn't figure out what it was or how it had gotten there. We read the book together and found out that this special elf had been sent specifically to our family. His job is to watch and listen all day long and see how well the kids behave (or misbehave). Every night when they've gone to sleep, the elf flys to the North Pole and reports to Santa on how they did that day. The next morning he reappears in a different place. The second the kids wake up now, they run to see who can be the first one to find him. But the children can't touch him or he loses his magic! They also get to name the elf and then they go online to tell Santa what they named him. Our kids threw out the names Buddy and Pinnochio, but ultimately went with the name "Magic."

So several times each day you'll hear me saying "Do you want Magic to hear that? Should I tell Magic what you just did?" It truly is magical because it works so darn well!

This is going to be such a fun tradition to carry on every year. And it's even more special that it was given to me as the first gift of the season!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my FAVORITE holidays. It doesn't require you to buy anything for anyone. You don't go crazy decorating and stressing out over it. It just gives you a day (or a month) to truly reflect on your blessings and what you're grateful for. Here are a few things I'm thankful for today:

• That my children (and hubby) let me sleep in. Haven't been able to sleep in until 8 am in months!


• That I get to make some of my favorite foods that are traditional on this day . . . mom's yummy dip and crackers and sweet potato casserole are just a couple of my favorites.


• That we get to go see a movie as a family and that my kids are now at the age where all of them will sit through it!


• That I can eat as much as I want today and really not feel guilty at all!


• That I don't have to go to work on Friday . . . I get to go shopping instead


• That I have a family that loves me.
• That my dad has started walking a bit on his own again!


• That Heavenly Father has blessed me with 4 beautiful children that I adore.
• That Blake was proud to wear his Thanksgiving hat he'd made at school all throughout the day. He wasn't too cool or too old for it. Love that.
  
• For a Heavenly Father that has given me so many blessings this past year and has watched out for us continuously.
  

Click on the link for a fun (short) timelapse video that sums up the day for the Foster family. Thanks, Jared!

http://www.vimeo.com/7856973

Day 2 - American Girl Doll Store

Back in April, Hayley received an American Girl Doll catalogue in the mail. I'm not lying when I say she pored over that catalogue for hours upon hours. She learned about each doll and made a wish list, adding up everything she wanted to buy. I think it came to about $400. It was then she decided to start saving every penny she could to buy Julie. For the next 6 months, she did extra chores, helped with the gardening at Grandma's and kept her cousins entertained for her Aunt Marci so she could earn money. And she did it! She came up with over $100 for the doll. In the meantime, she read the series about the dolls and fell in even more love with them. So . . . just ordering the doll wouldn't do. I promised her when we went to Cali, we'd make a special stop in L.A. at the American Girl Doll store so she could make her purchase.


Love the smile on her face. She was so proud of herself for saving her money and finally getting to purchase Julie. This store was amazing. They had a salon where you could pay to have them do an up-do for your doll. There was a cafe where you could spend $30 on a tea party luncheon. And it seemed like all of the girls walking around the mall had at least two dolls in their arms. Hayley was in heaven.

Let me back up now and tell you about Chloe. Since Chloe's older sister was fascinated with American Girl dolls, Chloe had decided that she wanted to get Rebecca when Hayley bought Julie. I knew she wanted Rebecca but there was no way I was going to spend $100 on a doll for a 4 year old. Her birthday was the week we were in California, so I bought the knock-off doll at Costco for only $25, thinking Chloe wouldn't know the difference if it was an actual American Girl doll or not. The morning we were going to the store, I told Chloe she could open up an early bday present (all of this in the hopes that she'd be thrilled with her new doll and not feel the need to get anything at the store.)

Look how cute this doll is:

She hugged it and we took a picture and then she announced: "This isn't Rebecca. Can I still get Rebecca when we go to the store?" Um, no, Chloe. This is your new doll. "Then can I get Rebecca when I turn 5?"

It was so sad because the whole time we were at the AG store, she pouted. Oh well, still glad I didn't spend the money on one for her. Her doll has ended up being naked most of the time and with crazy hair.

After the trip to the store, we headed over to Disneyland. We split a 5 day pass with Stacey's sister and met her at Knotts Berry Farm to eat the famous chicken dinner and pick up the passes! Yum!

When we finally got to Disneyland, we went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. As we started to enter the ride and go down the little hill, Chloe shouted out "OH NO! I've had a dream about this!"

And then we decided to take a little break and be entertained in the Tiki Room. And they called Chloe up out of the audience to introduce the birds! She was darling and not a bit nervous. She acted like she owned the mic!

We ended the night watching the parade. We were sitting up near where the parade begins and as the princesses and characters would walk out, they would first spot my kids shouting and waving to them. It was so neat to see them make eye contact with them and wave back and blow kisses. The kids were in heaven!

Family Va-cay!

At the end of September, we loaded up the car and headed to sunny California for a week long vacation. Thanks to my wonderful in-laws, they hooked us up with a condo at Capri By The Sea, right on the beach in San Diego. The view was heavenly. And nothing like opening up the windows and listening to the waves roll in.

Day 1:

The kids were up at the crack of dawn with their swimsuits on. Couldn't wait to get to the beach.

Chloe spent most of her days on the beach searching for seashells:

Blake & Hayley got pretty adventurous in the water this time and enjoyed riding the boogie boards:

I spent the days on the beach catching up on magazines and enjoying the people watching. Kate pretty much stayed by me until the end of the week. She finally got brave enough to venture into the water and then realized she LOVED it. We had to drag her out.

We always have to hit Seaport Village when we visit San Diego, so we headed there our first night. Enjoyed riding the carousel, eating ice cream sundaes and watching the street performers.

My Little Artist

The other day Chloe spent quite a bit of time in her room because she was in time-out. I'm not sure if it happened then, or when she was going to bed that night and I kept noticing her light was on. But the next morning I went into her room and saw this lovely drawing:

All I could do was laugh. When you hear of kids drawing on the walls, you think scribbles. But I was quite impressed with her self-portrait. Love the long hair and eyelashes - - what detail! And even more so that she signed her name underneath it. I know I should have been mad and she probably has the wrong idea now that I haven't washed it off her wall yet. But I like it. I think it's going to stay for awhile . . .

Hungry?

My friend Trish has started a baking business out of her home. She makes the most wonderful chocolate cinnamon rolls that are to die for! Here are a few I brought home the other day. She also makes regular cinnamon rolls, homemade dinner rolls (white, wheat, or salt) and all sorts of pies and cakes. Her prices are ridiculously low (only $1 per cinnamon roll when you order 12 or more)! You can check her out on facebook - just search Swirl Bakery. You can e-mail her and place an order whenever you get the craving. Enjoy!