The Adventures of Chippy- Part 3

Whew . . . . . it has been crazy around here.  We have been busy cleaning and getting ready for company, so time has flown.  Chippy is still making the rounds. . . . .

Day 12-  Chippy sure does enjoy the top of the play kitchen.  He rocked his marshmallow necklace.

Day 13-  Chippy hopped a ride on a yellow butterfly.

Day 14- We found Chippy hanging out on the ceiling fan

Day 15-  Chippy kicked back on one of the lamps.

Day 16-  Whoa!  Chippy built a snowman!

Day 17-  Chippy likes to watch Pumpkin do his homework.  He was hanging out on top of the mantle clock.

Day 18-  Chippy found a nice box to play in.

Day 19-  Nintendo anyone???  Chippy was thinking about playing Legend of Zelda and watching a movie.

Day 20-  He has the eagle eye.  Chippy was found way up high out of the hands of little visiting fingers.

Chippy only has one week left before he returns to the North Pole.  I wonder what else he will do?

The Adventures of Chippy- Part 2

Chippy has been busy!

Day 5-  Chippy started out with mommy's Garfield collection.  By the time the children awoke he had decided to zip-line to the light fixture to grab the candy cane that he had misplaced.  He ended up stuck in place until night came.   Good thing he harnessed himself to the zip-line.

Day 6-  The kids found Chippy chilling out on the mantle with his candy cane treat.  It was the perfect spot to watch Pumpkin do his homework that evening.

Day 7- Chippy was discovered surfing in the top of the Christmas Tree.  He had a great bird's eye view.

Day 8- Silly Chippy!  The kids caught him taking a dip in a bowl of marshmallows in the kitchen.  In celebration, they had marshmallows with their breakfast.

Day 9- Chippy must really like trees.  This time he was checking out the shiny balls on Princess's mini Christmas tree in the sunroom.

Day 10-  We searched high and low.  Finally we found Chippy sitting on the top shelf of mom's hutch in the great room.  He was sitting on top of a pile of the kids craft supplies.  Are you trying to tell us something Chippy?

Day 11- This morning we found Chippy in the kitchen again.  He must really like marshmallows, because he made himself and the kids marshmallow necklaces with thread.

The kids are really enjoying this new family tradition.  I am thinking that it is definitely a keeper!  Until next time!

The Adventures of Chippy- Part 1

We started a new family tradition this year.  The Elf on the Shelf joined us on Thanksgiving evening.  Pumpkin and Princess unwrapped the magically appearing package to discover their own elf with a story book inside.  Earlier in the day we had watched An Elf's Story and they were enthralled wishing that they had their own elf to watch over them.

The kids decided to name him Chippy like the elf in the movie.  We read about Chippy's secret mission for Santa.  We also read that if we touch him his special elf magic disappears and he cannot tell Santa if we have been good.

Since then Chippy has been busy. . . . . and the kids have been on the hunt every morning.

Day 1 (Thanksgiving):  He arrived in the evening and hung out in his box until the kids went to sleep.

Day 2:  He is found hanging out with the Willow Tree angel girls up high on top of a cabinet.  He has the perfect view of the annual decorating of the Christmas tree.  Princess leaves him a candy cane treat and a mini Twix bar.

Day 3:  He was found hanging on the prism in the sun room window.  Chippy even left his calling card.  He used Scooby Doo dominoes to spell his name.  Then he left a small "thank you" note with the wrappers of the candy cane and twix bar.

Day 4 (this morning): He was found partying on top of the play kitchen with a "nest" of animals and a picture of the family.  Princess is pretty sure that he made a nest and was not just hanging out.

What will be in store for the next week????  Who knows!!!! 

F.A.M.I.L.Y.

Faith-  Family is all about faith.  Faith in your spouse.  Faith that your hubby will help with a few chores.  Faith that your spouse will surprise you with a date night every so often.  Faith in your children.  Faith that they will actually clean up after their selves (Ha ha ha- this rarely happens, but a girl can dream).  Faith in God.  Faith that even on the cloudy and stormy days of life that good will eventually shine through.  Faith that no matter what someone loves you.  Faith that no matter how bad you mess something up that someone will be there that understands.  Faith of love, family, and friends definitely make the world go round.

Adventure-  With family you have built-in adventures.  Even a trip outside the house can be an adventure.  Last Saturday I saw a pumpkin that was starting to get a little mushy on our back porch.  So I decided to place it under a tree so the animals in the neighborhood could eat it.  As I approached the tree. . . . whump!  Down I went.  The pumpkin sailed through the air.  I had step in a hole that the kids had dug over the summer while looking for earthworms.  Unfortunately for me it had not been filled in and said hole was covered in leaves.  Of course the kids thought it was a fun adventure and ran circles around me laughing and playing as I laid on the ground.  You know the saying: The taller they are, the harder they fall.  That is so true!  I ended up spraining my ankle and twisting my knee in the fall.  I called my grandma (hubby was at work) and she came over.  Grandma and Pumpkin carried a chair over to me so I had some leverage to get off the ground.  Needless to say hubby has now filled the hole in temporarily with hickory nut hulls until we can get some dirt to fill the hole in with.  My ankle is still mending and I will definitely have to be careful when it comes to black ice this winter. 

Meaningful- When you have family to share with even the simplest things become more meaningful.  New family traditions are started and old ones are carried on.  On Thanksgiving we always have Hawaiian sweet rolls.  Mom would always ensure it while growing up, so I have continued this tradition.  Typically the day after Thanksgiving we decorate our Christmas tree.  Each year we make simple paper ornaments and applesauce ornaments to adorn the tree along the with the tried and true ornaments.  On Christmas Eve everyone gets to open ONE present an hour or two before bedtime.  Hubby and I got engaged on Christmas Eve.  So we also drink a bottle of sparkling grape juice every year on Christmas Eve.  On New Year's Day we take down all of the holiday adornment from around the house.  We have turned Valentine's Day into family game night.  I am sure that as the years go and the kids get bigger family traditions will come and go, but the togetherness is the meaningful part of the experience.

Imagination-  Imagination and a sense of humor is a must when it comes to family.  The kids really enjoy it when I pretend to be a hungry tickle monster chasing them through the house.  They scream with joy as they dodge me and laugh hysterically when I capture and tickle them to death.  They enjoy building forts and destroying the sun room in the process.  They definitely use their imaginations when they draw and color to create their own beautiful masterpieces.

Love-  Love is must when it comes to family.  As a parent we are to have unconditional love for our children.  Sometimes this is easier said than done.  Children are easy to love when they are minding their p's and q's.  They are easy to love when they are sick or injured.  Sometimes it is more of a challenge when they have been causing mischief.  We love our kids unconditionally, but that is not to say that we are disappointed when they tell a tall tell. Or when they have a behavior note sent home from school.  We try to sit down with them and try to think about what we should do differently next time.  With Pumpkin we have to have him repeat his solutions several times to help ensure that he takes responsibility for what we talked about.  For example "Listen to the teacher." "Eye contact." "No swinging hats." "Respect authority." "No running in the classroom."  Etc . . . . . Kids can try their parent's patience at times.  Sometimes with Pumpkin I need a break to cool down before looking for a solution to the problem.  I am big on hugs.  Hugs help with all problems and are a great way to say "I love you!"

Youthful-  Spending time with those you love keeps you youthful.  You are only as young as you feel and children definitely keep a person feeling young.  Kids have very interesting perspectives on life and you NEVER know what they are going to say or do.    I always hear a few kidisms a day but right now I can not think of any to share.  I'll have to remember to write some down to share at another time.

What does F.A.M.I.L.Y. mean to you?

First Snow

Earlier this week we had the first measurable snowfall of the season.  Most likely it was only about 1/4 an inch.  With the fall leaves as a backdrop the snowfall was quite beautiful.  I have a feeling that we are in store for a LONG and SNOWY winter.  The persimmon seeds even agree with me.  We have been seeing spoons this year, so get your shovels ready.

Enjoy the snowy pictures from our yard. 

Below is a stop light that I encountered on my way to work.  It was really hard to figure out what color it was, so I used traffic at the other stop lights as my indicator on how to proceed through the intersection.  It is never boring around here.

 

Autumn

The colors have been beautiful this year!  

A lot of factors go into the brilliance of the season- the amount of sunlight, temperature fluctuations, cloud cover, and moisture.  What happens in the fall is that as the daylight decreases, the chlorophyll (the green stuff in leaves) stops producing food.  When the chlorophyll dies off and fades away, the brilliant reds, oranges, yellows, and purples that have been present the whole time are uncovered.  Warm sunny days and cool nights help to enhance the colors that we see. Eventually the leaves detach from their branchy homes and gracefully flutter to the ground.  Enough of the botany aspect for now.

The best part of fall for kids is raking the leaves into piles and jumping in!  Our kids love playing in the leaves.  Pumpkin becomes a monster and loves to bury others under the crunchy goodness.  We have shag-bark hickory, red maple, sweet gum, ash, and a few fruit trees in our yard.  This time of the year my husband also LOVES to crack open the shag-bark hickory nuts to collect the decadent nut meat inside.  It is an extremely time consuming process and involves a hammer.  Usually you cannot make it through the season without at least one smashed finger.  Mix some of these nuts into chocolate chip cookie dough for a wonderful autumn treat! 

Fall Family Woodland Adventure

A couple weekends ago we took a hike through the forest and prairie of a local conservation area.  The kids had a lot of fun and they found a lot of leaves, seeds, and twigs.

Pumpkin seemed to be the most entranced by sycamore bark that was rolled into tubes strewed across the dry creek bed of a ford.  Princess enjoyed all of the pretty leaves.  A few nights before the hike we had a hard frost so in areas the ground was carpeted with green paw-paw leaves.

Halloweenie Fun

"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!"

~ Lewis Carroll

I can never seem to keep caught up lately.  Anyway, here are some Halloween and family evening puzzle adventure pictures.  

We completed the Great Pumpkin puzzle over four evenings.

 

Pumpkin was the black Angry Bird for Halloween (although he switched his hat to the pig side just before the picture) and Princess was a ladybug.
 

Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Today may of been one of the last warm days of the season.  Tonight the first frost is predicted.  So we took the kids outdoors this afternoon for our annual painting pumpkins with tempera paint.  

We do not have as many pumpkins this year as in years past, so we will forgo carving a pumpkin this year.  We do have plenty of gourds on the other hand.  It was the squash of choice by the kiddos when we visited the pumpkin patch last week.  We usually opt for painting because 1) the pumpkins last longer and 2) Pumpkin wants his pumpkin to last until after his birthday in February.  He is a pumpkin fanatic!  

As you can see Pumpkin & Princess had a lot of fun decorating their pumpkins.  We did take the pumpkin inside before the predicted frost and I am sure that they will move around the house as the holiday approaches. It is never boring in our household!  (Hahaha)