Elf news

Our elf Jingle has been quite the busy little elf!  We thought we would just be looking for him in a new spot each morning, what we didn't expect is all the mischief he would be getting into.  Only the second morning here and look at what he was up to...

Caught red handed literally (red marker in hand), he had drawn silly faces on all the kids pictures.  Here is just one of his masterpieces.  I do believe that little guy is covering his mouth because he was laughing!

The next morning he was in the kitchen helping himself to some hot chocolate and a whole lot of marshmallows that were strewn all over.

 Day 4 he had climbed all the way to the top of our Christmas tree and was adjusting the star....

And just this morning we found him swinging down a zip line he had made hanging upside down!!

 I do hope this elf knows the difference between naughty and nice or he may be giving Santa some bad information!

Traditions

So far it has been a busy December. Here are just a few of the things we have done so far this holiday. Each year we let our kids pick out a new ornament, I decided to take a picture of them with their ornaments this year because there is still a dispute about a certain ornament that quite frankly I'm not sure who's it is. I think this feud will continue for years. Kelsey picked a Breaking Dawn ornament, Sadi picked the cutest little ballet shoes, and Chase well...he picked the most sparkly blue reindeer I have ever seen.

I had told the kids that this year they could decorate the big tree however they wanted but they wanted nothing to do with it, they wanted to decorate their own trees with their own ornaments. So..Chase's tree (with a few borrowed ornaments).    

  Sadi's perfectly pink tree...

And Kelsey's tree which Chase was sure she "cheated" somehow having more ornaments than him.

This year we started a new tradion, one that I wanted to start last year but thought I don't have 25 Christmas books. (Thank you Tina for reminding me about the library...duh! I'm only there every week for Story time). So here is the gist, you wrap a book for each day of December and the kids get to unwrap a book each night to read.My kids absolutely love this!! And the funny thing is they like the library books better, Chase was mad when he opened one tonight we actually owned. He wanted to know why I tricked him.Another tradition we slacked a bit on the past few years is the parade of lights down in Gardnerville. This year I discovered there was going to be one in Virginia City so I bundled the kids up and we headed up the mountain. A really COLD night, but really worth it.

Tonight we wrote our letters to Santa. An excerpt from each Child's letter:

Kelsey: "I think I have been good all year for the most part, nobody's perfect. p.s thanks for sending Jingle, he controls the little ones."

Chase: "I have ben very good. I want a watch for Christmas. Santa I hope you are pruperd for Christmas becase its going to be very chilly."

Sadi: "I am very bad."

Honestly that last one was not prompted at all Sadi told me exactly what to write to Santa...hey at least she's honest!

We are hoping Jingle delivers them tonight for us when he flies to the north pole (stay tuned for elf news to come later this week he has been a busy little elf).

Lastly, everyone loves driving around looking at Christmas lights right? We do have ours up and the kids get excited every night when they come on. So in the spirit of Christmas we took the kids out tonight around the neighborhoods to look at lights. And as all Dennings do, there must be a winner and a loser. There were many winners, but I have to say on the street where there were so many amazing lights this one was ultimately the most laughed at thus named the loser. The picture just doesn't do it justice it looked like a sad droopy face.

If you haven't been out to look at lights near your house, I highly recommend it, we all had a good time, and a good laugh. And p.s. if this is a neighbor of someone you know, I'm sorry.

Visitor from the North Pole

Last night as we were snuggled up on the couch watching a Christmas movie our doorbell rang and much to our surprise this little guy was out on our porch....

He arrived with a letter explaining he had come from the North Pole!! He is to be our "elf on the shelf". I cannot tell you everything about him because it is a secret from Santa. The kids had to chose a name for him quickly, and they chose Jingle. He will be watching the kids every day to make sure they are behaving, and each night he uses his magic to fly to the north pole to tell Santa if they have been good or bad. This morning we found him in the kitchen making snow angels on the floor!!

I think he may have brought back some magical Christmas snow from the north pole. Oh boy I hope we didn't get a naughty elf!!

Christmas Helpers

This year instead of the kids drawing each others name to buy a gift for we decided it would be fun for them to buy for a child in need. Matt's work has trees with children's wishes for Christmas. These are Foster children who will not be with their parents on such a wonderful day. Last week I took all 3 kids into the casino to browse the trees to pick out the perfect child to buy for. Chase made a comment while looking that just broke my heart. He said "Wow Mom there are a lot of kids that don't have Mom's and Dad's!". They took their time and chose the right child to buy for.

Then it was off to shop! Kelsey shopped for an infant girl who needed blankets, Chase chose a boy close to his age that wanted ABC books, and Sadi chose a 2 year old who wanted a baby (for a girl that doesn't like babies this was a stretch for her). They had fun shopping and I was surprised they did not ask me to buy anything for them.

So far we are off to a great season!! Let the giving continue.

Much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving weekend was full of family and fun! Uncle David arrived on Wednesday and that is when the party began. I had to cook an amazing turkey after Matt bragged to everyone he invited how great it was going to be. Every try to cook something you really don't like to eat? So much pressure, but when the day arrived I awoke way before the sun to get the bird in the oven. Hours later as it was cooking and I was busy as a bee this is what my lovely family was doing. Chase and Sadi were glued to David's I-pad......

The rest of the gang was glued to football (poor David had kids literally crawling on him the entire day).

We also had Matt's Grandparents join us which made it extra special.  I didn't get any pictures of us actually sitting down to feast, I guess once I was sitting I wanted to stay there.  Kelsey did take a picture of "the bird".  Doesn't look to pretty but everyone said it tasted good.  For me turkey is turkey I could take it or leave it.

I did manage to snap one picture of Chase and Sadi toasting away at their own table.  I had plenty of chances since they toasted everything.

The best part of the day was just visiting and hanging with the family.

The rest of the weekend was spent shopping black Friday (much later in the day), and eating out with family.  I had to take this picture of Kelsey's breakfast the biggest pancake you have ever seen!! 

We also caught a movie (Puss in Boots) where Sadi insisted I take her picture with this display.  Why does everything have to be in 3D now?  Do these people know little kids don't actually like wearing those annoyingly to large 3D glasses for an entire movie?

Anyway, it was a very fun full weekend!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year?

Seems as though every year now about this time (Christmas approaching) that something MAJOR in our house breaks which makes me cringe this time of year. Well this year it came right ont time...

Thank you mother nature for the 70 mile per hour winds which didn't just blow the fence down, no it literally picked it up snapped it in pieces and threw it across the yard!

I guess all I want for Christmas is a new fence!!!

Seasons End

Although the soccer season has been going for more than 8 weeks it is now officially over. Chase wasn't sure he was going to play but when the changed the age for baseball he decided he would give it another go. His coach was thrilled!! After just a few weeks they tried him out as goalie and he did so well, he earned the title for the season!

His team was made up of kids ranging from 6 to 10 year old. I am pretty sure Chase was the youngest and smallest. He looked so tiny between those goal posts.

He showed no fear and got more confident with each game. He loved to dive for the ball which his coach loved. ( Not a great photo but this was him saving a shot that almost made it through his legs).

He did so well that he was chosen to play in the All Stars game. Last night was the wrap up party where he received his trophy.

His coach's gave him the nicknames "monster in the middle" and "beast" which he thought was hilarious. It was another great season!!