He's baaaaack!
This morning we were surprised by the return of Elfie! Zach was SO excited. Elfie brought donuts and a plate with a picture of Zach in an elf costume with his name on it. When Zach saw the plate and recognized his name, he exclaimed "Just what I always wanted!" Who knew?
In case you don't know about The Elf on the Shelf, here's a brief synopsis:
Every day until Christmas Eve, each family's scout elf watches over the children and then at night, once everyone goes to bed, the elf flies back to the North Pole to report back to Santa about what activities, good and bad, took place throughout the day. Before the family wakes up each morning, the scout elf flies back from the North Pole and hides. The Elf on the Shelf explains that elves get their magic by being named. Once the elf is named, the scout elf receives its special Christmas magic which allows it to fly to and from the North Pole. However, the magic might go if anyone touches the elf. On Christmas Eve when Santa comes, he brings the scout elf back to the North Pole with him for the year.
Of all the animals, the boy is the most unmanageable.
- Plato
Zach is still fighting a chest cold so he has been taking lots of warm baths. I just love a boy in bubbles!
Today we went to Bass Pro to see Santa and ride the carousel. Zach loves running around Santa's Wonderland playing the games and doing the activities. The one gift he asked Santa for is sold out everywhere. Here's praying for a Christmas miracle so we don't have a broken hearted little boy Christmas morning. In the afternoon we decorated the tree. Zach oooh-ed and aww-ed over every ornament. I finally got the experience I wanted. After the tree was done, I wanted a family picture of us in front of it so I set the timer. It was a disaster. Check out the picture where Couper walked right in front of the camera! Fun times!
This morning Zach woke up with a fever and a cough. We laid on the couch and cuddled for hours. I enjoyed every second. Around 7pm this happened and I knew he was feeling better...
Every year we put up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Every year I am gun ho and excited. By the time we are to the ornaments I am yelling at Chris and Zach who have long lost interest. This year I decided it was going to be different. This year we would do it in stages and enjoy it. This year it would be a great experience just like on tv with a happy family working together and smiling! Today we put up the tree and did garland. Zach had a blast working on the parts he could reach.
We had a great Thanksgiving. We started the morning off by watching the Macy's parade. They kept talking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Zach's latest obsession) float, but it was one of the last ones they showed. Zach helped me make turkeys out of veggies and we headed to the Legion with the Palmer clan. Noah & Zach had a great time chasing each other around and wrestling. I bet next year Memphis will be in the action with them! After the Legion we headed to my parent's for steak. It was non-traditional but AMAZING! We spent the afternoon at the farm riding 4 wheelers and playing with my cousins and chatting with family. The day was complete after some crazy Black Friday shopping that went surprisingly smooth!
Tonight was the annual Huntrod family turkey fry! Kyle got the honor of dunking the turkey and ruining his shoes! Zach and Papa kept calling the turkey a Jayhawk since Iowa State beat Kansas last weekend in football.
I have been an awful blogger this past month. I haven't gotten the camera out in awhile. With the holidays coming up, that will change. Thanks for hanging in there with me!
Today Zach had a Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool. He got to invite one special friend. Chris and I decided we weren't going to campaign and put pressure on him to choose...that whatever he decided that was it. When we asked him who he wanted to come, he said Uncle Tony. I quickly vetoed that and decided I was going! So much for letting him choose! We read a book about turkeys, the kids sang a couple of Thanksgiving songs, and we had pumpkin pudding that the class made. He also got to show off all of his Thanksgivng artwork. It was all so stinking adorable and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. This being a mom thing is pretty darn cool!
Chris and I debated all week whether we should go to the ISU game on Saturday. The weather held out and we are so glad we decided to go. Zach had a blast in the bounce house and getting his face painted. The Kids Club was handing out ISU donuts and Zach devoured one. It actually got warm sitting in the sun and we were able to take off some layers. The game got painfully boring at times so Zach and I entertained each other by making funny faces!
