Elf on the Shelf

Our pretty tree!

M was gifted Elf on The Shelf last year. At 4 1/2 she now really understands the story and since it was unpacked with Christmas items two days ago, she has been very serious about Elf on The Shelf business. A book comes with the elf which explains a story about how the elf works. It visits santa at night telling him how you behaved during the day, and in the morning because of its travels, is in a different spot than the night before. If a child touches it however, it loses its magic and can't see santa or move.

Past two morning there has been 4 year old shrieks all through the house waaay too early in the morning while she hunts down the elf. And while the excitement may very well wear off in 2 more days, while it exists I am trying to focus on a primary goal; trying to remember to move the damn elf before I go to bed. The first night I forgot, and woke up paniced at 3am stumbling around in the dark trying to get it to sit upright and not fall over in her room. The second night I handed it over to D and he hid it on a rafter in the kitchen. Tonight I asked D. how are we going to remember to hide the elf every night, to which he replied, "we"? But, moments ago he announced on his way to bed, that yes, he did move it. But still, I am kinda annoyed with the Elf on The Shelf people. Yes, he looks sweet, innocent, old-timey, but in a Bride of Chucky sort of way. And no, elf on the shelf does not have whiskers, its just sitting in front of the mechanical cat. Which is another blog entry for later I guess.

Thankgiving

Our Thanksgiving was spent with our friends who are are our family. Thank you to our friends who hosted all of us!Food was outrageous. Chipolte sweet potatoes, coconut sweetened sweet potatoes, beef tamales with mole sauce, two cranberry sauces, stuffing, etc. A new dish also, green bean casserole made with swiss cheese, sour cream, mustard, horseradish and crispy onions. I did make the Sunset magazine Sweet Potato Cheesecake. It was luscious and creamy, but too sweet. My sis however made pumpkin bread pudding that crazy. Martha Stewart's recipe, and it took the dessert grande prize at our pie party.

I am relieved that little M. christmas shopping is all done. Now I can focus on her Christmas Party next saturday. I am calling Whole Foods today to see if they will make me a yule log. Crossing my fingers on that one. I am hoping to manage my anxiety in a constructive way this week as M's party approaches. This week we get 6 more solar panels added to the array, which is D's weekend project. Our laundry room smells like yeast and things are starting to collect in the kombucha jar. Iwish I had not taken a microbiology class in college. Ignorance is bliss.

How you know your real

Driving home last night D. asked M. how does she know she is real? In perfect form, she quips "daddy I know I am real because of three things; 1. I pick boogars from my nose 2. I fart and 3.(my personal favorite) I have chicken breath. " No explanations needed there I guess. It was a wonderful way to end our family fun day. Pictures above of the gnome house we built at the Live Oak Waldorf School Winter Faire we attended.

My Husband's Science Experiment

D. has given up coffee the last week or so, and has been drinking lots of Dave's Kombucha. A bottle sets you back atleast $3.50 so he decided to make his own.

With the wise guidance of a YouTube video, he brewed sugar, tea and a bottle of kombucha to make the "mother" a starter kombucha mushroom that will provide the culture for a lot of kombucha to come. So, the "mother" is now sitting in our laundry room fermenting for the next three weeks until a big mushroom forms on the top. I have opted to not participate in drinking the end results; I have enough problems with nausea as it is thank you very much. But he is very optimistic about his mycology science project. Wanna come over and try some?

Snow White isn't so scary!

Books before bed are always a big time of the day for M. It has been fun to start reading more complex books too. Tonight we read a japanese folktale and Snow White. It was translated from the Grimm fairy tale. Looking to M's face while reading it, I wanted to be sure she was not scared by the evil queen trying to kill snow white. I kept thinking "this is a kid's book?" Disney Snow White it was not. But, she was excited, enthralled and loved the suspense. Afterwards she ran out to tell dad all about it.