Where's the Elf - Day 24

Well, today is the last day Christopher Pop-In-Kins will be with us. He has to return to the North Pole! Jimmy was very sad to hear that he had to go home until next year. The boys have had such a blast finding our little elf in all of his new hiding places each morning. I think we are going to be a little bored when he leaves us. We can't wait until he returns after next Thanksgiving! Goodbye for now Christopher Pop-In-Kins!

Thanks for sharing our elf adventures with us! Hopefully next year we will not get sick and all the posts will be posted on time! ;-) Merry Christmas!!

Where's the Elf - Day 23

Christopher Pop-In-Kins didn't go far after his shower yesterday...he got into a little tangle with the toilet paper! Made a nice little tower, climbed it and then later we heard a crash and he was found on the floor! No kidding! That is really how we found him lol! Jimmy was very excited that Christopher fell, he just kept chattering about his elf falling down and "how did he do that?" etc. Very cute!

Where's the Elf - Day 22

Oh Christopher Pop-In-Kins, you really are funny! He must have felt dirty after his ride yesterday ;-) Had to wash the horse smell off! Jimmy really got a kick out of this one, he was so surprised to see his little elf friend in the shower when he woke up. Next year I should take videos of the boys reactions!

Where's the Elf - Day 21

I felt much better today! Christopher must have felt better about moving because look what he got into last night. Silly little elf! Guess he wanted to be ready to run in case he heard anymore scary noises from me being sick ;-) Giddyup Ballyduff!

Where's the Elf - Day 20

I was sick all night with the stomach flu and poor Christopher Pop-In-Kins must have been too scared of the horrible noises coming from upstairs to move. So he stayed put for today, hanging next to the Christmas tree as he did yesterday. Hopefully I will feel better soon and he will get brave and move to a new place tonight ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 19

Today our little buddy was just "hanging out" by the Christmas tree all day. 

Where's the Elf - Day 18

I guess Christopher Pop-In-Kins was inspecting the stockings last night. Hope they meet Santa's requirements! =)

Where's the Elf - Day 17

Sorry we had a bit of a hiccup and didn't get the rest of the Christopher Pop-In-Kins posts posted due to our having the stomach bug. Here they are looking back. =)

Here is Christopher Pop-In-Kins checking out my Joy and Noel signs that I made years ago. Not really sure how he got himself up there...

Where's the Elf - Day 16

Christopher Pop-In-Kins is such a little dickens!! Look where he landed himself this time! Silly thing must not have learned his lesson from playing on the ceiling fan last time. He sure is quite the little acrobat! ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 15

Oh that silly elf! He got into the fruit basket last night. Looks like he had a craving for avocado!

Where's the Elf - Day 14

Looks like Christopher Pop-In-Kins took it easy last night. He didn't venture very far from the nativity and was just sitting up on the living room curtains. No mischief this time!

Where's the Elf - Day 13

Well, after Christopher's little tangle with the Three Wise Men yesterday, it looks like they all made nice. He was found admiring the baby Jesus this morning. What a sweet little elf! So glad he got to learn about the real meaning of Christmas, thanks for teaching him Wise Guys!! ;-)

Dry Erase Sudoku Book

Today I made a couple of dry erase Sudoku books for Christmas gifts. I recently bought a Bind-It-Allmachine and this was my first binding project. It went great! I was pretty nervous I was going to screw up my project, but after practicing a little and getting the hang of it, it went pretty quickly and was easy. Binding was easy compared to getting my printers to print the way I needed them to! But I won't get into that ;-)

I created a cover in Photoshop, laid out some printable Sudoku puzzles I found online (just do a search, there are tons!) and I made an answer key on the last couple pages. I printed everything on regular paper and laminated the pages so they would be dry-eraseable. Then I cut the pages in half since I laid out 2 pages per sheet of paper. I trimmed the extra lamination off with my awesome paper trimmerand stacked the pages in order. Then I used my handy dandy new Bind-It-Allto punch holes in the tops of the pages and then put the binding wirein. And there you have it!

Its easy to correct mistakes as you play and you can complete the puzzles again and again if you'd like. I hope their recipients like them! =)

Where's the Elf - Day 12

Well this is interesting. Looks like Christopher got into a little tangle with the Three Wise Men last night....hmm...I wonder if something like THIS was going down... ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 11

Oooo Christopher Pop-In-Kins! You got into a little mischief last night I see....silly elf! He was hanging out all day long.

Jimmy wanted to know how he got up there. I think he was trying to cross the curtain rod and fell, grabbing onto what he could, my horse sun catcher! Thank goodness he didn't break it! ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 10

I think Christopher Pop-In-Kins was kind of tired last night, he was found just sitting on top of our stovepipe cover (yet another eyesore that needs taken care of in our old house, *sigh*). ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 9

Oh Christopher Pop-In-Kins....where are you??? THERE you are!

Silly elf, hiding in the curtain! I think he is starting to get a little more mischievous the last couple days! ;-)

Monogram Wreath

Some friends and I have been getting together at our church once a month for a craft night. This month we made these twine wrapped initial/monogram wreaths. Here is how mine turned out:

Pretty fun! I really love how it turned out. If you want to make one too, click here for the tutorial that inspired this activity. To learn how to make felt rosettes, click here.

Where's the Elf - Day 8

Christopher Pop-In-Kins seems to have had a little bit of fun last night! We found him hanging onto a ceiling fan blade in the living room (please pay no attention to the horribly outdated ceiling fan, ugh)! I imagine he must have been spinning around all night having a great time ;-)

Where's the Elf - Day 7

Sorry, late again! =)
Here is Christopher Pop-In-Kins 7th hiding place. He decided to venture to the upstairs bathroom this time!
He is sitting on top of the mirror.

Jimmy was excited and talked to him again today. He told him thank you for remembering to bring his water lol! And Matthew kept crawling to the bathroom door and peeking at Christopher. I don't think he quite knows what to think of him yet.

Where's the Elf - Day 6

Here is where Christopher Pop-In-Kins was hiding today. Waaay up on top of the refrigerator!

Today Jimmy started something new when he found our elf. He has started talking to him! Last night Jimmy wanted a drink of water and I told him maybe Christopher Pop-In-Kins would bring him some later. I have been trying to avoid giving him anything to drink before bed so he doesn't wet it since he sleeps so soundly and didn't want a fight last night so I was trying to get him to be satisfied so he would fall asleep. And it worked ;-) But then I forgot to get his water and when Jimmy woke up he told me the elf never brought his water! Ack! I felt so bad!  He told me that he had to "go ask that elf something" and he went downstairs. He came back up and said he "asked that elf" why he forgot his water last night. I asked him what the elf said and in a little tiny voice he replied, "He said he forgot and he would remember to get it for me tonight." It was so cute! LOVE my babies! This elf tradition is so much fun!

Where's the Elf - Day 5

Goodness, I keep forgetting to post! So sorry! Here is day 5's hiding place. Jimmy was VERY excited to find Christopher in the Christmas tree, he wanted to know how in the world he got there! =)

Jimmy and Matthew are so funny when they find Christopher. Jimmy usually wakes up first and he hasn't remembered to look for him on his own yet so I ask him if he has seen Christopher yet. Then he looks at the place he was the day before and gets this surprised/sly look on his face. So cute! He looks around a bit and finally finds him and yells out "I found the elf!!" in a silly little high pitched voice. I always help Matthew find him when he wakes up. We go to the place he was the day before, Matthew looks and gets a confused look on his face. Then we go to the new hiding place and I wait to see if he spots him, and when he finally sees him, he gets a huge grin on his face and points and sounds like he says "Pop" or "Poppins" SO adorable! This is such a fun tradition to do with the kids.

Where's the Elf - Day 4

Our little elf friend hid in the laundry room today, high on a coat hook. Jimmy took a little longer to find him since the seriously-in-need-of-a-makeover laundry room is through a door that we keep closed most of the time. I just love watching him look for Christopher P!

Where's the Elf - Day 3

I am a bit late posting this, sorry! Here is where Christopher Pop-In-Kins was hiding today.

Jimmy was so excited to find him hiding on the light in the bathroom. Every time he went in there he said "He's still there!" He is so cute!

Where's the Elf - Day 2

Today Christopher Pop-In-Kins was hiding up in one of my ferns, that silly little elf! ;-)

Jimmy really giggled at this hiding place. Make sure you stop by for tomorrow's hiding place! =)

Where's the Elf - Day 1

Meet our new friend!

(image from elffun.com)

My mother in law gave us this cute little guy and we now have a new Christmas tradition. He is kind of like Elf on the Shelf, but he has bendy arms and legs and must hide up high, lest he be touched and lose his magic, therefore causing him to have to return to the North Pole. This little guy has been around since 1984. To learn more about him visit his website here. He first showed up 2 days after Thanksgiving and the boys have been having a blast looking for him in his new hiding place each morning! Here is his hiding place for today:

I am planning on posting his hiding place every day until he returns to the North Pole (he must be back before Christmas Eve), so be sure to check back tomorrow to see where he hides!

Blessings!