Elf on the Shelf

This year we thought that the kids would really enjoy the Elf on the Shelf. We presented it to the kids shortly after Thanksgiving and read the initial story with the kids. They seemed really excited and even came up with the name Nick Kringle. Some nights we had pretty elaborate set ups for Nick and other nights we were just happy to get it moved to a new spot. I thought I would just share with everyone what our silly Elf Nick got into while keeping an eye on the kids.

Nick's first time visiting us he just sat up on top of the mantle. High enough so that the kids couldn't touch it. We decided to keep it out of reach for the first few days so that neither one of the kids were tempted to touch it. The story says that if any children touch the Elf that he will lose his magical flying ability and wouldn't be able to report back to Santa every night. The kids were both keeping an eye on each other because they didn't want anyone to touch him.

Nick Kringle made some little elf hats and put them on all of our pictures.

Hanging out on top of the Christmas tree.

Jennifer made a Harry Potter themed outfit for Nick Kringle because they had just watched the movie the day before. She even turned a paintbrush into his broomstick.

Nick Kringle found his buddy Frosty the Snowman and they decided to play a game of Guess Who.

Nick and Frosty turned some candy canes into sleds and rode down the banisters in the house.

Nick got artistic and made the bananas look like some minions.

I am not sure what was happening this night, but Buzz Lightyear and Woody helped save Nick Kringle.

Nick decided to make sprinkle angels on the table.

Nick riding one of Landon's T-Rex around the house.

Hanging from the light in the kitchen.

Writing a little note to the kids telling them that they needed to be good.

Doing a little fishing for Goldfish.

Climbing up the light in the kitchen.

Nick got all the supplies together and was watching a movie. He also brought the kids a new movie and some treats to eat too. The kids really liked the movie The Santa Claus.

Jennifer also made Nick a little UK outfit and "foam" finger. Nick is definately a Kentucky fan and he even had a little unibrow in support of one of our favorite players, Anthony Davis.

He even mixed up some reindeer food for the kids to throw out the night before Christmas so that the reindeer would have something to eat too.

Going for a little joy ride with the family.

Nick decided to make a hot air balloon so that he could float around.

An old peanut butter jar made the perfect spot for Nick to get in so that the kids could pick him up and carry him around. Nick actually got to go on our little day trip to Louisville so he also got to see the Slugger Museum and the Science Center. The kids loved being able to carry him around.

Nick even became a honorary member of the Ninja Turtles when he helped capture the bad guys. They even celebrated with a pizza party. Cowabunga Dude!

Having the Elf on the Shelf ended up being so much fun. The kids were excited to get up each morning and search for where Nick was that day. In fact Landon would get upset that Brinley usually found him first that almost every night he would ask if I could wake him up first. I think Jennifer and I had as much fun coming up with different ideas to do every night too. We might have messed up by getting so creative that next year it might be hard to impress the kids. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Christmas 2017

This past Christmas was so much fun with the kids. Our Christmas celebration starts right after Thanksgiving when we take family photos with Jennifer's family. 

These two kids are my favorite little people in the whole world. I am so blessed to have them call me dad.

Christmas pictures wouldn't be complete without a little milk and cookies.

Jennifer's family.

This year I had a couple of kids that wanted to help me put up the Christmas lights.

Landon wouldn't be happy until he got to climb up the ladder because his sister did it.

My two favorite little "helpers". Even though it sometimes takes me longer to accomplish things with them I wouldn't have it any other way.

One of my favorite traditions is decorating a gingerbread house. This year the kids were considerably better.

Landon did almost all of this himself. Sometimes he just had trouble getting the icing out of the piping bottles. We used a kit as well as some of the kids left over Halloween candy to decorate.

If you can't tell I am very pattern orientated with my design.

Landon decorating the Christmas tree.

Brinley putting up a few ornaments too.

Short wife problems. Not exactly the safest way to decorate a tree, but what ever works!

Each year Jennifer and I get a special ornament. This was a tradition that we started right after we got married and have been doing it ever since. Usually if there is something big that happened that year then we get an ornament that has something to do with it. Since our big event this year was the marathon. Jennifer found this pretty awesome runDisney shoe at the race expo. They didn't have an ornament for a Dopey Challenge so Jennifer just made me one.

The kids with their ornaments for the Christmas tree, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps.

The kids and I enjoying some hot chocolate while waiting for the Christmas parade to start. It was a really cold night!

Ever since the kids were born we have made a trip to the Southern Lights at the Kentucky Horse Park. Mimi came along this year for all the fun. We happened to unfortunately pick a really cold night to go see them.

Mimi and the kids as the Frozen sisters Anna and Elsa along with Olaf.

Our two little penguins.

The kids with Frosty the Snowman at the Horse Park.

No matter how cold it is I will always be rocking the shorts and sandals. Here we are with a very beautiful poinsettia Christmas tree.

We also heard about a couple of insanely decorated houses here in town so we just had to go check them out. This one was the kids favorite one.

Since people are always sick during the holidays and our jobs don't always allow us to be off from work, we have become very accustomed to celebrating Christmas morning with the kids on different days. Usually we just pick a day that both Jennifer and I are off from work and celebrate it then. This works well for now because the kids have no idea what the actual date is, so they never know what day is actually Christmas until we tell them.

This year we celebrated on December 22. The kids picked out and helped make some chocolate chip cookies for Santa. Then they put out the reindeer food in the backyard. The little gingerbread house in the picture is one that Brinley made at school a few days before.

Look what Santa and mommy and daddy brought the kids. Ever since the kids were old enough to ask for something from Santa we have made it a point that they can only ask Santa for one gift. Santa also drops off a stocking with some things in it, but otherwise everything else is from mommy and daddy. I hate that this mythical person gets all the credit for everything that the kids get. 

The kids didn't take long to open up all of the gifts and immediately wanted to start playing with everything. That's good because that is why we got it all.

This year we didn't make all of our traditional Christmas candies and treats because we knew that it wasn't good for us to have all of those sweets around the house. Landon loved it and was really excited about helping me dip the treats in chocolate. He was also pretty excited about trying them out too!

The two treats that we made were homemade turtles and dipped ritz crackers and peanut butter.

It was awesome to be able to attend the Christmas Eve candlelight service. The kids were so excited about getting to hold the candles and then Landon had some wax drip on him and he was not happy about it getting on his shirt.

Only person missing from the family picture is Uncle McKinley. He was unfortunately still at work. After church we headed down the street to the only place that we could find reservations, a hibachi restaurant. 

Family picture. It took many attempts to even get this picture.

Heflin siblings on Christmas 2017.

The next day we took a little trip downtown to the Chocolate Holler for hot chocolate. I had a cup of my favorite, the Elvis, which is a peanut butter banana hot chocolate. It was delicious! You should definitely try one if you are ever in the area.

We also met up for a Breakout Games adventure. Two Christmas' ago we were supposed to do one of these games but as we all know dad got sick and we had to postpone it. So, this year as part of my gift to the family I paid for us all to try and breakout. We broke out with 11:30 left on the clock. That makes the 3rd time that we have broke out together.

A couple of gifts that I received this year that may not mean much to anybody else, but these are a couple of special ones for me. The Christmas tree is a replica of one that my Mamaw used to display at her house every Christmas. It was the only tree that I actually remember my Mamaw ever having in her house. The little tin has even more history than the tree. Every year around the holidays when I was growing up my Mamaw would make loads of batches of peanut brittle for almost all of her friends and family. Everyone had high praise for my Mamaw's peanut brittle, including myself. When I was around 4 or 5 years old I got this tin filled with peanut brittle from Santa Claus. I apparently made a comment that Santa's peanut brittle was better than Mamaw's. They got such a kick out of it that they just kept doing it every year. Each Christmas morning after opening my gifts I would search around the living room until I found my special tin of peanut brittle from "Santa". When Mamaw passed away I just kind of assumed that so would this little tradition. However, that next Christmas to my surprise I found the little tin full of peanut brittle. Since then it is probably one of my most cherished gifts that I get every year. It acts as a reminder of my childhood and all the good times that I had growing up with my Mamaw. I am so thankful for this little tin and all the memories that go with it.

Each year since the children were born we have made a special hand or foot print ornament for the Christmas tree. Some of them have turned out pretty awesome. This year we made their hand prints into little elves. Here is Brinley's little girl elf.

Landon's little elf. Each year we make 3 sets of each hand prints and the grandparents both get their own set. This might be our last year making the ornaments because their hands and feet are getting so big. 

These are just a few of the ways that we like to spend our Christmas season. It is always such an exciting time for the kids and this year it was a lot of fun to see the joy on their faces. Thanks for reading and God bless!