The Elf on the Shelf: Day 2

Well that little Elf Kevin has been at his game of hide and seek once again. Peyton woke up at 6:00 am and came and got Brandon out of bed to help her hunt down Kevin. I guess one of the perks of being blind is you dont get asked to play hide and seek before the sun comes up in the morning. It took her about 30 min or so to hunt him down but she found him hiding out in the Kitchen. She told Brandon that he must have been hungry after a long trip back from the North Pole, and that was the reason he found a place to hide in the Kitchen. Kai came right up stairs to the Kitchen and found him right off. It did help that Peyton asked him if he could see him when he was standing right under his hiding place.

If you missed where Kevin was hiding here is a close up of him. He was hiding in our Apple Jar with that same little smirk on his face.

 

 

The Elf on the Shelf: Day 1

I wanted to share with you a little about our Elf on the Shelf. We were given the Elf on the Shelf back on Nov 25th 2009 by Brandon's parents. Our daughter Peyton named our Elf Kevin. She picked the name Kevin because she was on a Home Alone watching binge and of course the little boy in Home Alone is named Kevin McAlester. So Keven comes to stay at our house every year. This is not only a fun tradition but it also has the added bonus of scaring our kids into minding and behaving from Thanksgiving to Christmas. All we have to say is Kevin can see you acting this way and they fall right into line. If you are not familiar with what the Elf on the Shelf is here is a little info that we found on their web site.

Have you ever wondered how Santa knows who is naughty and who is nice? The Elf on the Shelf – A Christmas Tradition is the very special tool that helps Santa knows who to put on the Naughty and Nice list. This interactive holiday hide-and-seek tradition is perfect for children and families of all ages.

The tradition begins when Santa sends his scout elves out to Elf Adoption Centers. Waiting for their families to bring them home, these patient elves hibernate until their family reads The Elf on the Shelf, gives their elf a very special name, and registers their adoption online. Once named, each scout elf will receive its Christmas magic and become a part of the family’s Christmas each and every year. 

Excellent listeners and even better observers, these scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. Although they cannot be touched, or else they may lose their magic, the elf will always listen and relay messages back to Santa. Taking in all the day-to-day activities around the house, no good deed goes unnoticed; these scout elves take their job seriously.

Each night, after the family goes to bed, the scout elf uses his magical Christmas powers to fly back to the North Pole. Once there, the elf will make his or her daily report to Santa and visit with elf friends where they will tell stories about their beloved families, play with the reindeer, and of course, sneak some of Mrs. Claus’ cookies!

Before the family awakes each morning, their special scout elf will fly back to their home from the North Pole. However, since these elves like to play games, don’t expect to find them in the same spot!  While some like to hide in the freezer (probably because it reminds them of the North Pole) and others prefer to sit on the fireplace mantle or hang from the chandelier, these elves love to play hide-and-seek with their families.

On Christmas Eve, the scout elf will listen for Santa’s bell and then fly back to the North Pole until the next season, wishing every girl and each boy a Christmas of peace and a year full of joy. 

So that is our little tradition. This is the third year that Kevin has been a part of our Family. The kids love to look for him. He is getting really good at hiding. I am sure with this new house he will have all kinds of crazy new places that he can hide. We will keep you posted on what Kevin has been up to and all the fun we have durring his visit this year.

This is where he was hiding today. What you cant see him? I cant ether so it is okay.

 

Well here he is on top of the tree.  It took all day for the kids to find him. Right as we sat down for dinner Peyton found him. They were so excited to see that he had found our new house that they hardly ate a thing. This move had them both nervous that he may stay back at the old house and not know how to find us.

If you want to go pick up The Elf on the Shelf I highly recommend it. You can find out all about it and where you can get one on their web site.

Our Big Surprise on The Doctors

Well it has been a long 23 weeks to keep this secret. It has definitely not been easy with a seven year old and a three year old that are so excited. Back in August we were looking for a fun and unique way to tell our family our little secret. A producer for The Doctors found my blog and reached out to me as a blind mother. He told me that he was looking for a blind mother that was expecting a baby in the near future. What an amazing coincidence it was that I was a blind expecting mother looking for an amazing way to let her friends and family know that she was having a baby. Surprise! If you watched the show you already found out we are expecting a beautiful little boy on February 2nd. You can actually see the bib that they gave us in the picture that we have been posting on the blog for the last few months. The bib is in Brandon's hand along with the little model of our little baby boy!

It was so hard to wait and tell our family. The show seamed like it was never going to get here. The longer it took for us to get an air date the harder it was to keep the secret. We are so excited to finally be able to tell everyone. I am so blessed. It feels like everything is just so perfect right now. I could not be happier.

 

This is the model of our little boy that they made at 14 weeks. That is my little three year olds hand. So the baby was just so tiny at the time we filmed the Doctors. What an amazing experience it was to be able to feel how big he was and be able to hold it. I want to thank all the cast and crew of The Doctors. It was so fun to go to Los Angeles and be on the show and meet all of you. Thank you so much!

We thought you might like to see our kids reaction to being able to hold the little baby model. This is how they got to find out that the baby was a little boy.