Thursday, December 1, 2011

Elf on the Shelf


Meet Buddy. He's our Elf on the Shelf. Buddy arrives at our house the morning after Thanksgiving, and he stays with us until Christmas. His job is to keep an eye on the boys and report back to Santa about their behavior to help Santa decide if they belong on the nice list or the naughty list. In previous years, Buddy has hidden in different places around our house each night, and the boys have loved racing around every morning to find him.

This year, though, Buddy has decided to have a bit more fun. :)

Making Pictures "Better"


Buddy got his hands on a marker and decided to "decorate" one of our family pictures. Naughty Elf!



A Game of Scrabble


Buddy invited Optimus Prime and T-Rex down for a game. Note that they only used "holiday-approved" words.



Hungry for some Fudge


Guess Buddy has a sweet tooth! But what a mess he made with the chocolate chips...


Redecorating


Buddy didn't care for the decor in our dining room, so he added his own "peppermint" flavor. 


Gone Fishin'


Buddy sure is resourceful! He fashioned a fishing pole out of straws and ribbon, and he decided to try his luck at the Porcelain Watering Hole. Wonder if the fish were biting? 


Getting his Hair Did


Buddy thought he needed a new look, so he spent the night in the salon. Now he feels like a new elf! 



Undie Tree!


Buddy felt that our Christmas tree lacked a little something, so he raided the boys' drawers and...voila! Nothing says the holidays like underpants! :P



Frequent Flyer


Buddy LOVES to fly. Usually he heads back to the North Pole at night using Christmas magic, but this time he felt like trying a more creative mode of transportation.


Red Noses


Tonight, Buddy was feeling a little homesick and really missed his old pal, Rudolph. The boys are his friends, of course, but there's something Rudolph has that they don't. Hmmmm....


Look what Buddy did while they were sleeping! 




The next morning, the boys couldn't quite believe Buddy's audacity...but they sure did get a kick out of it. :)


Movie Night


After a busy and fun-filled weekend, Buddy felt like a quiet night in with a movie (one the boys have been wanting, The Smurfs!) and some popcorn. Would have been nice if he'd used a bowl...



S'mores


Buddy got the munchies last night and broke out the s'more's fixin's. Good thing he had a candle handy for marshmallow-roasting! 


While he was it, he built a marshmallow monster. Rrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrr!


Christmas List


Buddy must have overheard us talking about writing letters to Santa, because he tried penning one of his own. We'd decided to try this little rhyme to give us some guidelines for our wish lists: Something you want, something you need, something to play, something to read." (I think it's actually supposed to be something to 'wear' not 'play,' but oh well.)

Anyway, Buddy clearly got a little confused. He did something to haunt, something with speed, something to say, something to feed. Ooops!!

He used Cody's desk and  his giant Santa pen for his task. Now the other boys are desperate for Buddy to hide in their rooms, too! 


Snow Angels


Tonight, Buddy decided it was time for a White Christmas. Only one problem: no snow! That didn't slow Buddy down one bit. Whaddaya know? Sugar works just fine. 


Caped Crusader


Buddy felt like playing dress-up last night, so he donned an elf-sized mask and cape, hopped in his Batmobile, and became the Dark Knight.  The Joker didn't stand a chance...


So What? I'm Still a Rock Star


Buddy has always dreamed of having big hair, leather pants, and strutting around on stage while thousands of adoring fans scream his name. Tonight, this was a close as he could get. His elf version of Jingle Bells was pretty rockin'.



Carjacking


Buddy took the Suburban for a joyride last night. He needed a booster seat and some phone books to reach the steering wheel, and he left the Christmas music cranked to an ear-splitting level. 


Also, elves can't park. He left the car sideways in the garage.


Jailbird


It seems that Buddy's shenanigans have finally caught up to him. Maybe a night in the slammer will do him some good and change his naughty elf ways. Just hope the handcuffs aren't too tight....




Green with...Dairy?


Last night, Buddy wanted a glass of milk to help him sleep. Guess he didn't think our milk was festive enough. Everyone knows that an elf's favorite color is green. Right?


Flushie the Snowman


Buddy made a new friend! His name is Flushie, and "someone" got him as a White Elephant gift at the PTA Holiday Party. Now, others might have immediately wanted to find this gag gift a new home, but NOT anyone living at Buddy's house! 

Flushie is so much fun! He sings ("Ho Ho Ho, Who's gotta go?"), and he is motion-sensor activated so he scared the @#(* out of the boys. Would have been nice if he'd taught Buddy how to flush, though. What do you know, elves PEE green, too! 



(Anyone offended by the potty humor in this Buddy activity doesn't have boys. LOL)

Self-Portrait


I guess Buddy felt left out of the boys' portrait wall, because he added himself to it. Maybe Santa will sign Buddy up for an art class as a Christmas present. 


Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah


Buddy let out his inner daredevil last night and made himself a zipline down our staircase. Wheeee!



Who's your Mummy?


Rumor has it that Buddy and our Nutcrackers have a little rivalry going on. Buddy drew first blood with some TP action and dressed those stodgy soldiers up like mummies. 


Looks pretty proud of himself, doesn't he? 


Snowball Fight


Tonight, the mini-Nutcrackers sought revenge for the attack on their mummified brethren...but they messed with the wrong elf! His snow fort was far superior to theirs, and he knew how to stockpile snowballs (marshmallows). BAM! Those little dudes never knew what hit them!


So Puzzling


Buddy decided to give his brain a workout with a new jigsaw puzzle this evening. Even with the familiar faces on the pieces, though, he just couldn't figure it out.


Luckily, the boys were able to put it all together in the morning. Et voila! 


It's a Wrap


I think Buddy must have seen us wrapping up some Christmas presents today and figured he'd give us a hand.  Unfortunately, he got a little stuck and somehow ended up AS the present. Ooops...


Tower of Cups


Buddy is scraping the bottom of the barrel a little bit tonight with this prank. But he's been visiting us for almost a month now, so cut an elf some slack! And if you say one thing about how many Dickey's cups we have at our house, you're going straight on the naughty list.


Pull-Up Dress-up


Tonight, Buddy made a bunch of friends in Luke's room. Then he somehow convinced them all to try on some Pull-Ups...not only on their bottom halves, but on their heads, too. Bet they were embarrassed when Luke found them in the morning!


Elf Yourself

Buddy got on the computer and made us a little video. Don't we all make cute elves?


Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!



Keep checking back for more updates on Buddy's escapades! He sure is keeping busy this year. :)

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Balloons for Gramma


We had something sad happen in our family this past week: Gramma went to heaven. So today, we decided to write some letters to Gramma to tell her how much we miss her.





Then we got a beautiful bunch of balloons.


And we attached the letters to the balloons.


The boys were a little sad and a lot excited.


They held on to the ribbons with Grandad and counted, "1, 2, 3!" 


Then, they let go.





We were in a beautiful place, and the sun came out while we were there. There were lots of hugs, and lots of love.



And Gramma would have loved every minute of it.

Cody's Birthday


Cody is 7! We celebrated on the day of his birthday with donuts, some play time at Chuck E. Cheese, a viewing of Cars II, and a yummy Daddy-made cake masterpiece. 

Look! It's a tie-dye cake!


And then he added Cody's name out of M&M's. And sprinkles. And frosting. Awesome overload!


And this is what the cake looked like on the inside. Have you ever seen a cooler cake?


Happy Birthday, Cody!

Luke and Cody's Birthday Party


Cody and Luke had so much fun at Jackson's birthday party last summer, so they wanted to have their party at Bounce U, too! They jumped and bounced with a bunch of their friends until they were sweaty and red. 

They got to share the birthday throne.


I'm not sure how Luke can see anything with the crown over his eyes.



That cake sure was yummy!



Cody's day was made because his best girl, Julia, came to his party.


And Luke's best friend, Jared, AND his "girlfriend," Murphy, came to celebrate with him. 


Feel the love!


Happy Birthday, Boys!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Cody's 7 Yr Portraits


Cody picked the location for these pictures I took for his 7th birthday. He loves the cool rocks and the waterfall at St. Andrew's, a beautiful church near us.

There were actually some pretty fall colors out, which is almost unheard of in Texas!


He's so much more serious than Luke, who is SUCH a ham and giggles throughout photo shoots. Cody is more pensive and controlled, but his great sense of humor and sweetness comes out at times, too. Like in this cheeky smile over his shoulder. And in the sneak peek of his lucky red boxers. LOL



Look how OLD he looks in this picture!!! Where is my Codybear?


Oh, never mind...there he is! Thank goodness for the gap teeth, or I'd be worried he was already all grown up! 



What a handsome 7 year-old!

Monday, November 7, 2011

A Date with Cody


Last Friday, Anthony and I took Cody out for a special dinner to celebrate his birthday. It was just the three of us, and we decided to take him to a very fancy restaurant that the other boys have never been to. Cody always amazes us with how responsible and mature he can be, so we thought he'd enjoy a "grown-up" restaurant. 


He got his very own lemonade without a kid-friendly lid, and we toasted to a happy birthday! 



After dinner, the waitress was nice enough to bring Cody a birthday surprise.



And she took this nice picture of the three of us.


Here's the outtake of that shot....look at Cody eyeing his cake! LOL


Here's me and my Codybear outside in front of the lion...that's his mane over my shoulder. ;)


We had a nice time, but I think our Codes would have been happier with Chuck E Cheese or something more kid-friendly. He does behave in quite a grown-up way sometimes, but I think he's happy being a kiddo for now...at least when it comes to restaurant options. So next time? Rainforest Cafe. :)