A survival guide to everyday motherhood



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I am a photography fanatic. I love taking pictures, tweaking pictures, and finding the beauty in every day items

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Our Elf On The Shelf... Meet Ruxin

Ever since our Elf Ruxin came to our family, Lucy has been over joyed. She absolutely loves him and has been waking us up early every morning to find her new friend... which we, do not love. But its hard not to get excited too when we see her face light up. Here is what our elf has been up to :)













Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Dinner Manners For Kids


Trying to teach kids respect and manners can be a hard and long road for us parents. It isn't a simple rule or just a few tips... there are so many situations/rules/social settings and it can get very confusing for children... and well, us parents as well. But at least a fun way to help at the dinner table is a friend called Little Piggie.
Little Piggy is a dinner time companion that comes out every time someone burps, reaches across the table, doesn't say please and such. Who ever is left with the piggy when dinner is over has to clear table... which is a win for us parents.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Beauty and the Beast Contest


Curtis and I love going to the theater, but sadly living in Alaska we don't get too many theatrical shows up here.... BUT... Beauty and the Beast is coming up to Alaska in Janurary and we are dying to go. But since we don't have $100 just flying around free right now, we wont be going unless we win tickets... WHICH WE ARE TRYING TO DO :)


Every time you vote for us, you will be entered into winning a $10 iTunes gift card, you can vote one time through every internet provider... like once through Explorer, once through Chrome, once through Safari and such. So leave a comment letting me know you voted (if you were able to vote with another internet provider than leave another comment) and I will pick a random winning with the comments :)

Friday, December 9, 2011

Elf on the Shelf


Have you been hearing a lot about Elf on the Shelf this holiday season? No? Well let me enlighten you. Elf on the Shelf was a tradition that started with one family. When the children asked their parents, "How does Santa know when we are naughty or nice" their parents informed that each family has an elf that watches over them during the holiday seasons and every night it flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa. Then the elf flies back home and hides some place new to watch some more.
It is a really cute story and amazing how one family's tradition has turned into such a world wide movement. People get really into and find the most creative ways to hide/pose their little elf. Some elves are simply hiders, while others play funny little pranks... some elves ever made naughty little choices and get into the strangest things.

You can buy Elf on the Shelf from Target for about $29. It comes in a really nice box set... it provides an elf (different colored elves and features too, so check the box to see what kind of elf you want), a book explaining the story of the elf, and it all comes in a nice case that helps you keep the book and elf safe while in storage during the year.

The way we introduces Lucy and Calvin to the elf was we places the book under the Christmas tree. When we woke up Curtis and I started complaining about hearing noises last night that kept waking us up. After a little bit we all noticed the book under the tree. After guessing discussing how it got there we decided to sit down and read the book. The book explains what the elf does, how his magic works, when he leaves, and his job. After the book Lucy looked up and saw the elf sitting in our Christmas tree.

She was very confused and a little skeptical. She started asking questions and looking through the book trying to get some questions answered; leave it to our child to question EVERYTHING :) . Finally after a few silent moments she looks up from the book and stares at the elf and whispers, "This must be real". Curtis and I about died.

Lucy keeps telling me to talk to the elf and tell him "I love him" and she asked me to tell him what she wants for Christmas. It is already pretty cute and we are loving it already. I just excited for how we are going to hide him tomorrow.

The book even comes with a page to write when you started this Christmas tradition and the name of your elf (because the book says you need to name your own family's elf). You can even go online and register your elf on the official website and see other families elf.

So if you are looking for a fun family tradition to add to your holiday season, check out, Elf on the Shelf.


Here are some of the cute elf mischief I've seen and here is a link to some wonderful Elf ideas.




Thursday, December 1, 2011

Dr. Who Fans


We are pretty big Dr. Who fans in our house so when we saw this... yea... it was pretty funny. But seriously if you haven't seen Dr. Who you need too :)