The Elf on the Shelf

We started a new tradition tonight. Have any of you ever heard of this? It is called The Elf on the Shelf. It is so cute. I had Dev put a box on our doorstep with this book and little elf inside... then I let Deagan answer the door. I had been telling him all day that we were going to be having a little visitor tonight, so he was so excited to see who it was... He ran in with the book screaming and we all sat together and read it.

You get the book and the Elf, you name the Elf. Ours is named Tiny. Deagan picked it out, good name for him. You read the story. Basically it says this...

Santa Claus has sent this Elf to watch over you and make sure you are being good. Every night while you are sleeping he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa if you were good or bad. He flies back before you wake up the next day. So, every night while the boys are asleep we have to move the elf to a new place to make it seem like he had flown to the North Pole and back...

Deagan loves it, he is so excited to go find "Tiny" in the morning... and I am hoping I can use this to my advantage... any time he is being naughty I can just remind him "Tiny" is watching :) We will see how it works... Tiny may have to stay out all year! I am so excited to have this new tradition and I hope it stays in our family for years to come. I love this time of year. We put our tree up on Sunday and all our decorations. I love the way Christmas makes our house look and feel. So warm and cozy. I can't believe it is already this time again though... it came quick. It seems like it comes faster every year. Our neighbors across the street have a huge coutdown reminding me just how quickly the day will be here... down to the second. It's crazy, but exciting at the same time. I still have A LOT to do... Deagan understands it a lot better this year so it has been fun telling him about Santa. The first thing he asked was, "What does he drive?" Shocking. That kid.

Anyway, just thought I would share. What are some of your traditions?

Thanksgiving in Texas.

We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Sherwood part of the family in Texas. It was a LONG drive. We took two vehicles. Ours had Dev, Josh, Treyden, Zoe and I. Mike, Melissa, Riley, Dane, Tank and Deagan were all in the Yukon. We were really nervous about how the boys were going to handle the ten hour drive so we left at about four in the morning in hopes they would sleep most of the way... They both did pretty good, I was surprised but thankful!

Treyden had had enough about the last fifteen minutes of getting there though. I had enough too, I think we all did. It was so nice to finally get there.

We took family pictures while we were there. It was really neat to see everyone together. There was definitely a bunch of us!

Poad and Grandma Sherwood with the boys.

Poad and Grandma.

Treyden and Parker... haha, I just thought this one was funny.

Us.

Thanksgiving couldn't have been more perfect. The food was delicious, the weather was great and the company was even better. I am so thankful to be part of such a beautiful and wonderful family. We definitely don't get to see them enough so it made it that much more special. I hope we are able to do this more often. Deagan loved every second of it. He was outside pretty much the whole time and made some new friends. It was a quick couple of days and most of it was spent driving. But it was all worth it. We love you all.

Going Private.

I have been debating whether to do this or not, but after a wierd comment I thought it was time. It's kind of a bummer, but I would rather be safe than sorry! SO, if you read my blog and would like to continue to read it leave me your email and I will be sure and send you an invite :D Thanks.

P.S.
Thanksgiving post to come...

Happy Birthday!

Today is my "little" brother's birthday and I just wanted him to know how much we all love him. Thanks for always coming to visit us, Deagan loves your company and you are so great with him. He is always sad to see you go. We hope you have a fabulous birthday... wish we could be there to celebrate with you :) Thanks for always makin' me laugh. Love you.

Lunch with Dad

Every once in awhile Dev gets a job close to the house so when he does he will usually come home for lunch. Which means he drives a big work truck. Which means Deagan hears it coming from a mile away... He watches out the window and yells and screams when Dev pulls up. He never lets Dev come inside until he gets a few minutes behind the wheel, then its "Dad, can we go up in the bucket? Dad, can we drive it down the road? Dad, can i honk the horn?" Dev had a little bit more time today than usual so he took Deagan up in the bucket... and not just a little ways, he took him ALL THE WAY up.

Fearless

All smiles.

This was Deagan's 2nd time in the bucket. He LOVES it. Obviously. It makes me so nervous, but I know that Dev is super careful and would never do anything like that unless he was comfortable. That ten minutes made Deagan's week. He is still talking about it. He loves his Dad and wants to be just like him and do everything he does. He is going to work at APS and drive a bucket truck just like his Dad. Great...

Happy Halloween, a day late.

The last two weeks have been crazy. I have barely gotten a chance to sit down and breathe. The week before last my Grandma from Colorado drove down to my Mom's for a few days so me and the boys stayed with my Mom for the week so we could visit her and my Grandma for awhile. It was so nice to see her, it doesn't happen that often so we had to take advantage of the opportunity! I was excited for her to see the boys. So, that was fun to be able to visit and just relax for a few days. We came home Saturday and later that night Dev started feeling really sick... he was sick for about three days and we weren't really sure what he had but we knew we didn't want the boys getting it so I had to keep them away from him, and I didn't want to get sick so I stayed away as much as possible. I slept in the boys room with them, which pretty much meant no sleep at all. It was a rough couple of days and once we thought we were in the clear Deagan started getting sick... we were worried he might have swine flu so we were trying to keep Treyden away and I was washing my hands and sanitizing everything the best I could... fortunately we took him to the dr and it turned out he didn't have swine flu, just the flu. He is feeling a little better. He still has a pretty nasty cough. Treyden and I still have yet to get it. Hopefully we don't! I am running on no sleep. My good sleeper Treyden has turned into a horrible sleeper... it all started while we were visiting my Mom. I thought maybe it was just because he wasn't in his own bed, but since we have been home he hasn't slept any better. He wakes up every couple of hours. For no real reason, just to know he is not alone I guess. I am really hoping this is just a phase and that he grows out of it really soon! Two bad sleepers equals one grouchy mama. I am still catching up on laundry from two weeks ago and my house is a wreck... I probably shouldn't be on the computer, but I had to escape for a little bit while everyone was napping! I am hoping this next week is a smooth one and everyone is healthy!

Here is a little peek at our Halloween. It was fun. Deagan decided he would dress up so we took the boys to a few friend's houses. The fun didn't last long, Treyden hated his fat costume, he couldn't get around in it at all and Deagan was just ready to get home and watch a movie. Haha. That's Deagan. Hope you all had a good Halloween!







And these are our Pumpkins... Deagan was pretty proud.

My Dearest Treyden

Dear Treyden-

I forgive you for waking me up at 3 o'clock this morning. I mean yes I would have liked atleast another 2 hours or so, but it is hard to be mad when you are bright eyed and full of smiles.

Waking up at 3 definitely has its ups... we got to watch the sun come up, dad didn't have to drag me out of bed to make his lunch and I was actually able to spend a little time on the treadmill...

Let's not make this an everyday
thing though ok? I love you.

-Your Mom

Morning

Just wanted to give you all a little taste of what wakes me up each morning... even if I have a bad day, it's always a good morning. Thanks to this little guy and his charming big brother who will grace us with his presence in about an hour or so...

Hope your day is happy!

My "Hot" Apprentice

This is a little late... sorry babe. I know your feelings are hurt that I didn't blog about this right away because you love being the topic of discussion on the blog! So here it goes...

As of last Friday Dev is now a "hot" apprentice and was awarded his rubber gloves. Meaning he can now work on live power lines... meaning his job just got even more dangerous! Because being 65 feet in the air wasn't enough.

He loves his job and he is sincerely happy to go to work everyday... even more now than before. When he got home on Friday the first thing he did was show me his rubber gloves. With a big smile on his face. He was so proud. And he has every right. He worked hard for them. So, even though his job is super dangerous and scares the crap out of me I know that he knows what he is doing and that he is good at it.

Congrats Babe. I love you and I am so proud of you. And for the record I have always thought you were "hot."

I love him

What is your favorite color?

Red

What is your favorite song?

Big Green Tractor, Rubber Boots song (aka: Boots on by Randy Houser)

What is your favorite food?

Turkey Steak (aka: Steak)

What is your favorite movie?

The Fox and the Hound

Do you love Treyden?

Sure, of course.

What do you want to be for Halloween?

Nothing.

What do you want for Christmas?

A little treadmill, just for me...

Dear Deagan, Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to answer a few questions for me. I know it was hard and you had much better things to do. And thanks for making me laugh. Love you.

-Mom