Elf on the Shelf Week 3

We've been away on vacation and I've gotten a little behind with my blog posts. Let's just pretend I posted this last week when I planned to...

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Christmas is just a few days away - can you believe it?

Another week with Elfie Pokie Nokie in our home (or hotel room) has gone by and he has been up to all sorts of crazy things. Let's take a look...

Day 15

We woke up to find that Elfie was helping some other elves make their escape from our kitchen. He had opened a new pack of elf cookies as well as the cookie jar which had a few in it and led them to safety. Or at least he tried to! We caught him in the process and put all his delicious elf friends right back in the cookie jar. Sorry Elfie!

Day 16
The girls couldn't find Elfie at first - until they looked up. There he was laying on top of the ceiling fan in the living room. I wonder if he took it for a spin overnight. Looks like fun!

Day 17
Another day when the girls couldn't spot Elfie for quite some time, but when they did find him they couldn't stop laughing. Elfie had gotten his hands on a pack of candy eyes and a glue stick and made a little change to our family photo.

Day 18
Snow angels are fun, but Lego angels are even better. Actually, I couldn't think of many things more painful than laying in a pile of pointy Lego, but Elfie seemed pretty happy with himself. It did make for a much more colorful angel than show.

Day 19

Looks like we have an award winning elf on our hands! Wait a minute... those are Ava's triathlon, karate and cheerleading medals and trophies. You almost had us fooled Elfie! You may not have really won any medals or trophies (or at least none that we know of) but you're still the best elf in our home.

Day 20

We woke up early the morning of our road trip to Utah for Christmas break and found that Elfie had packed himself in one of our bags. Whenever we travel over Christmas he always comes along with us. I guess it's easier for him to stow away in our luggage rather than fly to find us.

Day 21

Elfie couldn't resist testing out the make up mirror in our hotel room. We found him perched on the wall bracket checking out his face up nice and close. Ready for you close up Mr Elfie!

I'll be playing catch up over the next week with lots more Christmas posts to come.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed the break!

Elf on the Shelf Week 2

How have two weeks of December gone by already?

I have no idea where they've gone, but they have gone and that means it's time to share another installment of Elfie Pokie Nokie's adventures in our home.

Here's a look at what he got up to this past week...

Day 8
Elfie got into the girls' Magnatiles and built himself some sort of crazy house. Or is it a car? It does have wheels. Maybe it's a motor home. Either way, it doesn't look like a particularly comfortable ride. Mathilde was pretty impressed with it, but she couldn't wait for Elfie to get out so she could play with the Magnatiles too.

Day 9
We picked up our Christmas tree from a local tree lot the day before but hadn't had a chance to decorate it. Elfie took it upon himself to decorate it - with Mathilde's dinosaurs! The girls quite liked the dinosaur covered tree but they couldn't wait to decorate it with real Christmas ornaments.

Day 10
It took the girls a little while to spot Elfie this morning. I guess he blends is better than it looks! Or maybe they just didn't think to look up!

Day 11

By now our Christmas tree was nicely decorated with real ornaments rather than dinosaurs. One such "ornament" did look a little out of place though. Wait a minute, that's Elfie pegged to the tree by his foot! Just like when we found Elfie hanging upside down on the fridge, there's a Jelly Belly jelly bean nearby looking just a little suspicious. I'd watch out for that jelly bean if I were you Elfie! 

Day 12

When we shop at Trader Joe's (which is generally several times a day seeing as it's just downstairs) the girls are usually given stickers by the staff. They also get lollipops when they find the Oski Bear hidden in the store. Mathilde and I went on a late night shopping trip and left everything, including her stickers and lollipop in the kicthen. Looks like Elfie wanted in on the Trader Joe's fun too! 

Day 13
Umm... what's going on here? A Fruit Loop bath? Nice eye mask there Elfie! It does look pretty relaxing. Mathilde thought Elfie looked pretty funny and snapped a ton of photos with her iPod - right along side me snapping photos with my camera. I wonder where she gets it from...

Day 14

The girls and I made honey biscuits to give as gifts the day before and it looks like Elfie decided to help himself to one. I don't blame him for sneaking one - they are pretty tasty. Perfect with a cup of tea - or whatever it is that he's got in that mug. You can find the recipe here

Lots more Elfie Pokie Nokie fun to come!

I'd love to hear what your elf has been getting up to.

Meaningful Gift Giving with Cool Effect

We all have that one person on our gift list who is impossible to shop for, right? For me, that person is usually my husband Kim, and with his birthday falling right after Christmas gift shopping for him is often doubly impossible!

It can be so easy to fall back on the good old socks, chocolates and gift cards (all perfectly fine gifts and most likely under our tree this year), but I prefer to give gifts that are a little more meaningful and out of the ordinary. Something that they wouldn't normally buy for themselves. Maybe even something that keeps on giving.

This year I've found the perfect gift for that impossible to shop for person on your list, and not only is it meaningful but it will make a difference in the lives of so many. Imagine giving your loved ones the gift of fighting climate change. With a Cool Effect gift bundle, you can!

Cool Effect is a not for profit platform that allows individuals to support carbon emissions reductions through funding carbon reducing projects world wide. Projects include building renewable energy wind turbines in Costa Rica, providing energy efficient cooking stoves in Honduras, educating farmers about rainforest sustainability in Madagascar, and building biogas digesters that turn cow poop into energy in India. The projects are varied but they all share the same outcome: a reduction in carbon pollution.

Just in time for the holidays Cool Effect have released aptly named gift bundles that are perfect for that hard to shop for friend or family member. Each bundle supports a particular cause with funds raised going to various projects. For example, the Big Fan bundle raises funds for renewable energy wind turbines, while the Brew-tiful Gift bundle supports farmers in coffee growing regions by providing energy efficient cooking stoves and working to protect 450,000 acres from deforestation.

My top choice for my gift giving this year? The Poo Package! You just know that one was a hit with my kids, right? The Poo Package helps families in India build their own biogas digesters to turn cow poop into energy. Just one biogas digester can capture enough methane to power several homes at a time. This saves families money and it cuts down on harmful methane emissions. It's a win for everyone!

Bundles are available for $25, $100 or your own chosen amount. Each Cool Effect bundle comes with a personalized certificate with the recipient's name, a personal message from you, and instructions and paper to build an origami creation that fits in with the theme ie. an origami poo with the Poo Package or an origami snowman with the Snowman Gift Pack. Seriously, how cute is that origami poo? My kids would go crazy for that! There is also the option to have the gift delivered via email with print at home PDFs - perfect for last minute gifting!

Head on over to cooleffect.org to purchase gift bundles for your loved ones and to learn more about the work that is being done world wide to help combat climate change.

This holiday season, let's gift a gift that truly does keep on giving!

Elf on the Shelf: Week 1

Elfie Pokie Nokie, our Elf on the Shelf, has been back in our home for a whole week now and as usual, he has been getting up to all sorts of fun - and even a little mischief.

Here's a look at what Elfie has been up to this past week...

Day 1
On his first day back in our home Elfie announced his arrival with our letter board sign. Simple and to the point. Welcome back Elfie!

Day 2
Ava and Lola competed in a karate tournament on the second day, and Elfie must have overheard us talking about it as he was ready to cheer the girls on when they woke up. Lola was a little annoyed that Elfie didn't change positions, but as you can see he did put quite the effort into getting dressed for the occasion! Who knew he was a black belt? I certainly didn't, but I know not to mess with him now! By the way, Lola won first place in the sparring competition and Ava came second. They both did such a great job and had a lot of fun competing.

Day 3
Another fun event this past weekend was the Snow in Berkeley festival. Elfie knew we'd be playing in the snow so he had a little snow fun himself. He sure did make a mess with all that flour! Last year Elfie made snow angels out of mini marshmallows the day of the Snow in Berkeley festival. The flour definitely was a little messier than the marshmallows and he was certainly in need of a bath by the end of the day!

Day 4
My girls love taking photos of themselves with Snapchat filters, and it seems that elves quite enjoy it too. We woke up to find Elfie holding my iPhone, which was full of fun sElfies! Doesn't he make a cute puppy dog? There was some pretty hilarious face swap pictures with the girls too.

Day 5
Every year Elfie Pokie Nokie manages to get one of the girls' pumpkin buckets down from the top of the fridge and go through their Halloween candy. Usually it's Lola's bucket and oh boy, does she get annoyed with that elf! This year was no different in that he pulled down a bucket of candy, but luckily for Lola he chose Ava's bucket instead.

Day 6
Looks like Elfie got himself into a little trouble on day 6. We woke to find him attached to the fridge, upside down, by magnets clips. Could the Jelly Belly and Charlie Brown magnets above him be responsible? They do look kind of happy about what's happening. Maybe it's pay back for Elfie getting into a pack of jelly beans the day before. I guess we'll never know.



Day 7
A historical day! While it was night time here in America, history was made back home in Australia when same sex marriage was finally legalized! Elfie must've heard the news and decided to celebrate. Mathilde was so excited when she saw him in the morning. She came running to wake up her sisters to tell them that we must be going to the "rainbows and nudies" parade (Pride) again!

What a week of fun with Elfie Pokie Nokie. We're looking forward to seeing what else he gets up to. Stay tuned for another update in a week's time.

Does the Elf on the Shelf visit your home? I'd love to hear what sort of things he or she has been getting up to. If your elf needs inspiration make sure to check out these posts here and here for lots of great ideas.