Christmas at The Schriefer's

Here are just a few pics from Christmas eve and Christmas day:

Christmas Eve in their matching pj's that I made

Silly faces!

Cookies for Santa

Christmas Morning:

My Nephews Devin & Darron with the kids

Elliott's Scavenger Hunt & Farewell

A few days before Elliott left to go home for the year to the North Pole, he decided to play a little game with the kids and leave them clues to find him. 

When the kids walked into the house this is what they found:

" Lets play a little game of hide and seek. Madison, I left you and Caden special clues to figure out where I am hiding. Make sure you each follow the clues to find me.

Clue 1: Start under the table"

Clue #2:

Clue# 3

Clue#4

They were sent to their top drawers of their dressers

Clue#5

Clue#6

So they went onto my phone to find this:

And looked behind him:

Now the night before Christmas eve he decided to have one last hoorah  

and did this (with permission) :

And on Christmas eve, Caden realized that it was time for Elliott to go home with Santa for the year ans started crying :( Poor baby. So after many goodbyes, the kids went to bed and Elliott left with Santa in his sleigh. But not before leaving a little note for the kids:

This year we had lots of fun with Elliott in our home, and I am really glad we started this tradition with the kids because I know they loved it. So until next year....Goodbye Elliott!

Adventures of Elliott

I've been a bit of a slacker lately with posting Elliott's antics. There is really no reason other then laziness. So lets get to it....

Elliott's fishing trip...

Then he pinned all of the kids "unmentionables" to the ceiling of the hallway....he decided to hang out in daddy's sock....

And since we finally put our tree up last week, Elliott made a new friend and got a little "cozy" with the Angel

Last Wednesday, our naughty little elf TP'd the Christmas tree!

The following day silly little Elliott decided to play a game with our advent calendar:

After a few weeks of mischief Elliott decided it was time to relax in a nice bath of marshmallows! He couldn't forget his shower cap!

After his bath he took a few days to hang with Santa at the North Pole and then returned to hang around on his favorite thing....garland! 

And last night he made his feelings quite clear:

Hope you enjoyed Elliott's last few adventures, I know we did! 

The Elf & The Snowman

We found Elliott on the counter this morning. He was making a snowman :) Silly little Elf, he misses the snow so much. It's been in the 60's here for the past few weeks. We were outside no coat yesterday hanging Christmas lights, which of course we didn't get finished and today it's yucky and rainy. But it was weird to be outside in December and it was warm.

I did get the inside finished yesterday! Our tree is up and I made a really cute center piece for my kitchen table. I am really feeling festive this year. :)

This is the cute center piece I made last night.

And our tree, the window has stuff in it now too :)

More Antics From Elliott the Elf

Apparently elves loooooove green milk! This morning we found Elliott in the fridge enjoying some delicious green milk. I guess Elliott brought this back with him today from the North Pole. Too bad he didn't bring back any Green Eggs and Ham to go along with it :)The kids seem to be enjoying it as well. I even had some in my Cookie Crisp. It was pretty tasty! :)

December 1st Already/ AIDS Awareness Day

First of all, I have no idea why I am wide awake at 2:30 AM. But it is December 1st already! Wow this year flew by! I usually hate December. I don't like the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, the crazy parking lots, the rude people. But this year for some reason I am enjoying it. I did the Black Friday shopping and I actually enjoyed it! Crazy I know. People were yelling at each other and pushing and it didn't bother me one bit. This coming from someone who hates crowds! But I am feeling the Christmas spirit this year. I am looking forward to decorating this weekend. Which is another pet peeve of mine. I don't like to decorate. It's such a hastle to pull everything out just for a few weeks and turn around and put it all away. But I actually can't wait to do it. I am going to pull out my advent calendar later and I am making this adorable little Santa Advent Calendar also. I can feel the Christmas spirit creeping in. It may have something to do with our silly little elf. Who knows? All I know is I am looking forward to it all. I am even almost finished Christmas shopping! I have one or two more things to get for Maddie and Caden and we are finished. Oh and I have to figure out what to get Leo because he is so hard to shop for! What do you get for a man who has everything? When you figure it out you let me know!

More then it just being the start of the Christmas season, this day is something special. Today is World Aids Day. Now this is a cause that is near and dear to my heart and something that I have directly been effected by. Someone very close to me was diagnosed with AIDS 20 years ago. Back in the 80's when the disease first came out, everyone thought it was highly contagious and this was your death notice. Since then people have learned so much about the disease I know first hand that despite all odds you can live a full and healthy life with it. Twenty years ago someone I love was diagnosed with HIV. He was told ultimately there is no cure and "you are going to die." In the 90's he was told the disease progressed and he now had AIDS and was given less then three years. Five years ago, he was told retire, enjoy the time you have left, there are no more treatments for us to try. And today he is living a happy life, defying the odds and proving those doctors who told him 20 years ago "You are going to die", wrong. He is a fighter, he is a survivor, he is my brother!

It is so important to know! So if you are out there and you have never been tested....DO IT! Don't be afraid, be educated! Get tested and take control, save a life! It could be your own!

Today's Elliott Adventure

Well since Elliott has been such a naughty little elf he decided to do a good deed today. He read all of his friends a story. See he can be a nice little elf. Let's just see what he gets into tonight :)

Onto other news, Caden came home from school today with 102.7 fever. I don't know what is with these kids but they just will not get any better! And I have no idea how Alanna is not catching it, other then her runny nose, but I am grateful! I took him to the doctor and he has a double ear infection........again. :( So both kids are on antibiotics.....again. I am hoping this time it will kick it out...plus I lysol'd my entire house down. Take that germs!

More Mischief with Elliott the Elf

This morning the kids woke up to find this:

He decided to spill the sugar and write his name in it. Silly little elf! He's always causing so much trouble! But we are definitely having tons of fun! :)

I wonder what he will get into tonight?!

Today started out beautifully, the weather was crazy warm and it felt like Spring, then all of a sudden it started pouring and now it's chilly again. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted, the only problem is when it rains I can't bring myself to do anything. I'm always so tired. Even not it's almost 6pm and I'm ready for bed. Of course if I did I would end up waking up at 3am and not be able to go back to sleep. Now I am rambling lol 

Look for more mischief to come with Elliott :)

Fun With Elliott - Day 2

This morning the kids woke up excited and looking for Elliott,and this is where they found him....Such a naughty little elf! Madison thought it was hilarious! She was cracking up, while Caden didn't quite get it. He said "awwww Mommy! Madison drawed on the picture!" I told him Maddie didn't do it, Elliott the Elf did. Then he turned to Maddie and said "Madison , why did you draw on our picture" He still didn't get it. haha. He caught on after a few minutes that Elliott was holding the marker. :) The kids love him so much , he is all they talk about. I was a bit hesitant to pay so much for him but now I'm glad I made the investment. Maybe the kids will be able to do it with their kids when they have them.


On another note: Maddie got a perfect report card! I am so proud of her!! Her teacher said her reading level is on a third grade and she is very advanced in Math as well.

and here is a random cute pic I snapped of Caden and Alanna today:

Elliott The Elf

Meet Elliott the Elf. He is our little Elf on the Shelf . He decided to make his appearance today on our curtain rod. For those of you who are not familiar with it, He is a little Elf sent by Santa to come and watch over your family each year. Every night he reports back to Santa with all of the good or bad things the kids have done and then returns each morning to a different place so the kids have to find him. He is also very mischievous, so he gets into thing and plays lots of games!

So today he made his appearance for the first time in our home and the kids decided to name him Elliott. The kids were thrilled, except Caden got mad at something and started to throw a tantrum and kept yelling at him and saying "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" LOL I about died from laughing!

  I'm really excited to see what kind of mischief he gets into this season, and to start a new tradition with our kids. Of course I will be sharing it here as well :) So look out for more fun to come with Elliott.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The day is here! Last night Sissy and I stayed up and made 8 pies, pineapple upside down cake, cupcakes, pasta & shrimp salad, potato salad, and started the turkey. Now today we have the rest of the yummy stuff to make like my great grandmoms homemade mac & cheese , ham, and mashed potatoes. We are feasting today! We have a 28 lbs turkey and it's HUGE and looks delish! I can't wait to dig in the smell in the house is intoxicating and I am so hungry! :)

This is me stuffing the turkey for the very first time. Needless to say I was completely grossed out lol

Here is the after....it's so pretty :)

Apple Pies

Pineapple upside down cake

Those are just a few of the goodies we made last night! See why I can't wait to eat? What are your favorite Thanksgiving traditions? We are just starting to make traditions for Thanksgiving and I love it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, I hope it's wonderful! Enjoy time with your family! 

Be blessed & Give thanks! 

Much love! 

Thankfulness ; The Countdown to Thanksgiving Day 22

It looks like sickness has hit our house again. Caden went to bed and woke up with a fever......again. And Madison came home with a fever. We just can't seem to shake this sickness around here. The crazy thing is that they are still on antibiotics. Oh well.

Tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving which means we will stay up all night cooking! I am sooo looking forward to it. I love to cook and we are going to have so much fun having a huge sleepover with my sister in law and all of the kids! I know the kids are looking forward to everyone staying over too, we got together some crafts and stuff for them to do while we cook.

But today I am thankful for facebook. I know it's crazy, but facebook does some really great things. For example, a friend posted about a family in need. So I reposted to see if anyone had any clothes or food to donate to the family and the response was overwhelming. I had people dropping off huge bags of clothes and toys, and my church made up a big box of food. It was amazing. And without the resource of facebook that wouldn't have happened. :) So a special thanks to everyone who gathered things for the family, I think it was really great and I am sure they appreciated it all.