Elf

Our little friend has been quite mischievous the past couple of days. Tuesday morning we found him on the ceiling fan.

This morning we found Clyde rocking out to Christmas music on the Ipod. He managed to download a song. Sure hope he has a dollar to pay me back.

our elf

I love tradition. New and old. One of our newer traditions is elf on the shelf. Stephen looks forward to Clyde's return each year. Thanks to pinterest Clyde is going to be a bit more adventurous this year.
Clyde made his annual entrance this morning by bringing Stephen a pair of slippers:

Can't wait to see what he has planned for tomorrow. 

Catching Up

Wow! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We have spent a great many hours getting our house Christmas ready. Mike has been working very hard at decorating the outside. I keep joking that we are trying to be the Griswalds this year.

Stephen spent Thanksgiving with us this year. It's been quite a few years since he has been able to celebrate with the Ardizone clan. It was great to see him with his brother and cousins .

I've been working on many Pinterest projects.

I love wall and window clings. This year we made our annual gingerbread house on the wall.

Then we thought it might fun to make the real thing. Even with a prebaked kit, it was challenging.

We are thankful for so many things this month ( and every month). It has been a good exercise in writing down each day something we are thankful for. The most important things are: family and friends. We love you all. 

end of the week

Every year I worry about having enough time to get everything done in preparation for Christmas and always feel like we run out of time to truly enjoy the magic of the season. This year my classes don't end until December 7. I decided this year was going to be different. So in between homework, house stuff, Stephen stuff and everything in between, this is what I have been doing in my spare time:

               

Saturday Mike had a coworker over to practice Christmas songs for their Christmas luncheon. I always enjoy listening to Mike on the piano. However, adding the clarinet was a new listening experience that I truly enjoyed. While Mike was jamming, Stephen and I checked out the Christmas tree that is headed for our Nation's capital. Stephen wrote Christmas wishes on the trailer. 

Some of the things we are thankful this week:

Friends

Neighbors (we have the best)

School

Family

Dental Insurance 

Have a great week!!

    

Basketball

It's been a year since Stephen has played a sport. Tonight was his first basketball practice. I'm not a huge basketball fan but its always fun to watch the kids play.

Max

My loyal companion. This dog has no idea he is a dog. He rests his head on pillows and likes to be under the blanket on cold nights.

Friday

There should be a law stating that Halloween cannot be on a school night. This has been a very long week. Stephen is a big 5th grader this year. It's amazing how quickly he is growing up.

Stephen is excelling this year. It's a nice change after all of the multiple challenges we faced in 4th grade. He has adjusted quite well to being the 'new kid'.
I cannot believe it is November already. I borrowed a suggestion from Mom K for this month-everyday we have to write something on the calendar that we are thankful for. Here are few highlights from this week:
Mike and I are thankful for each other
Stephen is thankful for ice cream
Mike is thankful he is not his boss
I am thankful for the craziness that is our family.