old and new.

My mom is the best mom that ever lived. I am sure by now you know that, 

if you've been reading this blog long enough, you no doubt realize that she's 

BEYOND INCREDIBLE!

I owe every bit of the good parenting skills I have to her. 

She was (and still is) the most incredible example of the kind of mom to be. 

The perfect balance between Godly parent and friend. She made every day of our lives joyful. 

Every event over-the-top special. I get my zeal for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions from her. So, it not only fills my heart with SUCH JOY to begin to do these sorts of things for my own family... but at the same time it fills me with such gratitude for all she did for my sisters and I growing up. 

I know now that it takes effort and thought... time and money... 

energy and a lotta love to be that kind of mom.

Today, we continued a tradition I started for Carson's 2nd technical Christmas. 

He was 8 weeks old his first Christmas, so not exactly chocolate-eating age. 

But, his 2nd Christmas we began buying little Advent Calendars to give to his friends 

to count down to Christmas. It's been so much fun to do each year. This go-around we passed 

out over 25 and I know for sure we could have sent out double that. 

Carson wasn't a fan of only getting one chocolate out of the deal, 

but the start of a new tradition helped curbed a meltdown.

Enter... the ELF on the SHELF!

I had heard about this book/elf/game thing but had not really checked it out. 

In fact, I didn't even know the whole jist of it even as I set out to purchase it this morning. 

It's 30% off at Barnes & Noble right now. Just Google for a printable coupon, good thru the 6th.

Carson sat super still and listened to every word as I read it... then at the end when it was time to choose our elves name he chose... COOKIE! Cute. Perfect. Cookie it is!

So, Cookie is hanging out on top of the Nativity tonight, waiting to fly to the North Pole to report on CT's behavior today and will fly back in the morning and be hiding out somewhere in the house for Carson to find when he wakes up. So fun!  

... here's my sweet boys all ready for bed! Love them SO MUCH!

I blogged every single day in November. Did you notice? 

Well, it was not an easy task. But, I did it. So, I'm going to challenge myself to do it again this month 

and actually capture the boys everyday with their Advent Calendar and "Cookie the Elf" hiding out. 

Hope your week has been great so far!