Elf on the Shelf 2014

Criddle: Our Christmas Tradition

Post by: Rachel

So last year I was not very good at posting my pictures. I think I stopped after 7 or 8 days of it. I will try to do better this year. So here is starts. Tomorrow is December 1st and with that is our first photo.
Dec. 1:

The note says:

Dear Sean,

     This year many of my elves got sick and couldn't make as many toys as we need for Christmas. Could you give me some of the many toys you have to help me out this year? 

     I would be very thankful if you do this for me, and I will make sure to save a special gift for you. Criddle brought a red sack for you to put the toys you would like to share in.

Thanks for the help,

Santa Claus

Sean is an only child and has a room full of toys that his parents (guilty) and grand parents spoil him with. Hopefully he will fill the bag, but we will see.

Dec. 2:

He's hiding in the curtains on the door. 

Dec. 3: Criddle decided to decorate our tree... with toilet paper.

Dec. 4: the tree got decorated again with kitchen utensils and a threat... 

Dec. 5: It got worse... Criddle decorated the tree with our socks and underwear. 

Dec. 6: Hiding in the tree upstairs

Dec. 7: Pretending to be a tooth brush...

Dec. 8: Almost invisible today. It is 6:30pm and he has still not been found!!!

Dec. 9: Daddy is not creative...

Day 10: Criddle loves Mt. Dew!

Day 11: Ouchies!

Day 12: Tea time.

Day 13: Hiding in the door decorations

 Day 14: Counting the presents.

Day 15: Reading "The Polar Express" while curled up in a sock. 

The Quilt

Post by Rachel

So my dearest best friend is getting married. And as a wedding gift to her I am making her a quilt. All the women in her life have mailed me about a yard of fabric in any blue hue they could find.

Every day there was a new package on the doorstep. It was very interesting to see the pattern choices

So here's the start of it. I have 3 months to cut and sew all this together.

Oh did I mention what pattern Erin wants? The Double Wedding Ring quilt pattern. So I downloaded some instructions from the internet and the patterns I will need to cut from. And as I was doing this I was reading the blog of the woman who is a very experienced quilter and she said "This quilt is not for the beginner or the faint of heart." HAHAHA. I have never quilted in my life.

So I am going to make myself a pot of tea and get started. If you are one of Erin's relatives reading this I will occasionally update this post because I know many of you are excited to see the result.

Hello 2014!

I seem to have fallen off the side of the planet since the new year (or slightly before). However the holidays and my birthday were spent with family having a great time!

So a quick catch up-

Financially- I still need to sit down and figure out a no spend month plan. Hoping to do that in Feburary and that will fall inline with Kym Fox over at Travel Babbles and her 12x30 challenge!

I did start the 52 week savings plan for Zach and I. (I'll link things up when I'm not blogging from my phone). The one change I am making is switching up the weeks so come December I'm not dumping all my money into savings. So depending on what I can spare each week will determine how much will go in. 

Health- I'm trying to work out 4-5 times a week. So far I've been pretty good. Even when it feels like -45 here in good ol Minnesota I made it to the gym! Kym at Travel Babbles started a diet bet for the month of January. You have to lose 4% weight during the month to get your $25 back plus what ever is still in the pot to be split by those who hit their goal. Last time I looked it was over $1000!!!

I figured no better time to start getting healthier since the wedding is now 6 months away!!! AHHH! 

That's all I've got for now!

-Erin 

Happy New Year!

Happy New year! Wishing you the best in 2014. 

I've got some fitness goals, savings and spending goals in mind for 2014 that I'm working on so keep tuned! 

~Erin