Elf on the Shelf Dec. 23

Ever wonder what happens when an adult touches Elf on the Shelf? Well, we found out. HH was hanging out on the Christmas tree, and the girls were dancing in the living room. They must have been jumping around quite a bit, because HH ended up falling off. After MANY "DO NOT TOUCH HIM" warnings from the girls, Davey picked him up and set him back up on the tree. BAD IDEA, DAVEY.  I came home a few minutes after all this happened to find one sobbing little girl who was very worried HH had lost his magic. My first thought was, "Let's check google. They will know what to do." We searched, "What to do when someone touches Elf on the Shelf" and found our answer right away: you leave him some cinnamon, he eats it and regains his magic. So, we left him some cinnamon that night, and the next morning, this is what we woke up to. HH had swapped out Davey's stocking for his underwear and had drawn all over his photos with marker. OH MY GOSH I wish I would have recorded the girls' reaction to this. They laughed for 15 minutes straight. 

Elf on the Shelf, Dec. 19

Looks like HH found the "funny Christmas animals" board on Pinterest.

Pinterest Round-Up

I spend WAY more time than I should on Pinterest. My favorite is the "Humor" tab. Here are a few of my favorite recent finds:

Grumpy Cat

If you haven't met him yet, I would like to introduce you to Grumpy Cat. He's the best.

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 12

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 11

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 10

Elf on the Shelf - Dec. 9

Elf on the Shelf - Dec. 8

Elf on the Shelf - Dec. 7

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 6

HH took Draculaura out on a date to see the Christmas lights...

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 5

Elf on the Shelf Dec. 4

HH had too much wine yesterday so he decided to relax today with a bubble bath.

#elfontheshelf Dec. 3

I feel ya, HH. Mommy needs wine today, too.

#elfontheshelf Dec 2

Ali said, "Why did he bring us a potato?"

Flashback Friday

Wasn't she cute? This would have been Christmas 2007, so she would have been two. Camri insisted on making that face whenever she had her photo taken. 

We put up the kids Christmas tree in their room last night. And then this morning, Happy Helper, our Elf on a Shelf, made his debut in the house. He brought the kids powdered donuts and a letter from Santa. They were tickled! They didn't think he was coming until December 1, but since they will be gone to their other parents this weekend, I guess he decided to come early. 

So true.

Gotta Love Eeyore

Found on Pinterest via eversoslightlydifferent.blogspot.com

Cheese and Rice

I don't want to sound like one of those people who is constantly complaining about Facebook. It has it's positives. But one of it's negatives is it's ability to absolutely infuriate me.

Like this morning - as I was drinking my coffee, I scrolled through the recent posts. Bam - instant fury.

As I was driving to work, I laid out this whole rant in my head that I had planned on putting on Facebook. But I am a lover, not a fighter, and I have no desire to get into it with a bunch of people who are probably great at fighting on the internet.

from xkcd.com

Thanksgiving Time 2012

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Here is a little photo dump of our extended weekend. 

Mom, A Danica U Llans and I ran a 5K in Owensville Thursday morning. U Llans wore some sweet running tights. A Danica and I finished in 32 minutes. 

I made a crazy delicious cheesecake. Here is a link to the recipe. It was amazing. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Daniels...

And Thanksgiving supper at the Bashams.

I got to see my high school girlfriends. 

We did a little Black Friday shopping.

And made ornaments at the Taylor's house on Saturday.

(Saturday's sunset)

Then had another Thanksgiving supper at U Larry and A Becky's house. Camri and Ali had a sleepover there that night. 

We had a fabulous trail ride in Canaan on Sunday with Camri, my dad, Tim and Sheila, and Jeff. It was a wonderful way to end the holiday week!

How Not To Make A Cinnamon Roll Cake

This past weekend was a rare Saturday morning where Camri and I were the only ones home and we didn't have anywhere to be. She wanted cinnamon rolls for breakfast, but I had seen a recipe on Pinterest for "Cinnamon Roll Cake." I showed it to her and she decided it looked yummy, so we proceeded to make it.

By the way, here is the link to the recipe: http://cookinupnorth.blogspot.com/2011/07/cinnamon-roll-cake.html

We got through combining the first four ingredients and then noticed we didn't have any milk. I noticed that we needed two sticks of butter, so I set those out to soften while we ran into town and picked up some milk (in our PJs, yes...).

When we got back, we added the milk, eggs, half the vanilla (because that's all that was left), and the butter. This is where our problem was, I am guessing, because I must have scrolled all the way down to where I couldn't see the rest of the ingredients and just proceeded from there. We mixed in the butter, poured it in the greased pan, and baked for 30 minutes. I noticed I still had a stick of butter left out for some reason, but didn't think anything about it.

We mixed the glaze up while it was in the oven. When the timer went off, we pulled it out and immediately noticed that we had a problem, Houston. It did not resemble the picture. This is where I noticed I had left out the "topping." Sigh.

We poured the glaze on and ate it anyway. It was like super sweet cake.

And then Camri ate a Poptart.

And this is concludes "How Not To Make A Cinnamon Roll Cake." I do not recommend it. Maybe I will try it the way the recipe suggests in the future...

Wishful Thinking

Do you ever have those mornings where you wake up, see a beautiful sunrise, and think, "Today is going to be a great day." 

And then do those mornings ever turn into the worst mornings ever? Because that is what happened to me today. 

By the time we made it to school, I think everything might have been back to normal. But who knows? I am pretty sure I will be paying for therapy in the next ten years for at least one of my children. 

Star

11-13-12

We are working on blueline today, which means the December issue is all but finished. We are having a lunch for Kelly today, who will be on maternity leave for the next couple of months.  Now we get to anxiously await the arrival of baby H! 

Camri and Ali on Halloween night

Holt Road

Bland Fireworks

December

The November issues officially go in the mail today! There are a couple of things I really love in this issue. First, the cover story (along with the cover) is one of my favorite. I can't wait for everyone to see and read it. It might have been because it touched on a special memory with me, but I really enjoyed it. 

Second, the third annual Christmas gift guide is in the November issue! We moved it up from December to give everyone a little more time for shopping. Yes, I know it is really strange to think about Christmas when I rode my mule in a tank top yesterday and wore shorts to work - but it is coming! We have new products this year and I really think mule and donkey admirers are going to love them. 

The December deadline is next Thursday, November 1. Let us know if you would like to advertise - there is plenty of time to get everything in!  

Betty, Cole's young mule - Doesn't she have the cutest little mule profile?

Absolutely Beautiful Missouri Day

Facebook Changes...

Unless I pay to "promote posts," only about 10% of those people who have "Liked" Mules and More on Facebook will actually see our posts. 

So, the most common solution I have found to this issue is to go to our page and click "Add to Interests Lists," then create an interest list. This should make sure all of our posts show up in your newsfeed, instead of 10% of them. 

The sites I read said you should add any Page that you would like to stay updated on to your interest list to ensure you actually get to see what they post. 

Also, I have read that you can click "Include in Newsfeed" to do the same thing, but when I went to try it out, I couldn't really find anywhere that said that. So, I'm not completely sure about that. 

So, we will see how this all works out. 

Prettiest Mule In Town

Owensville Sunset

Maggie

Yeah, she is looking at her reflection. Wouldn't you if you were that cute?

Yup