Eugene, the Elf, Day 19

It's Eugene's last day and it looks like he has a Treasure Hunt map ready for tomorrow!

The Elf cards are going where the black X's are and the red X is the prize (Lego mini figures)

Eugene, the Elf: Day 18

Eugene is hanging out in the tree today.

Eugene, the Elf: Day 17

I was hit with some bug that was going around, so hubby moved Eugene today! (Although they did give Eugene some grief for not moving to a new place.)

Eugene, the Elf: Day 16

Eugene was pretty tired last night and stayed on the main floor again. 

Eugene, the Elf: Day 15

Eugene went up high today. This way he can keep an eye on multiple locations. 

Fortune Cookies

Last year I wanted to try a new type of cookie. Of course we still made gingerbread men and sugar cookies, but we also made fortune cookies! The boys loved them, although they were a little time consuming to make. We tried a couple different recipes before we finally found this one and it worked great! (I can't remember where I found it, but it is a pretty good recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 teaspoons water
• Fortunes written on paper to fit in the cookies (make these before you make the cookies!)
• Cookie sheets
• Food coloring, optional
• Icing or melted white chocolate, sprinkles, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a small/medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, almond extract, vanilla extract, and vegetable oil until frothy (but not stiff).
3. Sift the flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt together into another bowl.
4. Add water to the flour mix and stir together.
5. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and combine well.
6. Add food coloring (optional).
7. Scoop a tablespoon of batter and place on cookie sheet. I did two at a time, maybe three at most. Gently tilt the cookie sheet around to spread the batter out to form about a 4 inch diameter circle.
8. Bake about 14-15 minutes, until outer edge is golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and work quickly to form a fortune cookie!
1. Place cookie in your hand and place fortune in the middle.
2. Fold cookie in half and pull edges over the rim of a glass. I used a paper towel to handle the cookies so I wouldn't get burned.
3. You can place the cookie inside a muffin tin to help keep the shape.

For Christmas, I dipped the middle of the cookie in white chocolate and added on Christmas sprinkles.

Eugene, the Elf Day 14

Eugene wanted to keep the kids busy this morning, so he hid mini candy canes throughout the house for them to find.

My Holiday Posts Links

Christmas is next week and if you need ideas, I have a few!

CRAFTS:

• Happy Holiday Cards
• Tree Card Holder
• Foam Gift Bags and Tags
• Easy Christmas Napkin Rings
• Easy Christmas Light Garland
• Easy Christmas Luminaries
• Hand Print Reindeer
• The New Advent Calendar
• Reindeer Food

ACTIVITIES:

• Christmas BINGO
• Christmas Celebration Alternatives
• Christmas Gingerbread House
• Christmas Word Scramble
• Christmas Time Word Find
• Christmas Scavenger Hunt
• Christmas Time Fun Crossword Puzzle
• My Favorite Holiday Books
• I also have a lot of Elf on the Shelf ideas.

GIFT IDEAS:

• Christmas Present/Gift Ideas
• Christmas Thank You Notes

FOOD:

• Food:
• Christmas Veggie Tray
• Checkered Potatoes
• Christmas Themed Lunch
• Hanky Pankies
• Drinks:
• Peppermint Shakes
• Snacks:
• Popcorn Snowman Cups
• Cookies/Desserts:
• Cookie Time! (Sugar Cookie recipe)
• Individual Crumb Coffee Cakes (great for breakfast too!)
• Christmas Swirl Cookies
• Stained Glass Cookies
• Rice Cereal Ornament Balls
• Personal Jello Fruit Cups
• Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Cookies. Although not a standard Christmas cookie, these are always a big hit!
• Stained Glass Cookies
• Turtle Sugar Cookies
• Hidden Surprise Pound Cake. I made this for St. Patrick's Day, but substitute a tree or star and it would be great for Christmas!

INFO:

• Merry X-Mas! Don't Take Christ Out Of Christmas

Eugene, the Elf: Day 13

Higgins was hoping Eugene would come to his room too. Now that he has a clean bill of health, it looks like he got his wish!

Eugene, the Elf: Day 12

Eugene looks like he got a little bit of his energy back and is swinging from the ceiling fan.

Eugene, the Elf: Day 11

Eugene decided to hide out in Bernardo's room. After seeing Higgins up all night with a stomach bug, Eugene was too tired to be creative. He did startle a yell out of Bernardo when he saw him though!

Eugene, the Elf: Day 10

Sorry for the late post! My morning got away from me.

Eugene didn't want the kids sneaking downstairs early this morning, I guess.

Eugene, the Elf: Day 9

Unfortunately, Bernardo still had to take the lunch I packed for school today.

Christmas Present Ideas

I can't believe Christmas is in a week and a half! I still have plenty of shopping, wrapping, and cookies to bake. In case you are like me and still need to do some shopping, here are some of my gift ideas. I've added some new ones (my favorite new ones are the whiskey balls and glasses Hubby got last year!).

• St. Nick's Day was 12/6, but there are a lot of stocking stuffer ideas that will work great for Christmas! http://www.dailymesses.com/2014/12/dont-forget-saturday-is-st-nicks-day.html
• You've Been Elf'd. Spread a little holiday cheer to your friends and neighbors. We also made and delivered cookies to our neighbors a few days before Christmas last year. They seemed to be a big hit! :)

• Life Experience Gifts. Tired of giving gifts that sit on the shelf? Try giving experience gifts!
• Gifts For Them That Help You! 
• Don't Forget Safety!
• Amazing Baking Gifts
• Don't Forget the Batteries: Tech Gifts
• My Favorite Christmas and Holiday Books
• Gifts for the Entertainer and Hostess
• Gifts of Fitness
• Remembering Others This Holiday Season
• Biking, Hiking, and Camping Gifts...Oh My!
• Woof, Meow, Bubble Bubble...Don't Forget Your Pets!
• End Of The Year Teacher Gifts. This is a list of end of the year teacher gift ideas, but many of them would work for Christmas as well.
• My Father's Day and Mother's Day posts also have some great ideas for gifts.

 

 

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Eugene, the Elf: Day 8

Eugene left the popcorn snowman cups for the kids to find.

Popcorn Snowman Cups

I feel like Christmas is sneaking up on me way too quickly and I'm not getting anything done that I wanted too. I normally make fun snacks and crafts with the kids, and haven't done any of that yet this year. I made these cute snowman cups for snacks. I am going to fill with popcorn (like little snowballs) but it could be used for anything.

I drew on the eyes, mouth, buttons with a Sharpie. I cut out a triangle from orange construction paper, and taped it on (if you had an orange Sharpie that would be easier). I had ribbon out from wrapping a present and used it to make the scarves.

While I made these today, I think Eugene is going to leave them as a surprise for tomorrow.

Eugene, the Elf, Day 7

Eugene apparently had poker night last night. It looks like they found the kids drink shaped bottles of flavored jelly beans (7-Up and Dr. Pepper) and the jelly beans I got for Hubby too. Crazy toys. It looks like Eugene is winning though.

Reindeer Food

Higgins came home with this from school the other day and it is super cute! It's really easy to make too.

You will need:

• Triangular Treat Bags
• Oats
• Googly Eyes (Sticker back ones might be easiest)
• Glitter
• Brown pipe cleaners (for antlers)
• Red construction paper or round stickers
• Glue, if not using stickers

Directions:

1. Mix together oats and glitter to create the filling/reindeer food.

2. Fill bag 1/2 to 3/4 full. Make sure to leave room to twist tie the bag shut with the pipe cleaners.

3. Wrap pipe cleaners around top of bag to close and create the antlers.

4. Attach eyes and nose.

Eugene, the Elf, Day 6

Eugene was very daring this morning as he zip-lined from the ceiling fan to the Christmas tree. He wasn't very safe about either; I don't see a safety harness or anything! 

Eugene, the Elf, Day 5

It looks like Eugene recovered, only to be attacked by zombies! Good thing he found some plants to help out and extra peas to throw...

Eugene, the Elf, Day 4

Eugene was pretty tired, so it looks like he's just hanging out in the stocking.

Eugene, the Elf, Day 3

Eugene was apparently feeling a little peckish and made himself a snack in the pantry...now I feel like eating a s'more!

Eugene, The Elf, Day 2

Eugene climbed down the tree and started making some decorations on the back door.

Eugene is Back!

Eugene came back on St. Nick's Day. This time he was sliding down the tree!

The sled was made from 2 graham crackers "glued" onto two candy canes with icing. A ribbon was tied around the curved part of the candy canes to create a handle. And finally, the snow was a piece of batting!

Eugene's (Our Elf) Past Experiences

We've had Eugene, our Elf On The Shelf, for a few years now. I was trying to find another cheap "doll only" so that both boys would have one when they have their own kids. (I didn't have any luck since all I could find was the plush type.)

I then realized I had no plans for Eugene this year and he's supposed to come out tomorrow on St. Nick's Day. He's had some pretty fun adventures in the past, but I had no ideas yet for this year. Granted, most days he just moved from ceiling fan to hanging onto a cupboard knob. Some days he didn't move at all. However, Higgins had been asking about him. I went through old adventures to try and come up with new ones.

Here are some of Eugene's more exciting times:

• Relaxing on a marshmallow chair. My most insane idea yet, as I stabbed my fingers multiple times with toothpicks. However, when I was done, Eugene did have a nice (yet small) chair and foot rest made of mini marshmallows.
• Super Hero E!. While he may just be pretending to fly on the curtain rod, he did have a cape.
• Playing hockey.
• Parachuting in.
• Ice skating.
• Making a garland for the tree.
• Some not as exciting ideas: 
• Drinking hot chocolate (mini marshmallow filled cup from the kids kitchen set)
• Flying on the dinosaur that was hanging in Higgins room.
• Using my Christmas Scavenger Hunt card.
• Eating gingerbread cookies.
• Wrapping a present.
• Leaving a note to clean their rooms.

Seriously, I thought I had a few more exciting ones in the bunch! I don't plan on having crazy things everyday (especially if it involves lots of clean up), but I think I should come up with 1 or 2 more.

Don't Forget Saturday Is St. Nick's Day!

Do you celebrate St. Nick's Day? Every year on December 6th, I remember waking up looking for my stocking full of goodies. Not everyone celebrates St. Nick's Day; it's popular in European countries and in German and Dutch communities. I grew up in a city with strong German roots and St. Nick's Day was always celebrated. My mom had never heard of it until she came here for college. When they told her to put a shoe outside her door at night, I think she thought they were nuts!

Who Was St. Nick?
St. Nicholas was basically the model for the jolly man himself (Santa Claus). St. Nicholas was from a wealthy family and would secretly give out gifts to people. The story I remember hearing was about a father who had three daughters. He was poor and could not afford dowries for the girls. Without the dowry the girls would probably become...night workers. Nicholas threw a bag of gold coins for each daughter into the house through a window at night. (Some accounts have it over 1 night, 3 nights, or even 3 years.)

How To Celebrate:
Growing up, we each had our own stocking that we put out the night before St. Nick's Day. My husband would put his Christmas List in his stocking for Santa to pick up. However, other people put out shoes instead of stockings. The night of December 5th, place a stocking or shoe outside the children's door(s) and fill it with goodies. In the morning (on December 6th), open the stockings!

This year's stocking stuffers: Candy Cane Tootsie Pops,
Crayon Rings, Etch A Sketch, Coloring Books, Candy

Stocking Stuffer Ideas:

• "Gold" $1 coins in honor of the bags of gold coins St. Nicholas gave
• Candy (I just picked up cute soda flavored jelly beans in a small soda shaped bottle at Target.)
• Small games
• Books or Comic Books
• Small stuffed animals
• Coins/Money
• Barrettes
• Hot chocolate mix
• Lego's (Bernardo is into Ninjago right now, while Higgins does better with a box of Lego's he can create his own inventions with.). Lego also has Ornaments: There are several to choose from. Kids build the Lego figure and place them inside a clear round ornament to hang on the tree. The boys each got one last year and loved them!
• Small toys
• Special ornament (We get each kid an ornament every year. It has their name and the year on it. We try to make it special for that year. Examples include an apple/desk/pencil if they started school, a horse for their first horse ride, an ornament from vacation, a train if they took a train ride, etc.)
• Pez Dispensers (I loved getting these every year. I used to have a small collection, but now I have no idea where it is. They come in so many varieties you are sure to find one for boys or girls.) They have Christmas, Star Wars, Avengers, Scooby Doo set, even Presidents, etc.
• Flashlight (Higgins got his own flashlight last year and it has outlived the previous one. Luckily it seems he learned his lesson that you can't put a flashlight in the toilet and expect it to still work.)
• Crayons/Colored Pencils/Markers
• Stickers
• Toothbrush
• Temporary tattoos
• For older kids: gift cards to a movie theater, laser tag, their favorite store, iTunes, Amazon
• New earbuds for the computer, i-pod, etc.
• Chapstick (or lip gloss)
• Chocolate coins
• Hot Wheels/Matchbox Cars
• Small fruit (clementines, apples)
• Hexbugs
• Gum
• Compass
• Small Nerf Guns
• Mighty Beanz
• DVD: Target's $5 shelf is great for these. The boys sometimes get a joint St. Nick gift of a DVD.
• Elf On The Shelf. Eugene orginally came to us on St. Nick's Day.

LINKS
St. Nicholas, Wiki
http://www.stnicksday.com/