Week Fifty-Two: 12/21-12/28 and the end of the year......

Week 52, the last one of 2014. Wow. This has been a super fun fast busy year. Here are some highlights of a few things we did after Christmas this last week. 

Friday the 26th - I managed a long run at Umstead - 12.25 miles. I was pretty dang happy about that. Also took Eli to Target to "trade" his dirt bike ramp. 

Saturday I got hustled playing Monopoly Jr. with the boys. This was my actual Facebook post about the experience "I think I got hustled today. Not so sure it was Eli and Cole's first game of Monopoly Jr. I got beat pretty bad by the Nelson Brothers. Had to sell off properties to pay rent and could never save myself. Future businessmen?". They REALLY enjoyed beating me. I'm sure they won't like it so much when I win but today was fun. 

With all the Lego sets built, Tim and Eli started on the Erector sets. We love to build around here!!

Somehow Cole hurt his ear. I think he and Eli were wrestling or something but it hurt enough that he needed an ice pack so I wrapped his head in a dish towel to keep in on. Got to make it work! 

Sunday we went to church and the boys went to Target with Daddy. I swear it was our 3rd day IN A ROW of being at Target. I guess there are worst places to visit. ;-) And, as usual after the holidays, I turned into a crazy psycho cleaning lady. You could't get too close to me or sit still for too long because I'd bag you up to donate. Tim always laughs at me how much I keep things moving OUT of the house but all it takes is one commercial for 'Hoarders' and he's thankful. 

Monday was back to work for me. I haven't been at my job long enough to have enough vacation built up so I had to work and Tim did some house projects while the boys were at the Y. 

THIS was the rest of my Christmas present. Seriously I asked for it! I wanted Tim to reconfigure the steps on our garage (they used to go to the left - where the frig is now). We were losing so much wall space and we never try to park a car in here so I wanted to maximize my sight lines to the driveway and have wall space for my "stock pile" of stuff. 

I worked Mon, Tues and today (New Year's Eve) and I swear, based on traffic going into work, there must have been only 32 people working today. We made it a short day but it was a work day nonetheless. Bummer! Maybe next year I'll be off. 

And our plan for New Year's Eve........SLEEP! We plan to usher in 2015 by sleeping. Tim and I are not big New Year's party fans and would rather sleep and get up to ride or something on New Year's Day than anything else. We might be awake or wake up for it but I highly doubt it. The boys are already asleep and we're not too far behind. Tomorrow.....a NEW YEAR! 

Goodbye 2014.....

A Recap of Elfie Jim's 2014 antics

That's one busy silly Elf I tell you. Elfie Jim definitely kept the boys entertained again this year. I thought it would be fun to post all of his antics and the places we found him. I think I captured them all - they just don't all have pictures. 

12/1, Monday - Hanging out at the boys' Lego Advent Calendars. Hello December! 

12/2, Tuesday - Hanging out on Mommy's lighted Joy sign on the mantle.

12/3, Wednesday - In Cole's room with a "Good job" note for earning his camo belt in Karate.  

12/4, Thursday - In Eli's Room hanging in his Panthers football jersey.

12/5, Friday - In the cabinet, in the pop tart box. He was excited about Pop Tart Friday!

12/6, Saturday - Hanging out on the wall in a pot holder. 

12/7, Sunday - Elfie Jim brought donuts from the North Pole while Tim and I were out of town for my work Christmas party. Impressive elf!!

12/8, Monday - "Have a great day!" on the bathroom mirror. 

12/9, Tuesday - Elfie brought the boys a message that they could open these presents from Mom and Dad. 

Cole was thrilled to get the Mr. Men Christmas set. 

Magic Treehouse Survival Guide. 

12/10, Wednesday - Elfie gift wrapped the hall toilet. The boys love this prank! 

12/11, Thursday - Bows were EVERYWHERE in the kitchen. 

Even in the refrigerator!! Eli and Cole thought that was hilarious. 

Ellie Jim just hanging around.....

12/12, Friday - Camo Elfie Jim took in a WWE style brawl.

He took down the dinosaur! 

12/13, Saturday - glasses and Rudolph noses on the boys' school pictures. 

12/14, Sunday - Hanging in the Snackeeze, marshmallow style. 

Cole was NOT very happy that Elfie Jim was in his cup. 

12/15, Monday - Underwear instead of stockings....oh my! 

12/16, Tuesday - Swinging on the Heart hanging in the kitchen window. I think he loves us. =)

12/17, Wednesday - We found him hanging out in Daddy's coffee stash. 

12/18, Thursday - Um.....yea Elfie. We get it, you're a celebrity. 

12/19, Friday - Apparently Elfie has been watching American Ninja Warrior too....

A little Metal Spin obstacle on the ceiling fan. 

12/20, Saturday - we woke up to a Toilet Papered tree!

"It wasn't me!"

12/21, Sunday - we came home from Christmas at the Farm to this! 

12/22, Monday - Elfie Jim couldn't wait to harness up Cole's new dinosaurs to his sleigh. 

Dino power! Hope they can fly. 

12/23, Tuesday - Special message from Elfie Jim......videos from Santa!!

12/24, Wednesday - Elfie's last message.....I loved this note. Elfie also left the boys some Christmas pajamas to wear Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Day - Happy Birthday Jesus!

Such a fun and laid back Christmas Day. The boys, of course, had a blast. They were very excited to wake up and see what Santa had left for them. They weren't up too insanely early so that was good for us. I know I used to drive my parents C-R-A-Z-Y wanting to get up early on Christmas morning. 

Goodies from Santa

The coolest part was the custom wrapping paper with their names on it! 

There was a big pile of presents and they had to sort them out before they could open them. =)

Happy Little Boys!! 

Very excited! 

We make them take turns opening so they can enjoy their moment, I can take pictures and they can see what each other received.

Arctic Base Camp - very happy! It was top on his list. 

A neat dirt bike jumping ramp. (Well, it turned out not to be so neat. We ended up taking it to Target "for trade" to get something else. The ramp just didn't work well at all. But he did love the actual dirt bikes.)

Matchbox Shark Ship - oh my. Cole made me take his picture with this in Target and he kept going to "visit" it whenever we were there. So glad he got it! 

No idea why the one is sideways? 

ANOTHER Lego set. Oh my! 

Galaxy Squad

NFL Sticker book. Funny story....apparently Santa was so busy with all the other kiddos that he messed up and gave Eli BASEBALL stickers to go with his FOOTBALL sticker book. Crazy Santa! 

Thrilled with his Cam Newton jersey. 

Football cards

Lego Dirt Bike - super fun! 

Not too much paper damage. But they did have fun opening their gifts. 

Now it's Daddy's turn. 

I think Eli was more excited than Daddy. 

The boys got him the Reebok Spartan shoes he had been wanting. 

Dutch oven accessories. We definitely have to use it on our next camping trip. Tim's got to figure out recipes. 

Big surprise - new drills! I totally pulled that one off thanks to online order and in-store pick up. =) 

Presents for Mommy. 

These two are getting so big. Love their joy and excitement for everything. Life is much more fun through the eyes of a child. 

Of course....Lego Build time! Happened very quickly after presents. 

Breakfast - little sausage biscuits. And their initial mugs. YUM! 

We used a piece of snow fabric to make give the Arctic Base Camp a home. 

He scares me with the drill. 

Eli also got the Eiffel Tower from Santa. Hopefully we'll go see the real one one day. 

Super fun - excavating his dinosaur. 

Serious business. 

Once Cole excavated the T-Rex, he had to wash him so we could assemble. 

He did a great job! 

Afternoon energy burn / Spartan training. 

Using the rope ladder from Aunt Cary. 

These two are crazy! 

Shooting Daddy with his marshmallow gun. 

Give me a muddy hug Mommy!

Eli's new football monogram. Fits Mr. Sporty perfectly!

I made a nice dinner and we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. The funny part was that when we sat down for dinner, Cole commented that he was still in his pjs. And he was! That's a good day when you can celebrate, play and hang out in your pjs all day. We had movie night (Night at the Museum - their first non-animated movie and they LOVED it!) and snuggled together. It was perfect. 

All in all, we had a very nice calm Christmas. It was super great not to be running around, trying to do too much or traveling. The boys were able to enjoy their toys and we could just be together. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!!