The Time for Cheer

Christmas is coming, and there is no stopping it.  Sandy or not, it's coming...  And maybe, just maybe, it's for the best.  We need something positive to look forward to and what's more positive than the holiday season?  My house and my belongings are gone, but my spirit is alive and  I just need to keep it bright and here are three steps to doing just that:

Step 1: Get an Elf on the Shelf.  I know that many parents are either for or against the elf and others have no idea what it is.  The Elf on the Shelf is an elf (doll) that comes to your house (after you buy it for $30) and watches the kids until Christmas.  The story goes that the elf goes to see Santa every night to report back on whose naughty and whose nice, but there's a trick! The trick is, that you have to move the elf everyday to a new spot.  Sometimes he's fishing in a bowl of goldfish and sometimes he's stealing chocolate from the kids.  There are a million ideas throughout Pinterest.  The kids will get such a kick out of it.  The only problem is that, with all the responsibilities of life, it's another thing to remember to do.  But, it's still worth the excitement and laughter every time the kids spot him somewhere different.

Step 2: Go visit the tree at Rockefeller Center. Thanks to the Siller Foundation, my family and friends were able to see the tree on Sunday.  Crowds and all, it's tough not to feel the Christmas spirit on 5th Avenue in New York City in December.

Family and friends with Stephen Siller's daughter, Olivia

Step 3: Decorate! Decorate! Decorate! We had so many ornaments and a beautiful Santa that topped our Christmas tree every year even before the kids were born.  Post-Sandy we have three ornaments; my daughter's first Christmas Lenox ornament, my son's photo ornament that hubby found where the house is and a Tinkerbell (minus the bell), that I found at the foundation of the house last Tuesday.  So, we had the old, but we desperately needed some new. So, we headed to the store and picked out all the fun and playful ornaments that we could find for the kids, I even picked out a new first Christmas ornament for me and hubby (it's actually our 13th Christmas together, but it's a brand new start so I thought it fitting). We will get our tree this weekend and start hanging our new stuff.  (Mental note: Need lights.)

That's as far as I have gotten.  I can only do one day at a time for now.  Next steps: TBD
Thanks for your patience.

xox
Jen

Sharing is Caring: What are your thoughts on the Elf on the Shelf?  Any creative ideas for him?  I still need almost 15 new ideas until Elfie (yes, that's what my kids named him) heads back to the North Pole for good.