Two elves, a dog, and a Christmas wish...

Whew!  We had a busy weekend.  It has flown by and now tomorrow is back to work for another productive week.  Anyway, Eddie and I spent Saturday cleaning out the kids' old toys.  We've been planning it for months and I've been gung-ho about getting rid of the clutter...until it came down to the sorting and decision making of what stays and what goes.  I was surprised at the emotion I felt when we would talk about different memories with the toys.  I know my memories are not held in the physical toy, but I felt like I was giving their "toddlerhood".  I know the "give aways" will make some preicous child as happy as each toy made my babies when they played, but my eyes are stinging right now just thinking about how much time has passed and how little I have left with mine. I know they are still young, (11 & 7), but I look back at how quickly these last 11 years have gone by, and I can't imagine that in not much more time than that, Eddie and I will be empy nesters.  Shudder.  Each day is a gift, and lately I'm finding myself considering this thought more when I tell them to be quieter, and I get aggravated at the "play stuff" that doesn't get put back where it belongs.  Even though I know I have to be consistent and hope they are learning from my guidance, that little voice inside tells me "you won't have them to make noise much longer"...and "you won't have to clean up their "play stuff" much longer".  The parenthood years are such a sweet, treasured gift, and I look back and realize that I don't think I've enjoyed it enough. There are lots of things in my life for which I wish I could have a "do-over", but if I really could choose one, it definitely be to stay home with my babies, and soak in every moment.  Wow.  Not sure where that came from, but I'm glad I shared it.  Now, on to the real reason I started this post:  What was it?  Oh, yea...
Worley and Tallulah are back.  Mom and Dad were not quite ready for these two silly elves, but here they are.  Last year, Connor and Claire didn't have much time to enjoy having their elf friends visit from the North Pole, so I'm hoping for fun-filled holidays, without a lot of elf mischief!  However, my children know the rule...they are responsible for cleaning up any mess Worley and Tallulah make or they will have to go back to the North Pole.  Yep, I guess I'm a tough mommy.  They've been pretty good so far.  This morning, I woke to find this scene:

That's my breakfast room table and an opened box of clothes I ordered for Claire.  Worley put on the brown dress and Tallulah put on the plaid tunic.  Connor and Claire thought they were hilarious.  They thought the funniest part was that Worley (a boy elf) put on the dress.  Ha!

After an awesome church service,  Claire went to her end of season soccer party with her dad, and Connor went with me to the church to do some painting.  When we got home, Claire and I walked around to find some leaves that we could "wax".  I got the idea from "Clover Lane" blog and want to try it.  I didn't have a disposable pan, so we didn't get to try it today, but we got some pretty leaves.

 LEAVES?  Did someone say leaves?    Check out these pics of how pretty the leaves are here right now:

Jonah even walked with us in the woods behind our house to help us find leaves.

Now, for the Christmas wish...

Two front teeth, of course. 

Checking for fingerprints,

Kellie