December 2013

IMG_4021, a photo by tracyg00 on Flickr.

Our Elf on the Shelf, Harold Sweetcheeks, had a busy month. the kids liked this mustache prank that he played.

They got a chance to talk with Santa on Dec. 8th. Jake mentioned that he really wanted Wii U and Wii U Lego Marvel Superheroes. Megan told him that she wanted a real puppy. And a computer.



My little sous chefs got to work making some banana bread one Sunday evening. They have such a blast cooking and baking.



Harold found himself a Barbie stuffed animal and made himself a little bed on the mantle.



On the 11th, our girl scout troop made our way around Sauganash and did our caroling in very freezing weather. We had our fun cocoa party at the O'Donnell's afterward.



More mustache fun with Harold:



Megan and I ran the Jingle Bell 5k on the 14th in really snowy, crummy conditions.



On the 18th, Cariane and I hosted the WAX Ugly Sweater Christmas Party at Rabbit's.



On the 19th, QAS had their holiday concert. I took video during the program, so the only actual photo that I have is of Jake and his friend Joe.



Megan's big acting debut was on December 20. She played Pig Pen in the Sauganash Park production of A Charlie Brown Christmas. She was so excited about it and did such a great job.



Here's the cast:



She can't wait for the next program to begin!

On the 22nd, we went to a Northwestern basketball game. Here's Jake and Michael:



And all of the kids in our group (it cost a fortune to feed this crew!)



On Darin's birthday, we took our train trip downtown. We visited Macy's.





The line was way too long to eat in the Walnut Room. Our backup, the Burnham Hotel, had reservations all booked, so we couldn't eat there, either. We stopped by the Chris Kindle Market, but it was really, really cold. We got a couple of Churros to appease the kids. We ended up at a little Asian restaurant. Nothing screams Christmas meal like potstickers (and churros)!



After lunch, we headed back home.



The train was pretty crowded and Megan got stuck sitting next to a sleeper.



That photo still makes me laugh. We ended the day with a visit from Aunt Jenny and Portillo's chocolate cake to celebrate.

This was Harold's last appearance on Christmas Eve.



We hosted Christmas Eve at our house this year.



Here's the grown-up table (minus my dad, Brian and me):



And the kids:



Aunt Jenny got Pierce a Wii U game system and Jake was horrified because he was the one who actually wanted it. His reaction when Pierce opened it was priceless.



Once the guests left, my boys got into their Batman PJ's to retire for the evening.



Christmas morning brought a smile to my boy's face when Santa came through with the Wii U.



And Megan was just as pleased with her laptop computer.



We went skiing at the Grand Geneva on the 27th. Megan's bindings weren't tightened properly and she lost a ski on the lift (it actually happened twice before we went to have them tightened).



They got right back into the skiing as if no time had passed since the last time they were out there.





Jake entertained us with his new move in the lift line.



After skiing all day, these two decided that they wanted to sled. We stopped on the way out and they spent about an hour at the sled hill.



We got back to the cottage and hung out for a while. We got geared up and walked to Jenny's at around 7:00. It just so happened that she wasn't home so we came back. Since they were already suited up in snow gear, they stayed outside and played in the dark with headlamps for another half hour or so. Endless energy......



We had to leave early the next morning so that Darin could help out with a school project that he volunteered for. I caught this little pic of a pretty sunrise.



We went back to WI for NYE. Megan enjoyed playing Sims on her computer.



We had crab legs for dinner, the boys did some ice fishing, kids had milkshakes and we rung in the new year in a pretty low key manner.



And there you have it. It is January 1st and I am officially caught up through the end of 2013. I will try my best to not wait so long in between posts!!