Goodbye till next year Jingles!

Jingles will be flying back to the North Pole tonight, to help Santa get ready for his annual trip.

She gets one last morning with Mady and Em,
so she decided to leave them a present and a letter just for them...

Here is what it says, in case you can't read it...
Dear Grindstaff family~
  I have had so much fun being a part of your family for the last month. You guys sure have a lot of fun around here! Sorry for any messes i madea long the way. Guess i got caught up in the fun too!
  Tonight when you go to sleep, a little Christmas magic is going to happen. I will fly back to the North Pole for the last time this year. I will make my last report to Santa before he gets on his sleigh and heads around the world to spread Christmas cheer. When you wake up tomorrow morning, i will be gone and presents will be under the tree. I know there will be presents, because i have told Santa all about what good children you are. I passed on all of your messages to the big guy, and i know he will do his best to find the perfect presents for you.
  Lucky for us, Santa will lift my magic for just a few minutes after you are done reading this letter. In those few minutes, it will be okay to touch me, hug me and kiss me goodbye. When you are finished with your goodbyes, just put me back where you found me and i will find my way to the North Pole tonight. Can't wait to see you next Christmas season!!
 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Love and candy cane kisses,

 Jingles

Mady's ballet recital

Mady is the one in the back on the far left of your screen...the short one, lol!

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It's getting closer...

Jingles is SOOOOO excited that it's almost Christmas!!

She just couldn't help herself!

Jingles loves the snow...

Too bad it only flurried here for, like, a minute.

So Jingles took it upon herself to create her own snow and bring it right to Mady's door!

That crazy elf!

A look what grew...

Jingles surprised Mady this morning.

Overnight, a candy cane full of kisses grew from her magic seeds!

Fun with nail polish...

Ho Ho Toes...

Snowman and snowflake fingers...

 Peppermint toes...

Time to do some plantin...

Jingles decided to let Mady do some planting today, in hopes of growing some more Christmas spirit.

She brought her this letter, to explain what she was to do...

 She brought her some "dirt"...

 She brought her some "fertilizer"...

 And she brought her some "magic seeds" to plant...

I guess we'll have to see what grows!

Jingles, aka, Laura Croft...

Well, it looks like we have Laura Croft on our hands here!

Jingles is starting to get really comfy in our house...

i don't think she is going to want to go home on Christmas Eve!

Here is the new mischief fun that Jingles has gotten into...

Zipling through the living room!!

Wishful thinking...

With all the rain we had last night, it got Jingles thinking.

She wished it was all snow so the girls could have a white Christmas.

Then she started to miss the North Pole again...

So she took matters into her own hands (again), and this madness ensued!

SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!!

Gone fishing...

Jingles couldn't help herself tonight.

She's been eyeing up those fish since she got here.

And now, well, it looks like she's gone fishing!

 

She found Mady's fish straw, and thought it would make a perfect fishing rod!
She dumped some fish food in and climbed up and just decided to wait it out.
I'm pretty sure Mady does NOT want her to catch anything, ha!

Single digits...

There are less than 10 days until Christmas!

Jingles wanted to let Mady know exactly how many there were, since she is so excitedly counting down.

Well, Jingles saw Frank and I having a few "adult beverages",

so she thought she should get to enjoy one herself!

So, just like up at the North Pole, she broke out the syrup and had herself a good time watching some tv and drinking up.
Look at that!! Over half the bottle is gone already!
Good thing it's light syrup, ha!

Um, Jingles the mummy?!

Jingles is definately being silly today!

She wrapped herself up in the toilet paper,

and just decided to hang out!

Mady says to me..."Why is Jingles playing the the toilet paper?! Doesn't she know what it's used for?!"

Squeeky clean...

Jingles saw the girls getting a bath yesterday,

and she thought it looked like fun!

But if you know anything,

you know that elves don't take baths like us humans do...

they take baths like this!

Now that's one tasty bath if i do say so myself :)

A lil taste testing...

Jingles decided that the cookies needed a little taste testing.

So she hopped up on the oven,

grabbed herself a chocolate chip cookie,

and dug right in.

All she's missing is her cup of milk!

Is it snowing in here?!

Last night we baked cookies.

They were really fun to make, and really yummy to eat too.

Jingles was feeling a bit left out, so she decided to do her part while we were sleeping.

And of course, she thought the flour looked a lot like snow,

and that made her miss the North Pole,

and that brings us to the snow angel you see above.

That silly elf.

The girls are loving her!

Tree decorating...

So Jingles was watching while we all decorated the tree last night,

and i guess she felt a little left out of the fun.

So wouldn't you know it,

Jingles decided to add some decorations of her own to the tree...

Won't Mady be surprised when she sees this!

Presenting...

And now, for your viewing pleasure...
Madylinn (as seen through the eyes of Jingles the elf)

http://www.jibjab.com/view/lOVRMrYVK3Rh9Fllm4VR

Whiskers anyone...

Jingles saw daddy shaving today,

and that silly little elf,

she thought SHE should be shaving too!

 

The kids are gonna love this one...

The kids are going to love what Jingles was up to last night.

Jingles decided that the house needed EVEN MORE christmas cheer, so she turned the milk in the fridge green!

I guess she thinks Santa will like the green milk.

I sure hope the girls will, ha!

Jingles the acrobat...

Jingles thought it would be fun to try out his acrobat skills and impress Mady.

He took it upon himself to hang from the light above the table, you know, so he could watch the girls eat their lunch and dinner and make sure they're being good.



Oh, and note to Jingles for next year...no more writing on the windows with toothpaste, that stuff is a b*tch to get off!!

More Elf antics...

Well, Jingles is at it again!

This time, she decided to take Mady's toothpaste and write her a message on her mirror for when she wakes up!

It's partly in honor of Mady's first dentist visit too!!

That tricky elf, how does she know about that?!

It must be St. Nick!

Jingles being silly...

Jingles decided to have a little fun today.

He took it upon himself to invite fashion barbie, ballerina barbie and snow white to a photo shoot!

Of course, they had to do their best poses for the camera!

That crazy elf, what will be next?!

Some highlights from our trip...

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Jingles sometimes sucks up...

Jingles was at it again for day 3.

She decided that she would do a little sucking up to Santa, you know, so she could get on the good list too!
She colored a picture of her favorite "big guy" and she's going to take it back to the North Pole with her tomorrow night.

Jingles having fun...

Today, when the girls got up, they went out in search of where Jingles was for the day.

Jingles was hiding on our window frame, getting a check-up from Doc McStuffins.
Mady, Em and I have been sick the past few days (just coughs), so Jingles thought it would be a good idea if she got a check-up to make sure she isn't getting sick too!

And i'm back...

Wow, it's been a really long time since i've blogged!
What the heck Stacey?!?!
Well, i have a lot to catch up on.
I'll try to get to all of it this week at some point.
Let's start with the newest addition to our family...

This is Jingles.
She's our Elf on the Shelf.
For those of you that don't know, an elf on the shelf is a little visitor that Santa sends down from the North Pole.
The elf then watches over your child and flys back to the north pole while your child is sleeping to report on how your child is behaving.
Then, when they fly back for the morning, they move to a new spot in the house.
Sometimes, they get into mischief, sometimes they just hang out and watch.
Jingles arrived the day we got back from our Florida vacation.
She was just chillin on the tv with her book, waiting for us to get home.

Mady's art...

Here is Mady's picture she drew today. If you cant tell, its Santa on his sleigh with his bag of toys, with some reindeer pulling him so he can deliver them. I have been ordered to include this in her letter to Santa, ha!

Clearing out...

You would think, after our last post about the big storm that hit our area, that this would be a post about cleaning up and clearing out around our house...
But it's not...entirely.
Because of the storm, we were stuck in the house for 3 days.
This gave me a great chance to look around at all the clutter...and it made me shudder.
We had this HUGE pile of toys on our living room floor.
I thought it was good for the girls to have a bunch of toys to play with.
But in reality, they didn't play with half of them.
So, out came the garbage bags yesterday.
I started weeding through the toys, and i took out things that neither girl has ever played with, i took out things that Mady played with when she was a baby and that Em never showed any interest in, and i took out all the little toys that we seemed to accumulate over the years from party gift bags and such...and i put them all in a garbage bag.
We are taking them to the Salvation Army.
I feel bad, getting rid of a bunch of toys.
Mostly because people bought them for the girls, and because i feel like our future kids may be interest in playing with them even if our current kids aren't.
And the second i said that out loud, i felt like i should be on one of those hoarder shows on tv.
Which makes it even more evident that the toys should go.
There will be plenty of Christmas's, plenty of birthday's, and plenty of special occasions where we (and others) can buy the girls toys that they will play with.
And when a new baby comes along, we can buy them new toys to play with.
I have to go through the toys scattered in the girls rooms, and the toys that have been in the basement since we moved here (gee, if that's not a sign they can go to needy families, i don't know what is), and then off to the sal val they go!
Unless someone knows of a better place to take them, where they will benefit more kids?!
It's nice to have some of my floor back, even if it's only for 2 months before Christmas gets here!
I always feel so much better after a good clean up and declutter :)

Bracing...

I just wanted to wish all my friends and family along the east coast safety during this hurricane.
Please be ready, and if there is anything you need, don't hesitate to call or come over.
We have done our best to prepare for this storm, but there is no telling what could happen when it finally hits us.
We will be keeping you all in our prayers.
<3 p="p" stiffies="stiffies" the="the"> 

A look back...

Halloween over the years...

Happy Halloween...

Happy Birthday baby!!

Happy birthday to my first born, always my baby, one of the 2 reasons i wake up every day, one of the 3 best things that have ever happened to me. I love you more than you will ever know.

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It finally happened...

It finally happened to me.
It's only taken 15 years.
That's right people,
I've been called for JURY DUTY!!
I know what you're thinking,
"Who would be excited for jury duty?!"
The answer is, this girl right here!!
I've always wanted to be on a murder trial jury like on tv and in the movies.
You know, where they sequester the jurors for a few days,
bring your meals to you in a room,
and you get to make real, awesome decisions.
I know that's not what's going to happen here.
It'll probably be something stupid like a child support case or something...
but i can hope, right?!
I mailed in my form today, so i'm hoping to hear soon!!
Yay me!

Birthday boy...

Today i want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my hubby.
My other half,
the one who gets me the most,

the one who i can't wait to call to tell everything to,
the one that i want to kill the most,

the one who can push all my buttons and make me the maddest ever,
the one who can make me the happiest ever,

the one that agrees with me even when i'm being unreasonable,
the one that would back me to the end even if i'm wrong,

the cutest, sweetest, stubbornest, kindest, most spoiled guy i know (even though he doesn't think so)
Hope you have the best day, and many many many more!
I ♥ you!!