The Elf on the Shelf

Last week at school a little girl on the playground tugged on my sleeve and told me she had a secret to share. She pulled my face down to her and whispered into my ear, "Santa is coming to my house!"

"Really?!" I responded. She just looked up at me with the biggest grin. Of course I promised not to give away her secret.

This sweet moment reminded me how magical Christmas is for children. Believing in something magical makes the holidays all the more special and exciting. I remember when I believed in Santa Clause. In fact, I was afraid of him. I was so worried that he would find me awake on Christmas Eve (too excited to fall asleep, of course) that he wouldn't leave me any gifts. (I was also nervous about a strange magical old man coming into my house at night.) When I shared this story with my class one child said, "But Miss Kat, you don't have to be scared. Santa's nice." This reassuring response warmed my heart.

Many of my students also believe in Santa's elves. Several have The Elf on the Shelf at home and come in to school with stories of how they found their elves hiding in silly places. You see, the elf is one of Santa's helpers sent to children's homes to keep an eye out to see who's "naughty or nice." He moves around at night and can be found in a new place each morning. But you can't touch him or he loses his magic and has to return to the North Pole. So with all the excitement about the Elf on the Shelf I decided to adopt an elf for our classroom!

Tomorrow my kiddos will be surprised to find our very own Elf perched somewhere in our classroom. I'm so excited to see their reaction!

It's common that as people grow older they stop believing in magic. One of the best parts of working with children everyday is seeing that the magic still exists for them. Sometimes it's fun to just believe.

Oh, Audrey.

These are quite possibly the sweetest, most romantic photos ever.

Is it weird that I want to recreate these with Trevor and I? I'm certain that I'm small enough to fit inside his coat...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I realize that I haven't shared any photos from Thanksgiving yet, which was a beautiful warm day at Trevor's moms'. Those will come. But I couldn't resist posting a few photos of our festive holiday decorations. Christmas this year is especially exciting because it's the first one that I live in my own apartment, in a new town with a job and a car...like a real grown-up :)

Our first tree! I thought it looked pretty cute atop the Forester :)

Home with our tree


Pesto was trying to help me make the tree skirt.

Trev got into the spirit and decorated his guitars.

I made stockings for everyone in our "family". Plaid flannel was the obvious theme and each of us have a personalized applique.

Stockings hung with care :)

Our tree!

Pesto LOVES the tree!

So that's the beginning of our holiday cheer. I'll be going home to celebrate Christmas with my family in Florida but we'll have our own little celebration here before then. There's been talk of a holiday cocktail party at our place...I love the holiday season!

Back in the day...

I found this video on my computer today while looking through old forgotten files. Trevor made it for me a few years ago. It's crazy to think about how we lived apart for so long and now I never have to worry about when we'll see eachother again. I know it will be every day :)

Self-Indulgence

This is the last birthday-related post, I promise. But I couldn't help purchasing this Kate Spade bag on the one-day-only sample sale. My birthday (and the incredible price) were my excuses.

The Mott Street Sammie in Deep Sea

Pesto

Just when I thought my birthday couldn't get any better, Trevor suprised me with his gift to me. A KITTEN! Rather than just give me a kitten, he wanted me to be a part of finding the perfect little fella. After visiting a few cat shelters, we were sure that we wanted to adopt a baby kitten so that we could experience raising it and watching it grow up. We found our perfect little guy on Craigslist. A family's cat had a litter of kittens, more than they could keep, so they were giving them away. That's how we found Pesto :)

Pesto is playful, gentle, and loves to snuggle. The perfect cat for us :)

Plus, he's super adorable!

<3

24

October 23rd, 2011, the day I turned 24, was a wonderful day. Actually, the entire weekend of my birthday was pretty fantastic. My Mom, Dad, and brother Jonathan flew up from Florida to celebrate with me! Here are a few snapshots from our weekend. (And by "a few" I mean a lot...there were too many that just had to be shared :)

My family arrived on Friday afternoon. that night Trevor and I took them to Federal Hill, the Italian district of Providence for an authentic Italian dinner. We had amazing fresh pasta and delicious sangria.

After dinner we went to Pastiche, a pastry shop and cafe that has the most divine sweets I've tasted since moving to New England. (Also, Trevor happens to be doing some promo work for them.) It is from this shop that Jon tried his very first cannoli. I know, I couldn't believe it either. How could he have never had a cannoli before?? He loved it!


On Saturday we went to Lexington, MA to visit my aunt and uncle as well as my cousins who traveled in for the occasion as well. My aunt Lynne is a fabulous artist. Here she is sharing some of her more recent work with my mom.



After lunch in Lexington, we all went into Boston for the day. While walking around my aunt showed us The Advent School...one of the first places she taught. Here my mom peeks into this charming building that is pretty much my dream school.


You can't visit Boston without going to the Boston Public Garden. And you can't go to the Public Garden without visiting the ducks from the beloved children's book, "Make Way for Ducklings"...

...or taking pictures under the pretty trees.

Mom: "Christmas card photooooo!"

On the train back to the parking garage after another divine Italian dinner.

Clockwise from bottom left: Mom, cousin Jason, cousin Julia, Aunt Lynne

October 23rd
Sunday was by birthday. Trevor and I took my family to Newport, one of the first places I fell in love with when I first started visiting Rhode Island years ago.

While driving around sight-seeing, we passed by a field of animals. While the llamas weren't very social (to my disappointment), the donkeys were quite friendly.

Newport is a big boating town and my dad loved seeing all the pretty sailboats. Since he's looking to buy a new boat, he even decided to extend his visit here to look at boats around New England.

Jon taking in the "majestic" (as my dad described it) rocky coastline of Newport.

I can never leave Newport without bringing home some rocks for my collection.

This little lighthouse is probably my favorite place in Newport.

Also, while in Newport, I received a surprise birthday phone call from my dearest friend, Emily! She called me from Guatemala just to wish me a Happy Birthday!

That evening we went to Trevor's mom's house in Hopkinton for my birthday dinner. Deb is the ultimate entertainer and gourmet chef. She made my birthday feel like a truly special day and it was just perfect to have my family and Trev's family together in one place for the first time EVER.

While Trev's brother and sister-in-law were away in Thailand they left their kitten, Chip with Deb to take care of. He was tiny and so adorable. And yes, that is a birthday crown I'm wearing. It wouldn't be a birthday party without festive hats!

Blowing out the candles on my birthday cupcakes.

What a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Thank you to everyone who made is so special <3