Photography Tales from Land, City and Sea: December 2013

So, if you follow our blog, you may remember from this post or this post that we LOVE the tradition of "Elf on a Shelf" during Christmas time. You may also remember that my husband and I took a belated anniversary trip to none other than the most magical place on earth and took our elf along for the ride to surprise our kids with fun pictures while we were away. Here is a recap of those pictures and more from this past month:

We are all about traditions in our family and some of our favorite Christmas ones (besides the Elf...) are new jammies each year, homemade cocoa, our hometown's Christmas parade and more. We've even added a new tradition this year - the kids drew names in order to buy one gift for a sibling. We're one step closer to thinking outside of themselves during the holiday season and more about sharing & giving.

But hands down, our favorite tradition, includes cranking up some holiday tunes with the Christmas lights all turned on, a toasty fire in the fireplace and BAKING altogether. This year included gingerbread cookies (to share AND for Santa...) and a birthday cake for Jesus!

Our prayer this year for you all is that you have a peaceful, warm and magical Christmastime - shared with the love of family and friends, good food and the joy of giving -not just material things but of yourself and the beauty within you! We look forward to a beautiful New Year and sharing it with MANY of you as you celebrate your milestones with Plumb Photography!

So, because my husband and I are leaving for a belated Anniversary trip tomorrow, we'll be taking somewhat of a break from our Elf on a Shelf shenanigans. I say "somewhat" in the most loose way possible. We are actually just a bunch of big, corny kids at heart and chose this year to spend our anniversary in Disney World. Before you freak out and start feeling sorry for our poor, pitiful, left behind children, or start judging our childish trip choices: we took the loinfruit TWICE to WDW last year and as much as we'd like to cross off some of the other places on our bucket lists, Italy is just not in the budget this year....

Having said that, this post is not about Disney as much as it is about what our elf, "Belle", has been up to since the infamous North Pole breakfast. Apparently, she thought Florida was going to be super warm and much to her surprise, she was more chilled than expected. Though no snow was to be found, that didn't stop her from having a few "snow games" and knitting herself a sweater to keep warm on these past, frosty mornings. On the first day back to school after Thanksgiving break, she reminded the kids to "BE GOOD" and, much like you'd be apt to find me on a particularly stressful day, we found her face first in a bag of chocolate chips. This morning, the kids surprisingly figured out that "Belle" and some of her new found princess friends had been partying and dancing to the "YMCA".

Now, tomorrow, when our children wake up at their Mema and Pepa's house - they will find some Disney-ish treats waiting for them along with a note and THIS photo:

They actually don't know that their sneaky parents have gone to DISNEY of all places for their romantic getaway but for the next 5 days, they'll be getting regular email/text photos via their grandparents of their feisty little elf "Belle" hanging out in Walt Disney World. Maybe she'll even find the MOUSE! Make sure you follow us on Instagram (plumbphotography) to keep up with the fun! See ya real soon!