Dash's Adventures - Part Deux!

You may remember where we left off with our little elfin friend, Dash.  The last we had seen him, he was hanging out in the freezer next to the peppermint icecream feelin' a tad bit homesick.  Well, he has had many rendezvous in various parts of our home since then!  Here is the follow up on his divers adventures:

Being an elf, I guess Dash is prone to a little mischief.  You do remember the toilet papering, don't you?   Thus one morning we found all of our Christmas stockings replaced with our underwear! Seeing as Lydia's not potty trained, Dash was thoughtful enough to use a diaper in her place.  He's so silly...

Did you know that elf's enjoy coffee?  They do.  Particularly Starbucks.  And no, I did not get paid by Starbucks to write that...

Dash took Rapunzel for a night ride around the tree.  Hope Flynn Ryder doesn't find out! 

That afternoon I found THIS lechery!  So mama bear had to "rescue" Dash again and thus, that night he couldn't fly back to the North Pole and stayed put on my desk in the office for a whole 24hours! 

The next morning, we found him here - he was either recovering from the loss of magic the day before OR he was having sympathy symptoms for Ava who had been up all night with a stomach bug.  He stayed like this for two days....

However, when he came back - he was back in FULL force!  He brought presents for the kiddos and it was their annual pajamas!  He is so thoughtful...

Back in the sugar again.... which I was sort of grateful for.  He definitely helped clean out a lot of sugar from our house that we certainly didn't need to eat...

We think he got scared from all the sugar he had eaten and was worried he may end up with cavities after the holidays so we found him brushing his teeth and making all sorts of a mess with the toothpaste!  At least he'll have healthy chompers!

Dash must've known we had gone to visit the local live Nativity Scene or overheard us reading the Christmas story for we found him the next morning coloring in Lulu's book from church.  Jesus is the true REASON!!

Dash still likes to have a little fun.  We found him swinging from the fan the next day - either that, or he was working on his arm muscles - they're pretty much nonexistent...

Who knew Darth was such a fun spirit during the holidays!  A good ole' fashioned game of "cottonball" fight was ensueing the next morning.  As long as they cleaned up, I didn't mind...

The next day we found a photobooth party goin' on in our kitchen!  I guess Rapunzel wasn't available for "serious" 50's Barbie was the one partaking in the fun this time.  I found the following on my camera later that afternoon...

Naughty elf...!

Dash was still in the smooching mood the next morning for we found him in a makeshift kissing booth! 

So glad he thought of our sweet little chocolate-less Ava - peppermint kisses just for her! 

Lulu was caught hanging around, waiting for a kiss... 

Thanks to Amy over at Living Locurto for the photobooth and kissing booth printables!

The next morning was CHRISTMAS DAY and instead of finding Dash hiding anywhere up to no good, we found our cookies nibbled and all the milk drunk and a letter from Santa Claus himself!!!  We are going to miss our mischievous Dash but are looking forward to seeing him again next year.  

Hope you all had a WONDERFUL, magical Christmas full of love and joy!!  

View more elfish antics over at Lil Blue Boo!

"Ev'rybody's asking me, Wh'ose that bunch of personality? I'm presenting you right now Baby, take a bow! "

I have been taking photos for this sweet family of cuteness for a little over a year and a half now.  I just adore their big personalities - I always have a blast whenever I'm around them, I never leave without a smile!  Here is a sneak at their most recent family/cupcake session:
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I love how even big brother got to get in on the yummy cake action!

"no one's gonna hurt you, not anymore, ever since I've met you I've come to adore you"

It was so much fun photographing this couple and their "baby" - their dog.  Such a beautiful creature too!  In the midst of conversation, it turned out that we knew some mutual people - and they're not even from around here!  Just goes to prove what a small world we live in!!

Dash's Adventures - Week 1

So you remember our little elf, Dash.  You can read how he came to our house here.  Here is a rundown of his first week in the Bloxson house (God bless him for dealing with MY three kiddos!)

 Poor Dash's first night breaking back into our home was rudely interrupted by some concerned Lego citizens who must've thought he was a burglar of some sort.  We found them holding him hostage the next poor and because we can't touch Dash for risk of him losing his magic, we had to leave him to his own devices the following night.

 There were some interesting characters in the Lego pack - of course it was headed up by none other than Darth Vader!  I especially loved to see the beachy Johny Depp-ish French dude and the polar bear from LOST all out for the show - it's nice to know we're so strongly protected.

 The second night, as we were preparing for bed, we heard a knock on the door.  We opened the door to find a dozen donuts, a wrapped present and a note on our doorstep!  The left side of the note read, " Dear Bloxsons.  Thanks for the warm welcome.  I can't wait for our fun Christmas season.  I hope you enjoy donuts as much as us elves!  I love you - Dash -" I guess the Lego people didn't scare him off too bad...

The right side of the note read, "the present is for Mrs. Ali for taking care of me!"  I opened the gift to find a new pair of running shoes!  It was a such a surprise and a delightful night off for me, uh, I mean "Dash" to have the Christmas magic taken care of by someone else!   To our "secret friend" - we enjoyed our donuts immensely!  I think even Dash had some....

 The next morning, we found Dash like this!  We suppose he was reminiscing of his snowy hometown.  Notice the little elfin footprints we tracked to the flour sack.

That night we went to the Christmas parade and the next morning, we found this!

 Somebody sure does love candy!!  He even picked out some beads to wear - red & green, his favorite colors in the world!

The sweet cravings continued on as we proceeded to find Dash sipping syrup in the fridge the next day!  I think all the sugar was getting to his head, that silly ole' elf!

Finally getting along with the local community!  We found him playing a friendly game of Connect 4 with one of Ava's Lalaloopsy dolls.  I wonder who was winning?

They both seem pretty happy with the results of the game.

Somebody else that day found Dash...

The next morning, we found Dash on my laptop writing a note home to Santa Claus.

An exert from what he wrote :

"Dear Santa,
Dash here!  Just wanted to write you a quick email since I can't fly all the way back to the North Pole tonight.  There was a baby here today that my family kept calling "Puppy" or something who got a hold of me  so I lost a little of my magic.  Thankfully, Mama B. rescued me and put me on the mantle just in the "nick" of time!...."

He went on to rave (and rant a little) about each kiddo - hopefully Santa doesn't switch anybody to the naughty list after reading it.   Notice the tootsie roll wrapper next to him.  Even elf's like "poor man's chocolate".

That night, Ethan and Ava each had a friend to sleepover and I think all the giddiness and nighttime prank playing gave Dash a touch of mischief.  We found our tree TP'ed the next morning - though I don't think our kiddos get the idea of  TP'ing very much.  They thought Dash was trying to help "decorate" the tree.

It has been very warm this month so far; not very Christmas-y by elf standards one little bit.  I think Dash needed a little reminder of his hometown last night for we found him in the freezer this morning next to the Peppermint ice cream!  He even had on his own lil' scarf - who knew our sweet Dash had an eye for blue!!

Hope you've enjoyed reading about our elfin friend's adventures so far.  Stay tuned for next weekend to read more of his fun!

'if you believe in magic come along with me we'll dance until morning, just you and me'...

Do you all have special Christmas traditions in your family?  We are slowly building ours as our family has grown through the years.  We only just started doing anything related to Santa after Ava was born!  This is our first year doing "Elf on the Shelf".  I am a very imaginative person and like the "idea" of magic and the unknown.  Isaac and I both grew up not doing any sort of secular holiday traditions which was fine but now we are sort of living out our childhoods through our own children and having lots of fun with it!  Ethan is still skeptical about whether he believes in magic - he always questions me in whispers,  "Was it really you mom?"   When it all boils down to it, we tell our kids that Santa, and elves and Christmas magic are all only real "in our imaginations" and that it's okay to use our imaginations and play pretend.  We are very big in teaching our children the true Christmas story and about giving and thinking of others, not only during the holiday season but all throughout the year! They also know that it's not necessarily a big fat man, dresssed in red breaking into our home who brings them their presents - it's their parents and family who invest a lot of thought and love into the gifts they give. In the meantime, I truly enjoy "believing" in Christmas magic and reliving my childhood through the sparkle in my children's eyes!

You can follow along with our Elf's adventures, whom my children named Dash (even though I really thought he looked more like a "Fred"); I'll be doing weekly photo updates of his midnight adventures!

This is how Dash arrived at our house:

When I tried adjusting the basket for optimum photographing, Dash fell out and as Lulu picked him up, we all simultaneously shouted out because, you know, if you touch the elf, he might lose his magic!!  Thankfully, Lydia is so cute, I think Santa will forgive her of her innocent mistake.... He might not be so lenient for Ava though who was found coloring on the walls....AND the TV...AND the TV stand and remote control and floors...

Welcome to our home, Dash!  Hope you enjoy your stay...

'my sun is art, as art as me' ..... fort walton beach photography

My sun is round and high.

It dwells on me,

encircles my head and my heart.

My sun is art,

as art as me. - Deidre Price

I went on a nature walk yesterday - in my yard - while babies slept peacefully inside.  It was too pretty of a day to stay indoors.  Autumn is so inspiring to me - I don't typically walk around taking photos of flowers and leaves - it's really not all that much my style.  But I was hopelessly compelled - drawn as it was to do that very thing - those tumbling leaves uttering their last whispers to me - calling me like a siren's song.  I'm not that wordy - anymore, that is - so I'll let the photos speak for themselves. (taken around dusk with minimal editing - mostly subtle texture overlays).