How to Throw a North Pole Breakfast & Elf on the Shelf

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  Jingle our elf returned last weekend and we celebrated with a North Pole Breakfast.  I look forward to throwing this breakfast nearly all year long.  I try to come up with a bit of new decor and new breakfast ideas.  The girls love it and I love seeing their joy.  This year I made Santa pancakes and Jingle brought snow covered donuts.  I found the vibrant placemats from Target.

Every year Jingle brings the girls a few gifts and I'm always looking for new ideas to give him.  This year I passed along the new magical Christmas books from Hooray Heroes.  They are the cutest personalized books which the girls got a total kick out of.  They immediately compared their avatar on the front of the book and then started thumbing through the pages.  Not only can you customize the hero you also can choose ten stories to include in the book and write a personalized inscription on the inside.

I love the idea of the elf but my gosh I struggle with remembering to move him.  I can't tell you how many times I've just settled into bed and then I remember he hasn't moved.  Even worse is when I completely forget and the girls wake up and say, "Mom can we go look for Jingle?!?!?"  I have a mini heart attack in that moment.  In order to help myself and hopefully a few others I've created a calendar (below) to take all the guess work out. They are simple ideas and easy to execute.

Wishing everyone a very magical Christmas season.  I'm hoping to slow down and enjoy time together making memories.

See our North Pole Breakfast from other years:

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

This is a sponsored post. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that have received my stamp of approval.

An American Girl Birthday Party-Emily's 7th Birthday

I think it's every little girl's dream to go shopping at American Girl and even more magical to have a birthday party at the store.  Emily was super blessed on her Golden Birthday to experience just that.  Emily celebrated in the most special way with a birthday weekend away with family and friends.  

A birthday party at American Girl is held in the private cafe which is sweet, girly and inviting.  The birthday table is fit for a pink princess where every girl had a seat, plate and crown for her doll.  The girls got to take their American Girl Dolls to the hair salon where each doll got a special hairstyle from an in store stylist.  While the dolls were getting a new do, the girls worked on crafts including a mask for their dolls.  The party coordinator then played a game of telephone with the girls.  No party would be complete without cake and ice cream and singing to the birthday girl.  Each guest went home with a WellieWisher favor bag and after the party fun the girls started their shopping in the store for their dolls.

Emily's party was a WellieWishers deluxe party which was 90 minutes long and for a group up to 8 people.  There are other party options which you can find more details HERE.  I was so impressed from start to finish with the attention to detail, the care of the party coordinator and the amount of joy that came from the party.  It's the kind of party that just brings a smile to your face the whole time.  Watching these girls experience the magic with their dolls was just the sweetest experience.

A birthday party at American Girl is unique and truly memorable.  Emily and her guests had the best time and it was one that I'm sure she will remember for a lifetime.  

For Emily's actual birthday she woke up to a special breakfast and for dinner we had pizza and cupcakes with the grandparents.  Both of which are birthday traditions in our family. 

This is a sponsored post.  All opinions expressed are honest and my own.  Thank you for supporting the brands and companies that have received my stamp of approval.

Visiting Santa at HGTV's Santa HQ

You can forget about the days of standing in a long boring line to visit Santa!  HGTV offers you Santa HQ which is an interactive experience like no other.  We've been visiting Santa HQ in Fashion Fair Mall for several years and it's become a tradition we look forward to every year now.  Santa HQ features not only the traditional Santa experience but also the Naughty or Nice Meter, Elfie Selfie, Elf Academy, The Magic Mirror, Elf-ID, Elf-Ray Vision and a light show.  I love how Santa HQ adds something new every year to keep it fresh and exciting.  

Halloween 2018

I'm definitely behind on sharing our Halloween fun but I'm actually quite impressed with how much we accomplished while having a brand new baby.  We got to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins and enjoy fair food and carnival rides.  We carved pumpkins, decorated a haunted house, attended a Fall Festival and I made it to both school parties.  We spent Halloween with great friends and even dressed up in a family costume.  We love celebrating all holidays and so glad we still got to enjoy this Halloween season.