Thursday, December 4, 2014

North Pole Breakfast 2014

This past Saturday our elf, Buddy, came back for the season and he brought his traditional North Pole Breakfast. ;)

Buddy REALLY enjoys decorating and making fun and pretty memories for Luke, Mason and Griffin ;)







Buddy always brings powdered sugar and chocolate donuts and he likes to make them festive with cute little toppers (ps - he may have picked up the red sparkley ones on a Valentine's clearance table) ;)





The little tree is from Griffin's room and this year he stepped it up with some snow balls, deco mesh and a Ruby Wrap as a topper.





All of the dishes are from Hobby Lobby in 2012 when this tradition started.


 The table was packed, so he set up a cute little hot cocoa station over by the stove...



The kids came in and IMMEDIATELY changed into their PJS (sidenote - these are by Hanna Andersson and are the softest, best pajamas of all time.  I snagged these on a clearance table last Spring - because I am crazy and think about Christmas stuff in May. hahaha)


 Lots of jumping and squealing - and this was pre-sugar ;)


Each kid had a present at their place setting...

... a Christmas movie to add to our collection!

Griffin LOOOOOVES her some Princess Sofia ;)


Then it was time to CHOW!


Just a "few" marshmallows ;)

Mason insisted on taking all the toppers and putting them onto his donut. ;)


In the little gift boxes each of the kids got a special ornament from Buddy.  He always picks something that represents the year and this year's ornament signified Luke's love affair with bacon ;)

Chef Mason got a mixer and little miss got a sparkly shoe.





 This morning might be better than Christmas morning for me ;)  I love the surprise, the excitement and the "magic" that comes with them thinking that Buddy brought the whole thing and set it all up for them.  I will say - I definitely don't do this for the glory... because a plush elf gets all the credit, but I have an absolute blast setting it all up. 

So, do y'all do elf on the shelf?  Does he/she make a grand entrance???

Happy Thursday, peeps!

47 comments :

  1. Love this! Such a fun tradition and festive memories for your kids. We always go see Santa on Black Friday night (the mall is crowded but Santa is empty!) and when we get home, our elf is waiting for us with a basket of Christmas books wrapped up. The girls open a book each night to read. Maybe next year Fizbo, our elf, will bring a special breakfast or dinner with the books. :-)

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  2. This is always one of my VERY favorite things you do!!! I love, love, love this!

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  3. I love your North Pole breakfast idea - so creative and festive! You do a wonderful job making the holidays fun for your children and creating memories that will last a lifetime for them. You asked if others do Elf and we do an alternative called Christmas Angel. She is an angel doll and like Elf, she comes with a book, but her book tells the story of the birth of Jesus and encourages kids to give to others. Like Elf you hide her everyday but her hiding places focus more on encouraging kids to give. For example I hide her in my pantry with message to choose couple canned foods to donate to local pantry, or I hide her in my daughter's "writing center" area with a message to make and send a card to someone who is sick, or I hide her near my baking supplies with message to bake cookies to give to her teacher. We like the fun ideas of Elf but I didn't want my daughter to get too caught up in behaving good to receive gifts so we chose the Christmas Angel doll to encourage her to give more during holiday season although you could use Elf to encourage giving. But my daughter thinks the angel doll is prettier than Elf :)

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  4. Love those pjs on the kids-- congrats on another magical North Pole breakfast Andrea!

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  5. Andrea, where do you find your childrens' cute ornaments? They are so unique. I don't know where to look, other than Hallmark and Hobby Lobby! Thanks!

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  6. So, so sweet!! I love your North Pole breakfast!! Good job, friend!

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  7. Hanna Anderson is a wardrobe staple for my kids. There will be a big sale late this month and the other is in May usually.

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  8. You are an amazing mother! I never had children but if I had I would want to be just like you! Your children are truly blessed that they will have these memories the rest of their lives. I absolutely love reading your blog every day. Merry Christmas!

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  9. Adorable! I love seeing your kid tables!
    Lynn

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  10. It all looks so great! This is our first year with the elf, and though it stresses me out every night what to do with it, the sheer excitement on Olivia's face each morning makes it all worth it! Happy Thursday!!!!

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  11. I love your blog- I've been reading a long time (but this is my first comment) (Hi!) This is GORGEOUS AND SO FUN. You have a great talent and skill for making things pretty. Even down to the tags on the gifts. Really impressive. You are a fun mom. Great job.
    Kelly in Michigan

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  12. What a great post! You have such creativity and flair Andrea. Can I be one of your kids?

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  13. Andrea- You were made to be a mom! How fun are you?!?! We do a north pole breakfast too but out little elf is not as creative as yours ;)

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  14. I have been waiting to read about this since Thanksgiving :) It looks adorable! We don't do the Elf, but the kids do get new Christmas jammies, movies, and books on Thanksgiving night to kick off the Christmas season. But, I am thinking next year we will have to change the tradition and do a Christmas breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving because my kids would absolutely LOVE waking up to this!!!!

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  15. this is BEST!!! our elf was here from thanksgiving eve to December 1st and then headed back to the North Pole to start making presents. ha!! but in reality, i didn't
    to prepare enough as to how to balance out being good because elfie was watching and making good choices because we love Jesus. so it just felt odd. but NEXT YEAR this momma is gonna be r e a d y!!! I loooooved thinking of what he was gonna be up to every night. and now this post makes me wish he was still here!! ;)

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  16. I absolutely LOVE this. I am taking some serious notes from you girl. When I have kids, I want to do all of these adorable, memorable FABULOUS things! The pic of all the kiddos in their jammies is so precious. love love love it!!

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  17. We had an elf breakfast this year after reading your post from last year. I have two girls - 5 & 3. They had a blast!! Thanks for the idea!!!

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  18. Can I come live with you too???

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  19. Loved your post today. I also blogged today about our Elves! I love every detail and I know your kids were over the moon!
    Have a blessed day!

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  20. I love this post. Our elf is new this year. I enjoyed reading the book from him and next year plan a grand entrance. I love following your blog your home is so beautiful.
    Amanda
    http://uniquelyunfolded.com

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  21. Hi! When do you do this? The first day of December? The first weekend of December? Just curious!

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  22. I learned about this tradition from your blog, and we had our first North Pole Breakfast this year. Our elf Harry and three of his elf friends set the whole thing up for my son and some of his cousins. It was the most magical thing I have ever seen! Thanks so much for introducing me to this great tradition! (Yes, all the work is worth it, even when the credit goes to a little stuffed toy.) I love your decorations this year! And love those pajamas too!

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  23. He always has come in just by moving....but I made notes from you last year and made a North Pole breakfast :) Complete with matching notes from yours!! Thanks for the ideas! My kids LOVED this year's opening morning!

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  24. I love all of this. Can I come to your breakfast too?

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  25. Soooo sweet and one day when they are adults you will get to hear them talk about all of these memories when they see the ornaments. Those will trigger some wonderful stories of "remember when?" While I don't envy your extra work- you do a great job and the joy on the kids' faces is the best! It is all darling! 💓

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  26. Love it! You did such a great job. What wonderful memories you are creating. Those pajamas are so adorable.

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  27. I just LOVE your North Pole Breakfast that you do each year....you are too stinkin creative and fun!!!! The looks on the kids faces is just priceless and what makes it all worth it!

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  28. SO FUN! Mason's eyes look like they are about to pop out of his head! Soooo cute!

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  29. You. Are. Awesome. I wish I had your creativity skills! Love love love your North Pole Breakfast! :)

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  30. You are so so creative! I just love all your ideas. Your children are super blessed to have such a fun momma ;)

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  31. Those pj's....so cute! And your table set up is adorable. Enjoy every second before you know it they will be rolling their eyes and wanting to be "big".

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  32. We did have a little welcome back breakfast as well with donuts and milk, new pj's, and an ornament :) I need to stock up on all that cool decor and pj's after Christmas! This looks amazing and so much fun for the kiddos!

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  33. Aww this post makes me happy! You are such an inspirational mama!! I love your kids' reactions

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  34. Oh my word!!! You are amazing with all the little/ big things you do. :)

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  35. We had our first ever North Pole breakfast this year and it was a huge hit!! It is definitely going to become a family tradition!

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  36. For the last two years ours has brought breakfast, thanks to you and your blog ;). The kids love it!! Of course ours isn't nearly as creative, haha!! Unfortunately, my 8 year old is getting a little skeptical of "Benji" and I don't want it to ruin Santa for her, so I'm thinking this will be his last year at our house! I'm sad but it's been a fun 5 years!!

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  37. This is so cute! Looks like your little ones had a great time. Little guy is to young for elf on the shelf yet but when the time comes we are going to have so much fun with him!

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  38. How sweet!!! Makes me wish I'd done something similar when my girls were young. Oh well, maybe someday I'll have Grandkids to treat! Super job, Andrea!

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  39. Tatum's future toddler self and her future siblings thank you for their future Christmas traditions! Hahaha! You are amazing!

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  40. Love it all and last year;s post totally inspired me to welcome our elf Buddy with a Northpole Breakfast this year and it is so magical for the kids!!

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  41. My kids are grown and out at college and already on their careers so I do not have an Elf but I do get a kick out of seeing all of you mom's and your shenanigans! And no, I am not sorry that the Elf wasn't around when my kids were little! You do a fabulous job Andrea! Keep enjoying them because soon they arent little anymore :(

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  42. So all of your kids are very very adorable but Griffin smiling in her little onesie?! My heart melted in a puddle on the floor. They are such a gift! And you're a great mom.

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  43. This was the first year I did the North Pole breakfast and it was a HIT!!! I was so excited I could barely sleep and the sweet faces when they saw it all..priceless!!! for sure an every year thing! ;)

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