Gone Fishin'

Clearly, Gumdrop's mind is already on his upcoming holidays.

Ahhhh, just an elf, his candy-cane fishing pole, and the deep, blue sea.

We've had a good run here, Gumdrop. Enjoy your off-season once Santa takes you back to the North Pole tonight. You've earned it!!

Hot Wheels!

We celebrated McQueen Christmas a few days ago. Declan has never been a huge fan of cars, but he got this little Hot Wheels carrying case and he's suddenly a fan. He filled this little case up to the brim with cars, pulled it around behind him all night, and parked it beside his bed when he went to sleep.

Naturally, Gumdrop wanted to get in on the action as well. He snuck into Dec's room and pulled the cars into the living room!

All Wrapped Up

Look at that mischievous little face! I <3 gumdrop="gumdrop" span="span">

I finally got around to wrapping up some presents the other night, and I guess Gumdrop paid attention to where I stash the ribbons and bows.

High-Tech Elf

Talia loves playing on my tablet, or as she calls it, my phone. She sometimes pitifully says "I wish I had my very own phone" on a day when I say no to her request to play on it. She's getting a LeapPad2 for Christmas, hopefully that will fit the bill as a phone of her very own. Because I will never get a chance on my tablet if Talia, Declan, and Gumdrop all want a turn with mine!

Trapped

Once upon a time, Mommy & Daddy got married. It was the end of November so our decor was kind of Christmasy. The table favours were Christmas ornaments with our names & the date on them. Naturally tons were left on the tables afterward, and even though I didn't really want to ever see another silver Christmas ball ever again, somebody gathered them all up and we came home to a box of them when we got back from our honeymoon. So naturally, I filled a vase with them and they have been part of our Christmas decorations ever since.

Apparently Gumdrop thought they were pretty sweet and last night he wanted to get a closer look. Too bad, looks like he got too close and fell in.

Trapped in a glass box, like a really, really unlucky mime.

Crafty

Okay, I admit it. We've had a long run with Gumdrop this year. The day after he switched the stockings for gitchies, he *might* have forgotten to move. Fortunately Daddyo saved the day and herded the 3 Raine Circus into the potty, giving Gumdrop time to hop down off the mantle into Talia's stocking.  (And in all the excitement I *might* have forgotten to take a picture of him.)

But he seems to have recovered. Here he is from earlier this week. If there is one thing our kids love, it's crafts. The more glue and sequins, the better. Gumdrop totally made their day by bringing them a craft kit to get into!!

Pass the glue, please.

Gitchies

This morning that naughty Gumdrop played a switch-a-roo with the kids' gitchies - a gitch-a-roo, if you will.

Every morning the boy gets up, goes to the potty, and gets himself dressed. This morning I woke up to Declan running down the hall with a "gotta go potty!" and I couldn't wait for him to get dressed. When he went to get some clean gitchies, he said "HEY!!!! What my stocking doing in my gitch?" I said "How did that get in there? Let's go hang it up on the fireplace." But when we got to the living room we found:

*Someone* had hung gitchies from the mantle. With care, obviously.

Oh, Gumdrop!!!!!!

Off to the Races

Gumdrop likes to pull friends into the mischief around here. In fact, if Declan finds Gumdrop by himself in the morning, he will ask "Where Woody? Where Mr. Tato Head at?"

So this morning Gumdrop got the gang together and organized a race:

On your marks....

Best buddies

Ride 'Em, Gumdrop

Giddy up

Rough Night

Apparently Gumdrop had a rough landing, or a bar fight, or who knows what on his way back from the North Pole the other night. He must have been up to no good with his buddy Cupcake Thorberg.

Poor Gumdrop!

Rest your head on your "G for Gumdrop" pillow, buddy. Get some rest.

A nice, cozy bed. Some awesome bandaids. Some Junior Advil. A beautiful Christmas tree. What more could a broken Elf ask for??

This was a big hit with the 3 Raine circus. The benefit of me being behind in Gumdrop posts is you get to see the kids' reactions - this morning they insisted they all had booboos, too.

**Thanks to Megan and Cupcake Thorberg for the inspiration!!**

Spiderdrop, Spiderdrop

Thanks to Auntie Jenn, Gumdrop is joining the ranks of Spiderman fans in this house.

We have a big tickle trunk that Santa brought last year. (I, er, I mean, *he* went shopping on November 1st and got tons of awesome costumes for next to nothing.) It's been played with a lot by our kids, and is also a big hit with any of the boys and girls who come here.

Gumdrop has obviously been paying attention and tonight he decided to get in on the action. Here he is in his Spiderman costume, waiting for the kids on the tickle trunk:

Wheeeeeee!

Gumdrop must have been casing the joint all summer, because he somehow slides just like Declan - head first, full speed.

Mt. Laundry

Last night, Gumdrop got lost in the last remaining basket from Mt. Laundry.

Declan - "Gumdrop went for a swim in da basket!"

Drowning in laundry? I know the feeling, Gumdrop.

All-You-Can-Eat

Apparently Gumdrop has a lot of free time on his hands when he gets back from the North Pole every night. Last night he kept himself busy making breakfast for everyone again!

Sure, this time it's just cereal, but STILL.

Why Gumdrop, you look delish!

Hangin' Out

Gumdrop is pretty excited that the Christmas cards have started to roll in! I hope he has a good grip up there because I feel there is a very low probability of the teeny-tiny Raine kids finding him waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up there.

Baby Jesus

Our kids are currently obsessed with Jesus. Have we taught them tons and tons about Jesus? No. Do we take them to church regularly? Not really. Have they spent the last 3 months living with their very Catholic Grammie? Yes.  However, Grammie may be dropping the ball a little when it comes to the rest of the holy family, since when we put our "real" nativity scene under the tree today, Talia cradled Baby Jesus "to keep him safe" and then asked "...... do we need these other guys?" ie. Mary and Joseph. Whoops.

But don't worry about the Raine kids, Christians! Gumdrop and the Little People to the rescue!

So holy

Gumdrop, the 4th Wiseman

 

'Tis the Season

Gumdrop clearly feels a little thing like Grammie & Grampy's move is no reason to get behind on Christmas decorating. He assembled our new tree all by himself so it's ready for us to decorate tomorrow!