The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Tonight, the Kassel Family welcomed “Chippy,” our Elf on the Shelf.  Andy removed Chippy from the box, set him up in his first “watching” spot, and then read the story to Laura and John.  The kids loved it and they spent most of the rest of the evening talking about how Chippy was going to tell Santa if they were good or not.  Laura also lectured John on the importance of *not* touching Chippy.  She said, “If Chippy loses his magic, he can’t tell Santa about our behavior and then Santa won’t come!”  When I took the photo, both kids were especially careful to be *near* Chippy, but *not touch* Chippy.  Now, Daddy and Mommy just have to make sure that Chippy is safe and finds a comfortable new spot to sit every night until Christmas Eve!

The Christmas decoration process has begun at the Kassel Household!  All the boxes are out of the crawl space.  By Sunday, our house will look quite festive!  I can’t wait to have it all done because this is my favorite time of year and our house always looks great completely decorated for the Christmas season.

I found a Daisy Scout tunic for Laura’s American Girl doll, Lauren, on Etsy.com.  I ordered it and it finally arrived today.  I think it might be one of the cutest things ever.  Lauren’s tunic even has the same Troop Number and Council Information!  It will make a great Christmas gift for Lauren [Laura].

We ended up not leaving Scot and Sheila’s until noon, but it was fine.  We were just having such a good time.  Laura and John were both sad that we had to leave and I can’t really blame them!  Once loaded up in the truck, John was asleep within probably five minutes with Laura not far behind.  I *think* the kids were a bit tired after four days of Thanksgiving fun.  The trip back to Columbia was largely uneventful, which is just the way we like it.  We arrived home about 7:30 pm.  We did a quick dinner and bath for the kids and then put them to bed.  Andy and I ate a quick dinner ourselves and headed to bed because we were both suffering the effects of a cold.  It was a fantastic Thanksgiving trip, but it’s always good to be home in your own, comfy bed.

Today was a big day for all of us.  The day started for Laura and I at the American Girl Place store.  Aunt Jill, Elliotte, and Ryleigh went with us for Laura’s big moment.  She’s been wanting an American Girl “Just Like Me” doll for a very long time and had already named her “Lauren Mary.”  We had gone by the American Girl Place store the night before, so Laura knew exactly where to go in the store.  As soon as we walked through the door, Laura said, “Mommy, let’s go to the escalator!”  I haven’t seen Laura quite this excited in a long time.  It was really cute.  Our salesperson even commented later, “I saw you all walk in, but I could tell that she [Laura] was on a mission.  She knew exactly where she had to go.”  I think it was one of the best hours I’ve ever spent with Laura.  She was just so happy and full of smiles.  Aunt Jill took lots of pictures and Elliotte and Ryleigh talked all about their dolls with Laura.  By the time we left the store, Laura was carrying Lauren and I was carrying a couple of bags worth of gear.  It was a GREAT hour!

We met up with Andy and John at the Lego store where John was as happy as could be.  I think he was in Lego overload.  He eventually settled on a Lego train set that is motorized.  (Okay, so maybe the train set is really more for Andy to put together, but John will LOVE it too!)

After all the shopping excitement, we had breakfast with BlumeNation and then said goodbye to them as they were getting ready to leave for home.  We went back to our hotel and checked out, but had them hold our luggage for us as we walked back to the John Hancock Building for a trip up to the Observation Deck.  The kids were amazed looking out over Chicago from way up there.  The view was just awesome and we wandered around up there for roughly an hour.

After an extremely busy morning, we finally loaded up in our truck and headed to Scot and Sheila’s apartment for the rest of the day.  It was very relaxing and just a fun time.  Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures (how does that happen?!?).  Ian and Amanda came over for dinner and it was so much fun hanging out and talking the night away.  I found myself sitting back a couple of times and just listening to the three brothers talk and laugh.  Good times.  We’ll definitely have to do it again sometime and sooner rather than later!

What a busy day!  First up was lunch with John and Gerry Bruns at “The Choo Choo Restaurant” in Des Plaines.  It was such a neat, little place.  John was so excited because your food is brought to you as cargo on a train.  He kept asking, “Where is the train Mommy?  Where?”  Every time it appeared from the kitchen, he would smile, laugh, and stare.  It was also great to see and catch up with John and Gerry Bruns.

After lunch, we headed for our traditional day after Thanksgiving trip to downtown Chicago.  We arrived about 2:30 pm and had some time to relax before the craziness of the evening began.  At about 4:30, we met up with BlumeNation, Dave and Kristena and kids, and Scot and Sheila.  While waiting for our table to be ready at Gino’s East (Chicago-style Pizza for the win!!!!), we went into the lobby at the John Hancock Building and discovered an awesome train display.  All the kids thought it was so cool!

After a delicious dinner, some of us headed down to see the windows at the State Street Macy’s and to the big Christmas Tree at Daley Plaza.  The kids really enjoyed seeing the Macy’s windows even if the adults found the story not as interesting as it was in past years.

Then, it was over to the big Christmas Tree, which is always a big hit.  The kids “ooh’ed and ahh’ed” and we took some pictures.

Despite it being a cold night and two tired kids, the walk back to our hotel was not bad.  William kept Laura and John entertained and their minds off the walk.  Once back at the hotel, we changed the kids into their pajamas and went to Jim and Jill’s room for milk and cookies.  We stayed about 30 minutes and then dragged our kids to bed.  Despite Laura and John’s initial protests, they fell asleep almost immediately…  and Andy and I weren’t far behind.

What a great Thanksgiving!  We spent the day at Dave and Kristena’s house in Belvidere, IL.  During the morning, we loaded up the kids and went to the city park to take some photos of all nine cousins.  What an interesting time that was.  The photos turned out great and the kids were troopers!  It was really neat to see them all together and capture it all.

We spent most of the day just relaxing, talking, enjoying some good wine, and cooking.  The girls got in on the cooking mix this year by helping us peel the potatoes and Megan helped us make the stuffing for the turkey.

We had a traditional Thanksgiving complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn, cranberries, rolls, and pumpkin pie.

It was a very relaxing and fun day.  Of course, we ate way too much, but it was so worth it!  We were sad that we had to leave about 8 pm, but Laura and John were exhausted and sleep was necessary for all of us.  It’s off to downtown Chicago tomorrow!