Where's Jingle

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...

...poor Jingle. He was trying to help us with our lights (the top 1/3 of our tree is out...ugh!). But, the giant tree proved to be too big of a task! Love you for trying Jingle!

Tonight's task...dinner by candlelight and decorate the tree! Can't wait!!

Old Habits Die Hard...

We found Jingle sitting in a basket of toys this morning. Apparently, one of his main jobs at the North Pole is to inspect the toys...he just couldn't help himself!

One Horse Open Sleigh...

I think Jingle might be missing home just a bit. We found him this morning in one of our sleigh decorations. That seemed to cheer him up pretending to ride through the snow. In today's letter Jingle (Santa's favorite elf, apparently) told the kids he would have a surprise word search waiting for them. He made a special one for each of them. Max's uses Thomas the Train words, Abby's is princesses and Madison's is Harry Potter. All things they are each currently "in to".

A Present From Jingle...

This morning we found Jingle sitting on a present under the Christmas tree. His letter told us to wait to open the present until after school, but some naughty children couldn't wait and opened the present before reading the letter all the way though. He understood their excitement though and promised not to tell Santa.

We had a fun little Jenga party today. It seems like Jingle knows just what we need to get the Christmas excitement going in our house!

Fitting Right In...

Jingle has already made some new friends. We found him this morning just chatting away with all our Christmas toys. They had some stories to swap I'm sure! I probably should warn them to sleep with one eye open though, I hear Santa's elves can be a bit mischievous.

Our activity for today was to make some yummy s'mores at Paw Paw's fire pit. I won't tell you what Jingle told us marsh mellows really were...but maybe you can guess! Being from the North pole and all, he would know!

That Silly Jingle...

We woke up this morning to find poor Jingle stuck in a box of cereal. He said he just wanted some breakfast but couldn't quite figure out how to get the cereal out of the box. I bet he thinks twice before doing that again! :)

Today, Jingle wanted us to decorate our house. He said it just doesn't feel like home to him without Christmas decorations everywhere. So, we got down the boxes (about 12 or so) of decorations, turned up the music and had ourselves a house decorating party! It isn't completely finished, but it looks oh so much better! Thank you Jingle for getting us going!

Jingle the Elf...

We had a visitor last night. His name is Jingle the Elf. He was hiding in our house. Apparently Santa thought we might need a little elf making sure we really should be on the nice list. He left us a letter to read this morning telling us he's got some fun stuff planned for our family until Christmas, when he has to go back with Santa to the North Pole. When the kids woke up this morning they found him on the rocking horse. He said as soon as he found out Santa was sending him to Texas he knew he would have to ride in on a horse. I haven't figured out his personality yet, but I think he might be a little mischievous. I can tell he has a good heart though! In his letter he told us our first activity is for each Koceich kid to make a paper chain with 22 links to count down the days until Christmas. So, we are on it!! Sooo excited to have Jingle here! We'll be sure to let you know what he's up to!

Thanksgiving Memories...

Wow...Thanksgiving came and went like a flash! I think I am so consumed with work as it is nearing the end of my busy season (I'm almost there!!) that life speeds by from October-December! I did slow down for a couple days to enjoy time with family! Wednesday we had my dad's famous lasagna (oh so good) and Thursday back to Dad's for a big traditional Thanksgiving turkey meal. This year the Thurmans and Vincents (James' family) were there which meant lots of cousins time. Friday night was my turn. We hosted about 20 people for a delicious ham dinner. Everyone brought a dish and I added some Ethiopian tibs(kind of like a beef fajita dish) with a little too much Berbere(an Ethiopian spice we brought back) and injera (an Ethiopian flat bread), mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing and two caramel apple pies. I love cooking for everyone for Thanksgiving. We have oh so many blessing to be thankful for!! Our evening ended with some awesome Uncle Joey time! He's the best uncle ever!!

** I wish I had taken more people pictures but I went into hostess mode as soon as everyone showed up and forgot to snap pictures!