Scavenger Hunt Birthday

Happy New Year! January 1 also happens to be my husband's birthday. This year, he turned a whopping 33! Most years, we spend the day lounging around, not doing much, and recouping from the previous night's festivities. This year, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to do something to liven up the day for him. I searched and searched, and ended up settling on a scavenger hunt for him with the end being his gifts!

Below is a collection of each riddle he would have to find. Attached to each clue, I had a small present. Some were candy bars, beef jerky, and the last clue had a wine thermometer attached to it! The top of each clue named the room where I hid the clue. On the right of the clue is the place I would hide the following clue. I remembered helping my mom do this for my brother's birthday years and years ago, and it was very tricky making sure the clues were in the correct spots! So I tried making it as easy as possible on my end!

I taped this to the inside of the front door, so he saw it right away in the morning.

 Here he is looking for the first hidden clue. It was taped behind the tv. This one actually took him the longest!

 Graham showed him where this one was. I'm sure it would have taken him a while to find it if it wasn't shown to him!

 Here he is finding his actual birthday gifts!

From start to finish, it took him about 45 minutes to find all the clues and unwrap the small gifts, as well as his bigger gifts. It turned out really fun and gave us something more exciting to do than just hand him his gifts! I may make it a yearly game! 

If you have any questions as to what the clues read, leave me a comment and I can retype them out!

Happy Hunting!!

Our Elf on the Shelf: Peppermint

This was the first year Peppermint made his debut at our home. I think I was more excited for him than Graham! I tried to take a picture each day where Peppermint "landed". We had so much fun thinking up places to put him this year! Next year will be really difficult to come up with new spots!!

Our first morning with Peppermint. Notice he is sitting in a bowl of peppermints...hence the name Peppermint! He brought donuts for Graham and mini donuts (Cheerios) for himself! He also brought a small gift for Graham! 

Day 2

Marshmallow Bath

Day 3

Fishing in the toilet! Graham just loved this one! (Forgive the yucky toilet seat. The toddler seat ruins it every time!)

Day 4

Peppermint TPed our Christmas Tree!

Day 5

Roasting a marshmallow in the fireplace! 

Day 6

Drawing on Graham's photos! Graham actually yelled at Peppermint and told him to put mommy's marker back! 

Day 7

Roasting a hot dog on the grill!

Day 8

Zip lining from the tree to the mantle! This one was my favorite!

Day 9

Holding baby Jesus! Graham cracked up at this one!

Day 10

Drinking syrup from a straw!

Day 11

Caught in a glass!

Day 12

Watching Santa's reindeer on reindeercam.com! This site is great! It is live and Santa feeds them 3 times a day!

Day 13

Peppermint replaced our stockings with Graham's undies! Graham loved this one!

Day 14

Part 1

Graham had to plant the peppermints in the flour and see what happened the next day.

Day 15

Part 2

Peppermint grew magic candy canes!

Day 16

Playing the guitar!

Day 17

Hiding on top of the tv.

Day 18

Playing swords with pirates on the pirate ship!

Day 19

Grocery shopping! He has all his food laid out and he is even paying with money!

Day 20

I liked this one, Graham didn't...

Day 21

Peppermint turned the milk GREEN!!

Day 22

Chillin' on the bathroom light!

Day 23

Sitting on the doorbell!

Day 24

Playing with gold doubloons in Graham's treasure chest!

Day 25

Sitting on the clock!

Day 26

Hanging upside down from the light!

Day 27

Squeezing toothpaste onto the counter! Graham kept saying "Silly Peppermint"!

Day 28

Peppermint's last day with us, Christmas Eve. He left Graham a present of Mickey Mouse pajamas!

We had such a great time with Peppermint! Graham still talks about him almost daily. I can't wait until he comes back next year. I'm just glad we have a year to think of new places to put him!!

Hi! This is our first family blog! My husband and I have been married for 5 1/2 years and we have a 3 year old son, Graham. I have been a Second Grade teacher for 6 years and my husband has been in the electrical field for 12 years. We love to travel and spend time with family. My husband is always on the go, whereas I would be content reading all day! Unfortunately, our son takes after his daddy, so my idea of sitting with a good book all day has never happened!
I am planning to use this blog to post recipes I have tried (I am actually a terrible cook, but I love to try new recipes much to my husband's discontent!) and other fun ideas our family has tried! I hope you enjoy reading about The Smith's!