Joy

Monday, December 9, 2013

Our Christmas Elves


I am so excited about our new holiday tradition.

Everyone has heard of Elf on the Shelf right?  I think it is a super cute idea but honestly the elf is just too creepy for me

 
and I didn't want to emphasize Santa more than we already do.  A friend of mine on facebook shared this blog and I LOVED the idea. So, to draw attention back to Jesus and loving others, but still keep the childhood magic in Christmas, we decided to copy the idea and adopt these 3 little elves into our family each Christmas.
It was already past December 1st when I saw the idea but we were getting our Christmas tree that night so I thought that might be a fun way to start.  Claire could wake up the next morning and discover the 3 little elves under the tree. That way she would wonder if maybe they were hiding in the tree when we bought it and start a new tradition that every year when we get our tree, the elves come.

I found our "elves" at Target.  They are just ornaments and originally had on tiny skis and ski poles.  I took them off though and sewed down their wild scarves that were sticking in weird directions.

The first day they were under the tree with a note:


Claire was so excited but still confused,  I knew it would take a few days for her to fully understand that they "come to life" at night and she can find them in a new place each morning with little treats each day.  She named them Star, Noel and Nick and made sure they were under the tree at bedtime.

The second day she found them like this:
 With a note that read: We found this ornament you forgot to hang on your tree! Remember that Jesus is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  P.S.  We loved watching you help your mom cook yesterday.  Can you think of a way to help someone today?

Wait!  Now she knows that they see her throughout the day!  She came to me later in the morning and whispered "I want to make the elves a note for them to have under the tree"  She then whispered what it was to say so I could write it out and she could copy it.  It said "I love you elves, I love you and I want to give you this candy cane, Merry Christmas."  With a picture colored on it of course.

Yesterday the elves were found around a table they had built out of toys, eating their candy cane and with a box of tic tacs for Claire to share with her sister Joy.

This morning Claire was so surprised to be the first one up and find that the elves had made cinnamon rolls for us!

I have lots of ideas for these little elves.  They are making our Christmas extra special.




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