A Holiday Visitor

Tonight marked the start of Advent for the South household. In a previous post, I mentioned that I had wrapped books, old and new, and we would unwrap one book a night and read it together. Two reasons I chose books. One, Kaden loves to read. And two, I thought it would make for good practice for unwrapping presents.

Our first book brought us a holiday visitor, meet Mr. Elf. Mr. Elf was brought to us by the North Pole and will be keeping tabs on the kiddos. He will fly back to the North Pole on a nightly basis and will report to Santa what he has seen. He will arrive back in our home before the kids are up the next morning. He will be tucked away and hard to see but with a little searching we will find him. Can't touch him, he will lose his magic but he will listen all day long to what the kiddos would like to get for Christmas. He will stay with us during the holiday season and when he hears Santa's bell he will return to the North Pole until he is needed next holiday season. We were given a task to give him a name but since the boys don't quite understand, naming him will just have to wait. For now we will refer to him as Mr. Elf and hope that he enjoys our happy home.

We wanted to make sure that Mr. Elf was as comfortable as could be so out came the stockings and the tree. Growing up we always put up the tree and the decorations the weekend after Thanksgiving so it only made sense to keep with the tradition. We pulled out the decorations and started going through each box deciding what would make the cut and what would stay packed away. We want the house to be festive but we also can't go crazy to ensure that potential buyers see the house and not so much us. In the end, we had just the right amount. Kaden was our little helper and if you looked at our tree you could tell exactly where he added his touch. The bottom. Pretty much eye level is where his ornaments found their home. We still have a few finishing touches to add to the tree, an ornament for each of the boys and one for our family of four. Now to get the presents wrapped and under the tree. First thing first, we must all rest and get over our colds so we can enjoy all the celebrations that lie ahead.

P.S. For some reason this blog rhymed. It wasn't my intention but I think Elf of the Shelf got stuck in my head!