Calvin the Elf Returns

Our elf, Calvin returned to us this year. He's been back since we woke up on December 1st. He's still up to his wily ways, and is more than a little mischievous. My Mum joked with me, that the kids would get up super early every morning, so they could track Calvin down. I said, nonsense... But I'm afraid she was right. They've both taken to setting their alarm clocks, waking up well before I want to wake up, to see who can spot Calvin first.

His first morning back, he held a long banner, telling us how glad he was to be back, that he was keeping his eye on the kids, so they'd better behave, and excited he was for Christmas to arrive.

The next morning, he'd been making snowflakes out of Q-tips.

He was found on the hearth the 3rd morning, he'd made a snow angel out of rice.

[Madelyn cut out a bunch of speech bubbles, and wrote things on each of them, and not every morning, but sometimes Calvin talks to us, via the speech bubbles Madelyn has left for him]

I was a little alarmed to find Calvin had roasted marshmallows, but thankfully nothing got out of hand, but he should know better than to play with fire.

The kids couldn't find him one morning, and they were devastated. It had snowed the night before and it was windy, and they were certain he'd met his doom traveling back from the North Pole. But alas, Mason finally found him when he went to brush his teeth before school. There he was in the bathroom, and he'd written on the mirror with toothpaste. The kids refused to use that bathroom for the rest of the day.

Finally, we found Calvin involved in a game of Scrabble. Apparently they were playing the Christmas version of Scrabble, Madelyn informed me. It was all Christmas words on the board. Calvin, you're a crafty little fella.

We also had an apology note from Calvin. Because in case you don't know, toothpaste is REALLY HARD TO GET OFF OF THE MIRROR... I'm glad Santa was cross with Calvin, because I was too. But he's so dang cute, I'm willing to overlook it this once. 

Today the kids were off of school, for parent-teacher interviews. I thought it would be a good day to get Santa pictures. So off we went. I felt bad, because Mason began to question whether or not he was too old to be sitting on Santa's knee for pictures... It didn't help that when we got there, it was all little kids waiting in line, and then around the corner walked Santa... And this Santa... Well, he was a bit on the elderly side... So then Mason got concerned he'd hurt Santa... So I told him he didn't have to sit on Santa's knee if he didn't want to, but he really wanted to... I told him not to throw himself in Santa's lap, so he sat down gently. And, when asked what he wanted for Christmas, Mason said, for at least the 4th year running, 'Peace on Earth'.  And that absolutely warms this Mumma's heart... And for at least the 4th time running, the Santa looks over at me when Mason says this, and I am sure he knows that this kid is as special as I think he is.

Madelyn asked Santa for a microscope. She's pretty sure she'll be able to check out many things with a microscope. I sure hope so! 

I've been working on my December Daily album, but only in bits and pieces. I'm afraid I have nothing to share yet. This might be the first year that I do the majority of the work, after Christmas has come and gone. The key, write lots of notes, so I can remember what the heck happened a week ago!