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!

Keeping UP - December Daily 2011

I have been doing my best, to keep up to date with the December Daily book I'm working on. It's time consuming. So many things at this time of year are time consuming. This year, I thought I would try a mostly digital format, but it's still time consuming. I know that once I get it all put together, I'll be glad I did it. I know it's a fantastic keepsake to look back at each year. All four of us have enjoyed looking at the previous years books [I've done the past two years] When you're in the every day of life, it's hard to sometimes see how your life is changing, but to look back at a 4 year old girl and a 7 year old boy, the changes are obvious. For that very reason, I'm glad I decided to do it again this year. I'm going to wait to print the pages, after I'm finished them all. I was going to send it off to be printed in 2 batches, but decided to just wait. After all, then I'd have to pay for shipping twice. I have been sending things to be printed at here at Persnickety and I can't say good enough things about the results. I'm very pleased with the quality of their work.

I have the last of my Christmas cards ready to be dropped off at the post office. Do I have stamps yet? Of course not, I like to wait until the last week before Christmas, it would seem, so myself and 45 other snarly people can stand in line in winter coats/mitts at the post office.

Now having said that, I haven't even pulled out my Columbia down-filled jacket intended for grisly cold temperatures yet. It's been so mild! Last year it was SO cold... The poor kids couldn't be out at recess or lunch because of the windchill. We've got a month of nicer weather under our belts, and we're well past half way into December, how lucky! When winter lasts for what seems like 6 months, we feel pretty lucky to get break.

Our crazy elf Calvin, has been up to his mischievous antics also. Never a dull moment around our house in the morning.

Calvin will only be with us until Christmas Eve... He's been so much fun this year, and little bit of trickster. I'm going to miss him when he goes.

Elf Mischief

After we got over the shock of having our family pictures vandalized by Calvin, he's behaved himself. Here are a few places we've found him...



Every morning it's so much fun, to see where he is! It makes getting out of bed a little bit easier these dark and dreary mornings.

The Elf Arrives

We got home yesterday morning, from parent/teacher interviews and imagine our surprise when we discovered this little guy sitting on our advent calendars.

We're not exactly sure how he got into the house, but we'll just chalk it up to Santa's magic, like we did last year, with Elvin Elf. The thing is, this is not Elvin... This elf came equipped with a note, it would seem that Elvin hurt himself in Santa's workshop last week. He's unable to come to our home. This little guy, has come as his replacement.

Right away the kids were excited. They left him some food [orange and almonds] Madelyn gave him Jack to keep him company. She put a bed out for him, a blanket. This little elf also changed her attitude on taking her medicine [which has been a motion picture drama 3x a day, since we picked it up from the pharmacy Thursday morning] However, when the elf appeared, she said "I'd better take my medicine" and she did. Just like that. The kids named this elf Calvin. It seems quite fitting, because both kids love Calvin and Hobbes comics and we woke up this morning to this...

In Mason's words, "I think Calvin is going to be a bit troublesome"...

Me too buddy, me too..

Both kids came into our room this morning, so upset about him writing on the pictures. We both thought it was actually kind of clever and funny. You best behave Calvin, we live with rule followers.