meet: elf-a-claus

Parker came home from school one day asking me why "we don't have an elf...?" kids at his school did and he wanted one at his house too. James told him that he still could come and if they tried really hard to be good, than he might show up! ... so what did i have to do? go find an ELF! ha. I kept holding off and parker got worried... but mom came though and i had 3 happy kids when their ELF showed up at our house;)  they sure ate it up, right from the start!! they gave him a name, hence, ELF-A-CLAUS
we got a note from santa on the computer and they loved every second of it.
As the story goes, he watches over the kids and reports back to Santa Claus every night. In the morning they will search the house to find where he landed next. 
 It was such a fun new tradition and they got excited everyday to wake up and see where the elf was. It may or may not have been a threat for the kids each day to listen to me and do as they were told...:) but hey it worked and i was in need of something! i have TWO crazy toddlers right now:) so we have fun with our little friend, they were scared that he would leave if they weren't good and nice to each other. As the book states in it,
" I tell him if you have been good or been bad. The news of the day makes him happy or sad.  A push or a shove I"ll report to "the boss" but small acts of kindness will not be a loss." 
so if they "broke a rule" the elf would disappear and then later would show up if they had been nice to one another. we had some funny experiences along the way. Parker didn't obey one day while cousins were here and so all the kids went running upstairs to see if they elf has left the house. they came running to me another time when someone misbehaved and said 'did the elf go again? haha it made me laugh every time. they totally believed it, and it was just one more fun thing to do around christmas time!
a few funny things notes to jot down about our Elf:
* the kids would tell them what they "want" for christmas and tell him to tell santa for them
* i would find them talking to him.. whispering things..
* we took him to cali and the whole drive there they talked about him and hoping he would be there
*they warned anyone that came to the house to NOT touch him because his magic would disappear
* we left him behind on our trip. don't worry, we left him in the hotel in Cali and we drove 30 minutes back to pick him up!! oops but they would have been so sad, and i wasn't going to buy another one:) haha
*they were sad when he left and continued looking for him the next few mornings
*they would tell each other the elf would leave if they weren't nice to each other.
i heard adam tell abby one day if she didn't give him the toy he wanted then the elf would leave (not what we were going for adam.. ha)
*i did catch them doing nice things for each other, making each others beds, picking up the toys, asking mom if she needs help with anything, doing things when asked. (that was my plan all along:) )
if only i had an Elf or some other little friend to stick around all year.... i can already tell it made a difference in our home:)

they all look lovely, with their bed hair jammies and all:)

then there was the FAREWELL of our little Elf-a-claus
Christmas Eve the kids write him a note thanking him for coming to live with them. telling hims also to give a "good report" of their behavior so santa can find them that night:)
they blew kisses to him and said Merry Christmas and told him to come back next year

good bye little friend,  until next year...