12 days of Fidget

By now, everyone in the world knows the story of the Elf on the Shelf.  If you have been living under a rock (or maybe in Chile, where Elves don't exist) here is a link where you can catch up.  This is the first year we have done the elf.  Mainly because our girls were not really old enough to enjoy it until now.  And if they aren't going to enjoy it, well, I am certainly not going to put in all of the effort.  Because it is effort.  Sure, your elf can just sit on a shelf.  You can move him/her from place to place each day.  But, I tell you, it is so much more fun when you really get into it.  And I tend to get into this kind of thing.  Because I love the excitement and the joy in my girls faces.  They can't wait to see what Fidget has been up to since they saw her last.

See, Fidget moves during the day, not just at night.  When the kids aren't looking, Fidget moves to the bookcase, the front hall table, even their bedroom shelves.  That is when she is truly the Elf "on the Shelf".  During the day she just watches them.  Makes sure they are being good.  Makes sure she has good stories to tell Santa each night.  She moves so she can get the best vantage point and so that she doesn't miss out on the daytime fun (and so that they don't accidentally touch her.  Which is a real possibility in some of the places she has been).

Then at night, after she has reported in to Santa, she comes back to us and that is when all the fun happens.  And it is fun.  I am a bit anal so I have all 24 nights already planned out.  Had them planned weeks before we even started on December 1.  It makes it much easier for me to know what needs to be done that night and with 20 minutes of planning ahead, each night only takes a couple of minutes to set up.

I am not sure who has more fun (that is a theme around my house) but I  know that we all are having a great time.  I love watching the magic of the holiday season come alive for them.  I love being able to relive it through their eyes.  I  love that it keeps them constantly thinking about behaving.  (At least for this month.)  Stinkerbell goes and tells Fidget at least once a day, "I'm behaving really good!"  And she has been.

We still have another 12 days to go but I thought I would give you a picture look at our first 12 Days of Fidget.

December 1 - She made herself at home that first morning by TP'ing Stinkerbell's tree.

 December 2 - She got herself a tour of the house, and we suspect a kiss, from Prince Phillip!

December 3 - She threw a tea party in the playroom and invited a few close friends (Sally, Buzz and Max, of course)

December 4 - Naughty Fidget wrote all over my wall in the kitchen hall.  Good thing it is a write-on/wipe-off wall that I created for the girls.  (Very handy when you have littles under feet when trying to prepare dinner.  Now they color and I can cook)

December 5 - Caught her bull wrangling...I wonder if there was a full rodeo that night.

December 6 - Trying to steal the family stockings after St. Nick had visited.  She thought we wouldn't notice the skivvies she used as replacements while she hid the candy filled ones in the guest room.

December 7 - Rocking Baby Jesus to sleep.  Very sweet Fidget.

December 8 - Bungee jumping off of our two story stair well.  Too bad she forgot to have a partner that could pull her back up.  Maybe she learned her lesson about jumping off stairwells...Probably not.

December 9 - Roasting Marshmallow's with her best friend.  

December 10 - Reading the Christmas Story to the littlest of those in the playroom.  Fidget is a great teacher!

December 11 - Fidget brought back a small present for the girls.  They got a letter from Santa, Magic Elf Seeds to plant and even some Magic Dust to help the seeds grow faster.

Their seeds sprouted over night into these yummy candy canes!

December 12 -We were devastated when we couldn't find Fidget anywhere in the house before we had to leave for school.  We truly thought she had forgotten about us.  But of course she hadn't!  She was simply waiting in the car for us.  She wanted to go to school with us since she knew we were going to be there all day instead of the usual half day.  So she buckled up and went for a ride.