Last Elf Fun

We had a lot of fun with our elf Jayden this year!  He was pretty crazy!  Here are a few of the final things we caught him doing...

One day he was hanging from a nail in the wall just like a picture!

Poor Jayden - one day he was feeling a little under the weather.  The boys had been passing a few things around and wouldn't you know it - Jayden caught the bug, too!  He relaxed one day on the table behind the couch, nice and warm.  Notice he even took some medicine - ha!

The next day he was feeling a little better...we found him sitting in a new spot, still resting on a pillow and making sure he was staying hydrated drinking some apple juice!

We knew he was feeling better on this day...he was hanging out by the coffee pot with my snowman pin.  Guess he was feeling lonely.  We knew he was feeling better when we realized he was DRINKING coffee out of a little coffee cup - ha ha!

The boys waited ALL season for Jayden to fly up high on our little shelf...and finally he did!  Looks like a comfy place to watch the boys all day!

 

We think Jayden was feeling a little sad about Christmas coming and wanted to leave the boys with something special.  We came down on Christmas Eve morning to find Jayden sitting next to my phone.  When I checked my phone - there were pictures of each of us on there with Jayden!  While we were sleeping!  What a crazy little elf!!! 

 

 

 

 

It was another fun Christmas season for many reasons, but the boys really enjoyed Jayden this year.  The day after Christmas, as Austin walked downstairs holding my hand, he says "I am really going to miss Jayden for a long long time."  So sweet!

More Christmas pictures to come...soon!

More Elf Fun

We've been having more fun with our Elf, Jayden.  I actually find it pretty interesting that they boys don't really question if he is actually magic...I mean, the twins are young enough still that they believe what they read or what the movie about it says.  But with Landon being 7 and a half, I keep waiting for more questions - but so far, he seems like he is pretty surprised at it all, too!  Which is fine by me...they are only little for so long!

One night, Jayden made a stop in Landon's room and decided to hang out with some Lego buddies.  Austin said that it looked like Jayden was playing Santa since he had a ninja on his lap.  The night that he was in Landon's room - at bedtime, they were all saying good night and Landon says "I want Jayden to take my Christmas list to Santa" so all the boys quickly got their lists and handed them to Jayden. 

The next morning, they found Jayden had moved downstairs and had a note with him. 

Here is what it said...(and it was NOT easy trying to disguise my handwriting - I leave the boys lots of little notes, so I thought one would ask, but nope!  They thought it was from Jayden)... 

Then we had a crisis!  For anyone who knows how these Elves work - you are not supposed to touch them at all or they will lose their magic.  This is serious business!  Well, when Austin went to grab the note to see what it said, it brushed Jayden and made him fall.  The look on Austin's face - the tears were almost flowing before I could reassure him that HE didn't actually touch him, so not to worry - Jayden still had his magic! 

Poor Jayden looked so lonely on the floor, but luckily Austin was relieved after I told him it was just the paper and I was sure Jayden would move back to his spot after we all left for the day (and he did - WINK)...so all was right with the world! 

Then Jayden ended up in the China cabinet.  Can you see him?  It took the boys just a little longer to find it, although not as long as you would think!  They were impressed he could open the door and fly in!  Silly little elf!  ;-)

(Dave and I trying to get a little more creative this year with the Elf, so I wonder where he will end up next???  Stay tuned...)

Santa visit 2012

For the past few years, we've gone to visit Santa at Reynold's Farm Supply in Sheridan.  This year it was on December 13th. I like that it's close, the boys like that he sits on a Gator!  Can't be much better than that!!!  It was busier this year than we'd seen it in the past, but the boys did great waiting in line.  We saw the people who used to live in our house - they have 3 boys as well so it was fun to catch up a bit.  Austin and Aiden saw a classmate - which was funny because all 3 of them were shy and wouldn't say hi to each other.  Then after the visit we went to eat at a local Mexican restaurant and the twins saw another little girl from their class!  It was a fun evening out as a family!

Now for the pictures...Landon was up first.  He gets so nervous about talking sometimes and I think because it was so busy - he was just getting more nervous the closer he got.  So - he doesn't look like he's happy in these pictures - but he really did a good job, told Santa a few things he wanted, thanked him for the candy cane and Mrs. Clause for the combine he got - he just wouldn't smile!  Poor kid - looks like we tortured him!

  

Next up - Austin.  He was ready to go - he jumped right up there and told Santa 3 things he wanted!  They all get a little serious - I mean, it is serious business to tell the big guy what you really want for Chrsitmas!  :)  Austin also picked a little combine.

  

Aiden waited patiently for his time and was ready to go!  He also jumped up and told Santa what he wanted.  Santa kept asking if he wanted anything else - and Aiden just kept shaking his head no.  We had told him to have one thing ready to tell him - and so he only had one thing in his head to say!  It was cute!  Aiden picked a yellow dump truck - as he said "it's a toy we have, but I can't find it so I wanted another one."

  

Cute Aiden story - I guess after school when Dave picked them up and they were heading home - Dave told them what the plan was, to go see Santa.  And Aiden goes..."wait, I'm confused.  Is this the real Santa?  Because I thought the real Santa was at the North Pole?"  Dave kind of explained it all but he said it was so cute the way Aiden said "wait, I'm confused..."  It is a lot to figure out...

After dinner, we headed just outside of town to see some Christmas lights that are really cool!  It's actually a distant cousin of Dave's - they have their lights set to music and it was fun to see that action!  The trees actually "sang" along with the music!

Meet Jayden - the Elf

This year I thought it would be fun to get an Elf on the Shelf. I had seen people post about them on blogs before and they really promoted these this year - they even had a TV special. So, when I was out shopping one day I got one.

We got it out one night (December 2nd) and explained to the boys what it was and it even came with a book. We had not watched the TV special yet - we did the book first. Well, the book is cute but in it it explains how the elf is Santa's helper and you can talk to the Elf, but you can't touch him or he will lose his magic and he won't talk back. But he's "watching" you and reporting back to Santa, etc. And the idea is that each night the Elf flies back to the north pole while the kids are sleeping to report back to Santa and is in a different spot each morning when they wake up.

Cute enough, right? Well, for some reason, this FREAKED Aiden out!!! Poor boy - he was freaked out at the idea of this Elf moving around in his house each night or like in the book - walking around while he was awake. So the first night he started yelling "don't take him out of the box" and crying and begging to go to bed. We felt awful!!! Needless to say he stayed in the box for a few days.

Luckily the next night we watched the TV special and that helped Aiden "understand" what the idea was and after 2-3 more days, he woke up one morning and told me "Jayden can come out of his box." By the way - you get to name the Elf and the boys picked the name Jayden, after the red Power Ranger.

So - Jayden was our buddy this holiday and the boys liked finding where he was each morning. I think some of their favorite spots were on the star on top of the tree and once he was hanging on the light above our kitchen table. I'm not sure it made any difference in their behavior, but it was a fun tradition to do for a couple of years!

Here are Aiden and Austin with Jayden...IN THE BOX! Ha ha!

He looks harmless to me!! The boys have already told me they miss Jayden and ask "when will he come back to our house?" Cute!