Elf on the Shelf

This was the first year that our family has had an Elf come to visit us. We were so excited to find her sitting in front of the TV after we had been out all morning!

Michelle saw something, but wasn't sure what it was. She ran to the TV to get a better look!

When she found out that it was an Elf she was really surprised, and pretty excited too! 

Luckily she's a pretty smart girl and thought we should read the letter that was sitting with the Elf before we did anything else. She grabbed the letter and gave it to Daddy to read out loud.

Guess what?! It was from SANTA!! Straight from his desk- official Santa stationary, and a gold seal too!

We all listened really well while Daddy read what Santa had to say.

Dear Michelle and Tina,

     Things are busier than ever at the North Pole this year. So I am sending a very special helper to your house to be my eyes and ears. I saw you helping Mommy and Daddy with all of the Christmas decorations yesterday and knew I could trust you with my special friend. You are both such good girls so I know you will take good care of her. She has been told all of my rules, and I wrote them down for you in a story book, all about her. You should be sure to read it together as a family before bed tonight. I love you both very much and can’t wait to hear about all the things you are going to do over the next few weeks! I hope they will all be good things, and nothing naughty.

Merry Christmas,

Santa Claus

That night we read the book all about our Elf. Michelle decided to name her Peppermint, and has already told her a long list of wishes that she has for gifts this year. So far we have found that Peppermint is a pretty good Elf. She hasn't gotten into any trouble, and actually helps us out with things that we might have forgotten to do!

She helped us get caught up on our Christmas count-down chain.

She filled one of Mommy's jars with bows! All her favorite colors, of course.

One morning we found her in the Christmas Tree. I think she was probably feeling sorry for it since Little Miss Tina broke two of the ornaments the day before.

Last night the girls forgot to clean up their books before bed. Peppermint was nice enough to put them back on the book self for them. I guess she got a little distracted though because we found her reading Tina's Clifford book when we woke up! 

So far having Peppermint in our home has been wonderful! I love Christmas and everything magical about it, so to bring an Elf into the mix is really fun. Thanks for coming to our house Peppermint, I'm excited to see where you show up tomorrow!