elf on the shelf

we're so lucky one of santa's elves had come to watch our boys throughout christmas time!  i've seen people give such cute names to their family's elf, names like elfie, jingle or tinsel.  our boys picked the name "stoic the red."  catchy isn't it?  the origins stem from none other than "how to train your dragon."  hiccup's (the main character) dad is the leader of the vikings and he is a humongous burly guy named stoic the vast (you know, cause he's vastly huge) so naturally stoic the red came about.  anywho, he arrived here on december 1st:

 along with a book explaining why he was here, to choose and name for him, and the rule that he can't be touched (or he'll loose some of his magic). While you can talk to him, santa's asked him that he not respond back.  each night he flies back to santa to share his report and appears the following morning in a new spot.  Every morning before breakfast the boys scour the downstairs to find stoic the red.  oddly enough he's always out of the boys reach (smart elf)

here's some of the boys favorite places they've found stoic:

on the mantle riding the snow owl

climbing up the cabinets

unfortunately one night he was attacked by a t-rex, i think the attack must have bent him out of shape cause he was a little naughty the next couple of days

 the following morning he was in the golden raisin box on top of the fridge and had spilled a bunch of raisins on the floor

another day he tp-ed the chandelier

he was then caught sneaking hershey kisses

he snuck into the freezer for ice cream

  after that he was nice enough to build us a little lego tree, i think he was trying to make up for his naughty behavior the past few days.

one day brody had asked him some questions about elves (you know, elf logistics) and the next morning we found stoic at the computer, he typed up a note to respond to brody.

the last night he was on the fridge ice/water maker, which was in reach of the boys, and surprisingly, they didn't grab him!

every morning before we'd get out of bed we'd hear the boys' excited hushed whisper of "where's stoic the red?  where's the elf?"  i think every morning i got up with a smile hearing the excitement in their voice over stoic's new landing place!  i might mention that this elf did absolutely nothing to improve their behavior through bribery, but i loved the holiday magic and excitement it brought to the boys!  we're already looking forward to next december!