A little break

It has been two days and no Elf mischief. I don't know whether to be happy or scared!

Elf Graffitti

The Elves were naughty last night! They made a huge mess in the kids' bathroom! The wrote all over the walls, shower, mirror and toilet! Ok, so it was kind of cute, but...nonetheless it was a mess! Jangle had left his Christmas list written on the shower wall. It included a wrestling ring, and a girl elf. He also wrote Jangle + Barbie. Alabaster then wrote Elves Rule and Penguins Drool! Those elves are trouble. But we think Jangle must have a crush on some girl elf or something!

The culprits

On the top of the toilet it said "Ho Ho Ho, We are Santa's Elves!"

You can't see it, but they wrote: You need to shave!

Ha! Caught red handed!

Stinky ol' Reindeer

A few years ago we learned that reindeer have a tendency to stink up areas due to their uncontrollable flatulence. (in kid speak: reindeer have stinky farts). This morning we had a giant fort made up in our living room from all of the cushions in the house! The Elves had a sign on their giant fort that read: Reindeer Keep Out! with a note that told us that those pesky reindeer had decided to camp out in the Elves' house and stunk it up so badly that they couldn't sleep in there that night.

The Reindeer hanging out in the Elves' house stinking it up!

WWE - World Wrestling Elves!

I guess the Elves are feeling a bit better because when the kids woke up this morning, they had set up a wrestling match. Ok, to be specific, they had a cage match going on with some of the wrestling figures. Nathan had a betting pool going - my money was on Jangle! And the reindeer were all watching in the stands.  

Jangle pinned him!

Nathan - the bookie

Reindeer watching from the stands

Oh no, the Elves are sick

Nurse Jangle

It was bound to happen. With 4 kids and a crazy schedule and all the germs they bring home, it was bound to happen. The Elves caught our colds. We been going, going, going, and it finally caught up to us, and apparently the Elves. Sam was the first one to come down with it, and therefore I am blaming him for getting the Elves sick. We found Alabaster wrapped up in his blanket with Jangle trying to take care of him. He was being a very good little nurse with the kleenex and Elf Medicine. I think Nathan was just trying to keep his distance and not get sick because Jack found him hiding out in one of our stockings.

Sam tried some of the Elf Medicine to see if it would help make him feel better. But we determined that it only works on Elves. Jack was very concerned about the Elves. He wanted Papa to stay home from work to take care of them. But Papa reassured him that mom would come home at lunch to check on them. I even offered to bring them back to work so I could make sure they were doing ok, but Jack thought that was a bad idea. He thought I would forget them there. So, Jack tucked them in and they slept all day long. No Elf mischief today.

Nathan avoiding all the Elf germs

Decorating Christmas trees - Elf Style

Looks like Nathan already decorated a tree!

The Elves must have gotten in to my holiday baking supplies. When the kids got home from school they had set up a decorating station to make "Christmas trees". Jangle -of course - was in charge of the sprinkles. (Jangle seems to always be a hungry little elf!) They had also found my m&m's and spelled out a little reminder to the kids. The kids enjoyed making Christmas trees...and eating them!

Jangle trying to eat the decorations!

Alabaster is the responsible Elf...is there such a thing?

A gentle reminder

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Yes, we live in Minnesota. Yes, it usually snows in the winter. Yes, we should be prepared for it. Yes, I know I should be used to it. Yes, I know the weatherman predicted snow. But...really??? Almost 15 inches in a day????

Ok, ok, to be fair- it was pretty, and it wasn't all that cold, and yes we did family pictures in the snow. The kids are loving it - finally something to play in! Last winter we couldn't even go sledding because we didn't have enough snow. But this year - well we got enough yesterday to last a while!

I see you, Nathan!

And apparently the elves are pretty excited about it too. But elves are used to the North Pole snow that isn't cold. They can't play in our snow for very long because they get cold. I guess after watching Frosty the Snowman  last night, Frosty decided to stop by for a visit - or at least that's what the elves said. I have a sneaky suspicion that Nathan was the one that wrote all over our window for some reason. I do believe he was blaming Frosty for HIS mischief!

And Alabaster and Jangle decided to set up their own version of a snowball fight. Jangle wasn't too happy though. He said Alabaster was cheating because he had a snowman on his team. I think Jangle was just a sore loser.

Jangle had even built a little fort out of a shoe box, and Alabaster was using our cookie jar lid as a shield.



Alabaster and the Snowman (and my doughnuts!)



Jangle's fort

Oh! AND they used my doughnuts that I was supposed to bring into work to make snowmen. Those elves are into absolutely everything!

They also said that Frosty left the kids a surprise and asked if they could find it. Now what kind of surprise could a snowman leave? And WHERE would he leave it?



Frosty's surprise...of course! In our freezer.









Family Photo Shoot ~ Elf Style

We told the kids we were going to do a family photo shoot today ~ even with all the snow that is coming our way. So the elves wanted to get in on some of the fun too and decided to stage their own  family photo shoot - with all the reindeer.

Here's their set up - how did they find my tripod? I've been looking for that!



Jangle...being silly




Nathan is the photographer





Waiting for their turn



Elf Sleepover

Sam had a friend sleepover (named Jack as well) and funny thing is, his friend has an elf visiting his house too! So Jack B. decided to bring his elf for the sleep over. Oh boy, let me tell you I knew our elves were going to love this. Another elf to get into mischeif with???

The boys all played outside in the teeny tiny bit of snow we had and tried to sled down our driveway and make snowballs. It was kind of pathetic actually. We had approximately 1 inch of snow that had melted in most places. But then they came in and played inside. The boys stayed up really late - which I'm thinking is now a good thing because it keeps the elves out of trouble!

Since Jack B. had to leave quite early in the morning, the boys set their alarm for crazy-early-o'clock, so they would have time to get up and play video games before he had to leave. So I got the joy of hearing them come up to my room to tell me the elves had left and gone back to Jack B.'s house. Whew! Was I glad. Now I could sleep a little more.

Unfortunately I think the boys misunderstood the note that was left. The Elves said they were so excited to have Jack B's elf - B.J.  over that they decided to take him on a tour of  our neighborhood to see all the Christmas lights, and then they headed over to see where Jack lived. Hmmm...how do elves get around, you ask? Well, let me tell you - they are NOT very good drivers!



They almost hit the basketball hoop!



Jack's parents were a little worried when they pulled into our driveway- they thought maybe we had been drinking or something, because our car was "parked" a bit strangely. But once I told them the elves were the ones who parked the car, they understood immediately. Unless you've had an elf visit your house, you don't really understand what trouble they can be!

Just look at how many of them it takes to drive! Alabaster was in charge of the pedals, and B.J., Nathan and Jangle were steering. I'm so glad I was not on the road last night - I think I may have had to pull over and check my eyesight if I saw three elves driving a big 'ol SUV.!

Maybe they stopped at McDonald's too! See that bag??

The Elves Cargo

Usually the Elves arrive at our house on December 1st. But this year we got a letter from Santa saying that they were carrying some large cargo with them and it was delaying them a bit. So, we not-so-patiently waited for them to arrive.

I guess our wait was worth it. There was a note on our door when we got home telling us to "Go downstairs and practice". Hmmm....what do they want us to practice?



In case you can't read Elf... "Go downstairs and practice".



So thinking that we were going to be practicing basketball or soccer or something (see the pictures on the note above? Wouldn't a reasonable person think it had something to do with one of those sports??), we all went downstairs ready for a game of basement basketball.



First game!



However, we were not even close! Holy moly macaroni...as Jack would say, there was a ping pong table in our basement! The note the elves left said that the reason it took them so long to get to our house this year was because they were carrying the ping pong table with them and it was heavy.  They got stuck in a snowbank up in Canada, and had to call Lucy (our dog) and Buddy Bear (our huge teddy bear) to help them get it unstuck.

 The kids loved it! 

Hungry, Hungry, Reindeer???

I'm guessing it is time to go grocery shopping again. These elves and reindeer are eating me out of house and home. I thought Elves only ate the four food groups:
1. Candy
2. Candy Canes
3. Candy Corn
4. Syrup

Hanging out in our fridge

I am curious as to what the food groups are for reindeer. I am pretty sure it includes Lefse. (In case you are not a Scandanavian from the Midwest - Lefse is basically a potato tortilla that is full of deliciousness.)

This morning those Elves and Reindeer got into our fridge. And the reindeer were eating all the sprinkles in the house - which apparently gives them gas, as evidenced by the plug on one of the reindeer's noses.

Reindeer gobbling up our lefse!

Reindeer farts stink!

Rudolph helped

Elves Rule

Elves Rule!

Maybe, just maybe this baby elf is a bit of a trouble maker. This morning he barricaded the kids in their rooms "for their own safety", and now he's messing with my stuff! I came home from work to find this:

And not only that, but Jangle and Alabaster had taken a picture with Papa's Ipad - and not a very nice picture to say the least - and set it as the background picture. What has gotten into these elves?

An Elf Full Moon

Just taking precautions

The kids woke up this morning to a mess! They had been barricaded in their rooms for their own protection! Baby Elf Nathan was a wee bit worried about the penguins we saw last night and he wanted to make sure that the kids stayed safe and sound. I’m not quite sure he thought his plan all the way through though. The kids were able to sneak out of their rooms anyways. As they walked downstairs, they encountered another barricade of sorts. Alabaster and Jangle had enlisted the help of Buddy Bear and were ready for any penguin shennanigens! They had their pile of snowballs ready to go. Alabaster and Jangle tried telling Nathan there was nothing to be afraid of, but you know how unreasonable baby elves can be.

Those pesky penguins are foiled again!

Always. Be. Prepared.

Nathan - The Protector

Reindeer party!

So the elves heard that their favorite movie was on t.v. last night - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Therefore they invited all their friends over for a party. They left the kids reindeer nose suckers, Rudolph Chapstick, a coloring book and a recipe for "elf-corn". We had to tape it due to basketball practice but 3 of the 4 kids got to watch it. And of course the elves watched with us.

While we were waiting for practice to end Jack set up a snowball fight between the reindeer and elves. Not sure who won, but I'm guessing the ones with thumbs had a bit of an advantage.

Uh oh...Penguins!

So, as you may or may not know, North Pole Elves have a strange fear of penguins. Kind of like my strange fear of spiders. Spiders won't hurt you, but there is just something about them that creeps me out. Well, our Elves have this same aversion to penguins. Jack even had to hide his toy penguins once the elves got to our house, just in case it could be a problem.

So yesterday morning we woke up to find our enormous teddy bear surrounded by army men and holding a nerf gun. The note said "Heard the South Pole Elf is in town. We saw him with an army of penguins. Go check it out. But be sneaky and go at night. Penguins have poor night vision." The big guy was holding an Elf Application and had filled it out! He wanted to be the elves body guard against the penguins!

The note gave us an address of where these penguins were hiding.

(Oh, and to bring you up to speed on the South Pole Elf...He was a very naughty elf and was upset that he never got any credit for helping Santa and only the North Pole Elves got recognition. So he went on strike, tied up our North Pole Elves and demanded candy last year. Well, our elves turned him around and brought him back to the North Pole with him to teach him the ways of the good elves. It worked for a little while, but alas, he has reverted back to his old, grouchy ways.)

If you notice, the baby elf, Nathan, is no where to be seen. Jack finally found him climbing into his backpack. He had filled the whole thing with snowballs. I think he was trying to sneak off to school with Jack if you ask me.

So when it got dark out, we packed up the kids and elves and headed out to find these penguins. Luckily for us it wasn't too far away. As we got closer, Sam and Jack slid down in their seats with only the elves eyes peeking above the window, to make sure those pesky penguins didn't see them. When we pulled up in front of this house, there were penguins EVERYWHERE! We even counted and there were over 32 penguins in the front yard! They were everywhere. The entire yard was filled with penguin decorations! We sat there and looked for quite some time and tried to convince the elves (and Jack) that penguins weren't scary. But he was having none of it. Jack was going to protect the elves at all costs. He didn't care for the penguins. Suddenly and without warning, the car window rolled down and Papa yelled:

"Go back to the South Pole, Penguins", and sped off into the night with us in tow.

Jack was very worried now. Papa had angered the penguins.

A few minutes later as Jack was going with me to pick up Ana from basketball, he asked:

"Were those really South Pole Penguins, or were they just decorations?" So I asked him what he thought. He pondered this for a good long time and about 10 minutes later responded that he thought they were decorations. Or at least he hoped so, because he didn't want the penguins coming after Papa. He was worried that Papa might go to bed and then wake up tomorrow with scratches all over from the penguins.

 

Hmmm...I think we might need to rethink this whole "Penguin" thing.

Babysitting?

I do believe one of my favorite sounds every morning in December is the "thud thud thud" sound of my kids running downstairs to see what the elves did the night before and then the "patter patter patter" of them running back UPstairs to tell me about it.

This morning Sam came in and told me that the elves ate ALL of the cookies I spent hours and hours baking yesterday! I was not happy to say the least. So I told him I would get dressed and come downstairs - because I was almost ready to send those elves back to the North Pole!

Thankfully by the time I got downstairs Sam had found the cookies. (Hidden inside the elves' little house! Those sneaky little guys!). However...in their note they told us that Santa asked them to babysit a new baby elf for the week, but they weren't sure when the baby elf would arrive.

Turns out that he arrived last night. He must have drank all the water Jack left for them after his long trip from the North Pole because we found him in our bathroom! And quite the mess to go along with him.

I'm a little nervous to have a baby elf in the house. He's already turned our toilet water green and left footprints. Hmmm- what's next?


Elves have wierd footprints!



Baby Elf (Nathan) must have had a full bladder after his trip from the North Pole!

This is where those sneaky elves hid all the fruits of my labor!

Hidden underneath that pile of elves and reindeer are the remnants of a plate of cookies.

Nathan (he isn't big enough to have received his Elf name yet)