This year's elf pictures are a little different. We went to Alabama for Thanksgiving, as we do most years. This year, however, Ahna and Grumps asked if Rebecca would like to stay a little extra. She was happy with the idea so long as her elf, came to Alabama too. So, this year for the first part of the month, we had double pictures. Mistletoe and Jingle with us in Florida, and Twinkle sharing pictures from Alabama with Rebecca. This was our fifth year with the elves. You can see more pictures in our public facebook album, and feel free to go back and view what the elves were up to in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.
12-2-2017, Day 5, Using a candy cane rope, Twinkle is repelling down the china cabinet. Rebecca searched the house over before she finally found Twinkle. Exasperated and with outstretched arms, Rebecca said, “Seriously?! Twinkle, what are you doing climbing on the China cabinet?! Really?!”
Mistletoe meanwhile, got out Britt's shaving kit. So that's how he keeps his face smooth and those boyish good looks. The kids came and climbed in my bed before Gary even left out the door for the farm. Sometime later I woke up to Kate crying. I walked by the door to see the elves hadn't moved. I changed Kate and brought her back to the bed to feed. The others were stirring and Britt asked "why didn't the elves move," as they climbed out of bed only to look and see that they had. Ruth answered "I guess because we got up in the middle of the night, so they hadn't moved yet." Yes that's what happened, stay out of my bed.
12-3-2017, Day 6, Really? Really? You steal Momma's special PB M&M that came in her stocking from Ahna, to spell out "Be good." Does anyone else see the problem here. Maybe the elves need to ride along with us to Church. Grumps was left wondering about Twinkle's behavior in Alabama as well. Now, pray tell, what would Twinkle be doing on stilts looking over into the aquarium when the view of the fish is so much better from the front?! Hmmmmm ...... I wonder .....
12-4-2017, Day 7 Yesterday, we were wondering why Twinkle felt the need to use stilts to look over into the aquarium. Well, now we know. It appears that Twinkle has dropped a line and hook into the aquarium. Twinkle has gone fishing! Apparently Mistletoe and Jingle decided to take a leaf out of Twinkle's book, and check out what the world looks like from the kids' height by creating stilts.
12-5-2017, Day 8, Apparently Mistletoe and Jingle felt like they needed a impartial referee with a perfect track record as they took each other on in Battleship. Looks like Mistletoe is winning. I guess the two of them are doing all the things you can't do with an odd number of elves, while Twinkle and Rebecca are still in Alabama. It appears that today is Game Day, because Twinkle too got out a game. She wants to play “Candy Land”.
12-6-2017, Day 9 Twinkle didn’t think we had enough Christmas decorations up so she decorated the closet door. The other elves also got into the bow box and built their own rock climbing wall out of bows. At least they had the sense to use a safety rope.
12-8-2017, Day 11, Looks like Mistletoe is beating Jingle again, this time in a game of checkers. Meanwhile back in Alabama, Twinkle saw Rebecca using the blocks to arrange her ABCs and to spell, so Twinkle thought she would share her spelling prowess. At least Twinkle is behaving tonight ..... no messing with the fish or the chocolates. But Rebecca wasn’t happy with Twinkle for messing up the blocks and taking them from the kitchen to the living room. She insisted that Twinkle put them back up in their proper place tonight!
Mistletoe meanwhile, got out Britt's shaving kit. So that's how he keeps his face smooth and those boyish good looks. The kids came and climbed in my bed before Gary even left out the door for the farm. Sometime later I woke up to Kate crying. I walked by the door to see the elves hadn't moved. I changed Kate and brought her back to the bed to feed. The others were stirring and Britt asked "why didn't the elves move," as they climbed out of bed only to look and see that they had. Ruth answered "I guess because we got up in the middle of the night, so they hadn't moved yet." Yes that's what happened, stay out of my bed.
12-6-2017, Day 9 Twinkle didn’t think we had enough Christmas decorations up so she decorated the closet door. The other elves also got into the bow box and built their own rock climbing wall out of bows. At least they had the sense to use a safety rope.
12-8-2017, Day 11, Looks like Mistletoe is beating Jingle again, this time in a game of checkers. Meanwhile back in Alabama, Twinkle saw Rebecca using the blocks to arrange her ABCs and to spell, so Twinkle thought she would share her spelling prowess. At least Twinkle is behaving tonight ..... no messing with the fish or the chocolates. But Rebecca wasn’t happy with Twinkle for messing up the blocks and taking them from the kitchen to the living room. She insisted that Twinkle put them back up in their proper place tonight!
12-9-2017, Day 12 Twinkle must have been tired of the burnt out light in the ceiling fan. One would think that changing a light bulb would be quite a feat for a little elf. Of course, Grumps is more impressed with how Twinkle managed to get that swing up there! On the other hand I don't even know what to say about the second picture. Maybe they thought Kate's baby food looked lonely? And apparently, they too have been listening to the Harry Potter books since I believe I see Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Crookshanks in there. I guess Jingle thinks she's as much of an artist as Ruth. No wonder that egg looked so terrified. Wonder how he knew he'd be breakfast.
12-10-2017, Day 13 Today the elves were playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the window when they thought they should leave a note of warning. Back in Alabama, Twinkle playing “Silent Night” ........ silently.
12-10-2017, Day 13 Today the elves were playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the window when they thought they should leave a note of warning. Back in Alabama, Twinkle playing “Silent Night” ........ silently.
12-11-2017, Day 14 Twinkle magically appeared in her sleeping bag here in the hotel room soon after Rebecca drifted off to sleep. Grumps is wondering how difficult it must be to sleep when one can’t ever close one’s eyes. Thankfully, the hotel does not charge extra when an elf stays in the room. Also, happening tonight was the "Elf Ball Pit ~ Elves only!" The angel seems a bit annoyed that she wasn't invited.
12-12-2017, Day 15, The elves are reunited, and they have brought the kids a gingerbread village kit to celebrate. They also are surprising them by bringing a Elfkin (that's what they call a baby elf) from the North Pole Nursery. The letter reads...
December 12, 2017
Dear Britt, Ruth, and Rebecca,
Merry Christmas! We brought you two surprises today. First, we brought you a little gingerbread village kit. We thought you might have fun with your family each making your own.
We also got special permission from Mrs. Claus to bring an Elfkin (that’s what you call a baby elf) for you to see. Katherine isn’t big enough for an elf yet, maybe she will be next year, and maybe this little Elfkin will be big enough next year to be her elf. She doesn’t have any magic of her own yet, so she can’t fly back to the North Pole Nursery. We’ll take her home tonight, but we thought you might like to meet her. Remember be very quiet today, babies need the quiet to sleep, because they grow when they are asleep.
Have fun today!
Love,
~Mistletoe, Jingle, and Twinkle~
12-13-2017, Day 16, The elves were thwarted in their planned activities because Britt unexpectedly lost a tooth today. The Tooth Fairy must have felt that their constant smiles and refusal to look her in the eyes meant that they had guilty consciouses. Her letter reads...
December 12, 2017
Dear Britt,
Nice little tooth, you had for me tonight. I caught these three shifty looking critters sneaking around. They say they know y'all, but I think they look like a bunch of thieves. So, I tied them up for you.
Your welcome,
Love,
Fen Willowglimmer
Your friendly tooth faerie
PS - Stop losing teeth with Grumps. He asks for too much money.
12-14-2017, Day 17, I guess I wasn't the only one who went out and admired the meteor shower after all. Mistletoe got out Britt's telescope. He had a good vantage to observe not just the Geminoids, but also the rocket launch. Rocket control was carried out by Jingle. Twinkle on her first space walk reportedly said, "And that's one very small step for elf, one giant leap for elf-kind."
12-15-2017, Day 18, Tonight the elves discovered that there is really no good way to build an igloo out of styrofoam packing peanuts. So instead they made and hung 15 paper snowflakes around the living room. Mistletoe and Jingle were just snipping away. Twinkle was gathering up the trash.
12-16-2017, Day 19, Guess the elves got tired of hearing me say clean up your room. I appreciate the effort, but I doubt this will keep them in their rooms till they are cleaned correctly. And they are hanging out at the bottom to watch for trespassing.
12-17-2017, Day 20, The elves contributed some leaves to our Thankful Tree. Mistletoe wrote while the girls sat with Santa and dictated. "We are thankful for Britt, Ruth, Rebecca, and Katherine... We are also thankful for hot chocolate, candy canes, and cookies. - Mistletoe, Jingle, and Twinkle"
12-18-2017, Day 21, The elves heard we were baking and decided to sneak themselves a couple of cookies. Jingle stealing cookies while Mistletoe and Twinkle plot. I know they are up to something.
12-19-2017, Day 22, The Gingerbread men heard how the elves got into the cookies and went on the offensive tonight. Ninja bread men that is... The girls can't bear to watch Mistletoe get pummeled, he stinks at fight as much as Britt does. Ha!
12-20-2017, Day 23, And after their trouble the last two nights, they decided to just make their own little elf cookies. They are complete with icing and sprinkles.
12-21-2017, Day 24, It appears that the elves have found my stash of post it notes. As they have decorated my front porch with them.
12-22-2017, Day 25, The elves are finishing up a round of golf. It seems Twinkle has landed in a sand trap.
12-23-2017, Day 26, Introducing "The Mistle Tones." With Jingle on trombone, Mistletoe on drums, and Twinkle doing the vocals, the Mistle Tones are a jazz band that specializes in Christmas parties. Have "The Mistle Tones" for your next festive gathering.
12-24-2017, Day 27, Christmas Eve, after much debate we traveled to the grandparents. The elves were able to have a cousin sleeper over too. Looks like they have stayed up way too late talking too.
12-25-2017, Day 28, Christmas morning, The elves showed up at Uncle Zack and Aunt Manna's house with a letter and wearing mouse ears made from black felt. The kids have been given 4 clues over the last few days wbout their Christmas surprise. Clue #1 they will want to bring their money. Clue #2 they will want to bring their card holder that they used at our PA coop for their name tags. Clue #3 it's some thing we would do on Christmas day. Clue #4 it's somewhere that we would have to get up early to go to, but we would be closer to it at Aunt Manna's. Tomorrow morning the #5, final clue will be seeing the elves and listening to the Disney Christmas CD on the way to Disney. Can't wait!
12-26-2017, Day 29 The kids awoke to find the elves in their book bags from Santa beside their stockings. So no one touched them. Rebecca came running to the bedroom to wake me to see if we could open them but I told her we had to wait till Daddy came home from work. She asked in a very irate voice, "Why did Daddy go to work when he knowed I had presents to open!" she later grumbled that it would be "bedtime" (aka night time) before he came home. Luckily the elves relocated up next to the first Christmas photos before time to open presents.
12-27-2017, Day 30, Time to go home is 9 pm at bedtime.Twinkle down low with the goodbye letter, so that she could accompany Rebecca to the dentist this morning. It didn't help.
The elf note reads...
December 27, 2017
Dear Britt, Ruth, and Rebecca,
This past month sure has been fun. But it is time for us to go. Today will be our last day here. We’ll come down after lunch to say our goodbyes. Before you go to bed leave us by the tree and Jingle’s reindeer will take us home.
We will be sure to check in with you through the elf door when you aren’t watching this year. And we’ll see you again next Christmas time.
Love,
~Mistletoe, Jingle, and Twinkle~
12-24-2017, Day 27, Christmas Eve, after much debate we traveled to the grandparents. The elves were able to have a cousin sleeper over too. Looks like they have stayed up way too late talking too.
12-27-2017, Day 30, Time to go home is 9 pm at bedtime.Twinkle down low with the goodbye letter, so that she could accompany Rebecca to the dentist this morning. It didn't help.
The elf note reads...
December 27, 2017
Dear Britt, Ruth, and Rebecca,
This past month sure has been fun. But it is time for us to go. Today will be our last day here. We’ll come down after lunch to say our goodbyes. Before you go to bed leave us by the tree and Jingle’s reindeer will take us home.
We will be sure to check in with you through the elf door when you aren’t watching this year. And we’ll see you again next Christmas time.
Love,
~Mistletoe, Jingle, and Twinkle~