A New Christmas Tradition

I remember reading about the Elf on the Shelf last year, and I wanted to start that tradition in our family. Things got busy, though, and I forgot all about it. Last week, Abbey blogged about their elf, and that jogged my memory. I made a special trip to Hallmark the next day.

On Friday, we got a package under our tree from Santa (*wink*) that contained our very own Elf on the Shelf. Clayton was beyond excited! We read the book together and it explained everything that we needed to know. The elf sits in your house and keeps records for Santa of everything that you do - good or bad. At night, he flies to the North Pole and tells Santa of his findings. In the morning, you wake up and have to look for the elf because he is in a new spot.

Clayton has had so much fun naming our elf (he named him Nick since he is friends with St. Nicholas), talking to Nick, and finding Nick each morning. I think this will be a fun tradition for many years to come. :)

So... I took Clayton's picture with Nick before we read the book. Apparently, you aren't supposed to touch the elf. If you do, he looses a little bit of his magic. Ooops! Note to self: preread books before reading them to your child. Lesson learned. :)

This morning, when Clayton woke up, Nick was perched on the kitchen light fixture. Sneaky little elf!

Nick's presence has definitely made an impact on Clayton. He has been on his very best behavior, for sure! I am loving it! He is going out of his way to try to help around the house. He even asked if he could write out my grocery list for me yesterday. It took about 10 times as long with me spelling each thing out, but I was grateful that he wanted so badly to help. ;)

Yesterday, Drew and Clayton were playing on the floor. Drew's hand brushed accross Clayton's face. Well, Clayton piped up with, "Did you see that Nick? Drew just hit me!" It was one of those moments where you are trying to keep a straight face and discourage sibling rivalry, but I just couldn't help it. I laughed.

I wanted to share with you all my favorite Christmas book, too. It is called The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado. It is such a sweet story! I tear up every time that I read it to the boys. I remember reading it as a child, and now I love reading it to my kids. If you have little ones, it is a great Christmas book!