Tis the most wonderful time of the year

9th Dec - Elf on the Shelf

We have totally bought in to the Elf on the Shelf madness that is sweeping the globe with merriment and elfishness.

Holly Noelle Tinseltoes arrived in our house on the 1st of December, finding a safe place to observe the family madness away from the inquisitive whiskey of one Indiana Di Stefano , by sitting on top of the lounge room mirror.

Her job is easy this year. It’s virtually impossible for Theia to be naughty at nine months old, she is too cute and too young , so I’m not really sure what Holly reports to Santa every night – maybe she is secretly keeping tabs on me and Guy as well.

Holly will of course come into play far more next year, once Theia understand the concept of Christmas and knows about Santa, and I can’t wait to see what tasks she comes up with for Theia to complete.

Maybe she will be asked to:
                    Sing her favourite Christmas song;
                    Read a festive story with Daddy;
                    Help Mummy make mince pies ;
                    Write her list to Santa Clause;
                    Make a Christmas card for Grandma;
                    Decorate the Christmas tree with Mummy and Daddy;
                    Donate some of her old clothes or toys; or
                    Use some of her pennies to buy food for the food bank.

I have many ideas I want to pass on to Holly for her consideration. I also wonder if there will be a task every day or just every couple of days….? And how will the tasks arrive will there be in scrolls or glittery envelopes….? So many question….

At the moment Holly seems content to play hide and seek around the house. So far she has been found:
                    Sitting on the mirror in the lounge room
                    Curled up in the Christmas wreath
                    Climbing the Christmas tree
                    Hiding in the chocolate bowl
                    Reading the Christmas cards
                    Sleeping in the Christmas stocking
                    Talking to the decorative birds and butterflies in the Christmas flowers
                    Playing with Chilli and Rudey the Christmas teddies (that aren’t teddies).

We have pictures of each one so far… I wonder where she will turn up next.

Tomorrow marks the start of Homemade week; 7+ days of recipes and homemade gift ideas, starting things of with a Christmas favourite - Mince Pies - Yummy. So stock up on vanilla ice-cream, brandy cream and mulled wine to go with them.


Update/Side Note:

We went to see Santa this afternoon and it was GREAT.

It's the first time Theia has met the big man and we wanted it to be special!! And it was!! We had to pay about £17 (£12 for Theia and £5 for me and Guy), but it was worth it.

The garden centre we went to had a little house/snowy tree scene set up in the waiting area. We'd booked an afternoon slot, knowing it would be quiet as most of the big kids would be in school on a Friday, so there was only three families waiting - including us. When the elf came out she gave us a gold coin token and told us it was special and would be useful later on (for a present from Santa's toyshop).

We followed her in and all sat down in a little theatre with little wooden benches. The elf explained that she had to go check if Santa was ready to see us (as he was very busy in his toy shop), but that in the mean time there was a mini film for us to watch about Santa and a special reindeer called Rocket. It was a cute little cartoon and Theia actually seemed to like it.

Once the cartoon was over, we got to follow another elf through a little maze of animated elf scenes where they were making toys - it was actually quite cool - then we walked into a lovely tented room, and there is the corner, sitting on a lovely wooden chair was Santa. We all sat down on the huge beanbag/cushions that had been spread over the floor and listened to Santa as he read a story to us.

Theia did get a little bored - she is only 9 months old after all.... so she decided to crawl and explore, but no one seemed to mind. Afterwards she even got to have a photo sitting with Santa - And there were only giggles and smiles - no tears. The elves and Santa loved her little outfit - she looked like Baby Claus.

Then it was off to Santa's toy shop to pick out a present. Theia actually picked out her own. She latched on the a pack of rattles, which couldn't be prised from her little hands... She even got a little, real, Christmas tree that we're going to plant in the garden - or at least a little pot... hopefully it won't die (I may have a reputation for killing plants) and then we can have a real tree each year.

We will defiantly be going back next year.