Tea party

Lucian found the elf right away this morning. He was having a a tea party with Dora's Abuela.

Elf milk

The kids each found the elf this morning when they woke up and grabbed their morning cups of milk.

He was hanging out in the fridge drinking a glass of green elf milk. Later in the morning Sutton asked to try the milk, but Lucian didn't. He was afraid Sutton would turn green! 

Hiding candy canes

Our elf was found riding a reindeer this morning.

His note said he had hidden 6 candy canes. 

Even though the kids don't eat them they had a lot of fun finding them. 

Movie night

Our elf was found in the living room tonight after a night of snacking and watching movies.

Bath time

Christopher Pop-In-Kins was hiding a little too well this morning. He was in the master bathroom taking a bath. 

Barbie car

Once again Sutton was the one who found the elf this morning and she wasn't too happy about what she saw. 

She was not happy that Barbie was snuggled so closely to the elf, because she wanted to play with it and we couldn't safely remove the Barbie without touching the elf. He should know better than to play with her toys!

Flying elf

Sutton quickly spotted our elf this morning.

He was tied on to the ceiling fan, so he could fly through the air. I don't think either kid was overly impressed with him today. 

Pajama Elves

Sutton found our elf hanging from her vanity mirror this morning.

He brought with him the book Pajama Elves.  This Christmas story talks about how elves sneak in and measure children so that they can sew magical pajamas that help children sleep soundly on Christmas Eve. The pajamas are somehow magically delivered on December 24th. It's a very cute story that I've been wanting to share with them as soon as they were old enough. 

Traveling elf

Christopher Pop-In-Kins created a road through our living room last night and was having fun driving a bus around.

Lucian thought it was "so cool" and funny. He was playing with the cars that didn't half the elf in them. 

Fishing

Apparently our elf likes to fish. With a little help, Sutton found our elf in the bathtub this morning.

His note asked "Do you like to fish?" And then Lucian spotted this game.

Unfortunately, the game didn't work very well. At first it just stopped a lot and then it stopped working completely.  My husband will try exchanging it tomorrow (it was a Black Friday special for $4.88). 

Underwear instead of stockings?

Christopher Pop-In-Kins swapped out the kids stockings last night. Then he hid in mine.

He did leave a sheet of stickers in the kids underwear. 

Snowball fight

The kids had a hard time finding our elf this morning even though they walked right past him several times.

Christopher and Peppa Pig's family had taken over our shoe rack and we're having a marshmallow snowball fight. Lucian thought it was pretty funny. 

Candyland Elf

Our elf's magic has been restored and he is no longer sick!

The kids did really well through Lucian's GI appt and their dentist appts so Christopher brought them a surprise  - Walkie-talkies. Lucian has an oral aversion so the dentist is torture for him. We have done so much prep and this is the first time he willingly allowed his front teeth dry brushed and let the dentist count his teeth. We wanted to reward him do that in 6 months he may feel confident enough to allow them to actually brush his teeth or to use a mirror to look around better. Sutton's first try went well too.

Sick elf

Yesterday, after we got back from the kids' first ever trip to Chuck E Cheese, Lucian touched our elf. He cried, knowing he had broken the rules. This morning he found out the elf was sick as a result.

The note explains he is sick because he was touched and didn't have enough magic for his nightly return to the North Pole. If the kids can be extra good today he will have enough magic to return tonight and get well. 

Growing something magical!

The kids had a hard time finding the elf this morning. They were worried he was missing.

When they finally found him Lucian was skeptical of the idea to plant Tic-Tacs. He recognized them as a candy our daycare friend eats. 

When the kids woke up after nap, our planted tic-tacs had grown into cookies!

Sugar rush!

Before Lucian could even fully open his eyes he was looking for the elf. This is what he found.

Christopher was sitting in the doll high chair eating lots of candy and drinking A&W. Lucian thought it was funny, but Sutton seems concerned someone will touch him today. 

Lucian checked several candy wrappers to see if the elf left any candy for him (he did).

Story time Elf

Lucian came stumbling out of the bedroom early this morning, hands over his eyes to block the light. He came to me and said "We have to find the elf!" 

We found him in the dining room table hosting story time. Lucian was a bit upset the robot was there, but I said he could move him, just not the elf. 20 minutes later Sutton woke up and said "We gots to find the elf!" Lucian showed her where he was and the both smiled over him reading a story. 

Snowman!

While we were sleeping our elf was busy last night.

The kids needed a little help finding Christopher this morning. I think they didn't realize he could hide in the bathroom. He made a toilet paper snowman! The kids thought it was pretty funny, and are already discussing where he might be tomorrow. 

Elf donuts

Christopher Pop-In-Kins made elf donuts last night!

The kids found him this morning in the kitchen holding a platter of tiny elf donuts (frosted Cheerios). Sutton did eat two, but Lucian refused to try them.

They were a little surprised he wasn't in the living room today. The previous three days he had been. 

Christoper Pop-In-Kins: Day 3 and Home Depot

Christopher was under the tree this morning with gifts. He brought a new light-up Christmas book and a train that counts down the time until Christmas. Lucian loves trains, so he will especially like that. 

Once we were all dressed and ready for the day we went to Home Depot. The first Saturday of every month Home Depot offers a free kids workshop. There is a new kit every month where you help your child build something and they supply everything you need, including paint. The kids get a Home Depot apron to keep, a certificate of completion and a pin. It says ages 5 and up, but after several employees encouraged us to take our children we signed them up last time and went. You can register right on Home Depot's website.

For some reason, they had an extra workshop today. We built Schoolhouse Banks. 

You can't see much from this picture of Sutton painting hers. When the paint is dry we have stickers to place on them. It's a fun little project to do and the kids enjoy going.