Charlie the Elf

I have mentioned before about Charlie, our Elf of the Shelf.  He watches us during the day and then reports back to Santa every night if we have been naughty or nice.  He hangs out in a difference place every day.  Sometimes Charlie can be a little mischievous...

Here are some of the crazy places we found Charlie - mostly for me so I can remember next year!

One day Charlie told Caden to plant some peppermints in a vase of flour...

...and the next morning, this is what he found!

Another day Charlie spelled out his name in Cheerios...

...but Caden had a little accident and pushed his place mat into Charlie, causing him to take a nose dive into his name.  After Caden apologized and went to school, he came home to find a note from Charlie

Things got a little dicey once Bashy started moving.  Charlie realized he shouldn't hang out on "crawler level" as he was when he was washing dishes...

...or else Bashy will get 'em!

But, the absolute WORST was when Charlie replaced all of our stockings with our underwear

Funny, except that JZ called mid-day and said he was bringing his new boss man home for dinner. Luckily, Charlie got wind of the situation, and while Caden was napping, he cleaned up his mess.

On Charlie's last day, he left Caden a goodbye note and a treat.  

He said that Santa would lift his magic for a few minutes so Caden could hug him and kiss him goodbye

I know that one day I'm going to have to answer questions about why I lied.  This Christmas was so magical that I don't mind.  I hope they understand that I was just trying to make memories with them and for them.  Life is so stinkin' hard, I just want them to have some precious, perfect memories of their childhood.

And I hope I don't have to answer those questions for a long, long time...

Merry Birthday, Jesus!

Have you been waiting with baited breath, wondering if our boys were on the nice list or the naughty list, and whether or not Santa came?

Guess what, he did!

He ate all the milk and cookies and left a card for the boys too!

On Christmas morning, a still sleepy CP eagerly came downstairs to see if Santa had left him any presents

After checking to see if Santa ate his snacks,

he looked to see if Santa had left him any toys.  Yeah, he did - a big Buzz Lightyear and a recycle truck!

He even got to open a few presents by himself before Bashy got up

This is Caden's "All I got are sheets?  Where's the toy?" face

When Asher got downstairs he had a good time playing with the elephant ball popper that Santa left him and doing what he does best - looking cute and eating

It was really fun to see the two of them interact and play together

Last year, Caden was a little overwhelmed by the present madness.  Not this year.  This year he loved opening all the presents.  In fact he opened every present under our tree, whether they were his or not!

This worked well because Asher wasn't really into the opening.  He just liked the paper, boxes, and bags after they were off the present.

Well, I guess CP liked the boxes too

The boys felt like they got some pretty cool stuff...

Mid-morning-ish, Papa, Gaga, Nana, and Grandpa came over to enjoy our white Christmas

I guess the rest of us were good too!

This is my "I'm going to the spa!" face

We spent the day opening (more!) presents,

playing,

putting stuff together,

eating, and drinking

Before you call Social Services, this is Grinch Punch - lime sherbet and Sprite.  Caden thought it was delicious and loved drinking out of an "adult" glass

Lastly, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus before Caden blew out his candles!

This Christmas was magical.  

It. Was. Perfect.  

There's nothing better than Christmas with a three-year-old - unless maybe it's a three-year-old AND a first Christmas all wrapped up together.

We have so much to be grateful for.

And we were.

And we are.

Merry Christmas, one and all!