She's Here! - Day 25

We were awakened early this morning by our excited five year old, who woke to find the living room, piled high with Christmas boxes, the kitchen table set for a Christmas breakfast, a Christmas mail box, and...  a wrapped box with her name on it. 

Elfia has a arrived, complete with a cozy Santa hat she uses as a bed. With her came a letter from Santa to remind us why she's here. Last year I wrote the letter myself. This year I found a letter I loved online from another family determined to make Christmas more about the presents and Santa, and adapted their letter (you can read it here: here) to fit us. Daddy read about the true meaning of Christmas, and Santa's hope that Elfia would report back to him on how we were doing following the rules:

Love each other.

Speak nicely to one another.

Help each other

Help your friends and neighbours too.

Give to people who don’t have all the stuff you have.

Remember that God loves you so, so much.

We then went over the rules (do not touch Elfia, she is here to observe; obey the rules, because Elfia will report back to Santa each night to let him know how we are doing; in the morning you must find Elfia... who knows what mischief she'll be into; and in the morning you must find the letter Elfia will bring from Santa). 

And with that, we picked a place for Elfia's bed, tucked her in, and got busy with the Christmas decorations and the yummy breakfast Elfia had brought. 

We look forward to our daily adventures with Elfia this year. But more so we are excited to read the letter she will be bringing back with her from Santa. Last year's letters were full of great suggestions for how we could celebrate the season that day. Some were silly/fun, like going to see lights, or making a gingerbread house. Other days the suggestions from Santa were "others focused" with random acts of kindness to do. This is how we'll be incorporating Kids of Integrity's lesson on "Generosity" this year. Stay tuned for more, as we count day to Christmas.

The mess of decorations piled on our table.

The table was ready for a yummy breakfast!

Opening the wrapped present she found...

... Elfia! Big hugs for our returning elf!

Reading the letter from Santa...

An annual tradition since she could walk... Daddy and Daughter do the tree while momma makes breakfast...

 

A north pole breakfast ... Christmas Rice Krispies, a fruit candy cane, "snow" donuts, egg nog, and..

... an overnight pumpkin pie french toast bake! SO GOOD!

A yummy way to start our elf adventure...

And So It Begins...

Tomorrow morning is a big deal in our house. We’ve been counting down the days to this day all month long, and the anticipation is palpable. It's practically dripping off the walls.

Christmas is coming, and tomorrow, our elf arrives to help us kick off the season.

Now before you dismiss this as yet another “Elf on the Shelf” blog, from yet another family obsessed with the “love it or hate it” tradition that has swept across the continent, let me be clear – very clear – our family DOES NOT celebrate “Elf on the Shelf.” We do not have the book. And we do not have the official elf.

What we *have* done, however, is adopted what we love about the original tradition, and reworked it to suit our own family, our beliefs, and our journey through Kids of Integrity’s lesson on generosity. Our desire was to find a way to teach our daughter about the REAL reason for the season, and take the focus off the gift-getting in a fun and engaging way.

With the help of a little elf we name Elfia last year, our family counts down the days to Christmas by focusing on loving Jesus, loving others, being generous and having fun as a family. And it all begins tomorrow morning.  

Will you join us in our adventure?