Farewell to Noel

Naughty Noel was up to his mischief again Wednesday night. He helped himself to a piece of candy from K-Girl's goody bag from school. She gave him a talking to and asked him to return it.

He did end up returning it some time throughout the day and she found it rewrapped in her goody bag when she got home from school. What did she do with the elf-nibbled candy? She gave it to her brother of course.

Today was the last morning Noel would be with us as Santa will be picking him up to take him home tonight when he comes. So being that it was his last night he brought a little something to share with the kids. He was swimming in a bowl of marshmallows, candy canes, and packets of cocoa this morning when the kids found him.



This meant cocoa with breakfast of course!



And rumor had it that it was yummy.



We'll be sad to see Noel go, but look forward to him coming back next year!

But with Noel's leaving brings Santa's visit!!

We put out our food for Santa's reindeer...



and put on our new jammies from Grandma & Pop Pop...





...had a little silliness...



and went off to bed to hope Santa will make their wishes come true.

Where's Noel

It's getting down to crunch time and I've had a few last minute orders I've had to get out so I've completely forgotten to post Noel's whereabouts each day, but I've remembered to take the pictures. Ok well Noel nicely reenacted one of the days for me, but otherwise I've remembered. ;)

On Sunday morning we woke to find him hanging on to the TV. This created quite the stir since K-Girl was very vocal in the fact that NO ONE is allowed to touch the TV. haha Oh well, they say elves are sometimes naughty too.

Monday, Noel was found peeking out around a Christmas Tree decoration up on a shelf in the play room. Sneaky sneaky.



Tuesday morning he was discovered red-handed, well at least with a piece of red licorice that he had apparently been nibbling on. I don't blame him. Had I been hiding in the leftover Halloween candy on the refrigerator I would have helped myself to some candy as well.



And this morning he was found hugging the little rasta hula dancer in our living room. Personally I think he was trying to play his guitar, but we'll leave it up to interpretation. ;)



I wonder what he'll be up to next?

Quick find

The kids found him right away this morning...

...perched up on the foyer light.

Headrush & Comfy Puppies

In elf news, Noel was found hanging upside down from a window in our playroom this morning. I personally think he should have passed out long ago, but he's still hanging in there at 10:45 at night. He should be popping back to the North Pole at any minute to report back to Santa on today's happenings though.

I've been rather busy lately. You know, the type of busy where if in doubt you can nearly be sure I'll be found like this...



I've been in this chair for many hours today and pulled a new personal record crocheting up 2 pairs of fingerless mittens since about 3:00 this afternoon for last minute Christmas orders. However, before I got crazy busy with store orders, I had a little bit to work up sweaters for my puppies.

The first night I decided that Gabby needed a sweater because she can't go to the bus stop without shivering. After an incident of the bus being quite late and watching her shiver for a good 20 minutes I deemed this a priority. I was looking up patterns for dog sweaters and found one I liked - Urban Granny Dog Sweater - but Gabby's measurements didn't fit any of their sizes so I decided to wing it. What I came up with was a granny square on the back with a long neck that can either be left up to cover her ears or folded back, and a belly strap to keep it all in place and keep her belly warm. I was quite pleased with it.



But then I felt guilty because Molly isn't as round as she used to be and shivers outside too. So I pulled out some more yarn and decided to give a sweater for her a try. Again, I was pleased with the outcome. Although I must say that her new collar that I heard Santa is bringing for her will look much better with her new sweater - it's orange. ;)



So now I feel a little better taking them along to pick up K-Girl from her bus when it's so cold out.



They look much more comfy now, don't you think? :)

Peek-a-Boo

They thought for a minute that Noel may have returned to the North Pole and not come back, but they finally found him peeking out of The Husband's stocking.

Candy Canes

This morning the kids couldn't get downstairs quick enough to look and see what Noel the Christmas Elf had been up to last night. It didn't take very long to find him this morning though. As soon as K-Girl turned on the Christmas Tree she left out a gasp as it was decorated in candy canes. She was very excited that not only had Noel been snacking on his own candy cane, but he had also brought back his favorite candy to share with all of us.

He knows if you've been bad or good...

Santa has decided that Mom and Dad need some extra help this Christmastime and has sent us some backup. This backup is in the form of a little elf named "Noel" or "Manuel" if you ask K-Girl. ;)

Last night Santa stopped by and left a letter, a present, and his special elf behind for them to find this morning.

While breakfast was cooking we read Santa's letter. Here is a copy of the wording...

Dear K-Girl & E-Man,

I have decided to send one of my special elves to your house to help keep a closer eye on you both. His name is Noel and I hope you will enjoy his being there. There are a few things that you need to know about having an elf in your house. The first thing that you need to know is that Noel is a very special elf and he is filled with Christmas Magic. You do not want to touch him as this will take away his magic. During the day Noel stays very still and does his job by watching how naughty or nice you both are being - so remember to be good for goodness sake. As soon as everyone goes to bed at night, Noel uses his Christmas Magic and travels back to the North Pole to let me know how you have been that day. After he is done telling me how you were he pops back home and waits for you to awake the next morning to continue his watch. You will probably find that Noel, like most elves, is a bit playful and will probably not be found in the same spot when you wake up the next day. He may even be a bit mischievous, himself, at times. Hopefully he will not be up to too much trouble while he is there. On Christmas Eve while I am making my rounds I will pick up Noel along with my other special elves and bring them home to the North Pole until next year. Once I have assigned a special elf to you they tend to like to visit each year there after. So don't be sad on Christmas morning when you awake to find he's gone away. He may just be back next year.
Santa Claus

After reading the letter I read the book that Santa brought for them while they ate their breakfast. The book was Christopher Pop-In-Kins. It tells about the first elf that came to watch over children to let Santa know how they have been. It's a cute book.

Noel climbed high up onto the dining room light to keep out of the way and do his listening for today. It took quite a while for the kids to find him this morning even though he had just climbed up above the kitchen table and was sitting on the top of the light.





The kids were excited about him, but especially K-Girl, had a lot of questions. K-Girl thinks he looks a lot like just a decoration, but with a little help she believes that he just can hold still as a statue until we all fall asleep and then he comes to life and runs around. I think as the charades unfold she'll believe a bit stronger.