Look who arrived... with a little twist

Please Welcome Elizabeth!

Before I begin, if you are reading this and you do things differently, there is no judgement.  This is a judge free blog.  :)

If you know me well, you know that I am a planner.  When we went to Disney last year I planned every aspect... multiple hours per week from when we booked the trip in March to when we went in December.  And I loved every minute of it.

I also enjoy being creative, and coming up with cute things.  When we went to Disney we all had matching shirts - partly because if the girls got lost they could tell people that their momma was dressed like them, partly because it made the pictures fantastic, and partly because it was just fun.

Last year I really wanted to slow down and incorporate family and giving into our Christmas season. We started a new tradition where each morning there was a new card on the window. The cards would give an event or a chore or a fun thing we would do as a family. One was to drive through Bethlehem City, another was to have a family game night, and yet another was to cook dinner for another family. It made it a fun way to spend time together, to give to others, and to not get lost in the craziness of the season.

So this Elf on the Shelf thing was right up my alley.  Except for one thing.  We've never told the girls that they should behave for Santa.  I didn't want to fight the battle in January when Santa was *forever* away.  We've done pictures with Santa, and such, but we've never made they jolly dude a big deal.  So I knew that we wouldn't do the Elf thing until the girls didn't believe in Santa anymore.  Then it would be just a fun thing that we all enjoyed.

Well, Reagan in her thinking, and questioning, and remembering asked Josh straight up if Santa was real.  Funny thing about Reagan - you can't lie to her.  even in fun.  because she remembers. everything.  So he told her that Santa is a fun part of Christmas, but Jesus is the real reason we celebrate.  She made sure that Avery knew that as well, so at this point my kids no longer believe in Santa.  They enjoy all the Santa-ish things, but they know he doesn't bring gifts, etc.  There's a part of me that's very sad about that.  BUT, the good news is that we can do the Elf.  Yay.

So we did.  We didn't read the book because our elf won't go to the North Pole.  Instead, she brings our activity for the day.  She has some of the same rules.  They had to name her.  They can't touch her because then she might not bring the activity for the next day, and they can't complain about the activities.  Some are fun, and for them.  Some are for others, and the girls are just the delivery system.    Today our elf brought a new movie as a welcome gift, but don't worry.  We will be doing other things as well.  I I mean Elizabeth, can't wait!  :)