Our December was very exciting this year, as our family was chosen to be "elf trainers".
On the morning of December 1st, we received a letter from Santa explaining the training procedure.
Our elf's name is Jingle.
This is his first year of training, and because he is so young, he hasn't quite learned that some secrets of the North Pole need to be kept. So, to keep Jingle from spilling any secrets to us, Santa used some magic to turn him into a doll during the day, but he can come alive at night to explore and report back to Santa each night. Sometimes we are given tasks to help Jingle learn, such as sharing, giving, kindness, and even cleaning!
As part of his training, Jingle will report to Santa each night, about how our household is behaving. The children are to also write a report to Santa on what they have done to train Jingle that day. We were given a binder to keep all our records in. At night, the kids sprinkle some magic dust on the elf so he can return to the North Pole. Jingle also brought the kids some new pajamas as a Thank You for helping him learn to be a good elf.
The next morning, we found Jingle in the bathroom. Apparently he was fascinated by the teeth-brushing thing...
One morning, we found that he had built a fort using the food we were collecting for the Salvation Army Food boxes.
reading Stories to babies....
Setting the table for Breakfast....
Jingle also met new friends, like the Grinch. It looks like Jingle won their last boxing match!
Chelsea took her role as Elf Trainer, very seriously. She took him to learn about the nativity, by going to the pageant Michael's preschool put on.
We taught them to make treats for neighbors.
And to wrap presents..
Jingle was having so much fun at our house, that he asked if his Sister, Belle, could come too!
Belle wasn't due for training until next year, but Santa said she could come if we said it was all right.
The morning we met Belle, they were eating popcorn and had finished watching Belle's favorite movie: Mickey's Christmas Carol.
Belle and Jingle had lots of fun together, including a snowball fight:
Sliding....
marshmallow roasting....
flying.....
(I guess they were trying to save their mischievous friend, the Grinch, who had gotten stuck in the light fixture.)
Whheeeeee!!!!
Baking....
And even cleaning on the night before Christmas Eve, so we could spend the day together as a family, instead of cleaning. (This was my personal favorite!)
There were a few tears shed on Christmas Eve, as we will dearly miss our new elf friends. But Santa has said if we're good, they can return next year!
(We fed them Crackers and water each night)
