Guess Who Came to Stay with Us?!?

OMG!  I am so excited!  Yesterday morning our new friend, Buddy the Elf, arrived and brought this wonderful North Pole breakfast with him...

Seriously y'all I may honestly be more pumped up about this elf thing than the boys (they were pretty excited themselves...but also very distracted by all their new Hanukkah toys calling their names (rough life, eh)!).  But for me, it's been a long time coming.  Way back when I was teaching, I used to hear my first graders come in each morning discussing the antics their elves had gotten into that day.  At the time, I had never heard of the Elf on the Shelf tradition (I think it was just starting to become a "thing" then).  I pressed some of their parents for some more information on this "elf" thing, and quickly decided that it was a must when I had children old enough to get it!

So Sunday morning, our elf, who the boys named Buddy , arrived at our house.  He brought with him a special breakfast of reindeer donuts, strawberry/banana candy canes, and hot chocolate all served on plates all the way from the North Pole (or purchased at Target over the last month).  He had also decorated each chair with a special Santa Hat (from the Dollar Store).
                                          
                      
Our elf had written the boys a quick note explaining what he was doing here, but we also read the Elf on the Shelf story.
                               
And as a special present, our elf had also brought the boys some nice, warm socks to keep their feet cold because it soooo cold at the North Pole.
Needless to say, our elf's arrival was a very exciting surprise and a fantastic way to start our Sunday morning!

 Really, though, I don't think the boys fully understand quite yet just how much fun having Buddy with us is going to be!  Being the OCD momma that I am, I, of course, have a little calendar of activities already worked out.  To me, it seems it would make this whole elf thing much more fun to be prepared each night instead of having to come up with something on the fly!

Read over the ideas and let me know if you have any favorites we should add to the list!  I really can't wait to experience this fun tradition with my boys!  Now here's hoping, Chipper doesn't manage to eat Buddy over the next month or so!