Since this past weekend was December 1st and the start of the Advent Season, I had some fun things in store for the girls.
When they woke up on Saturday morning, I made them Christmas Tree Pancakes.
I just added green food coloring to the pancake batter & made various size pancakes.
Added a star marshmallow on top & sprinkled with red sprinkles (ornaments) and powdered sugar (snow)
Super easy & Super fun.
Saturday night I wrapped up all of the girls Christmas books.
I did this last year & it was so fun.
I keep all our Christmas books hidden in a closet all year long, so it is exciting to see which one gets opened up.
Each night of Advent they get to unwrap a book to read.
We happen to have 24 Christmas books (gotta love being a teacher & getting discounted books!)
But, you could also check some out at the library & wrap those up!
When we got home from church on Sunday, we discovered that Candle our Elf had arrived!
(He is the one who also delivered all the wrapped Christmas books)
The last 2 years, we have done Elf on a Shelf, but our Elf doesn't arrive until the first Sunday in Advent.
Candle the Elf brings them their Christmas jammies each year so that they can wear them all December long.
Here are their 2012 Christmas jammies....It's my first time NOT having matching jammies...the girls jammies came in a 2 pack for the price of one, so since they are basically the same size, that was a no brainer!
Candle also brought them each a Veggie Tales movie to get them in the Christmas season & to remind them about the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of Christ.
We do Elf on the Shelf slightly different in our house. Our elf does
not "watch" the girls and report back to Santa. That is just not our
style. Our Elf just likes to move around each night & the girls look
forward to finding his new hiding spots. It is the first thing they do
each morning.
And, on the first night? I TOTALLY forgot to move the Elf.
And, on the first night? I TOTALLY forgot to move the Elf.
FAIL.
What can I say? I am sleep deprived with a baby who doesn't like his crib, I am sure there will be many more nights I forget to move Candle.
Oh yeah, and Kate decided she wants a girl Elf instead of a boy Elf.
Guess I need to make Candle a skirt for next year.
I love that you did ELF and made it about the Savior! That is so awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe first thing my two younger kids do in the morning is run around the house looking for Buddy our elf. I just posted some pictures of what he has been up to on my blog.
ReplyDeleteNext year, I will totally be stealing your pancake idea. And your book idea. (Sigh) Ok, I'm going to just copy the whole darn thing. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe other day I was at either Books A Million or Target and saw that they make a elf skirt. It is so cute...and its sold seperatly! Just giving you a heads up.
ReplyDeleteThose pancakes are SO cute..and the book idea is pure genius!
ReplyDeleteLove your Christmas Spirit! And I love that Candle the Elf brings Jammies and Books! Such a great idea!
ReplyDeleteLove, Love, love! Totally got to take these ideas!
ReplyDeleteI saw a tiny skirt meant just for Elf on a Shelf at a little store downtown the other day! If I had know I would have bought it and popped it in the mail for you! :) You always have the best Christmas traditions for you girls. I know they'll always remember them!!
ReplyDeleteI just pinned all these ideas...the pancakes, the Christmas books, & the elf delivering the advent goodies...LOVE it all!
ReplyDeleteThose pancakes will be made Christmas morning!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these practical and fun ideas. I can totally do the pancakes without a Pinterest fail:o)
ReplyDeleteAlso, my kindergarten students are going NUTS over their elves right now. Today, one shared that "My elf didn't move last night. It's because my daddy didn't get home until too late (here I am just waiting for her to blow the whole thing for the rest of the class) and the elf can't move until EVERYONE is safe in bed". Another student said, with great conviction, "MINE CAN'T EITHER!!" so you are not alone.
I just bought a new book for my class, called "Small, Medium, Large". It is a beautiful wordless book for Christmas.
The pancakes are too cute!
ReplyDeleteI love that your elf doesn't report to Santa. My oldest is 2.5 and youngest is 7 weeks. It was my plan not to do teh elf on the shelf because I hoped to share Santa as an example of God's love-bringing gifts we don't deserve, so I'm not planning on talking about him watching for bad behavior. Does the elf on the shelf book mention him going back to report to Santa or do you just skip that?
exactly what amanda said- I'm very curious how you read the book but "skip the whole thing". i feel weird about saying that he goes to santa but don't really know how to get around it...
ReplyDeleteEverything about this post is ADORABLE!!! Pinning it for future Christmas ideas!!! :)
ReplyDeleteTarget has an Elf skirt for $6.95 - it's white and red.
I.love.those.pancakes! The book idea is great! my favorite is Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas :)
ReplyDeletefloralandfudge
i prefer the way you "elf on a shelf." sweet.
ReplyDeletethe books are a great idea.
have a merry christmas with your newest addition!
We do read the whole Elf on the Shelf book, but we just glaze over the fact that he reports back to Santa. And, we never mention that day to day with the Elf. We focus on finding him in the morning & not that he is watching them & reporting to Santa.
ReplyDeleteLove your thoughts on the Elf on the Shelf. We never got one for our kids (poor, deprived children!) because it's not our style to have him report back to Santa either. My kids are expected to be good all the time!! :)
ReplyDelete