As December neared closer, the kids started wondering when their beloved elf on the shelf would arrive. In the past, our elf has always appeared the morning of December 1st, but rather than adding more chaos to an already busy school morning, he rescheduled to arrive the following Saturday morning.
December 1st arrived and off went the big kids to school like clockwork. But that evening, Elfy decided to sneak into the house and hang out in his favorite spot waiting to be discovered. Kate was the first one to find him. She quickly gathered the others as they came running with delight to welcome Elfy back.
Owen left his busy evening of video games to read the note that Elfy had brought. He mumbled through it so fast that the other kids were left still wondering what it had to say, so I had to reread it for all to hear.
December 1st is also the start of the Advent calendar. The kids have enjoyed opening the chocolate calendars gifted to them by their grandparents for many years. But new this year was a giant-sized Advent calendar that was filled with all sorts of goodies from local Minnesota businesses. Each day throughout the month, the kids took turns opening the door to see what fun surprise was waiting for them inside. From chocolates to maple syrup to coffee, there was something for everyone.
With Christmas just a few weeks away, we got to work dragging up bin after bin of Christmas decor from the basement. Rose and Kate, with a bit of help from Cole, carefully setup the ceramic nativity set. They took turns selecting one figurine at a time to place in the nativity scene. After Cole and Kate would set down their item, Rose quickly moved it into the position that she preferred (just like Owen used to do!)
The Christmas tree went up a bit later than usual this year due to our Thanksgiving road trip to Florida. Rose and Kate were big helpers getting the tree put together and decorated.
The boys obliged their mama by hanging up a few ornaments too.
While the big kids hung the ornaments on the tree, Aria thought it was much more fun to pull them off.
With the last ornament hung on the tree, it was finally time for the star. Owen, being the tallest by far, placed the star on the tippy top. Our Christmas tree decorating was done!
Aria wasted no time rolling under the tree to pull off all the ornaments that her little arm could reach.
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