Ernie the elf

So, we have an Elf on a Shelf. His name is Ernie. For those of you unfamiliar he is a magic Christmas elf who stays and keeps an eye out to make sure the boys are on the nice list. Each night he reports back to the North Pole and each morning he appears somewhere new in the house. He gets dropped off at our house when St. Nick visits and leaves with Santa on Christmas Eve. The boys love to take turns leading to find where Ernie is each morning.
Elf on a Shelf was once a little known thing, but it caught on and these days lots of kids have an elf. But the last two years they were being sold in stores and there was a cartoon special and there were piles of elves everywhere you turned. I did everything I could to avoid them, because how do you explain that the magic elf from the North Pole can also be purchased at Target? And sure enough before Ernie arrived Peyton saw the Elf on a Shelf in a toy catalog and asked why that was in there and being sold. I froze for a second and talk about "she thought up a lie and she thought it up quick" (I still have trouble with the whole web of lies that is weaved at Christmas while simoltaneously teaching them that Jesus is the most important part of Christmas). Anyway, I said "wow! Ernie is famous. He was picked to be in a catalog." They were so excited too. When Ernie arrived Jackson said "Ernie, congratulations! We saw you in the catalog!"

This was Ernie's message to the boys on his first day, spelled out in M&Ms.

 

Another of my favorite Ernie moments was about a week later. My dad gifts us with an online Advent calendar each year. It's very cool and interactive and you click on the number and a different scene comes up from the village each day.The icon on the computer screen is a big snowglobe with a tiny village in it. I had trouble getting it on my computer, but was able to get it on my work laptop. Since I was at work when I got it to work I had not yet shown it to the boys. One day the boys asked how Ernie knew if they were being good if they were at school or outside of the house. I said I thought the North Pole elves used a giant snowglobe. Shortly after we got home that day Jackson was standing near my work computer where I work from home. He shouted "Mommy LOOK! Ernie's snowglobe is on your computer!" The boys said they could see our house in the village. I didn't have the heart to tell them otherwise so Poppy's Advent calendar became Ernie's magic snowglobe!

So, each Wednesday when their Aunties watch them while I'm at work the boys do their football picks. It's just for fun and the boys really enjoy following along all week. So with the help of my "elves" Ernie did his picks (he also had the top picks that week with 11 correct).

You can guess who Santa's helper is when your elf has a Dolphins flag in his hand!