Meet Alfredo

A new little friend arrived at our house on the morning of December 4.   Perched on our fireplace mantle, the girls did not notice anything different at first.  It wasn't until I directed their eyes in the right direction did they finally see the Christmas elf.  With excitement, Grace wanted to know who the elf was and where he came from.  Claire, on the other hand, just wanted to get back to what she was doing.

So to answer Grace's questions, we sat down and read the book The Elf on the Shelf. 

The book tells you that you must name your Elf.  So with Daddy's influence, our new elf friend has been named Alfredo!  He sits and watches the girls during the day from the same place and at night flies back to the North Pole to tell Santa if the kids have been naughty or nice.  By the next morning he will have arrived back from the North Pole and will be sitting in a new location.  Grace has bought into the elf's magical powers and is constantly concerned when she gets in trouble that the elf will report her as being "naughty."  She wakes up with excitement each morning, checks out the Elf's old location to make sure he is not there, and then looks everywhere for him.  I love the look on her face and huge smile she gives when she finds him again. 

This morning, the elf was perched on our wooden calendar keeping watch over the girls as they ate their breakfast.

Wonder where he will end up the next 18 mornings!