Ralphie...The final Chapter Until Next Year

If I am being honest, I am a little relieved that our Elf on a Shelf duties are over for the year. Overall, I think we came up with some pretty creative ideas and even if we didn't, Joshua was always surprised with the silly things that Ralphie did.

This morning was kind of fun because the Grinch trapped Ralphie in the popcorn maker. Joshua wasn't too sure about the Grinch but Grayson loved that his heart grew three sizes!

What preschooler (I can't believe Joshua is a preschooler) wouldn't love an elf who fishes with a candy cane? We probably should have thought this one through a bit more because all Joshua wanted to do for the day was go fishing. It is far too cold to sit outside and fish.

This one was a little last minute. It was late (and by late I mean around midnight and we rarely see past 10:30pm) and we had a small get together at our house because family from out of town was visiting. Earlier that day Joshua had wanted to put on tattoos so what did Ralphie happen to bring him? Tattooos! The tattoos have already been applied because I was a little late with the photo.

And this one...Chris had fun writing on the mirror but me on the other hand struggled to get it off.

Ralphie reading to the Christmas decorations is one of my favourites. It's cute, simple, and Joshua thought it was sweet. And Ralphie is reading one of my favourite childhood books (I love reading the boys books that Chris and I used to read when we were kids).

I was not creative with this one at all. Chris was at a hockey party and I was left in charge.

And finally, Ralphie brought the boys Christmas ornaments on Christmas Eve, which I completely forgot to get a picture of. Joshua loved his Marshall Paw Patrol ornament and Grayson got a reindeer that says "Little Stinker" on it because that is exactly what he is.

Elf on a Shelf was a hit this year and Joshua was so cute when he gave Ralphie a hug good bye (the only time he's been allowed to touch Ralphie) and then gently put him back under the tree for Santa to pick up. I'm sure next year I'll be just as excited to start Elf on a Shelf as I was this year, but for now, I'm relieved it is over.

That Damned Elf

Okay, in theory, this Elf on a Shelf thing seemed like a great idea. Oh ya, we will have so much fun getting this elf to do different things each night and the boys will love it. Let me be the first to say that I completely understand why elves come down with a bad flu or break a leg and can’t move for a week or just completely disappear because the parents have had enough of the stupid thing.

Once you start though, you can’t stop. It’s like a trap. When you buy the elf the cashiers are full of smiles and tell you how much fun you will have moving the elf each night and how there are so many neat ideas out in there for your elf to do, meanwhile, they are secretly laughing at you and what they really want to say is “do you know what you are getting yourself into?” Well, no, I didn’t, but because the stupid elf puts a smile on my kids’ faces I will continue to move the damned elf each night.

This one was a rather clever one. The night before Joshua was refusing to eat his dinner. Didn’t want, it wasn’t any good, didn’t like it. So after bath we told him it was bedtime because he didn’t eat. Well, let me tell you how appealing dinner was at that point. He cleared his plate and all was well again in our house. But Santa saw that our struggle was real and left a note for him, and Grayson, the next morning.

We were so over the elf this night lost our creativity and Ralphie just drew funny faces on our fruit. And to my surprise, it was a big hit with Joshua.

Joshua also thought it was funny when he discovered Ralphie hanging upside down in the laundry with some of Grayson’s diapers. He was pretty happy that Ralphie was helping me with the laundry.

Raphie didn’t make breakfast this morning, but he did grab a quick snack for the boys to have…close enough.

Ralphie surprised the boys the next morning with letters from Santa. Joshua loved his letter and is thrilled that he is on the nice list for now. On second thought, maybe Ralphie should have waited until right before Christmas to bring those letters.

Next, Ralphie ended up in the stocking. I had a ladies’ evening out and was home late so this was as good as it was getting.

Here, Ralphie has made a zip line and swinging along on an ornament.

And finally, Ralphie decided to take it easy and help me with my crocheting. He sure made a mess of my ball of yarn, but I can’t complain because Joshua was delighted when he saw Ralphie helping me finish part of Grandma’s gift. 

Ralphie Part II

I think our Elf may be broken. He is full of shenanigans...I know think Santa missed the memo when we asked for an Elf that did laundry, cleaned the house, made breakfast, and tidied the kitchen.

Instead, we caught Ralphie shaving in the bathroom, which wouldn’t have been a problem except for the mess he made. If Santa brings Joshua a shaving kit for Christmas I sure hope he takes his pointers from Chris and not his Elf.

Ralphie also TP’ed our master bedroom. When Joshua saw the mess he exclaimed “Ralphie make Joshua sad.” Joshua thought his Elf had made a mess that he would have to clean up (not a 3 year old’s favourite chore) but we quickly assured him that Ralphie would be cleaning up his mess before he left for the North Pole.

Along his way to the North Pole, Ralphie must have caught a small cold thank goodness. Joshua found him sleeping in a tissue box in his bathroom.

The next morning, Ralphie was back to his old tricks. Joshua was delighted when he saw Ralphie hanging in front of his door. He quickly told us that Ralphie had been kicking his door.

I love the imagination that Joshua has. His imagination gives me a completely new view on the world and I love enjoying it through his eyes! 

Ralphie

There are some exciting things happening in our house right now…like how every morning an elf, named Ralphie, magically appears to Joshua’s surprise and delight.

I’m not 100% sure where Santa found this elf but he is full of shenanigans. At first glance, he appeared to be a mild mannered elf who was just sent to keep an eye on the boys and report back to Santa, but oh no, he had us fooled! On day 2 he was already up to no good snatching the chocolate syrup and drinking straight from the bottle. Joshua was not too happy about this. When he saw Ralphie was drinking all of his chocolate milk, he firmly (by firmly I mean in a voice just above a whisper without any anger in his voice at all) told us in his 3 year old way “Ralphie get Joshua angry.” At this point I couldn’t help but smile and be so proud of him for expressing his emotions through his words and not through actions. His anger quickly turned to happiness when he realized that Ralphie had already made him a glass of chocolate milk…phew!!

Yesterday, I was not 100% sure what sort of trouble Ralphie ran into on his way to and from the North Pole but he made a mess trying to get all of his boo boos taken care of. Joshua seemed concerned about the number of bandaids Ralphie required but we assured him that Ralphie was okay and on his way to feeling better.

As for this morning, well, I don't really know how to explain this morning. All I can say is our Christmas tree has a few extra ornaments on it that we did not add.

I wonder what surprise will be in store for us tomorrow!