Elf on the Shelf...

They are popping up in EVERYONE's homes!  I see them all over facebook, and people are talking about them in the stores. 

I had no idea what it was until I talked with my friend who had one for her daughter.  Once I understood the concept, 

I decided I should get one for my munchkins. 

Well, Skye reinforced that one day when she says to me..."Mama, why hasn't an elf come to our house? Everyone has an elf except us. 

 Does that mean that we are bad kids?"  

"NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!  That does not mean that at all!" I told her.  It just means we haven't found our elf yet.  He is probably hiding somewhere in the house.  Those little guys are pretty mischievous you know."   She giggled and said..."I bet he is hiding in my room.  It would be pretty hard to find him in there."  NO KIDDING IT WOULD BE HARD! 

I took that opportunity to 'pursuade' her to clean her room and maybe she will find him. (Horrible I know...but it worked!!)  

So, I took that cue and set out to find our own "Elf on The Shelf".  

Unfortunately, NO ONE in our area had one with the book!  

They are so popular that the stores can not keep them in stock this year!

OH NO!!!!!  What am I going to do now???

Well, I will tell you what I did.

I improvised!

I called my friend and asked her if I could borrow just her book so that I could read it to the kids, and I found ONE...yes...ONE plush elf that I could buy alone.

Not even kidding about the popularity of these little guys!

Well, last night was his first night with us, and the kids named him Homer.

Now, I knew Skye and Dayne would love having him, but Aubrie, Chance and Tamon surprised me with their interest!   That is all they talked about last night until bed...was their elf and the things he might do each night while they are sleeping.  Of course The older kids know...but they said it is fun anyway because it is like a game.

Chance said...instead of "Where's Waldo" it is "Where's Homer?"

They are playing along and even encouraging Skye and Dayne to "Believe".

I love that my kids are so great!

So, last night, Homer did not report back to Santa. 

He had a long trip to get here, so he rested and will report back tonight.

This morning, Chance came INTO MY ROOM at 5 am to wake me up to tell me that he found Homer.!!!!!!!  LOL.  He also said that there is a note with him.  I said..."Did you read it???"

He told me what it said, and that he liked it and that the kids would love it. "Mom..you had a good idea." 

AWWWW...seal of approval from my 13 year old! 

When the other 3 got up...they FIRST thing they did was start looking for Homer.

I sat down at the computer to check emails and this is what I found on the desktop...it was a "CLUE" left for them from Tamon. I don't quite understand it...but I thought it was sweet that he is even playing along! 

Where is Homer?

In a case

Where Christmas isn’t marry

Where else for you to find me

But in a place

That Christmas is most tharey

The camera is the only to see

Aubrie was the first to find him after about 15 minutes of searching.  I told her not to tell Skye and Dayne, but to maybe help them out with clues. 

She did and they FINALLY found him!

He was perched on one of the branches of the Christmas tree....

Homer had set up my camera on it's tripod and took a few pics of himself!  See the remote button in his hands?  That mischievous elf!  


I think we are going to have fun with Homer this year.  :)


I did get a little layout done last night, too. 
I saw the sketch on the Prima blog and COULD NOT RESIST. 
Here is the sketch for this month:

And here is my take on it:

"I Do Believe"

I stayed pretty true to the sketch.  I used a circle for the shaped background, though.  I loved the background paper that I chose and did not want to cover it completely with that larger shape.  Where it calls for 3 photos, I used one larger one that I cut into 3 sections.  Skye in one, then Santa, then Kylie. 

If you look closely, you will see the tiny bell up on top of the pic...it is there to represent the Christmas Bell.  Skye told Santa that She can still hear the bells ring! OMGoodness...to stinkin' cute, I thought!  I just had to scrap it.   Here are a few close ups:

 I added the pocket behind the picture for my journaling.

The bell and the music notes to represent the jingling.  I cut the music notes from my cricut with plain black cardstock and then covered them all with Glossy Accents.  That stuff is flippin' AWESOME!

I truly love this layout.  I think it encompasses the sheer innocence of childhood...and the fact the we ALL need to believe in something!

Thanks for stopping by today. 

Keep an eye out for more of Homer's adventures!  

Have a Fantabulous Day!