Elves!

Did you ever see the Polar Express? It's one of the best animated(children's) movies ever made-in my opinion. It's about a little boy who isn't so sure about Santa, Christmas, or anything make-believe anymore. He goes to sleep on Christmas Eve and during a dream, he is picked up by the train conductor (played by Tom Hanks, who also lends his brilliance to many other characters in the movie) of the Polar Express, along with some other kids who aren't so sure either. It brings them through a series of events where their faith is tested, their weaknesses as individuals tried, and their beliefs adorably awakened by the characters. It's truly brilliant. The boys absolutely love it, I wish it were around when I was a little girl.

Anyway...the one thing that really stands out to me in this movie are the elves. There are hundreds of them in the movie and they all have different faces and different personalities, right down to the Steven Tyler-esque one that sings the closing song by Aerosmith. Elves are really what make the whole Christmas thing happen you know. They do all the work. Santa gets off his arse for one night and flies around the world and eats everyone's cookies, taking all the credit. Don't get me wrong-I love Santa-but let's not be candid about who really gets those toys under the tree!

Last year the boys received a gift from Aunt G's & Uncle Paul. It's a book called the Elf on the Shelf. It's probably one of the most useful gifts the boys (or us as parents!) have ever received. It comes in a neat box with a book and an elf. Here's the deal: there's an elf that the kids now call their own. After you read them the book, they get to name their elf. The kids are told in the book they are not allowed to touch the elf, as it may ruin his/her magic. Every night after the kids go to bed, the parents hide the elf in a different spot. During the night, the elf apparently flies to the North Pole and rats on the kids to Santa, and quietly takes up residence somewhere high in the house on his way back in. When the kids wake up in the morning, they race to find the elf (do you know how hard it is to come up with over 50 different hiding spots for an elf?)

THIS IDEA IS CLEVER! You have no idea how much Ray and I abuse the situation during the course of a month and a half (ie: "did you just hit your brother? WELL GUESS WHAT? SKIPPY SAW IT TOO AND NOW HE'S TELLING SANTA!"). Skippy (what the boys named our elf last year) is a most welcome guest in our house again as of last night. The boys were so excited when he "appeared" after dinner. They've really been on their best behavior short of a few variances today. Any time we pointed to Skippy they quietly went back to being angels. RJ even apologized to him once today, which was sadly cute. If you have children of the believing age, this is a must-have.

I'm pretty sure ours came from Learning Express but you can get it online too, just follow the link.