Jigsaw

Anders loves jigsaws and so does Jingle. When he woke up and saw his elf friend, the first thing he did was sit down and help him finish it. Obviously Anders couldn’t put down the last piece that Jingle was holding, but while we were getting dressed and ready for school Jingle has completed it. Great teamwork!

Special message

Jingle left a very special message on Anders’ chalkboard today.

Shower time

It took Anders quite a while to find Jingle today. Who would have thought that he was in the shower! Don’t elves get clean by magic? Well, either way, it looks like Jingle enjoyed it.

Toy STORY time

Jingle made some new friends and decided to read their book to them. Bet they had a great night chatting and listening to stories.

Dino ride

Jingle had a ride on Anders’ big brachiosaurus and played with the dinosaurs in their kingdom. Looks like he had some great fun! 

He is here!

Hurrah! Our elf has arrived! Santa delivered him during the night and it was a great surprise discovering the parcels in the morning.

Anders was very excited and we read the book together. Very quickly we decided on the name Jingle. We registered him and read Santa's note. Then we watched the DVD that Jingle brought with him and Anders enjoyed his candy cane for breakfast. 

Jingle has settled in very well. Throughout the day we found him in different places of the house. Almost every time we turned our backs he was on another shelf / window sill / toy box etc.. Anders loves him and calls him his cheeky and cute friend.

We went out for a bit to visit Santa at his grotto and when we returned we opened the present Santa gave us while Jingle watched. We did the jigsaw together and Anders asked Jingle to say thanks again for it.

It was definitely a great first day and we look forward to seeing what mischief Jingle will be up to. 

Getting ready

Christmas - my favourite time of the year. I am a child at heart and I love the excitement and build up to the big day.  

This year is the first year I am doing the Elf on the Shelf tradition. My son, Anders, is three and it's the first year he really understands Christmas. Our Elf will arrive very soon, but to get Anders really excited about him I decided to send a letter from Santa to prepare him for his arrival. The letter arrived last weekend by magic. Can you believe it? It was suddenly in the letter box on Sunday morning. Santa must have made a quick trip out to our house to deliver it over night. Anders was a little apprehensive at first, but after reading it the second time he warmed to the idea that we will soon get a special parcel with a new friend. 

Here are the letter and the envelope with Santa's special stamp:

The text says:

Dear Anders,

What an exciting year this has been, you have changed so much!

I see that you started big boys’ school and you are really enjoying it. You listen to your teachers, you play nicely with your friends and you love learning. Keep this up, you are such a clever boy. It’s a shame you don’t use the toilet yet, but hopefully this will change soon. There might be a special surprise in your stockings to give you some motivation to do so. You know that your mummy and daddy would be really happy if you at least tried.

I’m getting rather busy at this time of the year. I am travelling to many places to meet children all around the world. I will see you soon too, I know that your mummy and daddy are planning on taking you to see me and you will also visit me with your school. I am so excited! Are you too?

Because I am so busy I cannot keep up looking out for who is naughty and who is nice. I am sending out some of my elf helpers in the next days to help me keep up with who is doing well. Keep your eyes open for a special parcel and please make him feel welcome. He wants to be your friend.

I hope the next weeks will be magical for you and you will enjoy counting down to Christmas. I look forward to seeing you when you visit me and I can’t wait to come to your house on Christmas Eve. Could you please write me a letter with all your wishes so I don’t get muddled up? There are quite a few children and I want to make sure I am getting you everything you wish for. 

Love, Santa 

So, this is the beginning of a hopefully very long and fun tradition. The elf will arrive on Sunday, I can't wait to get started. I got many ideas ready and I hope you will enjoy reading this blog.