We got an elf. We jumped on the bandwagon and head long into the fad and got the girls an elf. We at least, with the help of Grammy, got an elf that is like no other. Her name is Shauntea. She is not the typical Elf on the Shelf. First of all, she is not creepy, but very pretty (as noted by Carli). Second, she is made with lots of love by Grammy and will be treasured for years to come. And finally, she is not a elf that keeps an eye on the kids in an effort to make them be good b/c Santa is watching. Let me start from the beginning...
Our elf is named Shauntea. Honestly we have no idea where this name came from. For as long as we can remember, if you ask Carli what a doll was named, who her friend on the playground was or even the dog down the street, she would tell you their name was Shauntea. So we thought how better the preserve a memory of the first doll, imaginary friend, random dog, etc that Carli had, than to name our elf Shauntea?
We decided that we did not want our children being good simply b/c they thought they would be rewarded for it. We wanted them to be good b/c they should be good! So with the help of Pinterest (which is were we got the idea on making our own elf too) we found the idea that instead of the elf watching the girls and reporting back to Santa, perhaps the girls should be teaching the elf something? I should have bookmarked the site that I found b/c we used her letter as a template to write our own. Santa sent the girls Shauntea with a letter explaining that just like Jesus loves and forgives us all, could they try to show Shauntea how to be good but to pls also show her love and forgiveness when she messes up?
I am not really sure the girls understand completely but I think with each year they will. For now, we are having fun watching Shauntea be mischievous and the girls clean up after her.
We let the girls touch and hold Shauntea when they opened their package from Santa. But the next morning, she had magic (glitter) on her shoes and the girls quickly understood that if they touched Shauntea she would lose her magic and only Mom and Dad were allowed to move Shauntea to safety each morning.
Our first morning with Shauntea the elf was fun. Shauntea had wrapped the kitchen table and tracked in "snow" all over the table. But she also made a special breakfast of snowman powdered donuts and chocolate milk for us all to enjoy. Her special hammock is where she goes each morning after the girls have found her and discover what fun she has had during the night!
The girls were very excited when they realized Shauntea was no longer in their pink Christmas Tree. They looked everywhere...
And when they finally found here, they thought she was so funny!
The girls weren't so sure about chocolate milk, but man they sure can put away the powdered donuts!
Stay tuned for more adventures from Shauntea's month long visit with us!
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