Mr. Heart Happybags 2011

There's a new Christmas tradition in town, and it is called "The Elf on the Shelf."   All of my friends with kids have one, and I have to say, this thing really is magic!    In a nutshell, the elf magically arrives after Thanksgiving from the North Pole, and watches behavior around the house.  He magically flies back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa about your behavior.  Then he comes back, hiding in a different spot each day.  Click here for a full description of the tradition from elfontheshelf.com 

Let me digress for a moment as I take you back in time to Christmas 2010, when our elf arrived at our home.  Laney's cousins all had elves and it was time for her to join in on the fun.  I picked up our elf at Hallmark and we sprung him on her one morning in late November.  As we opened the box, I realized for the first time that elves can come in many different varieties (namely light or dark skinned, blond or brunette, and brown eyed or blue eyed.)  Heart happens to be light skinned, brunette, and blue eyed.  We let Laney hold him as we read her the book, and then got to the page where the family picks a name and records it on the Elf Adoption page.   Most of my friends have elves in their homes with cute Christmas-y names like Jingles, Peppermint, and Snowflake.  Laney decided to name our elf,  Mr. Heart Happybags.  My hand to God, that is exactly what she told us when we asked her what we should name him.  We dutifully recorded it and like all the other oddball animals we have had in our lives, he quickly became a part of the household.

Mr. HHB made his grand reappearance this year in Tahoe.  We traveled there on Friday after Thanksgiving and woke up Saturday morning to find him hanging out on the chandelier over the dinner table.  Laney was REALLY excited to see him (thanks to P and I talking it up for a week beforehand), and a dramatic improvement in her behavior has been noted by Mr. HHB and myself. Below you will find a daily picture of Heart's local hangouts.

Saturday, 11/26  HHB hangs out on the chandelier so he can watch Laney and make sure she eats all her dinner.

Sunday, 11/27 Heart moves to the pendant light over her little table so he can watch her color.

Monday, 11/28  HHB finds a spot on the fireplace to nestle into, making sure to position himself for a great view of Monday Night Football.

Tuesday, 11/29  Heart moves into the kitchen to keep an eye on all the activity from up high.

Wednesday, 11/30  Heart snuggles into the pine boughs of a wreath on the door, just to make sure he doesn't get left behind as we pack up to leave.

Thursday, 12/1  Mr. HHB warms up his tushy in a candle holder in our living room, watching us unpack from our trip. 

Friday, 12/2  Just hanging around, scouting out his next arrival spot.

Saturday 12/3  Heart's appetite got the best of him and we found him covered in crumbs after pigging out in a plate of cookies from a cookie exchange I attended.



Sunday 12/4  We decorated our tree yesterday and found HHB in it this morning, no doubt checking out our tannenbaum splendor.



Monday 12/5  Sinterklaas came to our house last night, and our nosy little elf made his way over to the door to check out the Dutch tradition.

Tuesday, 12/6:  Heart took some liberties with our camera and computer last night.  We woke up this morning to find a printout that had a picture of him with Toby and a note for the kids that read:  

Dear Laney and Liam,

I love hanging out with Toby while you guys sleep.  He has been such a good boy, I am sure that Santa will bring him a big, juicy bone for Christmas!

Love,

Heart Happybags

Wednesday, 12/7:  We caught HHB hanging out with our Nutcrackers.  Took us awhile to find him, as he blends pretty well!

Thursday, 12/8:  Heart has a girlfriend!  

Friday, 12/9  We found Heart nestled into a wreath above our pantry door, snuggling with a candy cane.  As soon as Laney saw him, she started yelling "Naughty elf!  Naughty Elf!  Don't eat my candy cane!"  She was really upset that he had one up there, and we had to remind her that if he ate the candy cane we could always buy more.

Saturday 12/10:  Watching "Wipeout" with the family

Sunday 12/11:  Elf camouflage

Monday 12/12:  HHB eats his way through my decorative gingerbread house.  Not so decorative anymore!

Tuesday 12/13:  Heart was singing in the rain after some winter showers

Wednesday 12/14:  Heart was eating our treats and cookies during the night.  Someone (Laney) got very upset with him again after spying another candy cane in his grip

Thursday 12/15:  Late night book club, elf style

Friday 12/16:  Snow angels, So Cal style

Saturday 12/17:  Just hanging around

Sunday 12/18:  HHB sleeps like a bat

Monday 12/19:  HHB goes nuts with all the necklaces upstairs.  A little early for Fat Tuesday...

Tuesday 12/20:  Everyone knows that elves LOVE pancake syrup

Wednesday, 12/21:  Feeling a little sticky after his affair with Aunt Jemima, HHB takes a shower

Thursday, 12/22:  Found HHB in Laney's dollhouse, clearly chatting up the ladies.  Perhaps he dumped the nativity angel.  She probably wasn't his type.

Friday 12/23:  Heart appeared on our newly installed metal gates on the wall over the fireplace.  He had a letter from Santa and 2 candy canes in the "letters for Santa" ornament for our Christmas tree.  Santa encouraged the kids to be nicer to each other, urging Laney to share with her brother and Liam to stop pulling Laney's hair.

Saturday, Christmas Eve:  Heart appears for the final time in the pasta jar that holds L and L's favorite food:  mini wheel pasta!

We let Laney fall asleep with HHB on Christmas Eve, since Santa was collecting him after he stuffed our stockings.  Laney was very worried that he would lose his magic, but we assured her that he wouldn't need it that night because he was catching a ride to the North Pole in a sleigh.

Farewell HHB!  We will see you again next Thanksgiving (or any time I am looking for something near the back of the top shelf in our pantry)