Tinsel Dude the Elf - Three

Tinsel Dude finished his job visiting Noah and Zay, but I wasn't so great getting pictures of every day. I'll do my best to document with what I have. :)

 

On Tuesday morning the boys got ready for school and then found Tinsel Dude sitting on the door handle with a "Santa Stop Here" Sign.

 

As I mentioned in the last installment of Tinsel Dude's adventures Ampa took Noah and Zay to Angel Fire Tuesday. He picked them up from school and they headed straight to New Mexico. On Wednesday morning they found Tinsel Dude hiding on the candle downstairs.

 

Thursday they found him on top of the small tree we have in Angel Fire.

 

Friday they found him above the patio door in the greenery.

 

Saturday they found him hiding on top of the light over the table.

Have you noticed he's been doing a lot of.....hiding? Without any props. I guess that is Ampa's style.

I will say that Ampa was very sweet to send an elf picture to me, Leslie and Grams every morning.

We all arrived to Angel Fire on Saturday and things got a little more interesting Sunday morning.

I completely failed to get a picture of Tinsel Dude because my priority was getting any possible sleep. But Tinsel Dude was in the open oven with cake mix and icing and he had smeared icing on the stove. Ampa quickly cleaned it up and made breakfast so I failed to get the picture. They used tongs (since you can't touch the elf) to move him to the Christmas tree. The boys loved it!

 

Monday (again I failed to get a picture) Tinsel Dude rolled down the stairs inside of a toilet paper roll. I saw it on my way to make a bottle in the middle of the night but it was cleaned up before I woke up from my nap that Grams had let me take Monday morning.

 

Tuesday Tinsel Dude popped out of the Rice Krispie box on the refrigerator.

 

Wednesday we were all packed up and ready to head home (minus a few things like food) and Grams asked Noah to check the fridge and he found Tinsel Dude eat/sleeping (?) in the carrots. They could not believe it!

 

Sidenote: I went downstairs to make a bottle and take care of Tinsel Dude and could not find him anywhere. I sat down while the bottle was warming and scanned the room for 3 full minutes. I figured Grams had handled it since he wasn't in the cereal box anymore and went back upstairs.

Wednesday the boys ended up going to Van Alstyne with Grams & Ampa instead of taking them to Leslie's

 

Thursday (Christmas Eve) Noah and Zay woke up and found Tinsel Dude on the mantel at Gram's house (no picture) and then the four of them drove to Leslie's house where they found Tinsel Dude had fallen off of their mantle and landed on the elf's butt that was stuck in their fireplace (This picture is from November, but the only one I had with the Elf sticking out of the fireplace). They were SO BEYOND EXCITED TO SEE THE ELF MAGICALLY FOLLOWED THEM HOME!
 

Zay: I saw the elf fall out of the stocking onto the Elf
Leslie: You did?
Zay: Well I ALMOST did!

HAHAHHAHA that is a classic Zay story that I never want to forget!! believing is (almost) seeing!!

I really think Tinsel Dude made December more exciting for everyone (including me and Leslie) so I can't wait for him to come back next year. :)

Tinsel Dude the Elf - Two

Tinsel Dude has been up to his old antics - here is the latest:

 

On the 9th, he made a mess in Leslie's room (She is a NEAT FREAK and was "SO UPSET"). The boys couldn't believe it!! He brought them little pots from the dollar spot at Target.

 On the 10th, he made a snowman out of toilet paper rolls. 

 

Leslie went to Las Vegas for her birthday and Noah and Zay stayed with us Thursday night. Zay had a hard time going to sleep so I went to do the elf once and had to say, "I'm just getting a drink of water......do you want anything?'"

The boys slept in the living room and Tinsel Dude came to the front room (where I have them keep their bags so they are out of the way).

 

My idea was that we would make snowflakes like Tinsel dude out of popsicle sticks and then spray paint them and hang them up like this on our navy wall (I ordered gray, light blue, and medium blue spray paint).

This is how I left him after Zay finally fell asleep. The note reads:

 

Do you want to make snowflakes like me?

Love,

Tinsel Dude

 

 

On the 11the boys helped me get Connor ready and then when it was time for them to get ready I heard Noah yell "ZAY! THE ELF CAME!!!" Then they just stared at him like this all serious. They were kind of sleepy and then Noah slowly just picked up some Q-tips and started to make a snowflake.

 

Noah worked on his snowflake and they were ADAMANT that I not put Connor on the ground because he would touch Tinsel Dude and then he would lose his magic. So Zay came up with the idea that he move Tinsel Dude using the popsicle sticks 'he found' to the table. It was hilarious!!

 

I was in the kitchen and said, "Maybe we are supposed to make snowflakes with the sticks?" They were all "No! Just like him with the Q-tips" hahahahhah

I guess my plan didn't work out. oh well. We will make snowflakes next year..... 

 

It was so cute to casually listen to the boys discuss how he "Always writes a note" when he goes to a new place and wonder what he will do in the mountains. Childhood is the best.

 

Dad came in town to stay with the boys at their house Friday and Saturday night and I have to say I was a little worried if he would play along. I wrote out instructions and gave him supplies, but he just took his own spin on it. Which is perfect and fun.

 

On the 12th, he sent us this text saying: This crazy red elf showed up this morning and the boys will not let me spank it! What are we to do? Love you.

On the 13th, Tinsel Dude was hiding in their tree.  

 

Close up!

Side note: He is sitting on an ornament I gave Zay this year. It is a gold ball with 2014 written on it. The year that he joined our family. Noah has lots of ornaments and Zay didn't have many and I think he really appreciates having a couple special ones of his own on the tree.

 

On the 14th, Leslie was back in town and things got a little more creative again. This time Tinsel Dude wanted the boys to deliver cookies to their neighbors. Leslie said she let them take the cookies on their own and they were so excited as they came back each time to get a new box to take to the next neighbor. I really think they have blessed their new neighborhood with their presence.

 

Yesterday, Ampa took just Noah and Zay to the mountains so we might have some more 'hiding' coming up. hahahah

 

 

Tinsel Dude the Elf - One

Leslie decided she wanted to do Elf on a Shelf this year and I FULLY support that decision. These kiddos only believe in ridiculous things for a short amount of time and I think it's important to take full advantage. I love seeing the magic through their eyes.

 

She couldn't find one the week of Thanksgiving so I used our trusty Amazon Prime and ordered one. It came in on December 1st so they started on December 2nd.

 

First she had a North pole breakfast for them. I made the little signs and she put the rest together. She named him TINSEL DUDE (but then while reading the book to the kids realized the kids are supposed to name him. hahah oops). Well Little ole Tinsel Dude decorated really cute and brought the boys donuts, décor, and PJs (and an extra pair for "their favorite cousin"). When I picked the boys up from school that day they was super excited to tell me about it all.

 

I just made these signs using scrapbook paper and below is what they said.

ZAY:

Hi, I’m Tinsel Dude the elf! I came from the North Pole to help Santa know if you’ve been naughty or nice. I watch with my very own eyes and then report back to the big jolly fella every night, so make sure to be a good boy! Please don’t talk back and try not to annoy your brother. Also, don’t forget to use an inside voice when you are indoors…okay? I hope you like your Pjs and pen I brought you from the North Pole. Will you be sure to take your favorite cousin his PJs? Keep getting happy faces at school and be sweet to your brother.

 

Love,

Tinsel Dude

 

 

NOAH:

Hi, I’m Tinsel Dude the elf! I came from the North Pole to help Santa know if you’ve been naughty or nice. I watch with my very own eyes and then report back to the big jolly fella every night, so make sure to be a good boy! Please don’t talk back and try to obey directions the first time. Also, don’t forget to try all your food at dinner time and eat healthy…okay? I hope you like your PJs and pen that I brought you from the North Pole. Will you be sure to give your favorite cousin his PJs from Santa? Keep listening to your teachers and being patient with and having fun with your brother.

 

Love,

Tinsel Dude

 

 

Leslie said as Noah was reading it (all sleepy eyed) he said 'Ok!' in agreement to the elf's request. hahahaha

 

 They next morning, Tinsel Dude came to their bathroom and delivered a Christmas Countdown.

  

 

On the 4th, Tinsel Dude took all their stuffed animals (from their beds) into their game room and read them a Christmas story (Leslie forgot to get a picture). Zay couldn't believe he could carry all those animals and he is only this big *holds hands one inch apart*  They kept laughing about how he took their animals without waking them up! hahah

 

On the 5th, Tinsel dude and his buddies hung up their underwear on their fan.

 

On the 6th, Tinsel Dude dressed up like Spiderman and zip lined in the dining room. It's hard to see his mask with the picture but I just printed out the picture below and colored it red with a crayon.

 

 

On the 7th, Tinsel Dude changed all the pictures to himself.  

 

On the 8th Tinsel Dude was ready to go shopping. 

 

I think the boys absolutely believe and it is so exciting to me. I can't wait to do this with our own kids in our own home. The boys are staying with us a couple nights this weekend and its going to be so fun to do it at our house!! Tinsel Dude has some tricks up his sleeve!