The Many Christmas Adventures of Luke Jeremiah & Sunny 2014 Edition: Part One!

For someone who was reluctant to start this elf tradition two years ago, and who thought that the elf was rather creepy to begin with, (I can't believe I ever thought our darling Luke creepy!) I am certainly very excited to see him come back every year. And this year, Luke brought a friend along!

Night One: We soon found out, from Luke's annual welcome letter, that this newcomer was his brother. He requested that we take good care of his brother, and also that we come up with a suitable name for our newest elf. I was just a littler bit nervous, since it was agreed that Sebastian should name this one (since he had been too young to really have an opinion when Luke arrived Christmas of 2012), but he eventually came up with "Sun. Like the sun outside, Mama." and we all agreed that "Sunny" would be an appropriate nick-name. Thus, we now have Luke and Sunny the elves in our home for Christmas this year!

Night Two: Much like the brothers Gordon, it seems the brothers Elf enjoy a rousing game of Connect Four! I'm not sure of their rules (since it seemed by the number of chips left that Luke had taken more turns than Sunny somehow), but I'm not always sure of Parker and Sebastian's rules either. It seemed they were both in the position to win, and Parker and Bash were more than willing to help them finish the game when they came down that morning. (It is still strongly contested who won.)

Night Three: December first, and Sunny and Luke rang in the happy month by bringing us an advent calendar with the instructions to use the pictures behind the doors as suggestions for ways to decorate the house. (There are now daily squabbles about who will open that day's door, and 11 somehow got opened by mistake instead of 3 on the 3rd, but it's been fun overall.)

Night Four: Parker had been very concerned about how our elves managed to get any food in them since they are so busy at night. Luke and Sunny were sure to have a hearty snack of cranberry sauce to keep up their strength. Can't have one of them passing out on the job after all!

Night Five: Luke and Sunny brought us a gift! A box full of puzzles, puzzles featuring other elves just like ours, and it seems that they couldn't help but put a couple of them together over night. I will have to be sure to write thank you notes to them both, as the puzzles have provided hours of entertainment for our little boys. (And moments of peace for Mommy.)

Night Six: The countdown has officially begun. While three weeks seems ever so long to an impatient five and three year old, it seems like almost no time at all to a Mommy and Daddy with so much to do before Christmas morning! Apparently our elves thought I needed a reminder about how little time I have!

Night Seven: Wheeeeeee! Luke and Sunny had a blast sliding down the railings!

Night Eight: We went and got our trees (yes, I did say trees) today. Apparently Luke and Sunny wanted to get a jump on the decorating. :)

*happy sigh* I simply love this time of year! I can't wait to see what else our little elves have in store for us this Christmas. 

The Many Christmas Adventures of Luke Jeremiah...And Friend?

Look who is back! Look! (I might be more excited about this than my children!) Luke! Luke is back!

And it seems he's brought a friend.

I am so excited to have our little elf buddy back again! It's Christmas time. :)

The Many Christmas Adventures of Luke Jeremiah the 2013 Edition: Part Four! Merry Christmas, Everyone!

This is it! Our last Luke post of the season, and what a Christmas season it has been! I already miss our little elf friend, and I am not sure how the boys are going to feel in the morning when he isn't there to greet them. Hopefully three days of Christmas toys will be enough to keep them distracted, though I anticipate tears. Hopefully I can pull up these pictures, remind them about all the good times, and help them look forward to the fun we will have next year.

Night Twenty-Two: Apparently, Luke has made a friend. really now, look at those cheeks! How could you not find them kissable?!

Night Twenty-Three: While I know that Luke loves his job and his family, I imagine that it sometimes gets lonely at night, being a little elf all alone in a great big house. It makes perfect sense that Luke would seek out friends. Tonight it seems he found another little elf, one that has been in the family for decades, to hang out with. They both look very happy in their new found friendship. 

Night Twenty-Four: Sometimes you just need to relax in a warm, bubbly bath with a glass of wine and a good book. Now, our dear Luke wouldn't be sipping on wine, but doesn't he look relaxed? The next few nights are going to be a busy, hard push for our little Christmas helper. He's earned a little relaxation. (And how cute is that little claw foot tub?! Seriously now?!)

Night Twenty-Five: This was all Grandmama's idea, and I really like it. Apparently, Luke had some last minute Christmas mail to send. (Pictured with our Yule Log, which it took several nights for us to convince the boys that part of making a Yule Log is burning it.)

Night Twenty-Six: We were at my mother's house on night twenty-six, because we were celebrating Christmas with them the next day, which was Christmas Eve. Luke managed to find his way to us even though we were somewhere different, and he took advantage of some of Mom's musical decorations while we all slept.

Night Twenty-Seven: Christmas Eve night, and our darling Luke became almost angelic, eagerly waiting for Christmas the next morning. (And the morning of the 26th, when we celebrated a third Christmas, because Christmas in Ohio can't be confined to just one day.)

It was an amazing month with Luke here! He helped us get ready for the holidays, and even stayed a few extra days due to our extended Christmas, Daddy coming home, and Mommy's upcoming birthday. (And maybe Mommy forgetting several nights in a row to put him up and write his farewell letter contributed to him staying even longer than we had originally planned.) I loved being home this year and getting to experience all of this with my family, and I think Luke did too. I'm already looking forward to next year when Luke will be back to make more Christmas memories. He might even have a new friend that comes along with him...

Goodbye for now, Luke! Merry Christmas!

The Many Christmas Adventures of Luke Jeremiah the 2013 Edition: Part Three!

I feel so guilty now that I ever thought of our Luke as "creepy". He has quickly become one of my favorite holiday traditions, and I love watching the boys tearing around the house every morning trying to find what Luke did. Some days it is very easy to find him and some days they have to search, but every day it is a blast! I hope it is one of those things that, even when they are way too old for it, they will always enjoy doing. (Even if they try to be cool teenagers and act like they don't care at all.)

Night Fifteen: Okay, so I admit, some nights Luke and I conspire to do something fun and unique, and some nights I have been known to search the interwebs frantically for an idea about 10 minutes after I should have been in bed. Night fifteen though was 100% ours, and I would be willing to bet a couple dozen batches of Christmas cookies that no one else has ever had a Scottish, bagpipe playing elf, complete with his own kilt and hat. If you have had a Scottish, bagpipe playing elf, complete with kilt and hat, we need to meet. You will be my best friend. I know it.

Night Sixteen: A true Christmas elf can't just wear red all the time. He needs a little green to liven up his gay apparel. These shoes are Sebastian's favorite, (he tried to sleep in the the first week after we bought them) and apparently Luke is quite fond of them too.

Night Seventeen: There is a Grinch on the loose, and he's caught our dear Luke! He still looks quite chipper in there. Possibly because he had faith that he would be rescued by someone who loved him. :)

Night Eighteen: Poor Luke hasn't had much luck with his freedom the last two nights. He gets out of the Grinch's Jail only to be caught by Grandmama's giant, wooden hand. Poor, poor Luke. Still, true to his usual, cheery self, Luke doesn't look at all ruffled by the experience. (By the way, that book, Bloom, read it! It's an amazing book by an amazing blogger, Kelle Hampton at Enjoying the Small Things, which is probably my favorite blog of all time!)

Night Nineteen: I don't understand the mustache crazy at all, though Sebastian does have a very cute shirt with a Christmas tree made out of different types of mustaches, but I think Luke gets it. Even if he doesn't, he decided to join in, and took some pictures of family littles into the crazy with him. I think the family looks good in mustaches. :)

Night Twenty: Wheeeeee! Just because it's cold and bitter outside doesn't mean we can't have some fun! Especially if you happen to be a little elf who can rig up a swing out of colorful, Christmas twine and a wooden spool!

Night Twenty-One: Though the boys and I spent the night away from the house, Luke was still on the loose! We were happy to find that he hadn't been idol while we were away, apparently taking up Frog Riding over night. I wonder if it is similar to Bull Riding. Frogs seem that they would be more "hoppy". :)

I am very sad to think that this is our second to last post about Luke this season. It seems to be going by very quickly this year. *sniff* My little elf friend and I have a pact to make this last week or so a great one! I hope you enjoy!

The Many Christmas Adventures of Luke Jeremiah the 2013 Edition: Part Two!

I am already dreading the loss of our little Luke after the holidays. We are having so much fun with him this year, and it's double the fun, because Sebastian is much more aware of him this time around. They wake me every morning with a cheery "Good morning, Mama! Let's go see what Luke did!" and one of their last whispers at night is "I wonder what Luke will do tomorrow." 

What will he do?

Night Eight: There was no way that Luke could be here, at the home of my grandparents, and not do something involving chamber pots. (I have exactly zero idea exactly how many chamber pots my grandmother has in her home, but I am sure that it would take several hours to count them all, and you would probably miss many.) I suppose that, when you are looking for something to do with a chamber pot, there is only really one conclusion you can come to. :)

 

Yes, in case you were wondering, his pot is located under a Christmas tree, a full sized one, in the bathroom! I do know how many Christmas trees are up this year. Grandmama says 15. This is an amazing place for an elf (or a mommy who is still very child like when it comes down to Christmas) during the holidays!

Night Nine: If you have ever wanted to hang upside down on a genuine cow bell, (And who hasn't, really?) Luke says it is a blast! I do think, after being up there all night, that his cheeks seemed a bit pinker than usual. 

Night Ten: What a naughty elf to get into the candy, and what a pig he made of himself! Don't let that cheerful grin fool you, he was quite sick for his gluttony the next morning. Let this be a cautionary tale to all children! A dozen mini Kit Kats are not kind to a tummy the size of a pea. 

Night Eleven: Luke decided, wisely in my opinion, to stay away from the candy for a few nights. Having observed the boys creating paper snowmen last week during school, our Luke decided to make one of his own. There is some kind of indescribable joy a person experience when getting to use scissors, glue sticks, sparkling snowflake stickers, construction paper, and crayons, and I think that joy just might be doubled if you are a small elf. Both little boys were very impressed with his artwork, though Parker questioned why the green crayon was out when it didn't appear to have been used in Luke's masterpiece. (Oops!) Grandmama covered quite nicely for our cheery little friend, and Mommy will have to make sure Luke is more observant about his set ups from now on. :)

Night Twelve: Because, sometimes, it's fun to hide in a stocking.

Night Thirteen: There is a very funny story to this one. You see, Mommy had gone upstairs and to bed without talking to Luke about what he wanted to do. We usually collaborate, you see, and this is the first time I have forgotten to have our nightly chat. So, after I was tucked in nice and warm, I had to jump up and sneak downstairs again. I walked, in the dark, over to the stocking, where Luke had spent his day observing everyone. I reached in at the same time that I turned on the lamp, only my hand didn't make contact with our friendly little elf. I reached deeper, but my fingers came in contact with nothing except the inside of the stocking. I peeked inside, just to confirm, but there was no Luke. I searched, pushing down a completely irrational, uneasy fear that was being fed by the sounds of an old house settling. Surely it was the house settling, and not the sound of little, felt feet pitter pattering behind me across the room, right?

Eventually I stumbled across him on the tree in the kitchen, and am going to comfort myself with the thought that Luke must have discussed plans with Grandmama before we went to bed. After all, that is the logical, grown-up explanation.

Night Fourteen: I finished up a little bit of Christmas/birthday shopping for our "nephew", Trenton, and our niece, Shelly. (Shelly is my special birthday buddy. She will turn five on the 29th of December while I will turn considerably older.) I have almost everything else wrapped and hidden away already, so Luke apparently took pitty on me and wrapped everything up for me to find in the morning. I was very excited. Thank you, little elf.

I wish I could have an elf around all year to help with the little chores around the house. Hermione would be scandalized! :)