Elbert the Elf 2015

So I talked with Jayla's parents to see if they planned on doing Santa, because if they did and they had any hope of her believing it, we would need to do the same for the older three and clue them in to play along sense they are typically outspoken and quick to set you straight on story tales.
They decided they did want to do the Santa thing.  So I decided then we needed to do Elbert the Elf too! (our version of elf on the shelf ;-) )  Two years ago Elbert joined our family as we did Kindness Elf-- charitable giving mixed with kind deeds on a level the kids could understand.
Kindness Elf Part 1
Kindness Elf Part 2
Kindness Elf Part 3
Aunt Chris and Uncle King had given the kids some Christmas money so I used that at Michael's to but supplies for each kid to have a craft for 26 days and 2 family crafts.  I had to hide so Jayla wouldn't see it so it could be a surprise our magic friend Elbert would bring us each day.

 Elbert even knew when our friends were coming so Alonza, Tabi, Mateo, Payden and Tivon also got to join in on our Elbert the Elf Family Time.
Family time was what I thought to be the most valuable to teach my four kids this year.  We are a newly formed family and I want them to know that they aren't just here to have a roof over their heads but because they are loved and I want to be an active participant in their life, not just a financial provider.  Jayla joined us after spending 3 months with only a little time with her bio parents so this gave her time to bond more with her new siblings of sort and an activity to do with her parents when they weren't working or dealing with adult issues.
So on Nov 30th Elbert the elf appeared along with our Christmas coutdown.

Elbert the Elf appeared on day 1 with ornaments to make, one penguin ornament already done and a box for each kid to put their ornaments in after Christmas.

You can see our Christmas coundown.  we added a cotton ball each day to either the angel, tree, stocking or Santa's beard-- each kid had their own

We managed to do a craft every single day except one day we didn't have the time so we did it the following day.  When any of the kids were at a sleepover or activity away from home we saved their craft for them in their ornament box.

I decided we would turn each small craft into a Christmas ornament.  These precious babes of mine, especially our 2 newest won't be here forever, but this will give them a jump start on their own tree one day.  So after each craft was done (and dried) i would super glue/tacky wood glue a christmas hook onto them so they had over 30 ornaments by the end of our days with Elbert.

Their initial ornaments

Elbert brought extra crafts to do with our buddy Alonza

 Elbert was a star visitor for our mini party for Tabi's birthday too.

a special birthday dinner playdate with Alayna, Andrea and Adrianna for Tabi's bday at our house

 The following day Tabi's mom treated her to a special birthday dinner while her brothers joined us for some Elbert the Elf fun!

Dec 25 4:45am, Dec 26 4:45am

On Dec 26th after work, I  took the tree down, separated the kids ornaments, put them in their boxes and then into a Rubbermaid tote for safe dry storage.  After all with a tree overflowing with ornaments and now two curious cats with free access combined with the fact our family grew hugely, that space was needed for more important things---- 

sorting

boxed all up