And So It Begins...the Elves Arrive 2012





Those elves never cease to amaze us. This year we found them inside the van while having dinner at Applebee's. When the van doors opened, we couldn't believe our eyes. We can only guess how they managed to unlock the van doors and jump inside. The kids are thinking they jumped in the back of the van when unloading groceries earlier in the day.

However, or whenever, they wasted no time in making mischief while we were fast asleep. After the Cirque Holidaze show, the grandkids (and elves) stayed the night. This is what we discovered this morning. Dimples, Freckles and Giggles used colorful masking tape around the house. Carson's elf tried to place the blame on Carson, but that didn't fool us.



They spelled the grandkids' names, placed arrows on the floor and walls, taped the doorways and even taped the TV screen.

One panel of the sliding glass door was completely covered in red and green masking tape. And they even took the Gingerbread Man prisoner taping him to the chair.

Hearing the excitement in the kids voices and watching the joy expressed on their faces makes the elves' visit worthy of any mess they make. Thankfully, Miss O volunteered to help with clean up because, "she likes to clean".

The kids were so wired last night after the Cirque Holidaze event they couldn't sleep. It was close to midnight before they finally surrendered to the fairy's sleeping dust.

It doesn't matter that NeeNee had less than 5 hours of sleep last night, or that my once clean house looks like a North Pole battleground. The grandkids' enthusiasm is my fuel today. There is plenty of time to sleep when I'm six-feet under.

This morning the kids are running around the house with eight rolls of colorful masking tape. I'm in my office and don't even want to know what they are taping. I am guessing just about everything within their reach. They just closed my office door which leads me to believe they are taping the door shut. They are probably doing more mischief this morning than the elves will do during their entire Christmas stay.