Elf on the Floor

For our family, this is the first year that the children really understand the Santa aspect of Christmas. Blue has known for a while that he's a guy in a red suit, but the idea of a naughty and nice list and not beating up your sister equaling presents is just sinking in.

To help the "elves are spying for Santa" story along, we've made a big deal about rustling bushes in the backyard, and have even had a couple of elfin visits. Our first elf visitors took away the letters to Santa that we left in our stockings and replaced them with candy canes and books. This morning, we had another reminder that the elves are watching.

Sometime during the night, small, pointy footprints appeared on our windowsill and floor, and little packages of candy were placed in our shoes. When Red went to put on his work shoes this morning (poor guy, he's the only one not on vacation this week), he couldn't find one, and everyone was very shocked to find it in front of the fire place.

Here's Pink admiring what a midnight frenzy and some washable markers can do:

I think Blue might have been onto me, but once he saw his beloved York peppermint patties, he forgot to delve deeper into the mystery of the footprints: