DeLappenings: The Adventures of Leaf The Elf

So...

The “funniest” thing happened this morning.

We woke and found Leaf—our friendly, beloved Shelf Elf—at the front window. Apparently, he’d seen a mailbox delivery and tipped us off so we could check in the early morning hours for a surprise.

The kiddos were so excited. :)

And Daddy braved the brrrrrrr cold to head out there.

Only to come back and report that there was not, in fact, a surprise in the mailbox for the kiddos.

You see, a certain, ahem, helper of Santa’s might have taken a considerable amount of time last night printing lovey and festive letters from Santa addressed to each individual child.

And that certain, ahem, helper, may have wanted those letters to look super-duper-authentic. So that helper might have printed an official address, and return address, and added a stamp for appropriate authenticity, and then placed them in the mailbox around midnight. All done, of course, with the knowledge that our mail is usually delivered around 7 pm, so there would be no, ahem, interference.

So imagine my mother-effing surprise and annoyance when the mail was delivered today prior to 9 am, and the letters where taken for official processing.

I mean, talk about epic mommy (I mean, helper, wink wink) fail.

I suppose if you look at the bright side, the letters will, in fact, make their way back to our house in a couple of days. But that will be too little, too late.

So...lesson learned.

And luckily, the little mishap didn’t faze the kiddos too much—or dampen their wild enthusiasm for our good friend, Leaf.

It’s been a fun year of adventures...which I shall now share in pics. :)

Here is is, dropping in for his inaugural visit...

Wrapping up in toilet paper because he was cold...

Acting as an unofficial tree topper...

Using marshmallows as a snow substitute when he was missing home a bit...

Busting into the kiddos’ rooms and putting tiny ornaments on their shelf trees while they were sleeping...

Hanging with climbing Santa...

Indulging in some chocolate cravings...

Hosting an impromptu tea party...

And, oh, this one was so brilliant. Leaf knew the children had behaved so badly on this particular day, so he left them a letter about their actions and then slept by Mama to look out for her, since she was wiped...

If you’re wondering, it did, In fact, help improve the behavior a teeny tiny bit the next day.

So Leaf performed a happy hula that night to celebrate, along with his friend, Moana...

And lastly, on Friday, Leaf managed to bust into the car so he could ride around with us all day. We suspect it was in celebration of Chica’s last day of school before the holiday break...