Getting ready for Santa

Before Megan went to bed on Christmas Eve, she had to get ready for Santa and his reindeer.  The first thing she did was put out her reindeer food.  She sprinkled on the front step and sidewalk.  She was so excited I could hardly get her to agree to taking a picture first. 

 

***Getting ready to put out the reindeer food***

***sprinkling the reindeer food***

Of course, we had to put Santa's key out for him.  We wanted to make sure that he would be able to get into the house.  Even though mom and dad have a chimney and fireplace, Meg wanted to leave out the key.  She said it was because we had a fire chimney and didn't want Santa to get burnt.  What a smart little one. 

***Meg after she hung the key on the door***

***Meg and mommy before bed***

***Meg, Daddy & Mommy***

A new family tradition

As if I don't have enough going on during the holidays, I have added yet another tradition to the mix. I had heard about "The Elf on the Shelf" a few years ago, but Meg was to young to understand it then.

I was walking thru Barnes & Noble a few days ago and found it...out new family tradition.

The Elf, who Meg named Buddy, lives in our house for a few weeks leading up to Christmas. He is responsible for watching Meg's behavior and reporting it to Santa on a nightly basis. He has magical powers that allow him to fly to the North Pole each night. Every morning when he returns, he finds a new place to sit.

When Meg wakes up in the morning, the first thing she does is look for Buddy. She is not allowed to touch him, but I have encouraged her to talk to him and tell him her Christmas wish.

The night we brought him out, I allowed her to sit with him in her room for 10 minutes to talk to him. After that, she wasn't allowed to touch him.

Meg ran off to her room for her 10 minutes...when I walked by her door, this was what I found. She was showing him all she wants for Christmas. She has pictures on my iPhone of her wants, so she was flipping thru them. It was so adorable.

I'm so excited about this new family tradition!