counting the days

Every night in December, up until Christmas, an elf visits our house and leaves a treasure in the advent box for the boys.

The other night, I saw that this very nice card from Christopher was left for the elf. It said "look elfs, come and get this." I grabbed it for a picture before the elf could take it away.
What a sweet boy.
"Happy Christmas Santa and Elfs, from Chris" he wrote and tucked int on top of the box.

The Elf got the nice message and took it with him. But he left this nice note in return..complete with fire burned edges. That's how we knew it was the Elf--we don't have that kind of paper around here!

This is the advent box that holds a treasure each morning.

This is the same advent box that is responsible for 2 boys consistently waking up around 5:30 a.m., giddy with anticipation.

Who can sleep when there is a surprise to be discovered?

If you're ever not quite sure how many more days it is until Christmas, we can help you with that. Between the advent box, countdown chain, open the door tree from G'ma, and the ever-favorite chocolate calendar from T.J.'s, we've got it down to a science.

Um, by the way, as of today there are 15 more nights before Santa comes.

Good thing we've moved from this stage.