Flynn-nanigans

So every December 1st our morning wake up routines are transformed.  Children whining about getting out of warm beds disappear.  In their place are new children who are giggling and laughing.  Children who jump out of bed before their alarms and race around the house.  They race around the house in a mad search for a tiny little elf.  A tiny little elf we named Flynn (yes, after Flynn Rider in Tangled - that is what happens when you get an elf the same week you see a Disney movie).

 

So this year was no different: Flynn arrived with bells and whistles.  Well, actually two little messages for three little beings that were already on the verge of the ~GASP~ naughty list and talking a little too much about gifts under the tree at this point in the season.

 

Our first message was simple and sweet - I love you! 

Our second message was a letter that Flynn had brought directly from the Big Guy, a.k.a. Santa Claus.  Yes, he did spell his name wrong on his own letterhead above.  He is a very tired man who stays up too late doing things like this when he should be in bed.  But the message was clear to both my little ones: as exciting as a visit from Santa is and as much fun as we have with Flynn, we should always remember and be thankful for the real gift we celebrate.  The birth of our Savior!  Thank you Santa for the reminder.

Day 2 of the Flynn hunt was easy to find - he chose to celebrate KK's birthday by attaching himself to a balloon in her room.  He also gave her a gift: a Lego Friends advent calendar. 

 

And to be fair, he tied some ribbon from KK's room to AJ's room and gave AJ a Star Wars advent calendar too!  AJ thought getting a gift on his sister's birthday was very sweet!

 

The following days were a little crazy around the house - Flynn did his job of hiding in different rooms and making the kids work for finding him.  Then one weekend the Great Ice Storm of 2013 hit our home.  And that's when Flynn decided that we needed something to do that was fun:

 

Message received Flynn - we invited over our sweet neighbors and decorated some cookies!

Kins couldn't wait to eat one....

The group of cookie decorators!

 

She thought they were awesome!

 

Well the next weekend was KK's big birthday party.  I guess Flynn felt like he should have a party too... 

Because he decided to take over KK's doll house and invited every friend he could think of.  He decorated with streamers and even stole one of KK's cupcakes and a candle for himself.  It looked like quite the par-tay!

That wasn't the end of Flynn's antics... 

One night he decided they should have no stockings for treats - instead we woke up and found the kids underwear on the mantle...

This provided us with a lot of giggling - and a little concern about our stockings being returned in time for Christmas eve.  Whew!  Good thing Flynn decided to bring them back the next day.

 

But he wasn't done yet .... He got into Daddy's shaving cream and got a little messy...

But I think he was telling the kids to be nice to one another... at least I think that's what he was saying :-)

Later this month, AJ got a bad cold and was in bed sleeping for two days.  Flynn was so upset by this that he too put himself to bed on AJ's nightstand.

Tissues, Vicks, a band aid on his head for his headache just like AJ had... sleeping on a heating pad and covered in blankets.  Poor Flynn!

 

But don't feel too bad for him.  A few nights later he was not only his old self, he was feeling a bit feisty again.  KK lost yet another tooth this month.  She placed her tooth under her pillow and was awaiting the tooth fairy's return with some gold coins and of course the cloud of glitter that the tooth fairy always leaves when she lands in our house....

Flynn apparently knows the Tooth Fairy quite well - we awoke to him covered in red lipstick kisses on his face, fairy glitter all over him and the two gold coins that never quite made it to KK's bed.  Seems the tooth fairy got a bit distracted when she arrived... naughty little elf!

This of course, got even more giggles than the underwear episode.

I guess the closer Christmas got, the feistier Flynn decided to get.  We woke up another morning to our Santa pictures getting a touch up - KK and AJ were turned into puppies and Kins a bee.

And Flynn even added himself on Santa's lap... AJ was not amused, he was actually pretty upset with Mr. Flynn and told him not to do that again.

 

Sadly the antics just got worse in the home stretch before Santa's arrival.  We almost tripped over Flynn and his friends one morning as they hadn't finished their races before the sunrise.

Apparently he found a few fast friends and were racing down the hallway all night long...

Using the snowmen and some ribbon for the finish line!

 

But please, it didn't even stop there!  Oh no, he decided to practice his backup career as a circus performer the next night...

He might have learned his lesson as an elf dangling over a living room where a little boy with a ninja sword plays is not a safe place to be... as you can see by the end of the day he was dangling by a leg and probably needed a body cast!

 

The last night the kids were dying to see what Flynn could possible do before he left us for another 11 months.  Seems he knew we were doing some baking the next day for Santa...

 

An elf-angel in flour

 

A snowball fight with a snowman

 

And a note from our sweet elf telling us goodbye and to be good.. with a few chocolate kisses to ease the sadness of him leaving.

 

With an extra note in the "snow" saying "I love you" and a surprise on their doors when they woke up that morning:

 

So goodbye Flynn the Elf - tonight he rides off with Santa to the North Pole. 

 

 

And after the Christmas morning cheer, after the presents are opened, after Christmas day... those kids who don't want to leave their warm beds in the mornings will return.  Morning giggles will be replaced with moans that it is too cold to get up or too dark outside to be morning.  And as 11 months is too long to count down, instead this Mommy will just choose to remember the laughs we had together, the wake up calls from children demanding help finding Flynn or rushing in to tell us of his latest escapes in loud excited voices with little hands pulling on us to get up and see for ourselves.  The excitement of Christmas that woke us up each day for a month.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Sweet dreams Y'all!