Asher the Elf

In the last post, Josh mentioned our family elf, Asher. Since he was such a big part of our Christmas this year, I thought he should have his own post!

It all started when I kept seeing pins on Pinterest of ideas for this elf on the shelf thing. I had never heard of it but quickly caught on to the gist of what it was basically about - an elf doll that comes from the North Pole to keep an eye on the kids and report back to Santa every night if they had been good or bad that day, then moves to a new spot when he returns from the North Pole each night. I thought this looked cute and after inquiring with other parents who had done this tradition before, I knew I wanted to make it one of our own family traditions!

Our elf arrived at our house the day after Thanksgiving. He showed up on the fireplace mantle next to the book that tells the story of  "Elf on the Shelf." We read the book to Korben and explained how you can't touch the elf because he might lose his Christmas magic. Then Josh and I asked Korben what he wanted to name his elf but he needed some choices so we gave him the options of Rufus (which means red and the elf's outfit is red), Sneaker (since the elves sneak around the house every night), Twizzle (because twizzlers are red? Not really sure where that came from but it was cute none-the-less), and Asher (which means happy since you know, elves are very cheery and happy)... Korben almost immediately chose Asher! And so it began!

I thought Korben would have an issue with the no touching rule but he actually did quite well with it! There was one day that he accidentally touched Asher and knocked him over while trying to get back a toy that Asher had "borrowed" and Korben was really upset about it! Poor thing felt so bad about Asher losing his magic! Thankfully some of the other elves came to the rescue and gave Asher his magic back! :)

Asher was quite the mischievous elf! He was quite fond of Korben's toys and took them to play with pretty frequently! I don't have pictures from all of Asher's "spots" but some of the places he was found were hanging from the ceiling fan pull string, playing with Korben's toy cars, roasting marshmallows on candles, eating cereal bars in the pantry, and reading a book to Korben's stuffed animals and action figures. Korben LOVED finding Asher in a new spot every morning! Asher even got blamed for a few things that he didn't do too. When I hung up all of our Christmas cards, Korben insisted that was all Asher! It was so much fun having Asher around and we can't wait for him to visit again next year!

One day Asher wrapped up Korben's books (enough for him to unwrap and read one a night before bed). There were a few new books snuck in the pile too... Korben especially loved it when he was surprised with a new book! :)

Asher making some adjustments to the light with Korben's toy Turner screwdriver. Korben yelled at Asher for taking his toys that morning!

Santa made an early visit to fill up stockings and Asher caught him on film with Korben's camera!

We were glad to see that Asher knew how to use the potty... we were also surprised to learn that elves have green pee! (Sorry if that one grossed you out... we thought it was funny though!)

Hiding under a glass!

Gone fishing!

Asher got got a little toilet paper happy and tp'd Korben's room!

Asher isn't in this picture but there was a day that he sat at the front of Korben's gingerbread house and ate some of the candy from it! I hadn't posted a picture of the house Korben made yet so there it is.

On Asher's last day at the house before going back to the North Pole with Santa, he left a goodbye note to Korben and made reindeer donuts!