September 6, 2017

Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf - Plan 2: Days 26-29

Well, we made it.  This is the home stretch. I'm sure you are just as ready as I am to be done with moving our Elf around so much.  Our house is a decent size, but I have run out of places to set him up. Next year I think I can get a little sneakier about where he is hiding and make it a true hunt!  But, until then...here are the last few days of Turkey's adventures.

DAY 26 - BALLOON FILLED ROOM - LOVE

Turkey is caught red handed. He filled the boys' rooms last night with balloons! The great thing is that today is M's birthday!! So Turkey got to help create more fun for M and he loved it!
I love how you can see a little unsuspecting M sleeping in his bed!  One day I'll be able to show him this picture, but it is just too sweet for my heart! I just love our kids!

Turkey's letter today taught the boys about love and the different attributes of love.


DAY 27 - UNDERWEAR ORNAMENTS? - ORGANIZATION

Okay, again, anything that involves underwear just gets the kids giggling all day long.  I knew that they needed to laugh again so this is what Turkey did today!
Oh my goodness Turkey!  What have you gotten yourself into?  The great thing about this is that Turkey's letter encouraged them to CLEAN UP!! That's right! Read it here below.

So now, hopefully they will put their clothes away when asked. Then maybe there won't be any underwear left out for Turkey to steal. One can only hope.


DAY 28- DECORATING THE TOILET - LIGHT OF THE WORLD

And just like underwear helps to get the giggle out, anything with the bathroom is equally as funny!  Today, Turkey used the light saber lights left over from M's party to decorate the toilet!  Don't worry, he's covering his eyes, so he won't see you if you need to use the restroom.
Turkey also left some really fun Scavenger Hunt Sheets for us! Another one of our traditions is to go around town and check out the Christmas Lights display.  Turkey found these sheets for us so we can have a little family competition in the van as we look!  It was really fun!
You can head on over to Somewhat Simple to download these hunt sheets for free!!  Such a great idea Turkey!!

Turkey's letter today taught the boys about how we are the light of the world. This world that we live in is a really dark place and unfortunately it seems to be getting darker and darker as time marches on. However, as Christ Believers, we are lights in the darkness.  God asks us to share that light with others so that they too might be rescued from the darkness of sin.


DAY 29 - CHRISTMAS EVE -GOODBYE TURKEY

It has finally come.  It's time to say goodbye.  Tomorrow morning when the boys wake up, Santa will have come and there will be presents under the tree and the stockings will be stuffed full. Turkey wants us to remember why we celebrate Christmas to begin with. Not for the presents, but because of a Baby.  The best Gift the world has ever known.
Turkey's letter is a sweet but sad one.  We have to say good bye to him until next year.

The kids are sad as always, but love the fact that they get to touch him and hug him before he leaves.
Thanks Turkey for showing us a little bit of who God is again this year and how we can strive to be a little more like Him too by following the Scriptures and lessons in the Bible. Let's just hope that these lessons hang on and the kids remember how important Christmas really is and what the real Gift is.

I hope you have enjoyed these posts and I hope that you can use some of these to teach your kids about the real meaning of Christmas.  Comment below to let me know how your kids reacted to their Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf!

This year was such a success, I have NO idea what I'm going to do for next year! Seesh!! I'd better start brainstorming!!

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Check out my other Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf posts to see everything that Turkey did and taught us this year!

Days 0-3
Days 4-6
Days 7-9
Days 10-13
Days 14-17
Days 18-21
Days 22-25
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To download my entire Plan 2 Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf document click here.  There are 30 different ideas here and it is complete with all the needed supplies and pictures (minus letters)!
I am happy to personalize my letters for you and your child(ren) if you like. See my Etsy listing for 25 days of Kindness Letters that correspond with this plan.  You may always add more if needed for an additional cost.

Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf - Plan 2: Days 22 - 25

Welcome back!  We're in the home stretch!  Just about 8 more days to go of moving and changing the elf and teaching the kids important character attributes. So let's just jump right in!

DAY 22 - TURKEY READY FOR BATTLE - ARMOR OF GOD

Today, Turkey is ready to go to battle against all the sin and temptation that he will struggle with today.  He has on the full Armor of God!
Turkey found one of his dino friends and decided to pretend he was a horse.  He also is making good use of that light saber from the party yesterday!

Turkey's letter goes over how we can put on the full armor of God everyday to protect us and help us win against sin and temptations that fight for our attention every day.
He also left this adorable coloring sheet for them to color on!


DAY 23 - SPIDEY ELF - GIFTS FOR FAMILY

Look at Turkey! He's Spidey Elf! 
Again, I used the masks I printed out from a Pin and attached it to Turkey's face using my ever so handy glue dots! Then I scrunched him up and hung him by a string so that he'd hang upside down. Since G's favorite super hero is Spiderman, this was a huge hit!

Turkey's letter today is a fun one!  He explains that just like he is a sneaky little Spidey, we should have a little fun being sneaky today too!  He asked the boys to go to the Dollar Store with mom and dad and secretly pick out gifts for everyone in the family.  We gave them each $5 and told them they needed to get gifts for their brother, mom and dad and then after they have picked them out, they can check out and hide their gifts.  Later when we came home we let them wrap them themselves and put it under the tree.

It was such a joy to see them so happy to give and so proud of the gifts they had chosen for everyone.  Christmas morning was very special and hopefully encouraged them to be just as excited about giving as they are about getting.

DAY 24 - MOVIE NIGHT - THANK YOU NOTES TO TEACHERS

Turkey had a wonderful night watching a great Veggie Tales Holiday Movie!  Later that evening, we watched the movie again as a family! Such a cute little flick!
Turkey's letter today encouraged the kids to write Thank You Notes to their school teachers. Yes, we are STILL in school!  Our District practically goes right up until Christmas Eve...depending on how the days fall.  It's pretty ridiculous, but at least they're not at home begging to open presents yet!


DAY 25 - TMN-TURKEY? - PAY IT FORWARD

Our boys love the Ninja Turtles!  They thought it was hilarious that Turkey went on an adventure at night.  Did they fight crime? Did they leave surprises for the city? Did they have a dance party? No one will ever know because they operate in secret!
Turkey's letter today explains that sometimes we are asked to do things and not receive the credit for them. In other words, we are to act like secret ninjas! Turkey asked us to go to a drive through today and pay for the person's meal in the line behind us. Of course, we wouldn't get any credit for that, but that was the idea. It was nice to do this with my kids in the car. I do think it's so important to show them that we can serve others in secret as well and it is more about them, then it is about us.

Just a few more days!  We are under a week left of Turkey Adventures!

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Check out my other Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf posts to see everything that Turkey did and taught us this year!

Days 0-3
Days 4-6
Days 7-9
Days 10-13
Days 14-17
Days 18-21
Days 26-29
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To download my entire Plan 2 Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf document click here.  There are 30 different ideas here and it is complete with all the needed supplies and pictures (minus letters)!
I am happy to personalize my letters for you and your child(ren) if you like. See my Etsy listing for 25 days of Kindness Letters that correspond with this plan.  You may always add more if needed for an additional cost.

Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf - Plan 2: Days 18-21

DAY 18 - BAKING COOKIES - NO COMPLAINING

So remember Day 17 and how Turkey asked the boys to stop complaining? Or at least be more aware of it? Well, it doesn't always work that way, so I figured the kids needed another reminder about the verse...afterall, it is a very important one.
Turkey is hungry for cookies too it looks like!  Secret agenda though...later on this week, Turkey will ask the boys to do something special with those cookies! Too bad they can't eat them all! My kids love cooking with me in the kitchen, and I can agree that the feeling is mutual!  It's so fun to put all of our aprons on and get messy sometimes.

Turkey's letter today talked about No Complaining...again.  Hopefully by hearing it twice it will start to sink in.


DAY 19 - CAROLING TO NEIGHBORS - COOKIE GIFTS

So remember when we baked those cookies yesterday?! Well Turkey has an idea of what to do with them.
 It is a tradition of ours every year to go caroling around our neighborhood.  We usually use the opportunity to put together a little cookie pack with our church's Christmas services stapled to the bag.  That way, we not only have fun as a family, but if people are looking for a place to celebrate Christmas, they have some info.  We don't actually say...come to our church...because we really want the focus to be on just making people smile with some Christmas Cheer!


DAY 20 - HOT WHEEL REINDEER - THANK YOU TO MAIL CARRIER

Today, turkey wanted to pretend to be Santa and ride in a sleigh with some reindeer.  All of those options were not available, so he had to improvise with a mug and some Hot Wheel Cars.  I just wrapped a pipe cleaner around each car to make "antlers." It was a hit with the boys.
Turkey's letter today was another one of making someone feel special.  Hopefully there are still some cookies left, but most likely after today there won't be. Turkey asked the boys to write a thank you note to our mail carrier to thank him for working extra hard this season!



DAY 21 - GLOW BRACELETS - WONDERFULLY MADE

So remember when I said that the boys have winter birthdays?  Well today just happened to be the date of his party!  He was having a Glow-in-the-Dark Star Wars theme and Turkey wanted to join the fun as well!
Again, same masks as before and just glue dotted on Turkey's face.  Plus I made him a little light saber from one of the bracelets and then suspended him from the dining room chandelier.  It was lots of fun and all the party guests loved it!

The letter today talked about how we are all fearfully and wonderfully made.  I wanted to make sure the boys remember that God made them both unique and special and they are not a mistake, but a vessel to be used by God to show His glory and grace for everyone who wants it.

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Check out my other Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf posts to see everything that Turkey did and taught us this year!

Days 0-3
Days 4-6
Days 7-9
Days 10-13
Days 14-17
Days 22-25
Days 26-29
------------------------------------------
To download my entire Plan 2 Elf on the CHRISTmas Shelf document click here.  There are 30 different ideas here and it is complete with all the needed supplies and pictures (minus letters)!
I am happy to personalize my letters for you and your child(ren) if you like. See my Etsy listing for 25 days of Kindness Letters that correspond with this plan.  You may always add more if needed for an additional cost.