Elf on the Shelf

Today we started a new family tradition. My sister Kori had called me yesterday and asked me if I had heard of a story called Elf on the Shelf. She told me that this is a story about an elf. With the book comes a little elf doll that is magic. He magically moves around the house spying on children to report back to Santa. You name your elf and can tell him what you want for Christmas but you must NOT ever touch the elf. If you touch the elf he loses his magic and has to be placed back in the box by a parent using rubber gloves for 6 hours to regain his magic.
The kids woke up this morning to the Elf on the Shelf book sitting on the kitchen table. No one heard the alarm go off and no one saw anyone put this magic book and Elf on the table. We sat down with the kids and read the story and then registered our elf that we now call Buddy. We sat him in his box on the hearth and the kids sat around watching for him to move and break out of the box. You would hear the kids talking about how his leg moved, his eyes or his hands. When the kids went to get ready for church Buddy broke out of his box and the kids returned to the family room to buddy sitting on the heart out of his box. Later he moved to the mantle and then decided to go and check out the train around the tree. A few minutes later the kids heard the train going and they ran out to find that Buddy had plugged the train and and was going for a ride on the train. Dawson entertained him by playing him Christmas songs on the piano when all of the sudden the train stopped. He came running into the bathroom to tell us that Buddy now had magically stopped the train. We went off to church and came home to find Buddy in Dawson's room. He later moved to Kyson's and then on to Kennidee's. We told the kids that he must be doing bedroom inspections to report to Santa. When the kids woke up from naps Buddy had found his place on top of the fridge. Later he moved over to the counter and then onto the couch to enjoy a little television. After he had enough TV he went to the table and watched the kids skype with their Grandma's and then all of the sudden he was gone again and had magically relocated to the huge hot cocoa mug by the fireplace where he waited for the kids to go to bed so he could head back to the North Pole to report to Santa on the kids behavior for the day. He will be back again tomorrow for another report.
This is seriously the funnest thing for the kids. Kyson would walk around the house "I gotta find that freaking elf'' and the squeal with joy when he found him an giggle. They have all been so excited to see what Buddy was going to do next or where he was going to pop up. At one point I told them he was freaking me out and I was sending him back to the North pole and they pretty much broke down in tears. Later I told them I was going to touch him so he lost his magic and Kyson cried and said "You will be on the naughty list Mommy." They have been so good to follow the rules and not touch the elf in fear of being on the naughty list. Dawson was leaving notes for the elf and was excited to find that he had received a reply.
If you don't have any family traditions this is seriously the funnest thing. Our kids are really enjoying it. I love the magic of Christmas to a young child and this just brings the magic into our house even more for the kids.

Here are just a few of the random pictures of Buddy hiding around the house on Day 1