Elves

Finished Memoirs of a Geisha last night. Couldn't put the durn thing down. It was so enthralling.
Of course now I have a sink full of dirty dishes and a sleep-deprived Hubby who goes around sarcastically grumbling "Just one more chapter, honey honest," under his breath--but it was worth it.

So, on to the Elves. Thing One (who is eight and actually has to defend her belief in Santa Claus to one or two of her classmates occasionally) is determined that we have Elves everywhere. This stems from a story Hubby told the kids a few years ago, about how an elite corp of Santa's Elves go around during the month of December leading up until Christmas Eve, spying on all children and reporting back to The Man whether they've been Naughty or Nice.

I thought the Elf story was ridiculous at the time, but it actually came in handy for when the kids were less than stellar on the behavior scale (I sure hope the Elves didn't see you stick your fingers in that cake Mommy made for tonight) etc..

Well, our kids (very excitedly) came and woke me up a few mornings ago, telling me that there were "Elf prints" in the snow. They dragged me down to the back windows of our house (the entire back half of our house is windows, we have a view of everything) and we could see "elf prints" everywhere, on the ground outside the windows (where they spy on kids) I told them and we could even see them on the roofs of nearby houses.
The kids have been on their best behavior lately, because they know for sure that Elves are spying on them. In fact, Thing Two has become a bit obsessed with being good for that reason.

Sure, I know it's bad, but we're having too much fun. I don't have the heart to tell them that we have some adventurous cats around the neighborhood. That would ruin the magic.

Thank heaven for the cats/Elves. They sure are making this holiday season fun.

Although Thing One is becoming VERY frustrated because she's always running around trying to catch an Elf in the act...