Buddy the Elf

We finally jumped on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon this year. Ivie pretty much guilted us into it by talking about how much she wished she had an elf like Riddle, who belongs to the Devers. She kept seeing Danny's pictures of all the silly things that Riddle was doing in the mornings at their house, and the sad look on her face when she would talk about us not having an elf was too much for us to bear. We're suckers and we know it.

So the night before we left for Missouri, I ran to Barnes and Noble and bought the Herman family elf, which we later named "Buddy". Not very creative, I know, but it's certainly better than Dale's suggestion of "Rameses the Elf". In some areas of our lives, sweetheart, we have to separate from our beloved Tar Heels...

After we'd hidden Buddy in several places each morning at my parents' and then again upon our return to North Carolina, Ivie made an off-handed comment to Dale that changed Buddy's life forever. She said, "Daddy, Buddy just isn't as funny as Riddle. He doesn't do silly things like Riddle does."

Telling Dale he's not funny is like telling Macie she can't have dessert.

So I took to the internet to try to step up our game a bit (because we're not very creative on our own). And, just as Buddy's time with us comes to an end (today was his last morning with us before reporting back to Santa and staying at the North Pole until next Christmas season), Buddy turned it around and made the girls laugh.

Here was his pose yesterday morning:

Who doesn't love a nice bubble bath?!?

And here was this morning's:

I think last night's dinner at Los Portales must have gotten to him.

Ivie questioned the appearance of the random toy bathtub and toilet. We didn't offer up any ideas, but she ultimately said, "I wonder if Buddy brought those to go in our Barbie Dream House?" (the main item on her Christmas list).

You know, Iv, you're pretty smart for a 5 year-old.

Buddy, Dale and I will spend the next 11 months coming up with "fun" things that you can do when you return next December. We promise that you'll give Riddle a run for his money...