Gold E. Locks, Year 6

To elf or not to elf, that is the question. For us, we elf, and we elf HARD! ;) Our fun-loving, mischevious little Gold E. Locks, aka Goldy, joined our family six years ago, and the kiddos continue to get SO excited to find him and discover his latest shenanigans each morning. And as of this year, we still have four kiddos who believe in the magic. I worry that a certain 8-year-old is starting to catch on, but as far as we know, Goldy, and his jolly ol' boss, continue to be the magic makers. Here, a look at all the fun Goldy performed around our home over the last 24 days:

Day 1. Goldy arrived and dropped off an Advent calendar and a candy message.

Day 2.  Goldy was ready to cheer on the Clemson Tigers to victory in the ACC playoff game, donning his favorite Clemson sweater for the occasion.

Day 3.  Goldy left a fun craft so that the kids could help create some festive friends.

Day 4.  Goldy left all four kids high marks on their Official Elf Report Cards, thank goodness!

Day 5.  Goldy wanted to help the kiddos focus on the reason for the season, leaving a gingerbread Nativity for them to decorate this year. 

Day 6.  Goldy clearly had fun while the rest of us were sleeping, setting up his own Elf Photo Booth, complete with props.

Day 7.  The day had come: Goldy let us know we'd be visiting Santa that night to fill the 2017 frame!

Day 8.  Goldy packed himself up in a jar so the kiddos could safely transport him to Nana and Pop's without touching him - which meant no elf magic was lost in the travel!

Day 9.  Goldy had a wild and crazy game night with his elf cousins while at Nana and Pop's house. Those elves are just so FUN!

Day 10.  Goldy and his elf cousins were ready for the human cousins to join in the gaming fun, hiding 36 candy canes all around Nana and Pop's house for them to find!

Day 11.  Goldy made it safely back home and clearly had candy cane wishes and gumball dreams.

Day 12.  Goldy clearly has connections! He spoke to the jolly ol' soul himself, who sent each of the kids their very own personalized video messages.

Day 13. Goldy knew Momma's oven would be rockin' and rollin',with 70 cookie dough orders to fulfill, and he was ready to get to work as the official EBO (Elf Baking Assistant). 

Day 14.  Woohoo! Goldy let us know it was our annual pottery painting day. Time to add more Christmasware to our collection, per tradition. 

Day 15.  It was time to spread kindness all around! Goldy left eight kindness tasks for the kids to complete before Christmas arrived. 

Day 16. Goldy knew it was Momma's birthday and brought his own elf-sized cake to help celebrate.

Day 17. School night, shmool night. Goldy left candy-caned marshmallows, hot cocoa, mugs, and popcorn, inspiring an impromptu Christmas movie night.

Day 18.  Sweet Goldy brought a snowman back from the North Pole! Unfortunately, he didn't anticipate the difference in temperatures between the North Pole and South Carolina. Oops!

Day 19. Surprise! Goldy gifted the kids with an early Christmas present: season passes for Carowinds, including entry to Winterfest for that night. 

 

Day 20.  Goldy brought the kids official 2017 Christmas jammies, just in time for Raleigh and Banks' Polar Express jammie days at school!

Day 21.  Goldy left scavenger hunt clues for the kids, leading them to a 100-piece holiday puzzle. He must have realized that their Christmas break was mere hours away!  

Day 22. Goldy left donuts for the kids as well as elfin-sized donuts for himself. Thanks for making breakfast so easy that day, Goldy!

Day 23. It was time to make some reindeer food for Santa's transporters. Some oats here, a little glitter there, and Santa's traveling crew is sure to be well fed and well lead, straight to our home! 

Day 24.  Goldy bid the kids farewell with a goodbye letter and all the components needed to decorate Christmas cookies for Santa.

And that's a wrap on all our fun with Goldy in 2017. Thanks for the memories, thanks for the laughs, thanks for the fun, Goldy! We'll see you in 2018!