Cornelius Retires

I actually have no idea how long ago it was that the Elf on the Shelf started getting popular. It was a while though. I remember liking the idea - having a fun little elf around the house during Christmas that kept an eye on the kids and reported to Santa. It just seemed kind of fun. That was before everyone started doing all the crazy things with their elves - setting up tableaus of extremely mischievous things the elves got up to every night....spilling sugar and writing with toothpaste and cutting hair. That was not the direction I wanted to go with our elf. Nor did I want to get the same elf everyone else has. I seem to recall finding our elf, who became known as Cornelius, at a home decor store. He has been a dear part of our Christmas celebrations ever since, even with the tradition unraveling to become more about elf hide-and-seek than an employee of the North Pole watching the kids' every move. We still have Cornelius, and he's very precious - I'm actually rather afraid of what the kids are going to do to each other to claim him for their own once it's time to divy up the belongings of dear old mom and dad. 

However, Cornelius stayed put this year, just in one spot, on display with a group of Santas. He seems sort of tired and ready to not be moved around every night. Plus, Troy had an idea for a new player in our game of holiday hide-and-seek.

this photo is from the year Cornelius arrived at our house

For Christmas last year I gave Troy an action figure from a show he loves - Army of Darkness - a movie that is somehow both a horror and a comedy. It's so odd and wonderful. Main character? Ash. And I found an Ash action figure. He's been hanging out in his packaging for a year now, and though we love him, we are just not too sure what to do with him. Then Troy was inspired to let Cornelius retire, and have Ash take on the job. We weren't quite as faithful at moving him around every night, and the kids either weren't here to notice (Chase and Romney) or couldn't have cared less (Emma). That's ok though - we entertained ourselves just fine with hiding Ash and his bloody arm-stump-turned-chainsaw here and there around the house. We made each other laugh more than once as we happened upon him.

Ash only has one thing to say. Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart. (If you know you know.)

Oh, and speaking of adding a little more of Troy's favorite things to our Christmas celebrations, we added a couple of ornaments to the tree this year that are less rustic woodland and more 1988 action flick:

We had to eat a LOT of altoids to clear those tins and get John McClane installed properly.