Ratatouille Returns

Unless you've been living under a rock in the middle of the dessert for the past four years, the lead up to Christmas is undoubtedly all about the Elf. Whoever the genuis is behind the Elf on the Shelf, I bow to you (and want half of your fortune). For the six weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our elf Ratatouille (named that because he "rats" on Peyton back to Santa) keeps Peyton in line. While still slightly scared of the creepy red man, Peyton is definitely into it this year.

Up until this year Ratatouille has simply bounced from shelf to shelf, hidden in a vase, or in lamp. The craziest thing we ever did was put him in the ceiling fan in our living room. But once again the Pinterest/Facebook pressure is too much to handle, and I find myself feeling inadequate in my elf placement. Even my sister - who is the anti-craft, anti-Martha, anti-anything cutesy creative has stepped up her game - using the Elf's magic beans to grow candy canes in sugar, spelling warning messages ("LISTEN" "BE GOOD") on a Scrabble board, taking photos, and partaking in a snowball fight.

So I did what anyone else would do. I copied all of her ideas. Note to Peyton: if you want to know where or what Ratatouille is going to be doing the next morning, check out Aunt Ginger's facebook page from the day before. In all fairness to me, I know my sister stole the ideas herself from Pinterest. So fair game, right?

This is Martin's doing. He saw a picture of an elf on a swing - but couldn't get the elf to stay put, so instead, Ratatouille is just chilling upside down in a toilet paper roll.