Return of the MACK

Yes, today started off with quite the BANG & full of excitement & joy! Our Elf on the Shelf, Mack, made his grand return! Last night, while the boys were fast asleep...he busily worked away to create our 1st Annual North Pole Breakfast 2011 since this was his first time to come back (thanks so much to Pinterest - see, I don't just waste time on there, I get great ideas, too) :)



That crazy elf even hung up a strand of Christmas lights!



Parker's 1st Christmas & experience w/ Mack

Last year, Mack reported back to Santa whether or not Nolan sucked his fingers (he broke the habit this last month - YAY!)

Holding proof that he placed 18 red & green balloons in Nolan's room while he slept!

Going to be a surprised little boy in the morning!

At about 7:23 a.m., Nolan came in our room, scratching his head and said, "Um..come here...someone put a lot of balloons in my room." We questioned him and asked him if he was joking and he insisted that he wasn't & that there really were red and green balloons all over his room. When we entered his room, he continued to tell us that "that's funny..." and then we talked about what the colors red and green could possibly mean. Brian quickly grabbed the camera, while Nolan mentioned that maybe...just maybe Mack is finally back. Here is what followed (disclaimer: pay ZERO attention to my glorious morning beauty - ha)!
*Reminder: be sure to "pause" the music on the blog before watching the video*

Afterwards, he continued to go on and on about everything. He even went as far to say that if Parker wanted to change Mack's name to Finn that it would be okay by him (reminder: Finn is what he wanted us to name Parker towards the end & even refered to him as Finn occasionally for a couple of days to follow his birth). We said that was nice, but Mack would just remain Mack since that was the name Nolan came up with for him last year. We finished off the morning by eating our breakfast, watching the movie that Daddy recorded on TV earlier this week, "The Elf on the Shelf" movie, made his melted-bead ornament, & will have our Christmas pictures taken this afternoon (weather permitting). Here's a few more pictures from this morning:

It really is the most wonderful time of the year!