Malin crafted a couple of doll elves for Will to add a touch of mischief to the magic of Christmas this year. My friend Jason coined the names Grim and Gimpy based on Malin’s description of the finished products. But Will preferred “Grumpy” as the name for the grim-looking elf boy.

Gimpy and Grumpy made lots of mischief this year. Without further ado, here was the elves’ schedule.

December 11

The first night that the elves “came to life” was the night of December 10th. The next morning, we found the results of their mayhem. It appeared as if they were trying to put a top on the Christmas tree. Gimpy had crawled high into the tree, and Grumpy had managed his way up to the top of the adjacent fireplace mantle. Gimpy’s outfit is naturally camouflaged amidst the tree, so you have to look hard to see her.

December 12

The next morning, the elves had started to prepare breakfast for Will. Wasn’t that nice?

December 13

The morning of the 13th, we caught the elves trying to eat all of the freshly baked cookies Malin had made. Not so nice – shame on those elves.

December 14

The next day, Will found the elves trying to play his Wii.

December 15

We found the elves the following morning curled up under a blanket on the couch, about to watch Star Wars on the television.

December 16

That night, the elves must have consumed way too much coffee and candy. We found them stuck in the breakfast area light fixture.

December 17

On the 17th, we found that they had brought Buzz – the Georgia Tech mascot – into their crazy games. We found the three of them playing Uno.

December 18

The next morning we found them reading a comic book that Will had recently been given. Our waitress at The Porter in Little Five thought Will was the cutest little boy, so she game him this Disney comic book. Gimpy and Grumpy thought it was a real page turner.

December 19

Apparently elves like to play with Legos almost as much as Will does.

December 20

The next morning, we found the elves again trying to prepare breakfast for Will. They were apparently having trouble figuring out how to get the cereal out of this bizarre contraption.

December 21

Apparently that night, the elves got into the sugar cookies that Malin had just made.

December 22

That night, the elves saved Malin and I tons of trouble. They wrapped all of the gifts for us. I suppose they were sorry for eating our cookies.

December 23

We have a metal rooster on the top of our refrigerator that we call Rusty. He used to be a centerpiece of our breakfast table, but he has since retired, overseeing the whole kitchen from this high perch. We found the elves riding him as if he were a horse. Good fun!

December 24

The elves were caught getting into the candy. Will’s Advent Calendar featured a treat for each day of December leading up to Christmas – a Hershey Hug (like a Kiss, but blended with white chocolate). Gimpy and Grumpy were both gnawing on Hershey Hugs when we woke up. Will was quite upset. “They ate all the Advent candy!” he cried. We reassured him that they had not delved too deeply in the candy, and that the treats in the Calendar were still available.

December 25

Gimpy was caught trying to ride Will’s new bicycle – a gift from Mr. Clause himself. The bike was a little bit too big, of course. Grumpy was found stuck in Will’s stocking, head first with his legs sticking out. Santa brought treats – like a Chocolate Frog and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavor Beans – and put them in the stocking. Apparently, Grumpy got hungry helping Santa.

We’ll go into more detail about Christmas and what Santa brought Will in the next post. To all of you who celebrate Christmas, we hope yours was merry.