Cutesy the Elf 2025: Days 13 - 24

Cutesy the Elf is getting older. He has not been getting up to much mischief and nonsense this December, but he is at least moving around and hiding each day.

Cutesy usually brings some kind of engineering challenge each year. This year, he asked Boogs to make the tallest floating tower. 

It was kind of tricky to do. The yellow floating container moved around quite a bit.

Four cups was the limit. Anytime five cups were put on, the yellow container tilted too much and made the cups fall down.

Cutesy was not well so Purple Minion decided to help him.

What do you call the seventh elf when he is ill? Sick Seven (6-7). Boogs can't stand the current trend of saying 6 - 7.

Cutesy asked Boogs to play chess with Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies.

Boogs used the cookies to play a game. He made a forced capture to win the game.

Eeek! Scary! Cutesy caught a mouse.

Whew! It was just a computer mouse.

Cutesy really tried to find tricky places to hide but Boogs always easily found him. He brought a chocolate bomb for hot cocoa.

Every year, Cutesy puts balloons or some kind of block in front of Boogs' bedroom door. This was a very sad attempt by Cutesy this year.

Cutesy used a quote from his favorite movie and showed up with a chocolate Santa.

Cutesy was hiding behind some pillows with an IBC Cream Soda.

It took Boogs a while to find the rest of the 4-pack. They were hidden in different spots in the house.

Cutesy is heading back to the North Pole tonight. He asked me to help him wrap a book, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, for Boogs to find on Christmas morning.

We will miss Cutesy and hope he will make it back to our house next year. Happy Holidays!

You can see all of Cutesy's adventures on his Cutesy the Elf Pinterest board.

Cutesy the Elf 2025: Days 1 - 12

Cutesy the Elf is back with our family for the holidays. He has been with us every December since 2011. As he gets older, he has calmed down and does not cause as much mischief and nonsense as he used to. He calmly (most of the time) goes about taking care of our holiday traditions. Here is what he has been up to:

Cutesy the Elf came back on December 1st and brought an advent calendar filled with mystery DND dice sets.

Every year, Cutesy brings back the little Christmas tree with a new ornament for Boogs'. This year the ornament was wooden and looked like a stack of books.

Every year, Cutesy brings a new pair of Christmas pajamas.

Cutesy left a candy cane puzzle. Boogs did not bother to put the "puzzle" together.

Every year, Cutesy the Elf brings a gingerbread house. This year, the house was made of Swiss Miss chocolate. 

The house was so tasty, it only lasted for two days before it was fully eaten.

Cutesy was riding on an egg carton sleigh pulled by nine reindeer. The reindeer brought a Christmas song to life - Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer. You can see the poor Grandma lying partially under the sleigh.

Every year, Cutesy decorates Boogs' bathroom with Santa cheer.

Cutesy showed up with a screaming goat figure. Boy does it bleat loudly.

Cutesy brought a small box of magnetic bookmarks.

Cutesy was hiding on the dining room light fixture. Boogs had a hard time finding him here. Cutesy had a deflated punch balloon in his pocket.

Cutesy showed up with this interesting box. Boogs had to unscrew 20 screws to open it.

The box was inside of a cardboard box. That box was inside of another box.

Cutesy had the package wrapped up tight with duct tape.

After Boogs worked to open the box in a box in a box, he found this:

Today, Cutesy was up to his old mischief and nonsense. He left Boogs a special treat.

Boogs took a bite and declared it, "Disgusting!" He said he knew it was going to be a trick but he took a bite anyway.

What mischief and nonsense have your elves been up to this holiday season?

You can see all of Cutesy's adventures on his Cutesy the Elf Pinterest board.

Christmas 2024

We had a quiet Christmas this year. My mother-in-law made the trip from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada to spend eight days with us in Texas. She was very quiet throughout the week. We went out for lunch on Christmas Eve. We planned on going to The Oasis on Lake Travis. We always take pictures in front of the UFO on the path to the restaurant.

Unfortunately, the restaurant was closing when we arrived. We looked for another restaurant on the lake and ended up at the Sundancer Grill.

It was so sweet to see how attentive Boogs was with his Grandmama. He helped her out of the car and took her hand to walk over the uneven ground.

Three generations.

One of our Christmas traditions is to watch Elf on Christmas Eve. That is our favorite Christmas movie.

Christmas Morning

We always start with stockings before our traditional Breakfast Casserole.

After breakfast, we took turns opening Christmas gifts.

Boogs appreciated the great wrapping job I did on this present. Duct tape is perfectly acceptable.

My mom asked for help cleaning out her outdoor storage closet this past summer. There were lots of tools in the closet. Boogs' uncle and older cousin gathered a bunch of tools they felt were important to have in a home toolbox and put them in one of the spare toolboxes in the closet for Boogs. It was really neat to give Boogs the toolbox for Christmas. He now has tools from Poppa, his great grandfather, and great-great grandfather. Boogs was very pleased with this special gift. 

We spent the afternoon playing cards, shooting rubber chickens at a target, and watching Christmas movies.

On the 26th, my parents and my niece's family came over for a Christmas gathering. My niece's husband worked on a carpentry project with my husband while I got to hold my niece's sweet little twins.

It was nice visit. I was so glad we were able to get together. I was supposed to host Thanksgiving for the family (25 people) in November, but had to cancel because I got sick. I was glad my mom was able to meet her great grandson and great granddaughter for the first time. 

My dad was able to join us and visited for over an hour before he felt the need to go to a quieter place. 

Boogs with both of his grandmothers, Grandmama and Nonnie.

It was great day. 

The rest of December was very quiet. My friend C, who I have known since kindergarten, came in to town and we were able to get together twice before she left town. Boogs had time to go for a walk with me at a new park. 

Boogs ended up working at the grocery store on New Year's Eve until 11:30. I went to bed well before midnight but my husband stayed up to ring in the new year with Boogs.

2024 was certainly filled with many ups, downs, and changes. My dad and father-in-law both had many health problems throughout the year. Boogs graduated high school and began community college, we had an incredible family trip to Fiji and several other lovely small trips. We had stressful days and relaxing days. There was more joy than misery, more laughter than tears, and more happy days than sad. I am ready to see what 2025 has in store. Happy New Year!

Update: In the afternoon after I wrote this post, Boogs slammed his finger in the car door. He ripped the fingernail completely out of his finger, crushed the bone in his fingertip, and cut the nail bed. Luckily, he did not have to have surgery. The doctor said there were not any floating pieces of bone and it would heal on its own. He had to take off work for 4 weeks and be very careful to not get it infected. In March 2025, the nail had grown about 3/4 of the way back but it got infected, filled with pus, and his fingertip was very red. Antibiotics cleared that up. The surgeon said that was normal as the nail "tunneled' a new path in the nail bed. He told Boogs to soak his finger daily in Epsom salt water, and to keep an eye on it. By May 2025, the nail was almost back to normal.