2014 Day 24: Elven Art

Now that Larek doesn't have those pesky evil elves to deal with, he can focus on what he really loves: himself. He left some art at our house last night.

2014 Day 23: The Final Evil Elf Caught

The boys set another trap yesterday, and caught Krampus Klone, the last of the escaped evil elves. They tied a marshmallow to one end of a string and the other to a straw holding open a bucket lid. Inside was the mirror to instantly send the elf back where he came from. Larek just kind of his behind some art to watch the show.

2014 Day 22: Krampus Klone also has a message for the boys.

The full text of the poem he put on the iPad is as follows:

Booty, booty, stinky - doo,

Toilets are foul and so are you.

I'm not afraid of being sent back.

When the mirror sees your mug, it's sure to crack!

Now it's time for me to do something unpleasant,

If you don't catch me soon, I'll steal all your presents!

2014 Day 21: Larek has a message for the boys

Larek was not around this morning, probably due to a trip to the North Pole to report, but he is back now with a message for the boys.

2014 Day 20: Larek gets Handy

Larek busted out the tools this morning and built some friends.

2014 Day 19: Larek packs a lunch

Have you ever had a dream that you were in a hot tub, then suddenly, instead of water, the hot tub is full of snack cakes, moon pies and cookies? Then the hot girl that was next to you is suddenly a Christmas tree cake, and you're totally ok with that? Larek is living the dream.

2014 Day 18: Operation Waste Management

Larek and the armed forces of the toy chest team up to take out the trash, and banish Krustz back to the Dark Dimension in the mirror. That's 3 evil elves down, just 1 really bad one left: Krampus Klone.

2014 Day 17: Larek is Sick

Uh, oh... It looks like Larek has caught the same stomach flu that is ravaging our home right now. Luckily, he appears to pack some medicine in his hat.

2014 Day 16: Larek brings another gift

Larek brought another gift for the boys this morning, The Brick Bible, which is the Nativity story illustrated with Legos. He enlisted the help of the boys' minifigures for presentation.

2014 Day 15: Wingardium Leviosa

With the help of the Sorting Hat, and the Elder Wand, Larek was able to fight back against the 2 evil elves who are tormenting him, by levitating them into the air. I am going to suggest to the boys that they put the mirror under the elves when they go to bed tonight, and maybe we will be done with these 2 evil elves.

My brother and sister's kids wanted to get in on the elf trapping action as well, and they built a trap at their house which attracted and caught the evil elf Greedle Gold. He is currently trapped there, and being guarded by their elf, Tico.

2014 Day 14: Krustz and Krampus play darts with Larek

A couple of the evil elves, the Krampus Klone and Krustz are having a good time at Larek's expense by playing a little game of darts. At least these are not the pointy kind. We need to catch these buggers, but the boys are losing interest in building traps.

2014 Day 13: Larek Built a Snowman

Larek isn't gonna let the lack of snow in Vegas get him down, he can still make a snowman, using whatever is around.

In other news, it looks like the evil elves aren't going to fall for the same trap twice in a row so soon. The boys set the same trap, but this time the marshmallow bait has been snatched and the trap was left open.

2014 Day 12: Larek has a snow day, and Pip is captured.

Snow is not something that happens on a regular basis, if at all here in Las Vegas, so Larek had to make his own winter wonderland using packing peanuts.

In other news, the boys' first attempt at an elf trap worked, and they nabbed Pip. One evil elf down, three more to go.

The Elf Trap

The boys have constructed their first elf trap, with both a marshmallow as usual elf bait, and a penny to attract Greedle-Gold. We shall see if it works.

2014 Day 11: Gifts for the Kids, from Each Elf

Larek has officially reported back to the North Pole and returned with a letter and gifts from Santa, to thank the boys for freeing Larek. Santa also asked them to catch the other elves, so that Larek can return them to their prison. The evil elves, fearing that they may soon be caught, have tried to match Santa's offering with offerings of their own. Santa sent minifigs for each of the boys. The offerings of the other elves are as follows:

Krustz has donated some of his garbage, which is pretty much all he owns.
Greedle-Gold isn't giving the boys anything, rather, he will generously let the boys look at his offerings, but not keep them. This is odd, considering the stuff he has on display belongs to the boys anyway, and was stolen.
Pip has some pretzels, which the boys could actually take and eat if they wanted to, but he used a Comic Sans font, which is the lowest of the fonts, and is unforgivable. Pure evil.
The Krampus Klone is just trying to knock off the kids, plain and simple.

2014 Day 10: Larek's Back!! The Battle Begins!

The boys' focus has been on little other than good deeds for the past several days. It is obvious that they have missed Larek. Today, they all helped out their teachers at school. Well it has worked. Larek is free, and he is ready to be done with these poser elves, who have been squatting on his turf. His first item of business was to dispatch evil elf Pip's Majestic Minion protector. He has Pip hiding. Larek also left instructions for the boys to help him round up the evil elves by building traps. I can't wait to see what they devise.

2014 Day 9: The Mirror Has Magically Repaired, but There is No Sign of Larek Yet.

The boys have been tirelessly trying to do good deeds, in the hopes that this will give Larek the magic he needs to escape the dark dimension through the mirror, and come home. Last night, they spent some time in a parking structure putting Christmas cards on random cards, to wish happy holidays to others. This worked some magic, and the mirror is in one piece again, now they just need to keep it up to give Larek the boost he needs to get home.

2014 Day 8: Krustz has found an appropriate ride

Krustz has returned and is wrecking the dining room decor with his rodent of unusual size.

2014 Day 7: Greedle-Gold Likes the Shiny Things.

The final wicked elf to escape has made an appearance, and is stealing the boys' shiny things and wallets.

2014 Day 6: Enter the Krampus-Klone

When the boys are not naughty, like the wicked elves want, the wicked elves use their magic to make them look naughty. Wicked elves have the ability to make Santa think that the boys are responsible for their bad deeds.

2014 Day 5: No Elfs in Sight, but Larek Sends a Message Through the Mirror

The boys have been doing a great job of trying to do good deeds on their own, and apparently it is working. They have not done enough yet to give Larek the magic necessary to repair the mirror and return, but Larek was able to get a message through the mirror.

2014 Day 4: Krustz the Houseless Naughty Elf

Somewhere on an old, forgotten shelf,
There is a crusty, old, forgotten elf.
Though his time had come, he refused to retire,
So unfortunately, this dirty elf was fired.
Angry, and no longer able to make toys,
Krustz gets his magic from naughty girls and boys.

2014 Day 3: Pip has a message for the boys

The boys have a chalkboard in their room that they like to draw on. Bad elf Pip erased their work and replaced it with a message.

2014 Day 2: Pip's Majestic Minion

It looks like Pip is the first of the evil elves to show up after escaping the Dark Dimension, and he has built himself a Majestic Minion for protection. I'm not sure if he is trying to scare or impress us, but either way, it's working.

2014 Day 1: Larek Returns, Then is Gone???

The boys have been asking every day, "When do you think Larek will come back?" So they were a little upset when he didn't show up this morning, but he was waiting with a message for them when they got home from school. They did not have to wait long to see what was in the message. Just before dinner, there was a loud bang upstairs, and the boys went up to find a broken mirror, and Larek's message, which happened to be a copy of a newsletter from the North Pole.

Below is the newsletter for reading.

The boys put things together. Evil elves have trapped Larek in the Dark Dimension using magic gained from naughty children. Only extremely good deeds can restore the mirror, and bring Larek back.

In the meantime, it would appear that the evil elves can use their magic to make Santa think that children are responsible for the naughty things that the elves do.

The Ones That Didn't Make it.

There are always a few elf ideas that don't take off, or that I don't end up using due to my conscience, here are a couple that didn't make the cut this year: