Introducing Tomte the Gnome!

On Monday Tomte the Gnome arrived bearing a message and a lovely new book! Each day of December Tomte will bring a new message. Sometimes they will be messages of places we'll go and sometimes they will be messages of things for us to do (donate mittens and hats to the food pantry, for example). The girls were quite enchanted by him and felt that he looked like the gnome in The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits. The name of the gnome in the book is Grump which they didn't feel fit this sweet gnome of ours so they decided on Tomte instead. Tomte, for those that don't know, is Swedish for gnome (which means his name is basically Gnome the Gnome). 

About five years ago we had been given an Elf on the Shelf. For us it was simply a game of hide and seek. The whole "reporting" to Santa never felt right to us, and thinking about having an elf watch us did feel kinda creepy. Plus, having to come up with a new hiding spot every day for 25 days got tough about two weeks in! Needless to say, the game kinda fell by the wayside, and last year we introduced the Advent Gnome made by my dear friend Kim over at Mothering with Mindfulness. Having the gnome bring a message containing an activity or a place to go or a kindness was "way more us". This year, shortly after I ordered The Yule Tomte and the Little Rabbits from Cedar Ring Circle I happened upon this gorgeous gnome in one of the Waldorf groups that I am a part of on Facebook. A super talented mama made a few and was selling them and I couldn't pass up the chance to have this gnome as a part of our family. I didn't even think that he looked like The Yule Tomte until I saw the book and the gnome together this week! Totally unplanned but completely perfect and a true sign that these two items were meant to become part of our holiday traditions! We will surely find a new purpose for our small Advent Gnome, even if it's just that he sits lovingly near the Advent wreath as a reminder of friendship and the ties that bind. xo