Holiday Wishes - Children share their letters to Santa Published Dec. 14, 2012 By Rebecca Burylo Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Al -- This holiday season, the children of Maxwell Elementary Middle School may catch a glimpse of pointy ears and an elfish grin under their beds, behind Christmas trees or even in their refrigerators. That is where MEMS's second grader, Julia Bennett found her elf last week. The game is called "Elf on the Shelf," and each day kids scour their homes in search of the elusive Santa helper. Once found, the elf is said to return to the North Pole to report to Santa the good and bad activities done by the children of the household. A picture is taken where the elf is found, and the next day, the elf finds a new spot to hide and the seeking game begins again. There's only one rule. "Don't touch the Christmas elf! If you do, they'll lose their magic and go away to Santa and never come back again," said Julia. Katie O'Connor's second graders are hoping they find more than just elves under their trees on Christmas morning. They told one of "Santa's helpers" Dec. 7 their Christmas wishes and gift lists. "If I could tell Santa anything, I'd want a golden retriever and a black lab. I love dogs. I have a black lab. She's 84 in dog years and in human years she's 12," said Kendra Schlacter. Eve Hicks wants to make lots of videos with her Christmas gift and plans on singing carols with her brother. "The thing I want for Christmas is an iPod, a real iPod, because my mom's friend has an iPod and she has a lot of videos on it," she said. "My dad made a video of me playing T-ball once with it." Some even wanted to be Santa's helper for the day and shared their thoughts on the reason for the season. "If I could do anything for Santa, I would want to get up in the middle of the night and help him deliver the rest of his presents on his sleigh," said Austin Hickey. "Oh! I've always wanted to meet his reindeer!" added Lily Allen. Andrew Boyd had someone different in mind he wanted to meet. "Christmas is all about Jesus' birthday," he said. "Since it's Jesus' birthday, I would like to meet Jesus. He protects us." Down the hall in Melissa Mullin's kindergarten class, students gathered around to share their favorite part of Christmas with family. "December 9, me and my family are going to Pennsylvania to see my grandparents and play in the snow," said Ellagrace Higby. "We have snowball fights with my sister. When my dad is washing the car, we are going to sneak up on him and hit him with a giant snow ball." Fenya Fels grew up in Germany and loves to cook with her mother around the holidays. "I hope I can get an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas," she said. "I cook and I help my mom cook German cakes. My favorite is chocolate." Cooking is a tradition in Kemahni Roger's house as well, with chocolate being the household favorite. "I cook with my mom and dad on Christmas," she said. "We make cookies for Santa." Alexander Barnes is hoping he finds something special under the tree for being a good boy this year. "I like when Santa comes and gives me presents," he said. "I hope I get a stuffed animal guinea pig this year. I've been very good. I have a dog and cat named Spot and Kitty, and I feed them and give them water." No matter their ages or what's on their wish lists, these children are excited to see what jolly St. Nick has waiting for them Christmas morning.