VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Many parents use “Elf on the Shelf” as a way to get their kids excited for the holiday and to remind them Santa is always watching.

One mom in Virginia Beach decided to kick her Elf on the Shelf up a notch.

Sarah Davis’ elf “Cosmo” has done it all. He’s dyed her kid’s milk green, flown over the Christmas tree on a zip line, but now he’s making his presence a little more known.

“One time he put mustaches on our pictures and another time he put googly eyes on all of our pictures, so this time we decided that he was going to be like ‘you know what … no. I’m going to replace all your pictures,'” she said.

Cosmo took over 56 photo frames in their home.

Where family memories once hung on the walls, Cosmo now appears.

Sarah’s kids excitedly scurried down the stairs one morning to the shocking surprise from the mischievous elf.

“They shouted ‘Mommy! Come and look what he did to our pictures.’ So then of course, it’s always funny because I have to come out and be surprised and I’m like ‘oh my goodness’ where did he put all of our pictures,” she said.

Sarah said her kid’s standards when it comes to their elf, Cosmo is pretty high.

“My kids are like elephants and they never forget what he’s done so I can’t ever repeat like I don’t understand how three years ago they’ll remember, ‘Oh Cosmo was eating some popcorn’ so I’m like well that’s out this year,” she said.

Sarah can rule out every repeating this, it’s pretty unforgettable.

“I know that when they’re a little bit older, I don’t have a reason to be sad because when they’re older and we have Elf on the Shelf and Cosmo, that my older two will keep the tradition along for my youngest one,” she said.

Sarah said she isn’t sure how she’ll be able to out-do this year, but said her first order of business is digging up all 56 photos to get them back where they belong.