Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve morning, Katelyn and Reagan watched their Portable North Pole videos from Santa.  

 Kate was so excited.  I loved the twinkle in her eye.  It is amazing to see Christmas through the eyes of a child.

  

 Watching Reagan view her message from Santa was a totally different experience.  She was so nervous; a few times she even covered her eyes.  She was so relieved to find out she was on the nice list.

In the afternoon, Papa and Grandma came over to exchange presents.

 

I attempted a picture of Papa and Grandma with the kids.  I got picture after picture of at least one silly face.

 

Later in the day, the kids opened their traditional Christmas Eve pajamas.

Grinch dust and reindeer food was sprinkled on the lawn to keep the Grinch away and attract the reindeer.  I didn't get any pictures because it was pouring outside at the time.

 Kate could not wait to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer.  She did a great job making the cookies extra tasty.

Throughout the evening, we were tracking Santa's whereabouts on NORAD.  When Santa was on his way to Florida, Reagan knew that meant she had to fall asleep!  It wasn't easy; there was so much excitement in the air, but eventually everyone went to sleep to dream of dancing sugar plums (or today's equivalent).  

Santa Experiences

In past years, we have gone to the zoo for milk and cookies with Santa.  After talking to my neighbor, and hearing her rave about breakfast with Santa at the Venus, I decided to try that this year.  I hate to sound negative, but it STUNK.  The food was gross (Kate could not even bite her waffle because it was rock hard), the Santa setup was not good, and it was overpriced.  The girls did have fun though.  They made ornaments, filled up little pouches of reindeer food, had their faces painted, and decorated cookies.

I couldn't help but think that we do all of those things at home for much less money and nicer end results though.

I think I would have been happier with the experience if the Santa setup was nicer.  Also, my favorite part about milk and cookies with Santa at the zoo is that Santa walks around and spends time at each table.  I thought that would happen at this event too, but Santa sat in his chair the whole time.  The line to see Santa was ridiculously long; they probably could have worked out a better system.  I didn't like the display for Santa photos at all either - what's with the ugly curtains and the sheets on the floor (I saw SO many kids trip on those dumb sheets).

 Mrs. Claus was just plain awful.  They should have left her at the North Pole.

Well, at least the girls had some fun, and now I know that I will not be attending that event again.

I was so disappointed with the Santa photo from that event that I had to go somewhere else and try for a better picture.  A few weeks later, we went to the Silver City Galleria to see Santa.  The mall has a train (pleasant surprise for us) that we enjoyed while waiting for Santa to arrive.

After the train ride around the mall, we went to wait for Santa.

I don't know if I am expecting too much, but again I didn't love the background for the photo.  Otherwise it is a nice photo though.

One funny thing - when Santa arrived, he had to have the "elf" open his breath mints (he couldn't open them with his gloves on) and he announced to everyone waiting that he needed mints because he had just eaten "seasoned home fries".  Thanks for sharing that tidbit, Santa.

Christmas Fun Food

 Strawberry/Banana "candy canes",

 Santa Pancakes, and

Chocolate pretzel candy trees!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I took this little video of Kate singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town on December 4th.

She is just adorable; I love her little singing voice.

Must Be Santa

Naughty or Nice?

On Christmas Eve, Kate, Reagan, and Collin watched video messages from Santa.

Kate was interested for a minute, but then she kept asking if she could watch Mickey Mouse instead.  She's too young to really grasp the whole idea.

Reagan's reaction was my favorite; she could barely watch!  She kept covering her eyes and ears, would get up and walk away from the computer, and she begged me not to watch -- all out of fear that there was a possibility she did not make the nice list.

Collin was semi-interested in the video, and just a little curious about what would happen if he ended up on the naughty list.

All three of them were on the nice list.  PHEW!

Santa Photo 2013

Yesterday, Collin, Reagan, Kate, and I went to the mall to visit Santa.  Kate was looking forward to going, as were Collin and Reagan, and she said she was going to sit on Santa's lap.  Once we were right there next to Santa, however, she felt differently.  Collin and Reagan sat with him, and we all talked for a few minutes.  Kate clung to me and refused to go anywhere near him.  This did not surprise me at all.

The photographer tried to give Kate a big present to sit on, offered Kate a slinky, and promised Kate several other wonderful trinkets, but Kate still refused.

Kate is shy around most people, but she is great at saying good bye.  She always perks right up and will go over to anyone (even someone she has refused to look at or talk to) to say good bye.  It's kind of funny.  So, when I said that we could leave and that she should say good bye to Santa, she went right over and gave him a high five.  The photographer was QUICK and got Collin, Reagan, and Santa to look at her, and then she called Kate's name and snapped the picture at just the right time.  I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome, and I think the picture is great.

I have to mention that Kate's dress in this picture is one of my favorite dresses.  It was also worn by Reagan, and it was a hand me down from a high school friend with two girls (now 15 and 12) who both wore the dress.  I love the candy cane print.

Here is Reagan in the dress in 2008.  We were at the Buttonwood Zoo for cookies and milk with Santa.

Reagan was about 33 months old, just three months shy of her third birthday.

Here is Kate yesterday, about 27 months old, as we were getting in the car to go visit Santa.