Santa Comes Early

Nate and Sean were worried that Santa might not find them this year at Gramms and Pappa's house. Nate wrote a note to Santa asking if he could please come early instead (kind of like absentee voting, I guess). Apparently Santa snuck in while the kids were out one afternoon because when they returned and looked in the playroom, there were all sorts of presents magically placed beneath the tree.


It took all of about fifteen minutes for Nate and Sean to ransack each of the carefully wrapped presents. They got most of what they wanted -- not everything -- but enough to make them happy. Nate got a handheld computer game, and nobody saw him again for the rest of the weekend.

Visiting with Santa

We went over to our church to see Santa Clause on Saturday. Sean is an enthusiastic believer as you can see but we're not so sure about Nate. We think Nate's probably hedging his bets, knowing the real deal but choosing to keep quiet so the gifts keep coming. The day started with lots of crafts for the children, then Christmas carols and story time with Mrs. Clause, and finally with Santa himself. Sean could barely contain himself by the time the preliminaries were completed.

Mom and Dad staked out a good spot in line, and the kids got ready to see Santa. After a few minutes they reached the front of the line but still had to wait at the edge of the stage until the way was clear. It was tough duty but Nate and Sean knew there would be candy canes in their future if they could hold in there a bit longer.

Finally they got a chance to sit with Santa and tell him what they wanted. Let's hope that Santa listened!

Trimming the Tree

With the holidays fast approaching, we took some time out on a recent rainy afternoon to trim the Christmas Tree. Mom and Nate are both allergic to conifers so we've been using a fake one for years. This one looks pretty good though, and it fits nicely into a small corner of the playroom. Best of all it comes with the all lights already attached!

Nate and Sean sure enjoyed opening each box of ornaments and placing them around the tree.


Nate is very proud of his handwork. He's getting to be so big, and he can reach all the higher spots on the tree now, so that the ornaments don't all clump down where the cat can bat them about. Nate also got to put up his special holiday tradition -- the reindeer lawn decoration that never goes outside. Nate likes to plug in ol' Rudolph and watch his head swivel back and forth. The whole neighborhood knows when Nate sets-up his reindeer!


Sean was more concerned about looking cool. And sneaking candy. If suddenly he's quiet you know he must be up to no good.