Macy's 2009

Every year, it's a tradition that I bring the kids downtown for lunch with Daddy around the holidays, and we make a stop on the 8th floor of Macy's to visit their Christmas display and also see Santa. This month as been jam-packed, so it was hard to find a day to spend downtown. We ended up making last Tuesday our "Macy's Day", however, and it was so much fun!! Not only did we get a few "to-do" items crossed off our list (a trip to the bank and applied for a passport for Hannah), but the kids also "helped" Daddy set up the Christmas tree in his office. Then we made our way to Peter's Grill for lunch.

I was a little bit "camera happy" while we waited for our food to arrive....



Then, we finally headed over to Macy's. The walk-through display was the same as last year ("A Day in the Life of an Elf") so we walked kind of quickly through the crowd to get to Santa. We were in luck when we got there: no line! The kids got right in to see him and Caleb, once again, had no qualms about sitting right up on Santa's lap and telling what he wants for Christmas. Hannah was apprehensive about Santa, as we expected she would be, but she was fine to sit on Mommy's lap, right next to Santa.

(Picture to be posted soon....if I can get it to scan correctly!) :)

Santa had some extra time after the pictures, so he told us some secrets about the reindeer and his workshop. (I'll let you in on part of it: reindeer fly when they eat cookies! Who knew this? No wonder the carrots that we leave on Christmas Eve are always the thing that's left over in the morning.... j/k) By the end of the conversation, Hannah had warmed up to Santa and was talking his ear off, which was nice to see! (I'm hopeful that next year I won't have to be in the Santa picture---yay!!)

Caleb's favorite part of the day occurred right after our Santa visit. Each child got to pick out a cookie to eat as we passed "Santa's bakery" and they both picked out gingerbread men. I was able to get one quick action-shot of the kids enjoying their cookies in front of Macy's poster...


And enjoying them, they were!!



It was such a fun day. I wish there was something like this to go to in the summer so we could do this more than once a year, but I suppose that's the fun of the Christmas season. (Does anyone else feel like it's going by too fast this year????)

Santa Visit #1

On Saturday, we had a great time hanging out at our friends' house. The Stantons had an awesome Christmas party and we were so happy that they invited us!! We had a great time chatting with friends that we don't get to see too often, and Santa even made an appearance, which the kids loved.

Caleb had no problem sitting on Santa's lap and telling him what he wants for Christmas. Luckily, "Santa" has already "made" the gift that Caleb asked for.... :)

Hannah was a bit apprehensive about sitting on Santa's lap so she didn't get to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas this year.

(Contrary to the look on my face, I was NOT afraid of Santa....)

Hannah did, however, notice that all the kids that sat on Santa's lap got a candy cane, and she wanted one of those. She ended up walking up to Santa. Santa said, "Do you want to sit on my lap?"

Hannah said, "No."

Santa said, "Do you want a candy cane?"

Hannah said, "Yes."

So, she got her candy cane, and then she was happy. :)

Thanks, Stantons, for a great afternoon!! (And who knew you had such connections to get Santa there??? Impressive!!)

Bad Elf....Again

Some of you might remember this post from last year. It's all about how I hid the "Santa gifts" in a room I thought Caleb couldn't get in to, but he ended up seeing his gifts anyways. This year, I was once again a "not very smart" elf. (When will I learn???) Yesterday, I helped Caleb write a letter to Santa. He wrote about what he wants for Christmas and how he's been good. Then he wanted to include what Hannah wants for Christmas (since she's too small to write a letter of her own). (On a side note, he then said that Hannah has NOT been nice this year because she knocks down his block-towers every day, but when I asked if we should write that, Caleb said, "No...say that she's been good." Ha! Way to look out for your sister, buddy!!) Anyhoo, Caleb signed his name on the letter, then we sealed it up and put a "Santa stamp" on it. Last year, I got this really cute little mailbox for sending letters to Santa. If you put the letter in the mailbox (which is in our kitchen) and put the flag up, then "elves" will come by while you're sleeping and take the letter. So, we put the letter in the mailbox and put the flag up. Last night, while Caleb was sleeping, I (the elf) took the letter out and put it in a safe hiding place in the kitchen. When Caleb woke up, we were all excited to see that the letter was gone. "Elves" came into our house while we were sleeping! What magic! It would be nice if the story would end here, but no....this is where I made my mistake. Mid-morning, Chris and Caleb ran some errands, including getting some toiletries at Walgreens. By habit, I always pile stuff that is supposed to go upstairs on our stairs and just take it up the next time I go up that way. I'll fill baskets and bags on the stairs to save space and take care of it later. I ended up sticking the Santa letter in the bag with the toiletries, thinking that I'd put the letter in Caleb's keepsake box, which is upstairs. The bag with the letter in it sat there for well over an hour, and I didn't think of it again until I walked past the stairs and noticed that the letter was in clear view! Caleb wanted something from the bag and saw the letter for sure!! My attempt at "making magic" in our house was ruined by me. Again. Chris said not to worry about it until Caleb asked about the letter. I thought I was in the clear until just now when Caleb said, "Mom, where's the Santa letter?" I said that I didn't know. Caleb said, "It's over there in the bag. Elves didn't come while we were sleeping, so they don't know what to make us for presents yet. So, they're making different presents for us right now!!!" Luckily, he didn't seem sad by it, so I said that I must have forgot to put the letter in the mailbox and we'll put it in there again tonight. I'm thankful for the forgiveness of 4-year old minds, but also know that I can't get anything past this kid!!!