Here Comes Santa Claus

My good friend worked her magic and used her connections to get one of Santa's helpers to come visit once again.

Originally my kids were going to have to miss visiting Santa because Eric got free tickets to the new Star Wars movie. However, as time went on and we discussed things a little more, we decided it'd be better for Eric to invite his brother to go with him and I could take the kids to see Santa.

A few of the kids were less than thrilled that I took them to see Santa, but they grudingly came along anyway. They know what keeps this mommy happy.

I've got to say I really enjoy the helper my friend knows. He really interacts with the kids and pays attention to what they say. 

Anyway, onto the pictures!

Jace was more interested in his little spoon and cookie than he was in visiting with Santa...

Ailey didn't want to sit in Santa's lap, but she was still gonna make sure he knew what she wanted for Christmas...

Nate did his best to play the innocent card...

Lex may have been one of the ones who came along a little grudgingly...

While she's too old to sit in Santa's lap, at least Shaylyn was a good sport and cooperated for pictures...

And when you know you've been good all year long, you've got nothing to frown about...

What Happens Next...

Christmas Time Is Here!!!

It was Christmas morning and we woke up to this:

Okay, so the kids and Eric woke up earlier than I did. Eric does a really good job of keeping the kids quiet so I can sleep on mornings he doesn't have to work. I really appreciate it and by the time I woke up, Jace still hadn't woke up - but the kids were tired of waiting so we kind of had to wake Jace up and he wasn't completely thrilled.

We started off the morning by taking the kids picture in front of the tree in their new jammies.

...Funny story about her missing pj pants. I asked her where her pants were and she said she had to go to the bathroom early in the morning. So she took off her pj pants, put a pair of undies on and a new pair of pants. I was thrilled thinking she had decided to do this potty training thing FINALLY. Well she went all day without an accident, but by the next day decided she was done with undies....

We then got everyone set up in different 'corners' and Santa Eric got ready to hand out the gifts.

And, as always, in an effort to save us all from picture overload, I just take a picture of the kids opening their first gifts and then all their gifts at the end.

...His first gift was a stuffed Curious George...

 

 

...He got all the robot action figures from Real Steel...

 

 

...She kept it all rolled up for the picture, but it was a tiger vinyl print that goes on the wall...

 

And here's a look at everyone's haul from the Santa. These kids got a bit spoiled methinks.

JACE

AILEY

NATE

LEX

SHAYLYN

TANIS

After gifts were all opened, we spent the morning putting things together and getting ready to head to my parents house.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with my family and the kids enjoyed being with their cousins. I didn't take any pictures, though I don't really know why.

What Happens Next...

The Man In Red

My awesome friend, Yvonne, has an in with the Man in Red. For the past few years he's made an early appearance in our little neck of the woods. We missed it last year for reasons I don't remember, but I made sure to get there this year.

...You wouldn't know by looking, but it took a lot of work and fancy talk to get Nate to visit with Santa...

...I was super happy to see that Jace didn't mind the big guy in red...

What Happens Next...