Happy Birthday Daddy

I think we celebrated this year which is very unusual for us. Here is a picture of his gifts waiting underneath the tree followed by the night's events.

A Visit with Santa

We took the girls to see Santa the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Typically, there aren't any lines and the girls get some more face time this way. It has been a yearly tradition for Savannah to make Santa a gift and this was no exception. Luckily, there was no line, Santa listened to all the requests, and paid extra attention to Savannah's gift.

The lists went something like this:

Savannah - A new bike, Lincoln Log roof and window pieces, and a purple Ramone.
Adeline - Thomas, Thomas and more Thomas trains
Lila Grace - A red train and a Hello Kitty Purse.

I was surprised when the twins were having to be held back from darting into Santa's lap while the children in front of us (the only ones thank goodness) were telling of their requests. Even more surprising was The Belle. She was the first one to reach Santa and was more than happy to hop up on his lap. The beard was a bit much and you could tell when it caught her cheek but she powered through for the big man. Lila Grace was the first to voice her request as you can hear her saying, "I want a Hello Kitty purse." It should be noted that she was quiet miffed to find out that Santa didn't have her Hello Kitty purse right then and there. I guess she didn't get the Christmas day component and thought that she would get her gift while sitting on his lap. She had to be pulled away from Santa yelling, "Hello Kitty purse, Hello Kitty purse." The candy cane helped quite her down.

Savannah's gift was as sweet as ever. This year I had nothing to do with it. I found it adorable that she made Santa a "Flippy, Flappy, Book." The book even included humor as one flap was labeled dog while underneath hid a bear. Her text on the page provides more evidence that my girl has escaped the shell! I should also note that Savannah wrapped some glow sticks up for Rudolph and dropped them with Santa during our visit. She figured it would give his nose a break.

Here are some pictures and a video clip. The quality is low and it misses some of the precious conversation but it is beautiful to see all THREE of my girls walking up to Santa with anticipation - I never thought I would see the day!!