SANTA!!!

Right after Thanksgiving, we had the kids write their letters to Santa. They were both so funny about what they wanted for Christmas this year. Rylee would circle EVERYTHING in EVERY ad - even Transformers and other boy toys. Logan was very careful about what he wanted and would see things he liked, but now that he understands he could only ask for 3 things, he would think carefully and wanted to check out all his options before he decided. He really only wanted the Kinect, but we had him come up with other things in case that was too much for Santa to bring.

Here is Rylee's letter. I especially like her drawings!
We were a little bit worried about what a pony with a silver saddle would be, but found out later it was something in one of her books and she didn't really have anything specific in mind, so that was a good thing.

When Rylee finished her letter, she told Darren she would write her own name. Darren just thought she would do some scribbles and we were both shocked when she totally wrote her own name all on her own! I have been trying forever to show her letters and things, but she is never interested and then all of sudden she just does it on her own - that is SO Rylee's personality! She makes her R's so funny - It is hilarious to watch her write!

I love how she draws people!

Rylee wanted to make sure that Santa knew what Avery wanted. Such a sweet sister! She wrote Avery's name with just a little bit of help and drew some pictures for her, too. Who knew she could do that???

Logan's letter is a little harder to read. He is very down to business. It says: Dear Santa, I want: 1 - Kinect; 2- Leapster 2; 3- Hot Weels. I have been Very very good very good. From Logan. I love that he added another very good at the end...just in case!

I also love the flames he drew on the Hot in hot wheels, just so Santa would know!

Well, we saw Santa a couple times (posts still to come...) but the first time we saw him, it was on the Polar Express and a little crazy. The kids didn't get to really talk to him and the pictures weren't great. Then we went to see the lights and Santa was there, so we stopped, but he was NOT a good Santa and even Logan said that he wasn't the "REAL" Santa. So, I was determined to have a good Santa experience before Christmas. Darren wasn't really on board with it because he thought the kids were getting confused seeing so many different Santas in such a short period of time. That is probably true, but I needed pictures! So, on Logan's day off from school (Dec. 23), I took all 3 kids to the mall to meet Santa! He was great to talk with them and they were thrilled afterwards! Logan was nervous because he was worried that Santa needed to leave to get back to the North Pole and get everything ready, but luckily we got there early in the day. If you ever need a good mall to see Santa at, this one is THE BEST! They let you take as many pictures as you want with your own camera and don't pressure you at all to buy theirs! It was great!

Logan went first. He told Santa he wanted a Kinect, and Santa must have thought he wanted K'nex because he kept asking what he wanted to build with them. Logan looked so confused about that, so I had to step in and explain that it was the Kinect gaming system. Good thing we cleared that up before Christmas!!!

Oh Logan... I can't get him to ever do a REAL smile!

That is a little better, but his eyes are now closed... What can you do??? After being very disappointed by the last Santa, Logan was sure this one was the real thing. We got a treat after and saw another person dressed as Santa walking around the mall. I'm pretty sure it was a lady and their costume was pretty bad, but I think they were just doing some marketing or something. They were going in every store. Logan got really worried and wanted to know what they were doing and he had to go check and make sure "the big guy" was still there and the "REAL" Santa. It really bothered him. So funny!

Next, it was Miss Rylee's turn. She jumped right up and posed - Such a good girl!

Santa was so cute with her and asked her what she wanted. She said "All the Princesses. The whole set just like my Grandma has". Santa asked her if she could take care of ALL of them and made sure she could. I am so glad he did because now I can remind her that Santa said she needed to take really good care of them and she will quickly pick them up. She was so happy that Santa understood her and told Daddy later that "this Santa listened to me".

So cute!

Avery was really only there for the candy cane. She was pretty worried about sitting on his lap, but did OK. She did put her arms out for me right after this picture.

All 3 with Santa - I love my kiddos!

After meeting Santa, things at the mall went downhill and I was reminded why I don't take all my children to the mall on my own. Meeting Santa was great and they were so good, I even got them a pretzel as a special treat and they were little angels while they ate them. They were begging me to go to the playland, and because they were so good, I said that was fine, even though it was a school holiday and the place was packed and I had to fear for Avery's life with all the big crazy kids jumping around. Just as I was getting ready to leave, my sister called. The dresses she had gotten for the girls for her wedding the next week weren't the right color and she had found some other ones, but she wanted me to check JC Penney for a size in one of them. Well, since I was sitting right outside that store, I told her it would be no big deal. So, I rounded up the kids with only a few fits and went into Penney's. That is when the chaos started. Rylee was being crazy and chasing Logan around the store and stretching out his sleeves on his shirt and Avery was screaming to be put down and when I did put her down, she immediately started pulling all the clothes off the shelves or headed back for the playland. I searched around and couldn't find the dress, so I decided we needed to leave FAST! Logan and Rylee ran ahead of me and while I was trying to catch them, I somehow lost Avery's headband, so I am yelling for the other kids to come back so I can retrace my steps and Darren calls. I start to tell him how cute the pictures were and how good the kids were and realize I don't have my camera bag! MY WORST NIGHTMARE! Now, I am really panicked! So, I call off the headband search and head straight for the table where we ate our pretzels to find the camera. NO luck! The bag wasn't anywhere and no one had seen it. I asked the cleaning lady and she didn't know either (or speak English). So, I went to the playland (looking for the headband along the way) and looked there. No luck either. So, I head back to the pretzel place to ask inside. All the while, Logan and Rylee are being little stinkers running away from me and screaming and Rylee is still stretching out Logan's shirt and making him upset. Luckily, the pretzel place DID have my camera, but sent it to security, so now I have to wait for them to bring it back to me. I finally get it back (YEAH!) and then decide I need to finish searching for the headband. Normally, I would just call it a loss, but I had bought them for my sister's wedding, so I kind of needed it. So, we retrace our steps again. Logan and Rylee are being so naughty I finally have to put them in a time out while I wait in line to ask at the counter at JC Penney's if the headband had been turned in. They sent me to Lost and Found at the back of the store. While I am waiting for them to check there, Logan and Rylee wander into the portrait place (a place they are VERY familiar with after my monthly photos of Avery) and tell the lady the want to watch a movie (something they did all the time when I did Avery's pictures). She is starting one as I finish at Lost and Found (no luck again...), so when I tell them we are leaving, Logan has a total meltdown because he wants to watch Toy Story at the photo place in JC Penney. Wow! I finally convince them to leave and have a "treasure" hunt for Avery's headband and the winner gets $1. Boy, I wish I would have come up with that sooner! They were all over it and Rylee found it in less than 5 minutes under a clothing rack where I would have NEVER seen it! After that, they were pretty pleasant and we made it to the car with only a minor fit when they wanted to ride the little cars that you put a quarter in, and another minor fit when it was time to get out of the cars. I think it will be a little while before we make another trip to the mall.... Maybe next year to see Santa!