The Night Before Christmas

First things first... I took SF to have her stitches removed. It was horrible again, but it was also over much more quickly, so we survived. Dr. Fuller said it looks good and he doesn't think it will leave much of a scar.

We had a fun day today. Phil didn't have to work, so we enjoyed just hanging around as a family. Both of the kids said they would be willing to sit in Santa's lap, so we decided we would head to our local mall to give it a try. We anticipated horrible lines and crowds, but it wasn't bad at all. We waited behind one family and then were all set. Unfortunately, Frantastic decided upon inspection that Santa's lap would not be a place that she would be sitting any time soon. She was clinging to Phil for dear life. Rush, on the other hand, was very willing to participate!! He hopped right into Santa's lap and snuggled into his beard, giving him the sweetest hug. My throat got a little tight. It was so cute. Rush told him he wanted a black car. He gave him a candy cane and one for SF who was staring from Daddy's shoulder off to the side. (She was more than willing to accept candy from the strange man in the red suit.)While I was at the cash register being swindled out of $20.00 (the cheapest "package"), Rush was standing holding Phil's hand. Phil told him to "come with me" because he seemed to want to stand near Santa. Rush's lip began to tremble and his eyes filled up with tears. When Phil asked him what was wrong, he said, "I need my bwack car." Apparently, Rush felt that he was going to leave the mall with his gift from Santa. All he wanted was a black car, after all. It took a few minutes to explain one more time how the whole "Santa" thing was going to work. He was satifisfied. We took our slightly blurry picture and left. SF says,"Maybe next year, y'all."

*This is my illegal digital camera photo.. not the one for which we paid twenty dollars. It wasn't this clear.*

We went by to visit with my Granddaddy after that. The kids enjoyed playing over there and Rush had another first. He drank a cup of water from a regular cup (not a sippy). He watched his older cousin, Trey, do it. Then, he took the cup from Aunt Julia and proceeded to drink away. No help, no instruction... just turned it up.
The kids also enjoyed listening to their cousin Jillian reading them a book. She is in first grade and is a phenomenal little reader. I was impressed!


We came home to have homemade pizza, and then we baked sugar cookies for Santa. I think I need a new recipe for those. I used one I found online, and they were not fabulous. It has been a while since I have taken a bite of something that had no flavor, but that was the experience with these cookies. I don't think Santa really cares, though. He is so tired from his long trip that pretty much any old cookie will do. {Good thing...}The kids liked the dough, though. That's all that really matters, right?


Then, we opened our last day on the Advent Calendar. They have LOVED these!


They left some cookies and milk out for Santa...


Finally, they waved goodbye to Duncan the Elf. That silly elf was way on top of the Christmas tree. He returns to the North Pole every Christmas Eve and won't be back until next year.


Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.