Waiting for Christmas

Merry Christmas!

I am loving being in a house with young children at Christmastime. Hunter is bouncing off the walls in anticipation of Christmas. Hadyn picks up on anything brother does and is bouncing right along with him. They've been really good to stay out of the gifts that are under the tree, but ornaments on the tree are a completely different story. My tree is starting to look a little off kilter with all the ornaments slowly migrating to the top of the tree. Oh well. I love the anticipation, too.

At church one day, some of us had a discussion over what is told to children for the inevitable question of "is there a Santa Claus?" One dad said that he will answer honestly with a direct question, but disclaimer the answer with it is not to be discussed with other children. When another dad said that they would not "lie" to their child when asked, I had to respond. My mom and dad never told me anything. I got to an age, but I don't remember when, that I knew where that gift under the tree came from, but my mother would not 'fess up for nothin'. By doing so, she taught me to hold on to the faith of Christmas. She didn't lie...she would just answer, "what do you think?"

I love that answer. I know what Christmas is all about. I teach the true gift of Christmas to my children. But I also love holding on to that childhood joy of the magic and anticipation of Christmas morning.

I don't dread the holidays, I look forward to Christmas morning, too! Santa still visits me and Scott, too. Yea!!!

Times Have Changed...For Us, Anyway

We went to a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony tonight in a nearby "village" and Santa was making a grand appearance. Everyone in this town had shown up to see the Big Guy and stand in line for pictures and requests. As Santa made his way to the center of attention on a fire truck, I had to laugh a bit. We, among all the others in this crowd, were reacting to Santa's arrival as if waiting for a rock star.

The fire truck pulled up and everyone who could rushed over to see Santa emerge from the vehicle. I could hear a guy on the stage asking for everyone to clear a path so Santa could come through. Then he appeared. Screams and yells for Santa went up. And so did the kids, up on the shoulders of all the parents. All of sudden, I had a flashback to the rock-n-roll concert years of my much younger days and the crowd reactions then. Of course the persons on top of shoulders then weren't 2-6 years old and weren't always completely dressed, either. But the cheers were the same.

You can barely see Santa on the stage in this pic. Yup, I remember this view of a few bands back in the day.


Anyway, it was a great time for my kids. Hunter was in awe of seeing Santa and Hadyn was excited, too, to see "TinTa". Man, times sure have changed for us. But I sure love these times much more!!

This is Hunter in front of the corral where "Donner" and "Blitzen" are hanging out.


We also got to meet "Mrs. Claus" and have a pic with her. Hadyn wasn't too sure about her, though. Maybe next year.