Breakfast With Santa

When I asked the girls if they wanted to go to have breakfast with Santa, they squealed and began getting ready. But when I asked the boys if they wanted to go, they both looked at me like I was crazy and shook their heads. I have never taken the kids before, so I had no idea what to expect.

It was at Emerald Pointe; an assisted living place in town for the elderly. The girls have gone here many times when they were in dance class. This was the first time I was actually relaxed when in that building. Usually I was stressed trying to make sure I got a good seat (but not taking a place from one of the residents) so I could video tape their performance.

I wasn't sure if the breakfast was free or what, so I brought my checkbook (I had no cash on me). When I got there, I saw a sign that said it was a $5 donation for breakfast (per person) and the money went toward the Alzheimer's foundation. Kids 10 and under ate free. Even though Rebekah is 10, they were still going to let her eat for free. I told them I didn't mind paying for her; the money goes to a good cause. Then we were in a drawing for some prizes. We didn't win, but that was ok.

We grabbed our plates and piled food on them. There was ham, bacon, sausage, eggs, and pancakes. There were a couple different pancake toppings to choose from: regular syrup, hot blueberries, strawberries, whipped cream, etc. Then there were several juices to choose from: grape, apple, orange, etc. Also, there was milk and hot cocoa. The girls were in heaven!! Rebekah even mentioned that it was like having breakfast at a hotel.

At first there was no place to sit, so we were going to just sit on the floor, but some old lady saw us and found us a place. It was sweet of her. She was so short and petite. We sat down and we ate. The food was really good, especially the bacon. Santa came in later and walked around and said hello to everyone and got his picture taken with some of the residents there. It was cute because this one particularly elderly lady (who reminded me of my grandpa Anderson) was very excited.

After we ate our fill, we went and sat on Santa's lap. It was fun and I am definitely going to take my girls next year. I might end up convincing the boys to join us as well. When Nathan heard the words, "All-you-can-eat and bacon" in the same sentence, he was bummed he didn't go. He loves his bacon! :-)

Here are a few pictures from today's morning adventures:

Lily trying hard to cut her pancakes. See the napkin on her chest?? lol

Rebekah trying to use the manners she learned at Achievement Days.

A nice man asked us if we wanted our picture taken together. His wife was from Germany and we had a lovely discussion.

Notice how Rebekah is not smiling in this one? It is because she asked me if her teeth were purple from the blueberries and I told her they were really purple. :-) Which, they were. I should not have said anything though.

Rebekah on Santa's lap. She told him that she wanted a DSi for Christmas. He asked if she was a good girl all year and she paused, then said she was.

Lily asked for the same thing: a DSi. He asked her if she was a good girl and she said she was. He asked her if she fought with her sister and I laughed.

So when it came my turn (why are you surprised I sat on Santa's lap??) I jokingly told him I also wanted a DSi. He chuckled. Then I told him that I wanted a better camera. He asked me if I was good all year. I told him that my kids were alive and he chuckled again and said he would see what he could do.

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone! I hope your Christmas was great! We had a super-fantabulous Christmas!

Early Christmas morning (around 8ish) after having gone to bed at 4:30 AM, Bill and I could hear the girls singing. Before we went to bed, we had set a trap from the hallway into the living room so the kids wouldn't be able to see or get to their stuff so we could video tape them. We warned the kids as we put them to bed not to wake us in the morning. Well, Nate had other plans, he told the girls to sing Christmas songs loudly in the hall so it would wake us up. Well it worked. I grabbed the video camera and sneaked over to the cardboard trap and quietly lifted the camera over the box so I could video tape the girls singing. It was hilarious! They decided to sing a song then after the first few words couldn't remember how it went. So funny. Once they saw the camera, they started squealing. It was a fun morning.

I think this Christmas was one that spoiled our entire family! I am typing this from my new laptop! We had steak for Christmas dinner made on Bill's new bbq! The girls got new bikes, the boys got video rocker chairs, the kids got a Playstation 3 (yes that's right, another game system), games galore, books, etc.

Oh Christmas Eve, Bill and I put the kids to bed, finished moving the new entertainment center into place, we went across the street to get Bill's bbq. We had to hide it over at the Cook's house so the kids wouldn't see it since it was to be from Santa. Well, it was heavy, it was snowing hard and was very windy. When we got it from their porch to the street, we pushed it on the snow covered asphalt and the metal jingled and jangled. I started laughing because it sounded like what a kid would think Santa's sleigh sounds like. I hoped the kids didn't look out their windows.

Aside from the fun of getting presents, this was the first year Bill and I decided we needed the kids to learn the fun of giving. We chose a neighborhood family that we knew were struggling and we bought them all sorts of fun things. The kids had fun wrapping the presents and secretly putting it on their porch. This is going to become a new tradition. I remember doing stuff like that when I was a kid.