The Man in Red

A few weeks before Christmas, Marion mentioned wanting to find a Santa to visit the kids at her house on Christmas Eve. We had dinner here with my side of the family this year and I never knew if she found someone to fill Santa's shoes. The day before Christmas Eve, Milo mentions that his mom found a Santa through an old co-worker and that she made arrangements for him to come to our house as well, not just hers. I couldn't wait.

She told us that Santa would be arrive between 6:30 and 7. So when there was a knock at the door and I got the kids to hurry in and then when we answered the door it was Marion and Mike. At first I was confused and thought the whole Santa thing was a disguise and she just wanted to surprise the kids and see them that night since we weren't there for dinner. It was funny when I told that to Heidi she was the exact opposite. When she saw Mike and Marion she thought how cute it was that they would come here first so they could see the kids see Santa. Duh, Melanie!

Kate's reaction was priceless. I love 3 year olds! She jumped up and down and yelled his name, that's who Dane is looking at in this photo above (blurry trying to catch the special moment). He was a great Santa with a real white beard that he asked the kids to pull. All of them were too shy to pull it. That is except for Kat. I told her just one small pull. She did that and then he told her to pull harder so she yanked on his beard! I guess he asked for it.

He gave the kids a great (and long) speech on no cookies for Santa because Mrs. Clause has put him on a diet and that is why his belly is just a little small this year. Man the kids were eating it all up! For the past couple years Kathryn had asked a couple questions that I knew were leading her to not believe. This sealed it for her this year. She told me over and over that she just knew he had to be real because he left them a note talking about the veggies (thanks Kyle) and he came back here after they slept. I'm not sure why these small things were enough for her but it makes me happy to have her stay little another year. It goes away too fast.

A huge thank you to Marion for making that happen. It was so nice (he left goody bags she made for each of the kids) and magical for the kids. It was a Christmas eve they will always remember.

After the kids fell asleep the elves went to work. So much work! I was such a basket case this year. I had presents hidden all over the place and it seriously took me hours to remember where they all were. Heidi and all her organizational skills were panicking I'm sure. I did end up finding everything and with the help of Heidi's wrapping, we were ready for the morning around midnight. I was keyed up and blogged (not posted obviously) until after one. I think I'm still recovering!