What a sweet family we have been blessed with.
Emmett getting one of many, many kisses.
The girls got Fur Real pets from Santa, a bird that squacks and flaps its wings, and a chimp that makes monkey noises and moves its arms. I don't know, don't ask me.
I think she is excited!
We have a few differences at our Christmas. The major thing (a few people don't like it, but we think it is a dang good idea) is that Santa only brings 0ne present, which is generally small. First, since Santa has unlimited resources, and should conceivably be able to give any gift (since he's the biggest pirate of all, violating patent laws left and right with nearly every present he gives) this limits what the girls can ask Santa for. The second thing it does is allow the kids to be able to express gratitude to Mom and Dad for their other gifts. It is nearly impossible to thank Santa, so they can continue to learn to appreciate what they receive and show appropriate thankfulness. The girls did have a great Christmas, and we are all doing well, sitting at home waiting for school to start so we have something to do.
On a side note to legends and seeming strokes of genius. Like Santa Claus, we have another home invader. He has taken up residence in the attic, and there is no telling when he will grace us with his presence. He is known as the much feared "toy monster". The toy monster eats toys. He is small, about the size of a purse dog, has an excellent sense of smell but is nearly blind. He sleeps all day and he can't jump. Sometimes he will stumble through the house late at night when the kids are asleep. Thankfully he is deathly scared of people so he won't go in a room where people are sleeping, but any toys left out may fall prey to him. He tends to leave clothes alone, but for some reason dress up clothes he finds quite tasty! He has huge appetite and there is no telling how much he would eat if given the opportunity. He isn't clever and could never find a way into a toy box. There are a few toys that are to big to eat, such as the girls lego table, and box. For this reason I suspect he would only put a large hole in any dress up clothes, but the girls have yet to leave anything out to discover the capacity of his appetite. If you ever happen across one, I highly recommend you take him home with you and give him a home in an uninhabited portion of your home, they can live just about anywhere!
5 comments:
I like the toy monster idea, we might have to adopt ourselves one of those too. The black and white photo of your kids is adorable.
I am thinking I like the toy monster idea as well.
And - as for the whole Santa thing - at least your kids got a gift from Santa. I was too concerned about just getting things wrapped this year that I totally forgot about saying the presents were from Santa. I wrote from: "Mom and Dad" or "Graham" or "McKenna" on all of them :) So her stocking stuff was from Santa :)
Love the toy monster! That's great.
I am all for not giving mounds of presents from Santa. I too agree that they can't really give the proper appreciation to him and I am BIG on gratitude. The girls each got one present from Santa and one to share. I think when you give them a ton they just expect more and want more. Limiting it to one or two gifts doesn't give them room to be greedy!
so, I've already put to use the toy monster. Hunter cleaned his legos up last night for the first time in a long time, as for the present ideas, I'm with you. Anthony and I do 3 presents each, representing the 3 gifts brought to Jesus on his birth. They expect no more than 3. It's great.
Anti-traditionalist that I am, the jolly fat man does not visit our home. We've told the girls that grandma & Grandpa are "Santas". My mother is horrified at my scrooginess and blames my father who told me when I was six that there was no Santa. We've also tried the toy monster - Michael's mom called him gunnysack and he even has a little song. But it turns out that my kids could care less about toys. For months we had all of these garbage bags stashed in closets, with the girls making no attempts to even be sad about their demise. So the garbage truck got a big present this year instead. Bwah,ah,ah!
Cheryl
Post a Comment