Katie & Anna

Katie got tired of Santa real quick but Anna's an old pro. She brought her catalog page and everything! Thanks Carrie!

Santa

So we took Elias to see Santa and he sure didn't like it. If you think about Santa is a very scary dude. You put your small child on the lap of a man who yells "HO HO HO", is wearing a bright red suit and has a big beard. Elias thought he was SATAN not SANTA.

However as a parent you have to take the obligatory crying on Santa's lap picture. My parents have one, Brad's parents have one and it goes on. So now Elias has one. We didn't get any of our own pictures since he was crying so hard I couldn't leave him on Santa's lap any longer but the one the "elf" got (the elf was wearing pink Victoria's Secret sweatpants) is priceless.

So I want to see your Santa pictures. Crying, laughing, stunned, send them here!

Christmas morning...

Holiday Magic

So Mom, Dad and I went to see Santa on Sunday. We drove all the way out to Woodfield Mall only to find out Santa had a wait. A wait, since when do people have to wait for Santa. Anyway, the wait was 2 hours and I wasn't having that. I can barely wait 2 minutes let alone 2 hours. Mom and Dad said that we can go see him next week when Gramma Bette comes to town and Daddy is off work. That way I can tell him what I want right before he comes.

In other news Mom and Dad put up the tree. I really don't care about it one way or the other but they keep telling me that this Santa guy will make it worth my while pretty soon. They also dressed me up and sat me in front of it to take pictures for our holiday cards. I think they turned out pretty good, but I know I'm handsome.

I'm starting to talk a lot more. Well, what I call talking anyway. It's mostly a bunch of syllables but I know what I'm saying and that's all that matters. Today though I thought I'd throw them a bone and I pointed at a yellow chicken and said, "DUCK". Daddy said that was close enough. Hey it was yellow and if it walks like a duck....

We're having a big snow storm right now so Mommy's going to try and hurry home. Peace out...Elias

St. Nick's Day

In my family we always had a bonus present day on December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. We celebrated St. Nick's Day since we are predominantly Dutch (Grandma's and Great-Grandma's). As Wikipedia explains...The Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas on December 5th, St. Nicholas Eve, with festive family parties when gifts and surprises are exchanged. In the Netherlands, unlike other places, adults as well as children join in the fun. As the Dutch like an element of surprise, a small gift may be wrapped in a huge box, or it may be hidden and require following clues to discover where it is. Where St. Nicholas is prominent, his day, not Christmas, is the primary gift giving day. Parties may be held on the eve, December 5th, and shoes or stockings left for St. Nicholas to fill during the night. Children will find treats of small gifts, fruit or nuts, and special Nicholas candies and cookies. St. Nicholas gifts are meant to be shared, not hoarded for oneself.

We mainly did small gifts left in one's stockings and/or candy treats. As a kid it meant bonus presents. This weekend we continued the tradition with Elias. St. Nick brought Elias books, a teddy bear and some ornaments.

And for all you kids out there reading this blog, psst don't forget to tell your parents about St. Nick's Day ;)

Oh and thanks to Grandpa Bill for helping to get our Christmas tree. It was a very cold and snowy day!

Excuse me...

Sorry, I just brain-farted. Yes, that's what I said brain-farted. I deleted ALL my Turkey day photos from my camera thinking they had already been downloaded. So...I'm going to email my sister-in-law so she can send me hers. In the meantime I would love to see your photos. Email them to me and I'll post them on the blog! I'll leave you with the cuteness that is my Little Lumberjack!

Asher Clyde

Asher Clyde is getting SO BIG! He's grown a foot (well maybe not quite that much) since we've seen him. Elias misses you!


Also, don't worry people, I have plenty of pictures from our feast, as my niece Sophie called it. Oh and by the way, my turkey rocked.