White Christmas

It was a white Christmas in Atlanta this year. The kids couldn't get enough of the snow. Such a special treat. Eli broke several of his gifts on Christmas day. His excitement could not be contained and he was bubbling over with energy, determination to touch everything, and would not sit down for a minute. Lucy was in her prime, loving all the presents, being patient with her brother and in general being a lovely little girl.

As I type this, Eli is destroying my office, taking every game off the shelf and strewing it about on the floor. Game pieces, dice, cards, boxes. It's the price I pay for a few minutes to sit down.

Until next time...Happy New Year!

XOXO

Lucy and her best buddy from school, Luke, have now started blowing each other kisses.  She also gives him hugs and kisses when she says goodbye to him.  If you don't know this, Lucy is not a big hugger, so this is particularly funny.

Santa lives in Mountain Park

There are many great things about living in Mountain Park, Georgia, but I'm going to say the very best thing, is the annual Santa Run.  Each year, Santa and his elves deliver Christmas presents to all the kids in our small community and the surrounding subdivisions.  This goes on all day, starting at 8am and going until 5 or 6pm.  The volunteer fire and rescue department coordinates the entire event, and it is an enormous logistical task.  We are usually the first or second stop of the morning.  The fire truck is followed by the ambulance, followed by 4 or 5 additional car/trucks filled, filled, filled, with presents.  Santa and the elves are transported in the ambulance, and Mrs. Claus sits in the fire truck.  The sirens blare and we go outside to wait for Santa and his elves to stop in front of our house.  When everything finally comes to a stop, out pops a crew of 15 to help Santa deliver the gifts.  Photos are hard to take because of the commotion.  We need to be highly involved in getting the kids to sit on Santa's lap and not get run over.  Lucy likes it, but the sirens and the huge crowd make her a little nervous.  This year we finally wised up and let her wear her ear muffs to drown out the sound.  Eli scrambled up into Santa's lap with hardly a pause.  It is truly a sight that brings tears to your eyes, each and every time. It never gets old.

Santa brought Lucy a box full of accessories to help her take care of ALL her babies.  Eli received a toy with lots of buttons.  Of course, he likes Lucy's gift more.