Emma and Maddie were anticipating Santa's arrival, and Emma kept asking, "Is he coming today?" We had to remind her that he would come early Tuesday morning, December 25th. Since he wasn't due to arrive for several hours, Mom and Emma decided to pass the time by making a gingerbread house, an annual Christmas event.
After dinner, Emma decided that Santa needed some food for his long journey around the world delivering presents, so we decided to bake cookies. We decided sugar cookies would be best, and Emma decided to add some sprinkles to make them extra special. As the cookies were baking, the phone rang. It was Santa wanting to speak to Emma!! He wanted to let her know that she was on the "good list" and to remind her that she needed to get to bed early that night so that she could have plenty of sleep. She was so excited she could barely contain herself. With all that excitement, we managed to finish the baking, bath Emma and Maddie, and get them into their Christmas pajamas. We even managed to snap a few pictures in front of the tree. Once we finished, Emma put the cookies by the fireplace so that Santa could munch on them prior to zipping up the chimney to resume his travels. Finally, we were able to get Emma and Maddie into bed, and as the fire flickered quietly in the fireplace, the clock approached midnight and we readied ourselves for Christmas's arrival.
Peter Pan
On Sunday, Emma's daycare friends and their moms accompanied us to the Shakespeare Festival to see Peter Pan. The kids enjoyed seeing Peter Pan fly through the air sprinkling pixie dust all over them. It was a tad scary when Captain Hook and his pirates came slinking down the aisles. Everyone was happy when Wendy, John, and Michael made it safely back home from Neverland.
Visiting Santa
Emma, Maddie, and I visited Santa during his tour through the area. Emma, with her list in hand, patiently waited her turn and when she had her chance, she didn't disappoint. I had visions of her losing her concentration and forgetting to relay to Santa her wish list only for him, in an effort to keep the line moving, to suggest a doll. Wrong! With confidence in her voice, she looked him in the eye and told him that she wanted a doll house, a jump rope, and a webkinz. She had more on her list, but she didn't want to push her luck and appear greedy. The next day a letter appeared in the mailbox from Santa thanking her for the visit and assuring her that she was on the good list and that he would try to accommodate her requests.
...On the Polar Express
On Friday, November 30th, Emma and I met up with our friends, Jennifer and Mason, in Calera to take a ride on the Polar Express. Emma had been watching the movie and was really excited to be visiting with Santa and venturing to the North Pole.
Christmas Parade
On November 27, Emma was invited to ride on Miss GiGi's float for the Christmas parade. Her friends Kate, Andrew, Jake, and Libby rode too, so she was excited. When the parade started, she was a little overwhelmed as far as what she should do, but after a while, she got the hang of it and by the end you would have assumed that she was a natural. Thanks GiGi for inviting Emma!
