We opened our "family presents" at home on Friday morning. Jesse, who knows how to pull strings, talked to Santa and convinced him to come early so we wouldn't have to bring a huge haul of stuff back with us from NC. So, last night, Sadie put out cookies, milk, and some water for Rudolph. Rudolph has been a BIG hit this year, with both Sadie and Josie. They must've watched that old classic one (my favorite one, too, with Hermie the elf) 25 times over the past month. Anyway, we did that, then read "The Night Before Christmas" and then the real Christmas Story. I tried to explain how Jesus being born coincides with the whole Santa thing, but let me tell you, I couldn't do a very good job of it. But we prayed to God and thanked him for His gift of Jesus, and also for toys and for Santa. Then Sadie asked me if she could pray whenever she wanted to, and I said, "Of course you can! God likes it when we pray to Him. It makes Him happy." She said, "Can I even tell Him about when I fell off the sidewalk and got a boo boo on my knee, and I had to get a bandaid?" I said, "Yep." So she proceeded to tell God this sad story, and when she finished, she said, "Well, I told Him, but He isn't there. Oh, but He is there!" This was a little strange, coming from a 2 1/2 year old. She showed a little doubt, then totally turned around and figured it out for herself. I think, anyway. Maybe I'm giving her too much credit, but the faith of little kids is amazing to me. You tell them, and they'll believe. It's scary, but humbling at the same time. When it comes to God and Jesus, that faith is certainly something to aspire to.
When we finished, she tried to go to sleep. Josie had no trouble, and she passed out and started snoring before all of this even happened. :) She had way too much fun the night before with Lydia and Darryl. So, Sadie TRIED. She really did, but she was so excited she kept squirming around, popping back up and saying, "Did you hear that? I think I hear Santa! Is that him? I heard Jingle Bells! I hear Rudolph! Do you hear him?" It was so funny... She must've stayed up half the night because this morning it was all we could do to get her out of bed to actually go check and see if Santa DID come.
Presents that were a hit:
Sadie: A Doctor Kit! She immediately went to work on Snoopy, and gave Jesse a blood pressure reading. Then I got a shot. She also got a baby doll, some sewing cards, and a My Little Pony umbrella, along with lots of other things that I can't think of at the moment.
Josie: Her daddy gave her a huge, cuddly, supersoft teddy bear that she LOVES. She also got new fuzzy slippers, a funny hat that just has "Josiebean" written all over it, a cool shapesorter thing, and again, lots of things that I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go into the living room and look at them.
Jesse: His big present was a pair of tickets to a Monster Truck Show... I finally surprised him! He had no idea, and I think I actually did well this year!
Me: A big gift card to a wonderful, fabulous, marvelous, stupendous spa, along with a menu of services that I can choose from. Aromatherapy facial and massage, here I come!!!!
We're leaving tonight for NC, so I won't be posting for at least a week. We'll be having fun in the sun! Seriously. It's supposed to be like 70 degrees down there. Merry Christmas, everybody!
