Santa Claus is Coming to town....

This afternoon, I decided to take Jason & Sarah to see Santa at our mall. We had a great time! He was beautiful and had a REAL beard! The kids loved him. Last year, Sarah wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with him and this year....she was all smiles and hugs for Santa! He was so nice to them and we didn't even have to wait in line. It was great! Sarah insisted on wearing her dress that I bought her for Christmas Eve Church Service. She looked so pretty. We curled her hair and everything! Jason got to dress up as well in a crisp white shirt and his khaki pants. (pretty much his staple "dress up" clothes!) Boys are so different. He wanted to wear what he wore to school! LOL I love these photos. They are the best ones I've ever gotten of them with Santa. You can still see the wonder of childhood in their eyes! After seeing Santa, we went to the Candy Shop for a treat and then they rode the carousel in the middle of the mall! It was a fun afternoon!

It's taunting me....It's taunting me!!!!

Okay, so today, Todd calls home and asks if we have wrapping paper! Of course, I said yes. BUT, when he comes home, he tells us that he was cleaning out his truck and he found this present inside to me from Santa! It was wrapped in newspaper but to his credit...it did look like the "holiday" section of the newspaper! LOL The tag....a post it. They must be running low on wrapping paper & tags at the North Pole this year! Oh, well...........he doesn't believe that I can be home wtih it under the tree all day every day without scheming and figuring out a way to figure out what it is. And he may be right.............it's totally taunting me! I hear it calling my name. It will be a miracle if I'm able to sleep at all for the next 10 days! haha Oh, well...I know....I'm worse than a child! Can't help it...........it's my nature!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to see what it is, though! I don't even care what it is.............I am happy with whatever it is. As long as it's not a household appliance that I have not SPECIFICALLY asked for as a gift! LOL

"How much is that dress in the window????"

Tonight, while stolling through Northpark Mall....Sarah spotted a "princess" dress in the Oscar de la Renta boutiuqe! When I spoke about it later, Jason said "You can RENT the dress?" It was so funny! Sarah is a girl after her mommy's own heart..........and Jason is JUST like his daddy! haha I told him it's not "Oscar de la RENT a dress"!

NorthPark Center Dallas...We're off to see Santa!!!

Today, we went to Northpark Center in Dallas to see Santa! We did not get our photo with Santa because at 5:00 p.m., we were given a number to come back to take a photo but we had to get back in line at 7 p.m. and then the appointment would be around 9 p.m.! Sarah could NOT hold out for 4 hours, so we went to storytime with Santa and then saw the beautiful sights there were to see in the mall and the Trains at Northpark benefitting Ronald McDonald House! That train exhibit is amazing and you should go if you get the chance! Todd's Aunt Suzie told us it was worth it and she was RIGHT! It was awesome! :) Thanks, Aunt Suzie for the tip ! We really enjoyed it!

Big Brother & Daddy pushing Sarah through the mall...

Lady Liberty display at the train exhibit!

Unbelievable scenes!

This was the Reunion Tower & City of Dallas display! Beautiful!

Sarah really loved the trains!Jason did, too! He is such a little train man!!! Geeee....I don't know where he gets that! LOL

Jason in front of the entrance!

Waiting for Santa....

There's the big guy telling us a great story! What fun!!!

Sarah sat with her little feet crossed... I had to take a picture...I thought it looked so cute!

Sarah seeing Santa for the first time this year!!!

Santa shares a story with us!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me & the kids waiting for Santa!!!

Santa Baby....

Sweet kids...........and I didn't even realize we were in front of Tiffany's!!!! :) Even better!

These reindeer are made out of pecans!!!!!! It was really cool looking!!!!

It's almost Christmas....And our kiddos are READY!!!

Welcome to our house.....this is what you see when you come up to the front door! Frosty the Snowman and a sign that says the North Pole is not here, but you are welcome to stay! :)

Mr. Christmas 2008
Little Miss Sassy Pants....Donning her Christmas outfit from Miss Keri! Thanks, Keri!!!

Jason & Sarah giving Frosty some love!

Jason's School Christmas Musical....

Jason had his school program on Tuesday night! It was great! Except for Sarah! She was AWFUL and got in big trouble when we got home. She had to go to bed early and got a serious discussion about minding mommy! Todd got stuck in a meeting and didn't get to make it and I was on my own. Jason was on the front row of the stage, so I got there early so I could get us a great seat so I could get pictures of him! Which I did............but while I was taking his photo, Sarah escaped and RAN onto the stage and went straight to her brother telling him to smile because we were taking his pictures! LOL I had to go ON STAGE in the middle of the program and drag her off the stage. Fun times. Jason was slightly embarrassed and amused at the same time. It was funny. The whole place was laughing, but it still upset me because she would not mind me at all! After it was over, she would NOT leave until we let her get on stage and sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and we had to clap and take her picture to get her to come off the stage! haha It was funny, but still infuriating! Oh, well.................JASON did GREAT! He sang and did all the movements and I really enjoyed seeing him up there! He is a pretty good little performer! He really enjoyed it, too!

The New Game...."Shopping Day" and other silly girl stuff...

Sarah has SUCH an imagination. It keeps her so busy! Every day, she does something to amaze me and make me laugh at the way her little mind works. This week, she started playing "shopping day" which is what she calls it. I call it the "cleaning out my entire pantry and dragging canned goods all over the house game!" I could also call it the "Where is mommy's canned soup?" game or the "Why is there a box of rice in your bedroom closet?" game! LOL Since she started playing this game where she gets her little grocery cart and systematically cleans out the pantry and relocates all of the food in it to other areas of the house, I've noticed she is completely entertained on her own, the pantry looks MUCH cleaner and her dolls look like they've been fed well...................but also I've noticed dinner is a little harder to make when I have to go on a daily scavenger hunt for whatever ingredient I'm searching for! LOL

Sarah with her baby's diaper bag on her shoulder and her buggy full of groceries! haha

Sarah loves our neighbor's puppy! Her name is Kiki but Sarah calls her "Sparkles". She wants a puppy so bad, but I like the arrangement of borrowing the one from 2 doors down every few days! She seems to enjoy it, as well! :) But you have to admit, she looks pretty cute holding this little fur-ball!

She even takes "her" puppy shopping!

Is this the cutest puppy picture ever, or what!?

That's my girl..............she slept with a hairbow in her hair! I didn't put her to bed with it so I guess she got up and put it in her hair after I tucked her in! haha That's my sneaky girl....no, she's not sneaking to get a snack or a drink of water.....or a toy even....but a hairbow! LOL

I guess we can call her "Sleeping Beauty"!

She also loves to pretend she works at McDonald's....yes.....she has high hopes! LOL

But you have to admit....that visor looks pretty cute on her! haha

A Christmas Tree of their VERY own!

Well, I didn't think we were going to have a Christmas tree because we were supposed to be moving during the holidays and I thought we'd be lucky to get settled by now. Well, plans changed and we aren't moving JUST yet and we don't really know when or where we are moving to. We know we will be moving to another town soon, though! SO, since we aren't moving, I let the kids HAVE this Christmas all to themselves! Sarah picked out the tree and Jason was the major decorator. We pulled out our ornaments we had but we only used the really brightly colored ones to adorn our "beautiful" white tinsel Christmas tree! One of my most favorite Christmas memories from my childhood is getting to string the "icicles" on the tree! That silver stringy mess made me so happy and the memory of them floating in the air and landing on the tree have stayed with me always! I have NEVER bought those silly things because they make a MESS! This year, though...........I am giving in! These days will not last. Someday, we'll have no little ones in the house to be amazed by simple things like twinkly colored lights, silver strings of foil or silly looking Christmas trees. So, I am taking this moment to celebrate childhood with my babies. Jason is nine now and so he is growing up pretty fast and it won't be long before lots of these things aren't magical to him anymore. I am going to live in this moment for him! Sarah, she's got so much time in front of her and she's a girl so it's a little different. They seem to go further with the "magical" feeling of things. Boys get too big for that pretty quick. I am thankful that he is still "into" all of it with us!

So, these are photos that they will someday treasure. No, they're not dressed up or posing and their hair is messy and the house is, too. The tree is not what some people would say "perfect" but to them...............it's THEIR Christmas and it's THEIR tree and they are proud of it....and so am I! I know they will treasure these memories for the rest of their life. And I will treasure that.