Seeing Santa

What do you do when you're waiting for Santa and discover his sleigh bells sitting next to the fire.......

 

Why you pick it up and hear it jingle of course!  Thankfully these two learned how to be a good lookout and avoided getting caught and placed on the naughty list.  

Henry's excitement for Santa and all the magic of Christmas has been at an all time high this year.  As he said "When I was 4 I didn't believe Santa and elves could be real, but then I realized you and daddy aren't buying all the presents or moving our elf so it has to be real!"  :)  

He sweetly anticipated the arrival of our elf Jelly Jack and looks forward to seeing him each morning.  He's made cards and pictures for him and Santa and has explanations for all the magic surrounding the season.  All the different Santa's you see......they're SC's brothers of course!!!

We experienced a relaxed and very sweet encounter with the jolly old elf this year.  Brunch with Santa at Lexington Country Club helped to fill our bellies and strike an extra sense of wonder in it all.    Gran and Pops joined us for the fun and it was a wonderful way to make Santa memories together. 

Henry and his bestie were too cute practically jumping out of their belt cinched trousers at their excitement.  

SC stopped by to chat with us while we ate and made sure the kids were well behaved.  

Henry was all business this year whispering his three wishes in Santa's ear; an army suit, a pistol and a Miles Morales web spinner.  

For the first time ever our sweet girl wasn't scared.  Maybe it was not having to sit on a strangers lap, or maybe it was a greater understanding of how it all worked, but she spoke to him like a champ.....other than forgetting anything she had been talking about wanting.  Santa tried to take a few guesses and thought she might like some princesses and dollies, little does he know this girl probably wants a pistol too.  She decided we definitely need to drop her list in the mailbox to make sure he knows she actually wants Marshall's Ultimate Fire Rescue, Nella the Princess Knight dress up, and an Ella doll.  

We opted out of the customary tradition of handing your baby to a bearded stranger who smells like meat and cheese and instead let him smile at him from a comfy distance.  He was down with a high five from SC and I'd say that's the cheeriest greeting we've ever witnessed at this age!  

Let the fun and excitement continue as we savor the fastest moving, wonderful time of the year.  

Trimming the Tree 2018

Hanging stalkings and ornaments with three little elves, Charlie Brown music playing and lights a' twinkling, welcome Christmas.  Decking the halls with three little loves is not far from stacking fine china teacups ceiling high on a boat at sea.  Busy little bees, making memories and trimming a tree sure feels like the days we will remember all our life.  Not an ornament was broken and though we may be decoration heavy on the bottom it is the best our tree has ever looked.  Henry and Mallie Lynn were so excited to decide where they would place each one and the fun of explaining where they all came from made this sentimental mama happy.  

Since putting it up Ford has found a handful of his favorites to take off and scoot around with before getting sweetly excited to "place" them back on again.  

Let the merry memories begin.  

Christmas Eve 2018

Christmas Eve is always filled with some of my favorite memories of the season.  Spending time with my parents, getting goodies and outfits ready for the Miller Christmas party and watching our kiddos wind up their excitement all comes together to create one magical day.  

This year we switched up tradition just a bit, and instead of heading back home for a few days my parents made it easy on us and Ford and traveled up to see us.  We had a short but sweet visit and exchanged gifts and laughs before getting ready for the party. 

Almost our entire family was in attendance this year and attending as a family of five made me smile all night.  Henry and Mallie Lynn raced around the house all night, playing games with each other, taking tastes of every shape of cookie they had made, drinking Christmas juice, and making everyone smile with the happiness that can only come from watching a child.  

It was the perfect night topped off with a sweet story from Pepaw about one of their first Christmas' together.   With snowflakes quickly falling we headed home to spread reindeer food on the lawn, delight in the sight of winter, and put out a plate of cookies, carrots and milk for Santa.  The magic is real surrounding Christmas and it was certainly felt this year.