A few days ago I took Livi to see Santa. I wasn't sure where she was on the "belief" scale and quite honestly I think this is the last year. She has had a few kids in her class tell her that Santa isn't real (muzzle your kids people!) and she has had some pretty interesting questions about the logistics of present delivering and how that all works...many of the questions I was not able to answer and simply gave the "Santa is magic" speech. The bottom line is this...I am not ready for the year when no one believes! I am so sad that this could be the end. We have so many awesome memories of "Santa".
Every year we get more and more elaborate with our Christmas morning reindeer "ritual". The first couple of years it was a few pieces of straw on the deck and a note from Santa, then we went to straw throughout the entire first floor. Then Aaron decided that the reindeers would want to check on the girls while they were sleeping and the straw suddenly was throughout the entire house leading to each of their bedrooms. Now, we all know how quickly the house gets destroyed when kids are opening presents...the last thing you want to do is also clean up straw which inevitably clogs the vacuum. The straw became old news so Aaron decided that the reindeers needed to have some bowel problems on the deck. And so yes, Aaron gathered dog excrement and placed it in strategic piles leaving a note apologizing for the mess to the girls. (trust me, the girls were not the ones to clean it up!)...he even gave an explanation for the accident as the reindeers having too much fudge in Idaho. :) I am not sure what this year will bring...actually I am a little frightened!
We have had so much fun with the magic of Christmas that it will break my heart to have that chapter of our lives complete. We continue to tell the girls "If you don't believe...you don't receive!" This seems to be working so far. I look at these pics of my screaming baby and now, a blink of an eye later, my 8 year old climbing on Santa's lap shyly telling him she wants a Barbie. Where does the time go?
