Friday, December 25, 2009

Happy Birthday Jesus!
Merry Christmas! Buon Natale!
It has been such a wonderful start to our holiday time off. My mom and Jim surprised Caleb and Ella this year by slipping in around midnight on Tuesday night. Since I knew the kids were staying home from school and Tuesday was their last day of the week, I convinced Caleb that it would be really fun to have a sleep over with Ella and he conveniently could fit inside Ella's ice cream truck playhouse to sleep. They fell for it hook line and sinker!! :)

So.. let me back track a minute.. this year we received an "Elf" from Santa and his job is to report back to Santa on how the kids are acting.. you know the whole.. naughty/nice..making a list and checking it twice thing! :) Ok, so this little "Elf" is placed up high and doesn't talk to anyone. We are welcome to talk to him though. It was fun to watch Caleb convince him of his great behavior. In addition to that, the "Elf" moves from one place to another all through the holiday period from Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve at which point Santa picks him up on his way out after dropping goodies for the kids under the tree.
So, back to Nona and Papa Jim..I told Caleb that Santa was dropping off 2 presents as big as mommy and daddy because the Elf was giving such wonderful reports. I then proceeded to pull out the trundle bed and get the big bed ready for Nona and Papa Jim. Caleb of course was questioning why I was cleaning up his room and pulling the 2nd bed out. Naturally, I told him it was for Santa just in case he got tired and wanted to take a small nap while he passed through.

The next morning Caleb woke up and ran to me and with such animation said, "MOMMA, Santa is sleeping in my BED!" Of course I played it up for about 30 seconds before Nona couldn't contain herself anymore and revealed that her and Papa Jim were the surprise!
The kids were so excited!
The time went by so quickly, but it was a blessing to be be able to spend Christmas morning with my mom and Jim there...

After I dropped my parents off at the airport, I came home to get a couple more winks.. we were headed to San Antonio that morning to see the Kenningtons. One of my favorite parts about the quick trip was that I got to see Nicki and Mathis and the 4 of us went out to the movies. I think we have started a quick tradition, because we did that another time as well. Josh and I don't get to enjoy the movies out, so it is quite a treat and convenient. Grandma keeps the kids, we go play.. :)

Also, I got to take Hope and Hannah shopping which is ALWAYS fun .. :) I know that the time is getting away from us and it seems like there is almost not enough of it, so we have worked really hard to make sure that we all stay connected.. it will be nice when we are 15 minutes away and can just pop up whenever we want..

Now, I am back to work for the next week and going to finish up some last minute gift making/shopping and get our bags packed again for Tuma Christmas. A fun tradition with all the Tumas up in Rockdale! :) I love to hang out with them and look forward to the gathering every year.

Well, I better sign off here. I will post more this week now that I am stationary in one place for a bit of time, and will try and catch up on all those funny stories Caleb had over the last couple of weeks!

xoxox

1 comment:

Chanti, Adrian and Julian said...

Looks like you guys had a wonderful Christmas. Can't wait to hear all about it! So glad the coasters were a hit! Miss you Sveden!!