Santa Shop

This is the week for Santa Shop at George's school. We were very fortunate to have a visit from Santa, and George's sweet class was so excited to see him. 

I joke and say I work retail during the holidays, when we have this fundraiser at school. However, these sweet kiddos shopping for their family members is so much more adorable than the harried and stressed shoppers of the general public, I'm sure. We love helping these little guys shop.  

William George was so careful and spent so much time selecting presents for his sisters, his grandparents, Pixie, and Skip and me. He loved being able to shop on his own, and he even helped wrap everything up. 

George is the first one finished with his shopping. Way to go, George!

How's your shopping coming along?

Updated: Whenever anyone mentioned Christmas shopping during the month of December, George smugly said, "I've already done all of my shopping." 

Santa Visit 2018

There was some brief discussion this year about being "too old" to visit Santa. However, I presented some solid (in my humble opinion) arguments about why a Santa visit was imperative. First, William George is not too old, and he very much wanted to go. Second, I asked for a Santa pic for Christmas. 

Boom. 

How can one deny their mom such a simple request? 

We went right after early church this morning, and were the first customers in line. Because we had the mall to ourselves, we also got some nice photos with the decorations, without dealing with crowds. As it turns out, the trio all wrote out a list while we were waiting. When the time came, they made sure to be generous with their smiles and delivered wonderful Santa pics. These might be my most favorite ever.  

And it never hurts to be good for Santa.  

Santa Visit 2015

Yesterday after church we climbed into our car, wishing it was a sleigh, and went to visit Santa.  

William George was a little traumatized because he had had a field trip on Thursday to see "Dear Santa," a production based on the premise of Santa retiring. We explained that Santa retiring would be preposterous, and therefore, the play we saw was surely fictional. But no fear, we were ready to see our Santa (the real one!) and that we could relay our wishes to him.  

While waiting in line, the trio wrote out their lists.  

Before you know it, it was our turn to see Santa, and the letters were read and placed in his mail basket for safekeeping.  

After visiting and talking, the Lauren gave Santa a big hug, and then William George reached up and gave him a huge bear hug. Gracie said she was feeling too bashful to hug, but enjoyed the visit nonetheless.

Santa was taken with their enthusiastic hugs and did not spend a significant amount of time on the pesky details of naughty/nice issues (whew!). Grace, George and Lauren are very excited and looking forward to Santa's visit later this month.



Santa Visit 2015 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Santa Visit 2014

We recently had our annual visit with Santa. The trio wrote out their lists, and we went right after church to stand in line. Santa Claus soon arrived, and the trio spoke right up with their requests. Grace has a big item this year - a dog, and her request threw Santa for a minute. I'm sure he was sorting out the logistics of transporting a live animal on such a busy night. We have told Grace that we aren't sure exactly how Santa manages pets, as neither Skip nor I ever received a pet for Christmas. We aren't sure if he delivers the pet, or if he just makes all of the arrangements for us to acquire a pet at a later time. Either way, I am sure Santa has been researching and looking for the right dog for weeks and weeks and weeks.  She is very excited to see how it unfolds, as are we.

Lauren and George are requesting bicycles. Lauren has outgrown the bike she received for her 5th birthday, and William George thinks he is ready to graduate from his tricycle to a bike. Importantly, we have explained that when/if Santa delivers a BIG present, such a pet, he intends for the entire family to share. Therefore, the trio may be receiving a pet, if they can pull off being "very, VERY good" as Santa wisely assigned as a pre-requisite for getting a pet and the other gifts requested.

William George watching Santa arrive at the mall.

And the very rough video of the entire experience:

Visit With Santa 2014 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.