Day Three- Letters, Elves and Christmas Fun

Today, Bell brought Client One more of a surprise than just moving his location to our Christmas tree. In his little hands he held a little scroll with a message from Santa! The message told her that since she had been good yesterday, Santa had sent her a special gift to help decorate the tree. Hanging on the tree next to our little elf was a little black bag with a bright blue bow. After emphasizing the part of the letter where Santa encouraged Client One to be good for the chance of even more presents, I got the little bag down for her. Inside, she found a little Anna ornament. Her day was made.

Of course, our next morning activity was to check our penguin to see what our daily activity was going to be. Today's slip read:

Client One had a dentist appointment this morning but as soon as we got home, we wrote our letters. Client One wrote her's while Client Two napped. I listed everything out for her and then she signed her name and drew some pictures of the items she wanted just to make sure Santa got the right things. When Client Two woke up, I put together a list for him as well. I helped him sign his name and let him use a crayon to add his own touches. Then, we sealed them up in envelopes to send off this weekend when we will be near one of Santa's special mailboxes. 

This afternoon, there were letters waiting in the mailbox for each client from Santa himself! Client One got super excited and listened carefully to every word of the letter. Her letter from Santa even included part of the Christmas story. Client Two seemed more or less impartial about his letter, but he got one nonetheless. (And for anyone who would complain that Client One is barefoot, please note that it was 60-something degrees at the time and I carried her out and back in. Her feet touched the ground for less than a minute. Welcome to Christmas in South Carolina!)

We also had some fun today decorating our tree. The original plan was to decorate it yesterday but I knocked it over twice so we had to readjust the tree last night. Now it is standing tall, strong and beautiful. Client One had a blast decorating. She really likes to cluster her ornaments and we had to convince her to spread them out a little bit. Client Two pretty much just wanted to eat the ornaments. He really liked the big, shiny balls. He also got to hang up his official First Christmas ornament. Our tree now has a fun, classy look. The only thing that will make it look better will be presents.

Client One had AWANAs tonight, but when she got home, she got to choose her book. After showing me her AWANA treats and treasures, she went straight to the tree to pick out her book. Tonight's book was Llama llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney. Personally, I love this book as I love the others in the series. It's super cute and fun. Client One also really enjoys the story.

And that completes Day Three of our Christmas fun! Don't forget to follow our adventures on Instagram with the hashtag #MyLifeasaSAHMomChristmasFun just in case I can't keep up with posting every night. Now, I'm off to bed, for the hopes that sugar plums dance in my head. Good night!

Day Two of Our Christmas Fun

This morning we awoke to find our mischievous elf, Bell, stowed away in Client One's stocking. We decided that he was staking out the stockings in the hopes that Santa would be dropping off some stocking stuffers a bit earlier. I pointed out that his higher vantage point was better for him to be able to see and hear everything that Client One would be doing today so he could report back to Santa whether she had been naughty or nice. Client One was actually very well behaved today...

Follow our adventures on Instagram with #MyLifeasaSAHMomChristmasFun

After we found Bell, our next Christmas step was to open the little door on our countdown to see what our Christmas activity for the day would be. The little slip of paper read:

Client One was super excited. Occasionally, throughout the day, she would ask if it was time to see Santa yet. Finally, the time came and we loaded up in the car to go see the best Santa in town. The best Santa is the one at our local Holiday Lights display (Roper Mountain Science Center's Holiday Lights). He is the REAL Santa- the one that makes you believe in Santa. We got in line right when they opened and we were the first ones to see Santa. Client Two went first, getting his first picture ever with Santa. He was was dressed in his own little Santa suit and he looked up at big Santa and smiled. He was cool at first. Then, Client One climbed up in Santa's lap and Client Two panicked. The picture is priceless. (Personally, I think Client Two realized that they were wearing the same outfit and was upset and embarrassed.)

I swept in and scooped him up and Client One proceeded to tell Santa she wanted a chain, a tool and an Anna bear for Christmas. I get the tool thing. I bought her a Green Toys tool set awhile back for Christmas so I've been talking about how neat it would be if Santa brought her a play tool set. The Anna bear I get, too. We got an ad for Build-A-Bear a couple of weeks ago displaying their bears from Disney's Frozen and Client One got her heart set on the Anna Bear. But the chain????? If you ask her she says, "I need the chain and the tool for my work." Not sure what work she's doing but I will be interested to see. After our visit with Santa, we drove through the light display before heading home.

Once home, Client One watched a little TV before taking her bath and choosing her Christmas book for the night. She had been waiting all day for her new book with almost as much anticipation as she had been waiting to see Santa. Earlier today, when it struck her that all the presents were books, her eyes grew wide and she threw her arms around my neck in the biggest hug I think she has ever given. She is a little girl after my own heart for sure! The book she ended up choosing tonight was Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner. 

Now, Client One is safely tucked away in her bed for the night and I have to find somewhere to hide Bell, or rather to help him hide, for tomorrow. 

Christmas Fun, Day One!

This morning we woke up to find that Bell, our Elf on the Shelf, had moved to a new location. I had noticed last year that he was eyeing Barbie when Client One got her for Christmas, and it seems that this year they have become good friends. Bell hung up a little piece of mistletoe on one of our bookshelves and was caught kissing Barbie there this morning. Client One, who is just really learning about kissing under the mistletoe, thought this was just about the best thing ever! (Of course, ten minutes later she was crying because she wanted to play with that Barbie, but she was happy for those first ten minutes.)

We also pulled our little piece of paper out of our penguin this morning. Our Christmas activity for the day was:

We decided to wait until Hubby got off so we could all go together. Last year was a out first year with a real tree. We let Client One pick it out. I'm pretty sure she got the smallest tree she could but she fell in love with it. When we got home, the trunk of the tree was so small, it didn't really fit well into our tree stand. Once inside the stand, the tree was so short, it barely showed through our window. It was cute and all, but this year we wanted a more substantial tree. We still let Client One and Client Two have some input and together we picked out a great tree! We went to two different places to make sure we could find the perfect tree (at the perfect price). It's definitely taller than last year's! I can't wait to put presents under it!

Tonight, Client One also got to unwrap her first Christmas book at bedtime. The book she chose to unwrap ended up being Angelina's Christmas. This book is cute and simple and proves that great things can come in small packages. The first time Client One ever said, "Santa" was the first time she saw the Santa in this book.

And that wraps up day one of our Christmas fun! Don't forget to follow our adventures on Instagram with the hashtags #MyLifeasaSAHMomChristmasFun and start up some of your own Christmas traditions.