Taylor Made designs

A visit with Santa

I feel like the years I have left with the kids believing in Santa are numbered – so I want to make the most of them. So when the Woman's Club of Pembroke organized a dinner with Santa at Oliveira, a local restaurant, I was happy to sign us up.

Can I tell you how good the kids were for the two days leading up to this big event? I mean, overall, my kids are pretty good kids. But with the threat of withholding dinner with Santa, you can bet they behaved. They should have been exhausted by this dinner! Their rooms + their toys were all picked up. Clothes + coats put away. I only wish the Easter bunny was this popular - just imagine I'd be able to get them to keep their rooms clean for months!

Anyway, we had a great evening. The food, not so good –  but that was not the point of dinner. Santa and his elf were the stars. There was no rush to get off Santa's lap. The kids could take their time, tell Santa what they wanted without fear of leaving out a single thing off their lists.

Fortified by chicken nuggets and french fries many kids were hit with a moment of horror, "oh no, I forgot to tell Santa I NEED this!"  – and then you would see Santa leaning over tabletops, his head tipped to a child's head, his beard perilously close to the ketchup, rubbing backs and assuring them that he "got it'. With a wink to the parents. It really was priceless.

I look at the photo above and see that Wiliam looks so grown up sitting there on Santa's lap. How long he'll believe is unknown. But for now, I'm grateful that my kids are still kids and the magic is still there :)

Getting Ready for Christmas

We are snowed in with only five more days left till Christmas. Holy cow! Being housebound today is kinda perfect. We have over 16 inches of snow outside and it is still coming down. I am making homemade truffles, cookies and other yummy treats for the big day.

The wreaths are up on the windows + doors, the tree is decorated – the house is too. Our cards are in the mail, teacher gifts are done + delivered, my mother-in-law's gifts are in the mail, and I have only four gifts left to buy. Just call me a ninja elf. I'm ready!

I do have to clean my house and decide on the holiday meal as we are hosting my family on Christmas day.  But I have all next week to do that. So I am not worried. The only chore I have left are my calendars. God they stress me out. They never ever print properly and no matter how early I start this project (in this case, last May) I find myself the week before Christmas still working on them. Not sure if they are worth the effort. grumble grumble.

I've been quite delinquent keeping this space up-to-date. I think I mentioned  awhile back that I lost my blogging mo jo. I actually thought about quitting blogging. But Typepad automatically renewed my account and charged me for the year. { forgot I set it up this way when I started} Making my decision I bit harder to follow through on. As Shona so nicely put it in her comment below, we can thank "automation" for my blogging :)

Much like everything in life though,  a little time away and I realized how much I missed blogging. So I am planning on a total revamp of the blog. New header, new layout. That will be in the new year. I have plenty to show + tell,  just need to take the time to blog about it  – which I'm determined to do. I hope you continue to come by and visit me! I'll be back later this week - promise :) For those in the Northeast, enjoy the fluffy snow!