Early Christmas & Fun at the Mall

Aunt Pam sent her Christmas gifts again this year to arrive the day after Thanksgiving. I am sooooo appreciative of this more and more. By Friday, we are all stir crazy and in need of something exciting.....these gifts do just the trick! The kids were so excited and screamed with joy each time they pulled out another item from their boxes. All the kids were very pleased with what they got.

On Saturday, we took the kids to the mall to visit Santa.....which was their reward for being "good" during the week (as posted on their charts). I thought for sure at least one of them would be weary of Jolly Old Saint Nick, but to my surprise, they were each excited (with the exception of Nicholas). Nolan got right up on Santa's lap and told him he wanted a Nintendo DS. Natalie stood in front of Santa and told him she wanted "all the girl stuff," and Nathan told Santa something about Thomas the Train (he spoke in an unusually quiet tone). They all hopped up on Santa's lap and had their picture taken. Check your mail for the result of the picture, as we ordered greeting cards of this!

Here are a few pics :)


Natalie and Nathan being "good" kids and sharing the computer.










Nicholas grasping the Curious George toy......he's getting over his pink eye in this picture :)









Natalie squeezing her pink stuffed animal :) It now follows her to and from bed as do about 6 other stuffed toys.











Nathan was shouting "ready, set, go!" as he ran across the foam pond at the mall play area!







Nolan, Natalie, and Nathan "hangin' out" on the benches around the play area. Nolan was busy reading something about the rent-a-strollers, and the other two came to join him.