Letters to Santa, Christmas Eve

I know there are a lot of "Elf on the Shelf" haters, but I'm not one of them.  It's one more magical, fun part of Christmas for my kids, and these magical times don't last forever.  Ralphie, our elf, comes to our home every year on December 1st.  Each night, he flies back to the North Pole and reports to Santa.  We don't make a big thing of "Santa is watching you, Ralphie is watching you," and we do this more for fun than anything else. The kids can tell Ralphie what they want for Christmas, as well as talk to him about their day, about what they want Santa to know, and generally show off for this stuffed elf.  In the morning, Ralphie is perched somewhere new.  Sometimes fishing for goldfish, sometimes hanging above their bed from the ceiling fan, and sometimes posed in the Nativity.  (Sometimes he is posed exactly where he was the day before, and we are scrambling to move him before the kids notice!)

Zachary and Kate had a conflict a few mornings before Christmas, so Zac drew a picture and taped it next to the Ralphie to report to Santa.  I heard him say, "Ralphie, make sure Santa gets this.  Also, please don't have Santa look at the back.  This is the front, and this is the back.  I messed up on the back, but I am not supposed to waste paper, so just show him the front.  If you show him the back, please tell him that I messed up and it was an accident."

Look hard at the picture.  On the way to church, we talked about how tattling and that Santa probably doesn't like it.  He came home from church and promptly took the note down, threw it away, and said, "Ralphie, please tell Santa that Kate is a very good girl.  She is very nice to me and I really think she should get presents."

(Oh, please say you are rolling over the depiction of Kate--pony tail, spit vomit, and the scarlet letter "K" on her chest!)

Christmas Eve, Santa was supposed to row into shore.  We were told 10am by the Marriott, so there we were, early to Kalipaki Beach, only to find out he was coming at 3pm.  I was planning to head home and come back later so we could get dinner prepared, but decided to let it go and we spent 6 hours at the beach with four other families.  6 seriously beautiful hours.  Brady joined us at about 1pm, and the day involved paddle boarding, talking with friends, lots of sand time with our kids, and even a little surf session on ankle-slapping waves.

 Selah has Kate wrapped around her finger.  Kate will do anything Selah does.  It reminds me of Kate with her girl cousins, and I'm so glad there's friends here who will lavish her with attention.

 Zac didn't even need a bribe to paddle board.  This was his best time out.

 My paddle boarding buddy, Hilary:

 Kate was thrilled when Tate and Shay showed, up, too, and more excited that they were willing to run up and down the beach with her.

 Santa finally made it with his entourage of elves.

 See that really, really white beard?  It looks real, huh?  You don't think that looks like white yarn.  He pulled it off.  (Sarcastic.)

 Zac snuck in to see Santa a second time just so we could get a picture.  I think this Santa made him a bit suspicious.

 Kate didn't miss a beat asking once again for her pink bike and barbie, please.

 We had the Clark family and Amanda and Jason over for Christmas Eve dinner.  Brady wanted the family tradition lasagne for dinner, so I cooked up a zucchini and eggplant from "Cook's Illustrated."  Delicious!  The impressive part was getting it done so fast.  Heidi added homemade breadsticks, and the kids decorated Christmas cookies.

After dinner, the kids reenacted the Nativity with Brady and Heidi calling the shots.  Shay gave birth to baby Jesus from her belly button.

Manger Scene:

Wise Man Ty:

Angel Kate:

Another Shepherd (see the candy cane?) Tate:

The lasagne box held a gift from the wise man:

 I love a full house on holidays so much.

I tried to buy pajamas, but the island was sold out.  (They were also sold out of lasagne noodles, but I finally found them at my 4th stop and bought the very last box.)  Instead, we gave our kids slippers, which was a good call because it's 61 degrees in my house right now and we are all chilled to the bone.

 Bunny slippers and monster slippers.

 Kate and Zac each left a cookie for the white bearded man, probably hoping that his beard was not made of yarn:

 Santa made it to our house after lots of effort, and left them a note.

 The kids went to bed so excited, they could hardly breathe--especially Zachary.  5 is a perfect Christmas age.

Zac Surfs, Christmas Parties, and Santa Comes to Town

 With all the sickness flying around our house at the beginning of December, we had a lot of time to do crafts.  A LOT.  We started making a bunch of Christmas trees, and I thought they'd be the perfect medium to do the "25 Acts of Service."  We wrote a small act of service on the back of each tree, and the kids were so excited to claim the tree when they completed the act.  Some of them were to participate in a Secret Santa, deliver treats to someone we haven't seen for a long time, make Dad a lunch, clean a bathroom, donate a toy, read a story to Kate, etc.  It was cute and we were lucky to get through all 25 by Christmas.

 Brady ran in and out of Kalalau on the 2nd Friday in December.  He did it with Nic, Spencer, Todd and a few other guys, including a guy writing up an article about it.  Brady was lucky and one of the only ones who came out of that 22 mile trail run without an injury.  The next day, he sent me to run and surf between three different Christmas events.

The next day, he sent me to run and surf between three different Christmas events.  The kids first went to a pancake breakfast fundraiser for Koloa Elementary.

Next up, playing at the bounce houses, free shave ice, face painting, and a Santa visit at Kauai Coffee.

While they played the day away, I attended Genevieve's annual Christmas Cookie Exchange.

Between the picture above and the picture below, taken a week earlier at our Christmas Book Club party, I realize two things:  1) I like stripes, and 2) I am so lucky to have good girlfriends.

Later that day, we attended our ward Christmas party, where Santa made an appearance.
Zachary and Kate were holding hands and singing "Christmas Bells" at the front of the room with all the primary kids, when Santa came in with a loud, "HO, HO, HO!"  Zac and Kate started jumping up and down.  It was so cute.  We stood in line to talk to him.  Kate willingly sat on his lap, and before he could even ask, she said, "Santa?  Will you please bring me a pink bike and a Barbie?"  Santa (a good friend of ours) said, "We'll have to see!  Have you been a good girl?"  Kate responded, "Yes I have!  And Santa?  You are my best friend.  I love you so much."

Zachary couldn't be outdone.  He told Santa, "I'm such a good boy.  I'm really nice to my sister, Kate.  She loves me a lot.  You remember that I was student of the month?  Did Ralphie tell you?  And did he tell you I can read now?"  (Ralphie is our elf, via Elf on the Shelf.)  Zachary was such a chatter box!

The next weekend, Brady had a lot of work to do for our house.  We decided to go to Hanalei and have our family outing early, and he went into work later that night.

 About 6 months ago, Zac took a big fall on some "scary" waves.  He has not wanted to surf since.  We told him he could have a scotcheroo treat if he surfed 5 waves.  He was so anxious, but he went out with Brady, and caught 12 rides!  We were so proud of him for doing it even when he did not want to.

 Love the piggies:

 This says "Merry Christmas" with a Christmas tree, but Kate sat right on the message.

 This is Frostina, our Christmas sandman.  Brady and the kids built her while I surfed.  This gal had many photo ops by lots and lots of people.

 We ran along the beach and played with sand balls while Brady surfed.  I think this pic screams joy.

When we got home, Zac finally got to build the gingerbread house.  He had asked to build it since November 30th, but candies and frosting do not last well in our humid climate.  He was most excited about the Santa and reindeer at the top of the tree.

A few days later, we attended yet another Christmas party, this time for Brady's work.  It was adults-only, so a chance to get dressy.  Yes, this is what dressy looks like in Kauai.  I promptly changed it to my FB profile pics, because I feel like I can count on my hands the number of Kauai pics I have without a swimsuit or workout clothes.