Santa!

Last night, we went to walk through all the christmas lights at Tilles Park with Luby, Anna and Sam. Everyone loved the lights. Even Henry - who thankfully turned a corner on his nasty cold the night before. The weather was perfect, chilly but not cold and thankfully dry.

After a loop around the park, we got to get in line for Santa. Luckily, because it was dark, Ruby and Sam could not see what we were waiting for. Santa was in a giant sleigh (looked real in the dark but I didn't look that closely) and whoever wanted to could get up in his sleigh for photos that you got to take yourself, and of course, gift requests. When I asked Ruby what she wanted to tell Santa to bring her for christmas, she asked him for Christmas. Sweet. Santa promised he could deliver. When it was Sam's turn he was a little scared at first so Luby got in with him. Samson just stared at Santa - which made for a very cute picture. They also had a real reindeer right there that you could pet, but Ruby just chose to look at him. He seemed really small for a deer but had really big antlers. neat-o.

Afterwards, we went to Bandanna's barbecue because it was right around the corner and Luby said it was fast and they would tolerate the kids. Ruby and Sam were pretty good for the first 30 minutes which is all we really needed to stay. Then they started running around a little but not being too loud. I'm pretty sure that Ruby was trying to teach Samson how to play tag. Luckily, we were pretty much in our own section. It was about 8 o clock on a Sunday night.

It was a really really nice time. I'm so glad that we got to do the Santa thing outside of a mall. We might still go see him in a couple of other non commercial places.

So far when anyone asks, all Ruby's asked for is a teddy bear and when the question is pressed, she's asked for another "baby" (doll). Though, earlier this year, she went through this phase of "I just keep wishing for a computer." Finally, we hooked her up with an old laptop so she can type away on notepad. I guess it helps her with recognizing letters out of order. She now has her own desk on a shelf below mine. I thought that she was actually wishing for a portable dvd player like Cameron's, but I guess not. It looks like we'll have at least one more year of festivities without greed. (Yay!)

Sickness

For the second time since we've moved, Ruby, Henry and I all have colds. Henry has it the worst again and it's just plain miserable. Doing my best to keep it together. Thanksgiving is coming with back to back dinner parties. I'm sure we'll be fine. I just wish I had more energy this weekend to finish unpacking.

This week Ruby wrapped up her "my first school" at the magic house. We decided to re-enroll for the winter as several other parents are as well and she really likes it.

Ruby woke up this morning wanting to comb her hair. It has seriously become one of her favorite things to do. She also is really into brushing her own teeth. She always has done the brushing, but now she likes to get out the toothpaste and the whole nine herself.

She's really facinated with electricity. She loves to flip switches, especially on the lamps. And she's always wanting to plug and unplug things. Plus, we're always having to recharge things. I've tried lots of ways of trying to explain how electricity works to her, but finally she explained it to me. Apparently, in her world, electrons are jelly beans and all the lamps and computers are eating jelly beans when they are plugged in. And when batteries run low, it's because they need more jelly beans. I guess my parents have given her jelly beans at some point.

My mom has taken her to the dreaded McDonalds twice now. Once to eat in and once to the drive through for a sundae. Since the very first time, she's been able to recognize the iconic architecture no matter where we are and has asked to go back. Today I finally started telling her flat out that we don't go there because they are mean to animals at McDonalds and their food is bad for you. We'll see if it makes a difference.

Poor Henry is waking up again. He can't get decent sleep with this cold. Poor little guy.