Christmas
I miss the days of waking up super early on Christmas morning to see what Santa had brought. But this year I realized that I get to experience that nervous excitement once again through Sarah.

When she woke up Christmas morning she was more interested in getting a "Sarah cookie" (aka a Hershey Kiss) for using the potty than finding out what Santa had left her. But as she entered the living room I asked her, "Did Santa come?" She stopped dead in her tracks, looked over to the presents and her jaw hit the floor. I wish I had gotten a picture of it!

Needless to say, she was so excited about her Santa present (yep, just one, but it has a ton of parts to it - a play kitchen) that we practically had to shove her wrapped presents under her nose so she would open them. She'd tear into them, make some small comment and turn back to the play kitchen. ;)

She cooked for us all day long! When it was nap time I said, "It's time for a nap," to which she replied, "I'm cooking now, Mommy!" And she wanted to take the kitchen to bed with her that night (it's taller than she is), but instead we let her take some of the play food with her. She thought that was quite acceptable. ;)

New Pictures
Finally posted the pictures from the North Pole Express ride here.

Plus, a bonus pic of Sarah dressed up as the Green Goblin from Spiderman.

Why won't Santa talk to me?
Yesterday afternoon Sarah and I had to run some errands before heading home. We stopped by our local CVS to look for Xmassy plastic sandwich bag thingies (they didn't have any in case you're wondering). As soon as we walked in the door we saw an animatronic Santa which stood a little higher than Sarah. Apparently it has motion sensors somewhere in its body because it started to talk when people walked by.

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!" said Santa. Sarah's eyes grew the size of dinner plates.

"Look Mommy! It's Santa," she shrieked loud enough for the pharmacist to hear. She began to flap her arms excitedly, dancing in place. "Hey Santa! Hey! Hey Santa, over here."

Santa started to sing "Jingle Bells."

"Santa! Hi Santa! Hey Santa! Mommy, why won't he talk to me?"

"That's not the real Santa, honey. That's a pretend Santa." At this point Sarah's bottom lip was sticking out as she showed off her most dejected look - it's very effective. But the singing Santa didn't care. He continued to cheerfully sing Christmas carols. "Come on, let's go look for our stuff. We'll come see him later." Sarah faked a sniffle and took my hand, looking over her shoulder at Santa as we walked away.

On the way out she tried to get Santa to talk to her again, but of course he wouldn't. She sadly waved good-bye to him with the most pitiful look on her face. Made me want to go punch the creepy thing in the face. Stupid ole Santa-tron!

Sarah cheered up as soon as we exited the drugstore when I told her we were going to make cookies. Cookies always make things better. :)

Fun-filled weekend
We had a very fun and very full weekend. Saturday afternoon four of Sarah cousins came over for a while. They range in age from 3 to 11. Whew! They proceeded to play with every toy in Sarah's room, run willy-nilly through the house and have super fun!

Saturday evening Sarah, Daddy and I went on the North Pole Express down in Calera at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum. You board the train (about four cars together) and take about a 15 minute ride to the "North Pole." Snacks are provided (cookies and chocolate milk) and a lady read "Polar Express" over the intercom during the ride. Once you arrive at the "North Pole," Santa, Mrs. Claus and a couple of elves board the train. At this point every kid on the train is going bonkers! "SANTA! SANTA!" The jolly fat man makes his rounds to each car, taking pictures, hugging kids and signing copies of "Polar Express." Meanwhile, the kids are still going bananas! Sarah literally jumped into Mrs. Claus' arms! After Santa leaves, the train heads back to the depot and the lady on the intercom plays a guitar & sings carols. Santa's "elves" passed out jingle bells (that was loud - a million jingle bells ringing in your ears) and presents to all the kids. In all, it was about 2 hours of fun. Sarah had a great time with her friends from school! Maybe we can get Lauren and Eliot to go with us next year.

Sunday evening we invited Lauren and her parents for dinner (since we missed Lauren's birthday party Saturday night). The two girls got to sit at their very own table. They were so excited to be together that they didn't eat much. After taking at least a few bites they both got a piece of cake and took that downstairs to eat and watch "Sleeping Beauty." It wasn't long, however, before they came back upstairs to talk to us or tell on each other. Heheh, silly kids!

She really cracks me up
Every weekday morning, Sarah watches The Learning Channel while I'm getting ready for work. She does really well sitting downstairs alone drinking juice, eating a breakfast snack and singing and dancing to the music of "Hi 5" - one of the programs on at that time.

This morning I was gathering my clothes together when I heard her calling me. I looked down the stairs and saw that she was goofing off on the couch - her feet were sticking up in the air and her top half was on the floor. There was a muffled "oof" as her legs followed her torso. "I okay, Mommy," she assured me.

"Good. What is it, honey?" I asked. She ran to the bottom of the stairs.

"It's impossible!"

"What is?"

"The couch!"

"Why?"

"It makes me fall off!"

I couldn't do anything but laugh. She "grrred" at me and yelled "Just go take a shower, Mommy!" and ran back to the couch. What a nut!

Christmas Lights
I guess it was last week that Sarah first noticed the early Christmas lights people have put on their houses as we drove home from school. As we passed the Donneley house et al. she let out a great "WOW!"

"Look Mommy! Christmas Day! Christmas Day is here!"

Naturally she wants to see more as we drive on. So every day I try to go home a different way to see what we can find. The Piggly Wiggly on Clairmont has their lights blazing, a house on the corner of 42nd and Clairmont has a Santa in their yard, some apartments by the golf course are spectacular and have a giant blow-up snowman, and there's a little gingerbread style house at the bottom of Rushton Park with a wonderful and tasteful display. I know a great neighborhood where all the houses decorate their yards, but it's way out in Roebuck. I think we can make a special trip this year... just for her. :)

Ole!
Last night the Lampheres invited us to eat dinner with them at their favorite local Mexican Restaurant. Sarah was very excited when I told her we were going to have dinner with Lauren. She gave a little gasp and said, "I gotta change clothes, Mommy! Gotta get dressed!" and ran upstairs. And she wanted to wear PANTS! For the first time in many months she actually wore pants!

The girls had a great time sitting next to each other, sharing the cheese dip and talking. But the real fun was when the mariachi band came to our table. The two monkeys jumped up and danced their little hearts out - even after the band moved off to other areas of the restaurant. Soon the dancing turned into a chase around and around the table. Normally I would have curbed that activity, but no one else seemed to mind and it was a good way for them to burn off that extra energy.

All the way home Sarah kept saying that she wanted her Lauren and that she was her best friend. She sacked out pretty quickly once she was in bed. It worked!

I wonder if she had dreams of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" mariachi-style and running around tables with Lauren. :)