Christmas 2011 Top 10

10. Santa came! He came!


9. Presents galore


8. Keeping the boys entertained/distracted with new toys for all of 5 minutes


7. All the boys in cute fuzzy pajamas with feet


6. No words needed for this one


5. Cole's look of complete shock to learn that he was on the "Nice" list

4. Family time 'round the tree


3. Knowing that Santa brought exactly what the boys wanted and seeing their faces light up with each gift

2. Listening to Charlie walking around saying, "Ho ho ho"

1. Wearing Dean out to the point of exhaustion. We win!

BMOC

A friend of ours works for the county and invited the boys to the FOP's breakfast with Santa this weekend.

They were completely blown away by the fact that there were donut holes with sprinkles on them. Little did they know that Mr. Claus himself was waiting upstairs.


I don't know if Ry was crashing from his donut-filled sugar rush or if he was just in awe, but something about Santa's lap made him go completely limp.


Cole was pretty much beside himself and could barely even get his wish list out. I ended up translating for poor Santa - apparently he'd never heard of Plo Koon's starship.

When we left the boys were screaming, "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" to everyone they passed - I think they've officially caught the spirit of the season.

Fa La La La La

On Saturday we hopped on the West Chester Railroad Christmas Train. They have guys playing banjos and everyone sings Christmas carols, then the big man himself makes an appearance.


I'm pretty sure Phil took this picture, although you'd think that it was one of the boys based on the composition (he cut the head off poor Santa).

The train goes to the Glen Mills station and back - once you get to the station everyone lines up to sit with Santa. Cole asked for a truck, Ry played shy, Dean slept, and Charlie fa-reaked out.

The next day we went to cut down our Christmas tree. Ironically, the Christmas Train drove by right when we got to the farm.

Here's our tree in its natural habitat (with Charlie semi-mooning the camera)...

Here Ryan and Phil cut it down...

...and here she sits all lit up in the house.

The idea of decorating the tree played out much more romantically in my head than it happened in real life.

In my head there were carols playing softly in the background as I explained the significance of each ornament to a captive audience. In real life, Cole broke glass all over the floor, Ry got the lights tangled up, and Charlie splashed in the tree stand water.

'Tis the season to be jolly!

On The Good Ship Lollipop

Ry asked to make his Christmas/Hannukah list today:


He gets a thumbs up for the Philly pride, however his cousin gets a thumbs down for introducing him to the [*expensive*] world of DS. At least he didn't include the iPhone that he petitioned for the other day. He's 5. Puh-lease.

We asked Cole what was on his list. His reply: "Pretty flowers and a blanket covered with lollipops."

Clearly feeling the need for a manlier response, he followed up with: "But I want Superman and Iron Man to be holding the lollipops."

No words.