It's ALMOST Christmas...

This holiday season went by FAST.  Still, it provided many memorable moments with my six year-old who absolutely adores Santa.  Here are just a few silly stories that I want to remember for years to come...

1) Four Santas - Yes, Lewie had a chance to meet Santa FOUR times this year.  The first two times were on purpose, and the second two times were purely by accident.  Our first sighting of Santa was on "The Train to Christmas Town" in Cape Cod.  There, Santa was quite busy visiting all the children on the train, so Lewie was disappointed when he felt he couldn't adequately sit down with Santa and tell him EVERYTHING he wanted.  None-the-less, it felt magical.

Lewie then, by accident, saw Santa at my place of work.  We had a Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony, and Lewie spotted Santa running one of the booths.  Well, Lewie made a mad dash for the booth to tell Santa the rest of the toys that were on his list.  "Oh, okay little boy," was Santa's response.

Our third meet and greet with Santa was at the mall.  I wanted a picture for our Christmas card this year, and Lewie agreed to wait with me in line.  It was a brief visit, but Lewie felt confident he had enough time to meet with Santa, and I got the Christmas picture I wanted...

Meeting number four happened in Walmart.  I was rushing to exchange some Christmas lights that weren't working and Lewie spotted Santa from practically a mile away.  "Mommy, it's Santa!  It's Santa!" Lewie screamed.   "Lewie, you've already met him three times," I insisted.  Guess who won?

2) The Christmas Star - On our first (Santaless) visit to Walmart, Lewie came with me to pick out some outside Christmas lights.  Being the happy, spirited little boy that he is, he chose strings of multi-colored Christmas lights (that really do match his personality).  When we were ready to leave, he spotted a "Christmas Star" for the top of the tree.  "Mommy, we need a star," he insisted.  I picked out two elegant type starts, but Lewie knew what he wanted.  "Not those," he said, "I want this one."  It was a multi-colored star that lights up blue, red, yellow and green.  I grudgingly bought it, but soon changed my tune when we brought it home.  Lewie couldn't wait for us to put the Christmas Star on the tree, and now, every morning when he wakes up, he asks that we put the tree lights on so he can see the star.  A few times he's also sat alone quietly in the living room just to gaze at his beautiful star.  I love that kid!

Our colorful star...

3)   Lewie's Little Table Top Tree - My mom used to set up a little artificial Christmas tree in my bedroom every year when I was growing up.  I had my own special ornaments, and I'll admit that I loved having my bedroom decorated for Christmas.  This year, I saw a cute little table top Christmas tree at the supermarket, and I bought it on a whim...  I wasn't sure if my son would enjoy having his own Christmas tree like I did as a little girl, but I thought there was no harm in finding out...  We set it up in his bedroom, and it turned out that Lewie LOVED his little tree.  In fact, where I thought we would just decorate it with some ornaments, Lewie insisted that it needed Christmas lights too.  We spent an hour decorating it, and afterwards, Lewie commented, "Mommy, Santa will be so proud of my tree!"

4)  Tootie (The Elf on the Shelf) - Now I'll admit that Tootie our Christmas Elf has been a little lackadaisical this year.  He moved a total of four times--from our bedroom hallway, to two places in our living room, to the Christmas tree.  Still, he's been watching, and I've been reminding Lewie every time he misbehaves.
Lewie:  "But Mommy, I don't want to get dressed for school."
Me:       "Oh, Tootie.  I think you need to report back to Santa that this little boy doesn't want to go to school."
Lewie:  "Oh, I do. I do. I do."

It works like a charm every time.   I'm going to miss Tootie.

"Tootie" has been with us for four Christmas's now."