Dear Santa,

I read a great blog about how to handle Santa/continual gift request/commercial bombardment with kids and we implemented it this year. I had Mattie sit down and write out a Santa list before Christmas. We "mailed it" and I told her I would share it with people who might want to buy her a present, but not to expect everything on her list. Now every time we are anywhere and she sees something she is DYING TO HAVE and REALLY WANTS I remind her that her list is mailed, and she says, oh yeah maybe next year. Seriously, it is so easy it is genius. And we were able to pretty much finish our small amount of shopping before Thanksgiving too, which means we can avoid the hysteria at the mall. 

Don't my rascals look cute in their Santa shirts from Aunt Sherry!

Mattie's says, "Dear Santa, I can explain." Perfect for her right now! She can "explain" anything. This morning, I watched her stick her leg out to try and knock Ben down when he ran by. And then she told me she was just exercising. Yes, for real.

This morning we went to our mall to see this amazing train exhibit that is on display every Christmas season. It is so intricate, and they have models of Dallas, New York, San Francisco, the White House. All of which is pretty lost on the kids, but they enjoy it still :)

I was so tired from the physical workout of handling Ben at the mall I had to come home and nap. I had to chase him and manhandle him all over the place, but he had fun. He enjoyed the trains expect he was very frustrated that he could not get in an actually play with them. Poor Ben!

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