T'was the night before Christmas...

The other night when Reilly and I were getting ready for bed, I could sense that he wanted to hear a story.  

With Christmas on my mind, I decided to tell him one of the most recited Christmas stories:

T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

Wait a second.... 

Sugar-plums?!?!  What kid in their right mind dreams of sugar-plums?

I have NEVER had a dream about sugar-plums, and I certainly wouldn't the night before Christmas.

Now that's more like it...

Pretty sure if he could speak he would be saying,
"Please stop torturing me!"

Did any of you notice that the price tag is still on the footie pajamas that I got from the kids department at Target for Reilly to wear?

Yup.

That's why you always wash your clothes before wearing them.

T-minus 20 days until Christmas...

Santa Snowman

What do you do when you go to the dollar store and see some hideous Santa decorations? You buy them and force your parents to take pictures.

It sort of looks like a snowman made
out of Santa faces.

And as if holding Santa masks wasn't weird enough, I decided we should step it up a notch on the creep-o-meter and stick out our tongues.

I'm not sure if I look more like my
mom or my dad, but it is clear that I
got my tongue from my mom.

In other Santa/Snowman news: Is anyone else concerned about the subliminal messages being told to children in Frosty the Snowman?

T-minus 21 days until Christmas...

Confession

Ten years ago Santa approached me and asked me to join his company, North Pole Limited. After completing an extensive elf training program I was assigned to the Minnesota territory.

Until now, I haven't told anyone about this, but now that the elf is out of the bag, I want to invite you all in for a glimpse of what my life is every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

For proprietary reasons, I can't let you inside my workshop, but there are no rules about showing you the outside.

It's a myth that all the work is done at the North Pole.
There are actually mini-workshops all across the world
and I am the Director of Gadget Creation in the
Minneapolis Division.

Not to brag, but you can thank me for SkyMall.

My friend Jana tried to get a peak inside, but I caught
her in time. Someone just got added to the naughty list.

I rarely go out in to public wearing my uniform,
but I really needed to talk to my boss and I heard
he was at the mall.

These four are elves in training.

Every elf 's training starts out as Mall Santa Security
Guard. It gives Santa a chance to see how they work
with children. Only 1 in every 1225 applicants
make it to the next step in the training program.

T-minus 22 days until Christmas...