Santa Claus Came To Our Town!

We had a big day yesterday. The girls were all smiles on the way to Paprika's preschool. (Don't worry- I was parked when I took these pictures!)



Paprika made a Gingerbread House at school.

Here is the Before:



The Supplies:



And the After:



She was really proud of her gingerbread house, and rightly so, I might add! It was sweet! ;-)

Paprika was really excited because I had told her earlier in the day that Santa Claus himself would be stopping by later that evening. It's a yearly tradition in our town for Santa to visit every child who celebrates Christmas. All through the month of December, he arrives block by block on a large float with reindeer, elves, and a big sleigh. This is our first year living here, so I had no idea what to expect.

Paprika wrote Santa a letter that she wanted to give him to express her feelings. It was kind of a Charlie Brown letter, if you know what I mean (more scribbles than real words)...but it got the job done.



She read it aloud to me as she wrote:

Dear Santa,

I love you. Thank you for my Princess Tiana dress last year. It is beautiful! This year I would like an Anastasia dollie for me and a teddy bear for my baby sister. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, Santa. I love you!

Love,
Paprika


With the letter written and out of the way, we started decorating a giant gingerbread cookie as we waited for Santa to arrive.



Ginger helped some.



But mostly she just wanted to feed the candy topping to Paprika!



The chief artist was very focused on her work:



Ta-Da! The finished project!



Then we read Christmas books by the tree.



And then Santa came on his float! We heard him coming because his sleigh was playing Christmas music!



Paprika and Ginger were not too sure about him at first. Paprika got really shy all of a sudden, and within moments, Ginger burst into tears.



But a few minutes later, Paprika got up the courage to go back and talk to Santa again. She wanted to give him her letter and some of the cookies we had baked for him that morning.



Then, Paprika suggested we go on a walking tour of our neighborhood to see the Christmas lights and decorations.



Well, I was walking. They were riding in comfort! Ha!



We saw some great ones up-close and personal.



They couldn't get enough of the ones that moved animatronically. They thought those were the bees knees. Or the dog's bark. Something like that!



Then, we caught back up to Santa because Paprika said she wanted to give him a hug and thank him for her presents last year (I guess she forgot to thank him the first time around).

So, I ran straight uphill three blocks (with about 70 pounds in the stroller, I might add!) so she could see him again.

It was worth it!



Then, these happy girls were ready to head home.



But not ready to head to bed!



Paprika went into her bedroom and put on her ballet clothes and both girls gave me a dance recital. And of course, Paprika told me that she wants to go back to ballet school (even though a week ago she begged me to withdraw her). She's been reading a lot of Angelina Ballerina this past week (I got her 12 Angelina Ballerina books on Ebay)...so now she wants to be called Angelina Ballerina and go to a ballet school like Miss Lilly's! Oh my.

Chalk it up to the magic of being four. Your whole world can change on a moment's notice, and there is so much excitement, wonder, and promise in the littlest of life's pleasures.

It was a wonderful night, the kind that makes everything seem right in the world- if only for a little while!