Drive In Wedding

And here we are, celebrating yet another milestone that has had to drastically change during these crazy times. We've known the bride and groom since they were in elementary school. We've had the pleasure of working with them in the areas of music and photography and general church youth things. Their wedding was planned before COVID was what it is now, but rather than let that get them down or cancel their wedding, they just shifted and made an unforgettable drive-in wedding. 

Maddux and Ruby were still part of the wedding party that walked down the outdoor aisle, only to return to our car. 

Eli and Lehr were dapper guests, dressed to the nines. 

(I was shooting, so I was able to have a front row seat to the entire day.) 

It was not what the couple planned on, but I can say it is a wedding our family will always remember!

Pirate & Princess Ball

Ruby has received many gifts, honors and recognition in the last 18 months because of her battle with cancer. Lehr and I are always humbled and usually feel awkward accepting any of these because it all seems too generous or unnecessary or something. But when I step back and view it from the outside - when I see someone else going through something similar - I want to give the same praise, love, recognition, so we try to be as gracious as possible.

Last night Ruby was one of eight honored guests at the Pirate & Princess Ball, benefiting Team in Training (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). That meant that she and her family were invited to attend the event for free and be recognized 'on stage' with a gift basket. Lehr and Maddux had other obligations, so Eli, Ruby and I represented. 

I was a little apprehensive about the evening, given it's later start time (7PM) and the fact that I may be chasing Ruby around and wrangling her all night, in heels, but the Ball held a secret weapon unbeknownst to us: Princesses. Shortly after we arrived, Belle and Cinderella showed up and Ruby was mesmerized. She never let them out of her sight all night, and her greeting them for the first time was SO cool. She was humble and quiet - like she was greeting royalty or something. Once the ice was broken, she still gave them mad respect, but she danced and walked and held hands until we left just before 10PM.

When they called Ruby up, she ran through the aisle to the director and even grabbed the mic. No stage fright there! Ruby's former physical therapist was in attendance and was so kind to grab this video of the stunner on stage.

Ruby's Three

Three years...that flew by! This girl has taught us so much about ourselves, our family, and the world around us in those three years. I have a good feeling that she's just getting started too!

The kids and I made her pancakes for her birthday breakfast and then she opened her gift from them (a matchbox car race ramp which she LOVES). We hung around the house playing with her water table and toys most of the day. After her nap, we had pizza (her choice) and then the real fun began.

For Ruby's birthday, we opted to not have a big blowout party, but because so many people love our girl, we wanted to include them somehow in the celebration. Rather than cake, we did ice cream cones (because they are Ruby's FAVORITE), and invited friends in our neighborhood to join us. Lehr also set up a live feed on Facebook so family and friends could watch online.

We had several families over, resulting in over two dozen ice cream cones. I think Ruby's favorite part of the whole night was the birthday song. She got SO excited when we started, and she totally sang her own version along with us.

Ruby's Birthday

We got up at our usual time on the morning of Ruby's birthday (a Sunday), but stayed at the house to celebrate and do gifts instead of going to the early service. We figured the later service attendance would allow for more family time before Ruby's afternoon nap.

The kids were SO excited to give her their gift: a water table. We spent almost a full hour playing with it on the deck before leaving for church. Ruby could not have been more thrilled with her gift, and Eli and Maddux had a blast playing with it too.

While we had a huge gathering for Ruby's first birthday, this mama is not one to pull something like that off more than once every few years. Add to that, an already busy schedule for the the weekend of Ruby's second birthday led us to keeping things very low-key. We went to the pool after her nap and brought cupcakes for anyone who wanted to sing to the birthday girl.

We had been practicing blowing with pursed lips for a while and she mastered the skill just in time for the candles. She sat pretty intrigued while everyone sang to her and then she blew her two candles out. I opted to hold the cupcake for her instead of letting her at it...I was fairly certain she'd wear more of it than she would consume.

Ruby had a blast at the pool, as she always does. She worked so hard in the both the baby and big pool though that she wore herself out. Fairly soon after we did cupcakes, she snuggled up to Kelly and all but passed out.

Ruby's First Shindig

When Lehr and I started to plan Ruby's first birthday, we initially thought of keeping things small, as I usually prefer to do. But individually, the wheels started turning for both of us in the direction of including much more of the larger "Team Ruby". That type of thing always stresses me out because we do not have a basement or any other adequate space in our house to host such events. Even with our plan of the backyard as location, the threat of rain is always a factor. Lehr assured me that summertime travel and weekend schedules would keep our numbers small, so we'd be lucky to have even half of our invite list attend.

After one day, five families had already responded 'yes', and halfway through the week, we were up to ten.

The night before her party, only one family had responded in the negative and our number was 51. AND the forecast was for rain.

Thankfully for my sanity, we woke up to a breezy but sunny morning. Grandpa Jim and I blew up 50 helium balloons and put them all around the yard. We set out muffins, protein bars and fruit cups on the back porch and hung a few clothes lines of Ruby pictures for decoration.

Starting at 9:30, all of Ruby's guests arrived and enjoyed our outside accommodations while Lehr and I tried to make the rounds with her. We centered her high chair in the midst of her fan club and let her have her own cake. She was very observant and quiet during the whole singing and candle blowing fanfare; I can only imagine how confusing that must be! Regarding her response to the cake, she didn't have much of one. She slowly and methodically picked up pieces of frosting and sometimes a little cake and ate them, very much like she would any other food. The kids surrounded her for the whole process; they wouldn't even be swayed by a cupcake of their own!

We let her go at it for about thirty minutes until most of her guests started to clear out. When we took her out of her chair, much clean up was necessary, as she had the orange frosting everywhere. The timing worked out perfectly for her to sleep off the party excitement just after the last guest left.

When Ruby woke up, the kids were chomping at the bit for her to open her presents. They each got her a personalized stuffed 'doll'. (They drew themselves and I found a woman to create a doll based on their drawings.)

All joking aside, Lehr and I were so amazed and humbled by the response to Ruby's party. Most of the families that came had one, if not two, other commitments that day, but they still made sure to come by, even if just to see Ruby and her cake. The amount of love and support we have felt from Team Ruby is unparalleled and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect celebration.

Eli's Party

Eli has been planning his 8th Birthday party for months. When he turned 6, we rented a local indoor soccer field and he had about 18 kids join him in a huge soccer game, all the while raising money to buy soccer balls to send to Kenya. It was a blast and one of the most memorable birthdays we've had in our family. This year, Eli wanted to play flag football. Then he wanted to play baseball. Then he decided on whiffle ball. Back and forth, around and around, but the core idea was the same: he wanted boys and their dads to get together to play some sports.

Since we've been very last minute this summer, the party didn't come together until a week before it happened. Eli decided on flag football, with a possible side of kickball. We rented the same space and bought some flags in preparation for the big event. Because we were so last minute, we only ended up with about 8 of Eli's friends (plus Maddux), but he didn't mind. The boys (and dads) played football, then kickball, then soccer before having ice cream sundaes on the sidelines. We got water bottles for all of the boys, and Eli asked for donations for charity:water instead of gifts. He raised about $300. WOW! We had several conversations about donations vs. gifts, and in the end, he was very excited about the amount that was raised. He checked his website daily to see if anyone else had contributed and updated us all each time the numbers increased.

Mothers' Day

The kids treated me right, each making me a cool card and showering me with love, breakfast and flowers. (Eli made me a cool book at school, as well.)

It was a very rainy day, so after church we came back home instead of hiking or biking somewhere fun. I had many organizational things that needed to be done, and as 'un-fun' as that sounds, being able to do them uninterrupted was all the gift I needed that afternoon. Lehr took the kids out front and played in the rain for an hour or so. And since he is the best dad ever, he also created a very functional, slippery slip-n-slide. He cut up some old ground cover and pulled out the soap...the rest is history. The kids ran up and down the hill time after time, slipping, sliding, and having an absolute blast.

Easter Weekend

This weekend was a full one! The kids wanted to take me to SkyZone for my birthday last month, but at the last minute, Eli came down with a fever. We pushed off the plans until we could find a day with an opening, but unfortunately it was this last (busy) Easter/Spring Break weekend. We had a great time, but the crowds meant that we could only jump for an hour. Eli mostly stuck at the Dodgeball area, dodging balls at the back of the back rather than risking jumping out in front to actually THROW the ball. Maddux stuck with me and alternated between stunt jumps into the pit and open jump. We had a blast!

On Sunday we attended church and then played in the front yard; the weather was amazing! The kids were excited to find that we'd made 'fancy dinner' reservations too, as a birthday redo/Easter celebration. We took the kids to Sotto Sotto, one of our long time favorite restaurants. We ordered a few appetizers and a few entrees and shared it all. Even though my kids both love southern Italian food best (aka red sauce 'stuff'), they tried everything and definitely enjoyed the risotto and mussels.

Santa Claus

Just a warning....this is what is going on in my head 24/7 these days. This is all just a stream of thoughts that are ending up in the same post, in no real order.

If you know me, you may think I'm a Grinch. I am not a fan of the premise behind the adorable elves everyone has in their house. I cringe each time someone asks my kids if they've been good this year and what did they ask Santa for. And I ask friends and family over and over again to 'back off' on the gifts. I'm not trying to defend myself, but I do want to let you know where I'm coming from.

For our family, Santa's always come with three gifts for each of the kids. Nothing big, usually a book or a small toy or a game. If (and I mean if) there is a 'big' item under the tree, it's been from Lehr and I. And we only give the kids one gift. When we talk about Santa, the truth about who Saint Nicholas was is the basis of our conversation; Santa was a SAINT who gave gifts to orphans.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas and all things traditionally representing the holiday. I believe in the good of Santa and the joy he can add to the season. I have many Santa decorations all over my house and I smile every time I see his face around the holidays. And I also love the concept of suspending reality in honor of innocently believing in some magic, Christmas or otherwise.

What I do not like is the frenzy that Santa (the distorted version, if you will) can cause in kids and parents. I'm sure most families in America have children that receive gifts from their immediate family, their extended family, family friends, etc. Do we REALLY need one more 'person' to give them gifts in excess? How many times have you looked around at all of the gifts you had to wrap, or looked around the tree after the gifts were unwrapped and though, "Where did all of this stuff come from?!" (Can I get a "STOP THE INSANITY"?)

Now I'm just rambling, and I'm so high up on my soap box that I can't even see the ground... I don't claim to have all of the answers or even some of the right ones; Lehr and I are working through parenting just like everyone else. But when I see my kids get involved in picking out gifts for other families we adopt around the holidays, or when I see them get excited about making gifts or cards for loved ones in lieu of store-bought gifts, I know that throwing that away in order to play up a Santa that spoils them would just be a disservice. And then I read a blog like this and realize that we are not alone in our quest, and that makes me happy.

So are we doing Santa this year? Yes. The kids will each get three gifts, unwrapped, from the fat man in a red suit. Hopefully what they will get from St. Nicholas is love and compassion for the families they helped me shop for. Will we do Santa next year? The jury is still out....

Independence Day

Always such a busy weekend, with Mad Dog's birthday and Independence day back-to-back, but always a fun one too. The morning starts early with me leaving before the sun rises to catch MARTA for the race. Lehr gets the kids up shortly after that so they can eat and head down to watch the race. I'd never have thought that two young kids would enjoy watching countless runners go past them, but Lehr assures me they sit in a trance and just stare. They got there before the first runners came by, so Eli and Maddux got to see a few wheelchair racers and the police line, all from a front-row seat. My favorite part of the race is when I get to see them and come over to say 'hi', of course. Nothing more motivating than that!

After the race, we went to breakfast with D before heading to Krog Tunnel for some fun pictures. I didn't have the correct lens for the light, but it was still worthwhile. Even after all of that excitement, we still gt home by 11AM. Some birthday gift play time and lunch followed before we all took big big naps. Given how early everyone got up and the fact that we still had fireworks ahead of us, sleep was in order.

I got up around 4PM and was informed by D that the firework display we planned on seeing had actually taken place the night before. Luckily we were able to find one that was near our house, not too crowded, but equally as impressive as the downtown shows. A friend joined us on the golf course to watch and we all had a blast playing with the kids. We parked our towels right near a hill. Maddux and Eli alternated running down and rolling down the hill for a good hour with other kids. Then it got a little dark, so the sparklers and glo-bracelets came out. Finally the 'real' show. Even though it was loud, both kids loved it. No melt downs. No nightmares. Lots of fun.

Mad Dog's Birthday

What a fun day. What a fun weekend!! Maddux woke up all kinds of excited on Saturday. It was HER day and she knew it! Regardless of what we said all day long, her response was, "But it's my birf-day!" We ate a quick breakfast and ran an errand before diving into her gifts. She got a few of her favorite books from Eli, some great clothes from Grandmas and Great-Grandmas, wooden, magnetic dress-up dolls from Grandma Caffee, and a tea set and Tinkerbell dress-up outfit from Lehr and I. She loved everything. She wore some clothes and the Tinkerbell dress, read the books, and served tea to the wooden dolls. Good stuff.

Since we're currently nomadic, we had to improvise a bit for Maddux's party. We're still in the mode of 'low-key' birthday parties; we have any in-town family and a just a few close family friends join us for the fun. Maddux was very excited to have her party at the pool this year. Thank goodness the weather cooperated!! After a quick nap, we loaded up the car with lots of food, pool toys and sunscreen and headed back 'down south' to our neighborhood pool. Friends and family arrived shortly after and we were all in the pool the rest of the day. Lots and lots of jumping off of the diving board: Daddy and D got in on the action as well. Maddux made her rounds around the pool, checking in with neighborhood friends she hadn't seen in a few days, and Eli did his best to splash as much water out of the pool with his cannon balls as possible. We ate dinner and had cupcakes immediately afterwards. Maddie had asked for a pink flower cake (similar to last year). This was music to my ears as it was an easy one (made with cupcakes), and because transporting a 'real' cake would have been difficult. (That being said, the day before her birthday, Mad Dog told me, "I think I want a beautiful butterfly cake instead." Sorry...too late!!)

More socializing and pool-fun before Maddux opened her gifts. She got some play-dough, more books, glow-in-the-dark bracelets and a puzzle. Seriously every possible thing she could have wished for. As the center of attention all day, Maddux enjoyed the limelight and love. Life is good.

Easter Egg Hunt

What a day! Grandma Cathie left early this morning and the kids and I fell right back into our routing. Eli went to school while Maddux and I played and then went to the gym. Eli earned himself 'blue' at school, capping off an awesome week. I urged the kids to take a nap because we had our neighborhood Easter Celebration right after the elementary kids got home from school. Of course they didn't listen. Maddie maybe got one hour and Eli didn't snooze at all. When the jumpy castle was dropped off in our driveway, he was quick to come outside with me to set it up. No hesitation there! Of course it helped that his friend from school arrived with the inflatable... As soon as we had things under control I went inside to get Maddux, who was singing in her crib.

So kids arrived, cookies were iced and eaten, and all that was left was the Easter egg hunt. The main one (3-6 years old) is held in our yard each year. (Eli and Mad Dog love that because it means we find random eggs for months to follow.) Both kids put their toes on the line, ready for the all-clear sign to be thrown. I think Eli collected 18 eggs (the max) and Maddie got about a dozen. Both were very happy with their findings.

More jumping and general playing followed. Maddie stuck in the jumpy castle a bit longer than Eli because the little girl from up the street (maybe just two years old?) was in there also. Maddux felt she had to protect her, especially when she started to cry. Never mind the fact that she was upset was probably due to Maddie's suffocating presence.

The Easter Bunny made an appearance at some point also. This would usually cause major issues for Maddux, as she is not a fan of masks, wigs or other disfiguring costumes. This year she silently followed him (her) around for a while, encouraging other kids to go hug him/her, but keeping her distance. I coaxed her to give the bunny a high five at one point, and less than five minutes later, Maddie hugged him/her! Big success!

Before the whole afternoon started, Eli and I were in his room for room time. He was gazing out the window, checking things out, even though nothing was happening yet. Then Eli looked at me and said, "Mom, you know what's funny about this? I can't find any eggs in our yard! I guess they never put the eggs there, huh?" Funny stuff....

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

The kids were SO excited about my birthday. Not sure if it was the promise of cake, or the chance that a present might be for them or what, but they were so ready for this day to arrive. Eli has been telling me for days that he was going to make me a sign and get me a 'bup'. (A cup/bowl, like the one Lehr got me for Christmas, since it's all I use to eat the copious amount of cereal I consume each day.) I know he wasn't trying to ruin any surprises; he was just too excited to keep it in!

The day was challenging, with Eli throwing a major tantrum right around lunch time, and more errands to run than anyone should have to add to a to-do list in one day, but we all made it to 4PM alive. Once naps were out of the way, we planned to party. Lehr brought home Doc Chey's (my favorite) around 530 and we all enjoyed our meal via chopsticks. The kids made a sign (with help from Grandma Cathie) for my birthday that hung in the dining room. Eli was sooo excited to show me how he wrote "Eli" and "Maddux" and "33". (He actually told his teacher the next day that I turned 13...good stuff!)

After dinner I opened my presents. Eli's was first since he could not contain himself. (This week he reminded me of the suprirse lady on SNL.) Even as I was opening it, he said, "Mommy, look! It's a...." and then he covered his mouth because he knew he wasn't supposed to tell me. So cute. We then moved back to the table for cake. Chocolate madness is the best description. The kids were in heaven.

Since Lehr, D and I were leaving right after baths to go to a concert, we tried to burn off some of that sugar with a family bowling game. The kids had a blast laughing at the adults - most of us could barely hit the pins! A GREAT day for sure: I think each child sang "Happy Birthday" to me at least eight times!

Merry Christmas!

Even though Maddux was in her crib singing a fast-forward version of "Jingle Bells" until 11:05 last night, both she and her brother were awake around 8AM. We turned on the tree lights, put the pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove, cranked up the Christmas music, and went in to greet the munchkins. We quickly got dressed so we could go downstairs and start our day.

Eli remembered that the first thing we do is put Baby Jesus in the manger (since now He is here!!), so as soon as we went downstairs, that's what Eli did. We also quickly revisited our discussion about Santa and the three gifts, so Eli was excited to see what might have been left. He said, "I'm gonna open them all right up!" We'd talked about that and decided that Santa has to go to a LOT of houses, and he doesn't have time to wrap all of those gifts, so Santa typically just puts bows on his gifts. Sure enough, there were three gifts for Eli and three gifts for Maddux near the Christmas tree! Eli got two different Lego sets and some new 'BOB beginning reader' books. Maddux got a talking Woody (Toy Story) 'doll', a Dr. Seuss book, and a Crayola coloring 'thing'. The kids loved it. They played and played until we had breakfast (Dutch Babies and strawberries and orange juice).

From there we started with the gifts under the tree. Although taking turns to open isn't the easiest for a two and four-year-old, Eli and Maddie did pretty well. They each gave Mommy and Daddy special gifts, and Eli was VERY excited about giving those gifts...especially the one for Daddy. We took another break to play and good family fun followed. Maddie's play-doh factory got opened and the four of us sat at the table and made burgers, fries, hot dogs, pickles, chips....everything!

Next on the agenda was the stockings. We decided (as a family) to open the Jesus Stocking first, since it was Jesus' birthday. (*Side note: We haven't talked about who put the gifts in the stockings yet...the story we're going with for now, if and when they ask, is that Santa fills them if they're empty, but usually families fill them. We figure this leaves the door open for us to do a name draw for stockings in years to come. Plus, we put gifts in Jesus' stocking, so it may not make sense to them that Santa then fills theirs.) Eli and Maddux definitely got a little squirmy as we went through His stocking, but the end was amazing. Even though they were antsy, when we finished the last item, I decided to press my luck and ask them to pray with me for the families we helped in His name. I then asked them each to pick one of our gifts to Jesus to pray for specifically. Eli picked three: the family we bought mosquito nets for, the kids we bought soccer balls for, and the chickens we bought for a family. Maddie chose the kids we bought blankets for. I started the prayer and then passed it over to Eli. He did great...praying for the family, asking God to help them to not get bitten by mosquitoes, then Maddux took over, doing her very quiet, whisper prayer (pretty much the sweetest thing ever since she forces her eyes shut while she does it), then Lehr, and even after I closed us, Eli asked to pray more. He'd forgotten to pray for the chickens and he didn't want to miss them. It was really really good stuff.

After naps (well, Maddie's nap), we opened the last few presents and played until dinner. Maddux and I put the finishing touches on the birthday cake for Jesus and we ate our feast of fresh pasta, homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. The kids each had a piece of cake and then we took a family walk. It was awesome! We bundled up in jackets and walked up the street to see the lights and Nativity Scene. Baby Jesus was now in the manger and the kids were very excited about that. Eli and I had a blast walking, running, skipping and bounding (he has taken to doing boot camp with me when we go for walks). Before we left the house, Eli told me, "I hope Daddy and Maddux leave first so you and I can walk together, just us." MELT!

The day has not been perfect. There have been some stern words, a few almost time-outs, and some frustrated 'why are we trying so hard' moments, but the good parts have far outweighed those times, and these gems have proven to us why we strive to do Christmas this way. Sure, the kids love the presents, but we have not opened much (at least by today's "Super-Sized" standards) and they could not be happier. They have been mindful about whose day it is. The four of us have spent quality time together, and nothing has been rushed at all. The focus has been off of the material and more on the experience. The togetherness. The celebration of Jesus. The one-on-one time with the family. The gratitude for what we have, excluding the presents.

Christmas Eve

Lehr had the day off and we had grandiose plans of taking the kids to the river to run around and let Eli ride his bike. We heard noises from Eli's room around 8AM and we brought him into our bed. Lehr then went and roused Maddux to join us. She was obviously still sleepy, as she just lay down silently next to us and occasionally sucked her thumb. After thirty minutes, we all got up, but Maddux was still in the emotionless, quiet stage. Very unlike her. I got her dressed and ended up carrying her downstairs. At this point I'd only managed to make her smile once, and even that was a stretch. Not two minutes after we walked into the kitchen, her stomach lurched and she vomited a little. I brought her to the bathroom in case she had to continue, but she just lay on the floor and closed her eyes. We'd already checked her head a few times due to her demeanor, but still no sign of a fever. I got her special blanket and set her up on the floor next to the kitchen table where Eli ate. She did sit in her chair for a few moments...long enough to eat about three spoonfuls of cereal. Then I took her back upstairs while the boys went outside. We decided to skip the river and let the boys go pick up Eli's bike (in a repair shop) instead. I put Maddux on my bed with her blanket while I wrapped a few last minute gifts. This is something she would not normally do. She'd be ants-in-the-pants, moving all around the bed, possibly jumping off. The poor girl kept drifting in and out of consciousness until finally she started snoring for good. She slept a good thirty minutes before waking up and instantly returning to her normal self. Weird.

We played at the house all morning and took a quick nap before church. It started to rain before we arrived at church, causing the day to be very gloomy and cold, but we promised a fire when we returned home. (Lehr got a few pictures of the kids all dressed up since I was already at church when they got ready. Same 'concentration face' on Eli as last year.) The service was great: short and diverse enough to keep the kids interested. Maddie was a bit wiggly, but she did alright.

After church we ended up lingering a bit longer that planned, and we still needed to get home to eat dinner and do Christmas Eve 'things'. Add to that the pouring rain and we decided to skip Christmas Lights until the next night. We lit a fire, ate a quick dinner and sat down to read Christmas books and open one gift. We read the kids' favorite book of the season (pop-up Story of Christmas), and a few pages from the Bible. Then, while Maddux was having success on the potty AGAIN, Eli and I talked about a few details. Up until this point, I don't think Eli knew what Santa's role was in Christmas. He knew he was a big presence, and he knew that reindeer helped him get around, but that's it. We talked about Christmas, and how it is Jesus' birthday and how He got gifts from the Wise Men. I asked him how many and he told me 'three'. Then I said that because Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birthday, we also get three gifts. And Santa brings them. At this point, Eli's eyes got really wide. He was already hanging on my every word, which was really cool, but now even more. I proceeded to talk about who Santa Clause is; that he's a Saint (of course there were questions about what a saint was/is) and that he became a Saint by bringing gifts to kids who didn't have moms and dads or homes. Fast forward to now when Santa brings presents to all kids (but only three). Eli's jaw was on the ground. NOW the questions came about how he could get around to all of the houses in Atlanta and Reno and China. Magic and reindeer were discussed. It was a cool, cool conversation and I really think most of his amazement was because of things other than the gifts.

We then opened one gift each. Lehr had the great idea to have them open the gifts they got for each other (to make them stand out a little more). Eli got Maddux the perfect gift, one that embodies the two things she loves most in the world (play-doh and food): a play-doh fun factory burger shop. And Maddie got Eli a cool fold-up match-box repair shop. He was ALL about it. One special cookie was put out for Santa, with a note, and Eli sprinkled reindeer food (made at school) on the front lawn. Oh the anticipation!