It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I'm biased, I can't even hide that fact. I birthed them, I love them, I'm raising them to be decent human beings (hopefully), but really who can deny that they are beautiful? Have you ever seen two kids, at the same time, be so happy to see Santa? I've never witnessed it with my own eyes. I can't even claim this victory to my name. This was really how they felt. I did no coaching, prep work or bribing for this perfect picture.

As we were walking down the mall, headed towards the Santa village, Tucker caught a glimpse of the gargantuan structure and started jumping, hopping and yelling, "It's SANTA! It's SANTA!" He was, by no means, using an "inside voice" but I didn't even care. When your kids are jumping with a pure joy that you can vaguely remember having as a kid, you don't care what kind of scene your child is making. Everyone was looking, smiling and giggling at the sight of Tucker approaching Santa. Addie was excited too, but looked more like she was on a top secret mission where she just needed to approach the objective and complete the mission. She walked with a very quick and meaningful gate, which told me that she was ready to announce that she wanted everything Strawberry Shortcake, as soon as possible.

While waiting in line, Addie couldn't stop walking around in circles and Tucker...well honestly, in those 5 minutes of waiting, he made all the holiday madness worth it. Those moments in time will stick with me forever. It was one of those MommyMoments where you feel like you have conquered the pentacle of parenthood. You are the hero, you have delivered your child to Santa...and IT IS AWESOME. Tucker physically couldn't stand still. If his feet weren't walking, his hands were shaking, if his hands weren't shaking, then his arms were flapping. He was physically out of control! I can only imagine how crazy he felt in his own body! That must have been a rush like he's never experienced before.

When it was their turn to visit Santa, they both bolted towards him, jumped into his arms and gave him the biggest hug! So much for Stranger Danger. They sat on his lap and told him what they'd like for Christmas. Tucker wanted every remote control toy on the planet...robots, spiders, trucks and snakes. Addie wanted Strawberry Shortcake. After a brief from Santa on all the ways to behave (listen to your Mommy and Daddy, be nice to each other, and above all things, tell the truth. Not bad Santa. Want to come over every Monday and give "the talk"?), the kids jumped down from his lap. They both turned around and gave him another death grip hug and said, "Thank you!!".

I really hope that every trip to Santa gets better and better, but I do know that all good things come to an end. One day, they won't want to go see Santa. One day, they won't even believe in all this hokis pokis. But for now, we have a magical Christmas season that will live in my heart and memory forever.