Courtright Family: So Much Christmas Fun!

We finally got around to visiting our local Santa this week. We visited Memorial City Mall because they have a new, beautiful Christmas display where Santa sits. They even have a new system where you can call ahead and reserve your time with Santa. It's all electronic and computerized -- I was impressed! Jeff met us at the mall right after work so it wasn't too crowded yet. I was a little nervous about how Kaitlynn would do. She's not afraid of Santa anymore, but her behavior is always hit or miss, ha! As it turned out, there was no need to worry. She did GREAT with Santa and even told him she wanted a princess bike. This was the first time Santa had heard anything about Kaitlynn wanting a bike. Do you think Santa takes last-minute requests?

2012 Photo with Santa

Side note about Santa... Now that Connor is older, he is really starting to ask questions about the whole Santa business. He told me a while back that he knows not all "Santas" are the REAL Santa, and now he is always wondering which ones are actually Santa versus his helpers. He really didn't think this Mall Santa was the REAL one, but we told him he was. Afterwards I felt guilty for saying that and trying to push it on him. Another thing I worry about is how he'll handle Santa's actual arrival. We've always told him that Santa comes twice for our family -- once at my parents' house (on Christmas Day) and again at our house (after Christmas, so we can celebrate with Collin and Kevin). I'm not sure how much longer this will work since Connor is asking so many questions!

Last week, Kaitlynn's preschool had a little Christmas program for the kids ages 3 through 5. They performed a few songs in the big sanctuary at the church, and they were so cute to watch. Unfortunately, Kaitlynn seemed to be a little overwhelmed by the whole thing and she spent the entire time crying. She cried so loudly that her teacher had to pull her from the stage for most of the program, ha!

Kaitlynn was all drama at the Christmas program. Shortly after these pics were taken, she was removed from the stage!

After the Christmas program, Kaitlynn's class had a little party for the families inside the classroom. She recovered from her "stage fright" after enjoying a Christmas cookie with icing.

Puffy eyes from so much crying. The cookie makes it all better.

Kaitlynn with her best friend Anais. These girls are too sweet for words!

All smiles AFTER the party!

One of the Christmas activities that the preschoolers did during their classes this week was to write their very first letter to Santa, with help from their teacher of course. She wrote down their requests from Santa, and then she asked them to sign their name. I've been working with Kaitlynn on writing her letters, but she refuses to write any letter for me other than an H. So I had to chuckle when I saw her name signed as "K H". I'm wondering why she has such a love for H? But hey, at least she wrote a K. Ha!

Kaitlynn's letter to Santa.

Most of the things on Kaitlynn's list were brand new to me. Santa and I have been scrambling at the last minute to fulfill some of her requests. And I cracked up when I saw the comment about the food. Just a little bit of food, OK? LOL!

Another fun event the kids attended for Christmas was a Polar Express night at a local church. The kids wore their pajamas, enjoyed pizza and popcorn, made lots of crafts, and of course, watched The Polar Express movie with hot chocolate. The church did such a great job with the kids and they were not ready to come home when I picked them up!

The kids in their PJs before Polar Express night.

Kaitlynn has been taking a weekly dance (ballet/tap) class at Cypress Academy, and they had a little mini-recital (1 song) for the parents to enjoy for Christmas. Kaitlynn had missed most of the recent classes and rehearsals, and she has never fully cooperated for the instructor even during regular classes. Needless to say, my expectations were very low, but I was excited to see how Kaitlynn would perform on the stage. I assumed she would stand still and cry like she did for her preschool program.

I tried to encourage Kaitlynn by letting her pick an extra special dance outfit on the day of the recital. I pulled out this tutu (that I bought at a garage sale for $1!) and Kaitlynn's eyes immediately lit up.

Kaitlynn loved her dance tutu.

Before the recital, she had her regular dance class and Kaitlynn was twirling that tutu all over the room! Maybe that's the trick to get her to participate in class? When it was time for the performance on stage, Kaitlynn's best friend Anais and her sister Amelia joined us in the auditorium to watch Kaitlynn. I think that was the trick -- Kaitlynn was ready to perform for her friends!

Kaitlynn gave a thumbs-up to her best friend Anais in the audience, and then she twirled all around the stage!

When it was time for the Christmas song, Kaitlynn did great! She didn't perform the routine like she was taught, but she smiled and twirled all over the stage. Keri (Anais's mom) and I just laughed and laughed at the precious girls. It gave me a little preview of their big recital in the spring.

How sweet are those little girls! After Kaitlynn's performance, I told her that she had earned a trip to the nail salon to get her nails painted because she did such a good job on stage. She was thrilled!

Kaitlynn got her nails painted as a reward for doing so well on stage.

Connor is also enrolled in a dance class this fall -- hip hop for boys -- and I learned that he, too, would be doing a "mini" routine for the parents to watch during this week's regular class time. Unfortunately Connor didn't tell me about it until RIGHT before his class, so I didn't have my regular camera or camcorder. I used my iPhone to take this video of his little performance. I didn't feel too guilty when I saw that they had only learned a few 8-counts so far (approximately 20 seconds, ha!) :-)

And finally on our list of Christmas fun this week was Connor's classroom holiday party. It was a short but sweet event in the kids' classroom, just a chance for the parents to hang out at school and the kids to enjoy some sweets and treats.