Post-Christmas Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I had a great Christmas.  Mommy, Daddy, and I enjoyed seeing family and celebrating the holiday in some new locations this year - at Aunt Mari and Uncle George's house with Mommy's family, and in Cashmere with Daddy's family.  I got a lot of fun gifts, for which I am very grateful, but I wanted to send a follow-up letter so you have plenty of time to prepare for my 2012 gifts.

I got to test-sit on two different tractors at Aunt Mari and Uncle George's house - maybe you could bring me a John Deere tractor for Christmas this year?

Getting a tractor would make me ever so happy

You wouldn't even have to wrap it - I have a bow I saved and can put on top (I know how expensive giftwrap can be)

Grandma Pat made me a blanket as a gift, and I loooooooove it.  It's soft and cozy and a good size for my bed.  So, you don't have to worry about bringing me a new blanket this year.

Thatcher, Finley, and I really enjoyed creating things with Playdoh.  It wouldn't hurt if you added more of that to my stocking this year.

I was so excited to receive my monkey slippers from Grandma on Christmas Eve - Finley got mermaid slippers, and Thatcher got lion ones.  If you decide I need another pair, I'd like giraffe or elephant ones.

I know it doesn't look like it in this picture, but one of my favorite things we did in Cashmere was watch Christmas movies together.  Maybe you could send Mommy a new Christmas movie to watch next time - we already saw the Grinch, Charlie Brown, Mickey's Christmas Carol, and Polar Express (Mommy said stop-motion movies are cool, so perhaps one of those?).

We already have a big playhouse - this Thomas one is big enough for Finley and me to stand up in!

By the way, did you like the cookies, milk, orange, and caramel we left for you to eat?  Let me know if you'd prefer something else, OK?

Our Open-Me-First pajamas were really cool.  I think you talk to Grandma beforehand to make sure we get good ones, so be sure she knows what I like.

The Sesame Street characters you put in my stocking were perfect!  My favorites are Abby Cadabby and Super Grover (who is dressed like a fireman).  I don't have a Zoe one, though, so keep an eye out for one of those.

The train set you left for me is one of my favorite gifts.  I was so happy you included the motorized Thomas and Percy trains, too!  I might need a few more track pieces next Christmas, however.

The puppet theater you brought for Finley and Thatcher is so neat!  We had a lot of fun performing different puppet shows for the family.  I think my "pop up, then back down, then pop up again, then back down..." routine was a real hit.

Maybe you could bring Finley a car next Christmas.  She seemed to like my zoo-themed auto set quite a bit.

And I have to say, Thatcher's garbage truck was uber-cool.  I'm definitely adding one to my wish list this year.

Hopefully this gives you some ideas and a good head start on planning what to bring me this year.  I can hardly wait the 313 days until Christmas!!

Sincerely,

Kellan Gray

Everything But Christmas

I'm sure you're all curious to know what's been going on in Kellan's life the past couple of months.  Well, he's certainly been busy.  He's doing well in the big kids' room at daycare.  He still focuses his friendship energies on Margo, Abbey, and Sena, but the teachers have told me more than once that he's very popular with all the girls in the class.  Tsk tsk, already a ladies man... what's a mom to do?

Anyway, we've got lots to catch up on.  Here come the pics - everything but Christmas, which I'll have to do in another post.

I would not classify Kellan as an artistic type.  His creativity is subtle - for example, when we ask him to name a giraffe figurine he's holding, he always comes up with the wildly unique moniker, "giraffe".  But this triad of photos makes it look like he is an artist in the making with his thoughtful gaze at the picture as he's drawing it.  It encourages me to continue trying to foster the crafter in him.

Kellan and Finley, hanging out on Grandma's chair

At the daycare center's "Christmas production", Kellan dressed up as an angel with the rest of his class (this was before he moved to the older kids' room).  Isn't he cute in his halo?  The girl in the foreground is Abbey, one of his 3 best friends at school.

Many times when we've picked Kellan up from daycare, the kids have been dressed up in animal costumes in the gym.  It's usually a hard sell to get Kellan to come home with us on those days.  Clearly, being in an elephant costume is way more fun that going home for dinner and bathtime.  I'm sure you can guess what his pretend name is when he's in the costume... yep, "Elephant".

We've been to the Lynnwood Community Pool for Open Swim with the Freemans a couple times now.  It's like an indoor waterpark, though the kids aren't big enough to go on the waterslides yet.  That's right, they have waterslides.  I'm so glad Kellan enjoys swimming - those lessons really paid off!

We had a few snow days back in January.  Here is Kellan next to the small snowman we made at the nearby high school.

Kellan, enjoying the snow as it fell.

We joined the Freemans one day to sled down their cul-de-sac hill.  There wasn't much snow, but we made the best of it!

Daddy and Kellan

Mommy and Kellan

I have a funny little story to share about Kellan.  Last weekend, we ended up watching the Super Bowl with our PEPS group.  Madonna's performance at halftime featured many of her popular songs over the years.  When her song "Like A Prayer" began, Kellan excitedly shouted (amongst our otherwise quiet and attentive group) "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" and threw his hands up in the air.  Leave it to K-man to find a way to praise God during the halftime show, huh?