When Luke arrived this afternoon, he got the turkey rubbed down and ready for frying and then we gathered up the bags of toys to take to the local battered women's shelter. Due to confidentiality, Luke, Ryan, and I were unable to actually see the children and their mom's, but we could hear them playing in another room. We had carefully chosen gently used toys to give and ended up with quite a few for the children who ranged in ages from newborn to 13 years. I also sent a dozen oyster shell Santa's that I had made for the mom's. Ryan seemed happy and pleased that these toys would be for children that might not get a visit from Santa this year. It was a wonderful experience, not only for Ryan, but for us as well. Luke decided to make this shelter his number one charity.
We arrived home again and after the turkey was all marinated up and fried to a golden brown, we all gathered around the table and ate turkey sandwiches, chips, and pickles. Warm turkey sandwiches are awesome for a Christmas Eve supper. Once again, Luke did a SUPER job on the turkey! Yumm! We even listened to a little Christmas music while we ate, which made it even more enjoyable (to me, anyway).
After supper we muted the TV and sat in the living room together to open a few gifts. Ryan gave Mr. Luke a flatulence noise maker. OMG. I have had to listen to a continual stream of farting since the gift was opened. Mr. Luke said it was probably the best Christmas present he had ever received.
Ryan settled down and wrote his letter to Santa to leave on the hearth with cookies and milk.
Before going to bed, he wanted to show Mr. Luke the magic bell that Santa left for him a couple of years ago.
"You can only hear the bell ring, if you BELIEVE.", Ryan told him. Mr. Luke could not hear the bell. Ryan tried everything he could think of to help Mr. Luke hear the bell, but no use. He rang it louder and louder and over and over again.
"But Mr. Luke, all you have to do is say you BELIEVE and don't cross any of your body parts.", he said. No matter what he did, Mr. Luke still could not hear the bell and so Ryan decided to change his letter to Santa by asking Santa to come to our house tomorrow so Mr. Luke could BELIEVE.
Luke said, "Ryan, what I want for my Christmas wish is not to be chubby and no back hair."
"Mr. Luke, Santa Claus doesn't do those kinda wishes. You're gonna have to give him something he can work with.", Ryan informed him.
So the cookies and milk were set out and the letter was written. Ryan was finally ready for visions of sugar plums.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
Such a great idea, about the bell! Love it! Last year the kids watched the "Polar Express" a million and a half times. This year, it was all about the movie, "Elf".
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys took time to donate stuff to a shelter. We did our best to give back too and it really does make the holiday so much better!
Lots of love to you guys, from our family to yours!!