A Visit With Santa

I took Elliot to the Mall this morning to visit Santa. I wasn't sure what to expect since this was his first trip to see Santa, and he can be quite shy around strangers. Well as the picture proves, he was not shy about meeting St. Nick. Elliot told him that he wanted Legos and a train for Christmas, and that Santa should not go down the chimney because it is dangerous. I think we'll wait until next year for Beatrice to meet Santa. Mommy saw too many traumatized babies in line today.

A White House Christmas

Yesterday Elliot, Beatrice, Mariana, and I (Mommy) got a very special treat. A friend of Daddy's got us on "the list" for a White House Christmas tour! I took a half day and we all headed to DC to see the White House decked out for the holidays. Elliot and Beatrice were very well behaved and both seemed to like looking at all of the trees, lights, and decorations.

The tour leads visitors through a small part of the white house that is TOTALLY decorated for Christmas. Elliot's favorite part of the tour was the miniature version of the White House that is made out of white chocolate.

You can see more of the White House Christmas decorations here.

Letter to Santa 2010

Elliot is pretty excited about Christmas this year. We have been counting down the days on the Advent calendar, decorating the house, and talking about baby Jesus and Santa. Today we wrote our first letter to Santa. He dictated I scribed:

Dear Santa,
My name is Batman Farnum and Elliot. And Dinosaur. I play with trains and stuff thats good. I love my sister. She is Beatrice. I would like a train for Christmas. I would like one with a smoke stack, coach, and a big whistle. Like the one Mariana gave me.

I really want a monster truck because they really do tricks. They have big tires. I want a blue one. Blue is my favorite color. I want a ball and a hitter for golf. Maybe a real one. I want a pretend kitchen and a drill too. I want a kitchen so I can fix the sink.

Beatrice wants a little race car. Maybe she wants blue. Maybe she wants a trimmer (Mommy could not figure out what this is) that goes up and down. Beatrice will like that. I also want little scissors to cut.

Thank you Santa. I want to go to the mall to ask you. Good-bye. Don't go down the chimney because it is very dangerous.

Love,
Elliot

Thankful

In thinking about our activities over the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, I have been reminded of how much we have to be thankful for:


Family. While I ran the 1/2 Marathon in Richmond, Elliot and Beatrice stayed with their Mimsey and Gramps in Williamsburg. Elliot had a great time helping Gramps with various projects and playing with all of the new toys they have bought for the grand kids.

Our health. We all had a minor bout of stomach flu last week. It was fast moving and we recovered quickly. We are lucky that other than the little bugs we may pick up, that we are all very healthy.


Friends. We spent Thanksgiving with our good friends the Haugens. Elliot and Gus played very nicely together and I hope that they will be life long friends like Gus's Dad and Brian.

Home. We have been our home for almost a year now. As much as I love our house, its not the place that makes a home; its the love that surrounds us.


Mommy a few yards away from completing the Richmond 1/2 Marathon.

Beatrice is happy to be at Mimsey and Gramps' house.

Mimsey and Gramps with the kids at the Virginia Museum of Art

Elliot checking out the modern art.

A beautiful November fall day along the Sligo Creek trail.

Elliot and Gus at the kids' table on Thanksgiving

They really liked the sparkling juice.

Sharing the fire truck after filling their tummies.

Beatrice playing in Elsa's "exersaucer".

Babies and Au pairs (Mariana and Ricky). Elsa was not happy about having her picture taken.

More Halloween Pictures

Gus's Mom, Caitlin, sent over the following great batch of Halloween photos this morning. Aren't Gus and Elliot the cutest? They had so much fun together. I wish we had a picture of Elsa (Gus's little sister) and Beatrice, but Elsa slept through most of the festivities.

Budding Artist

Elliot's drawing ability has improved dramatically over the last couple of months and he has started drawing more than just scribbles and circles. His favorite subjects are monsters - blobs with lots of stick limbs, eyes, and a mouth. Today he presented me with his most detailed drawing to date.

Green Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year! Elliot actually "got it" and had a blast trick-or-treating. He liked wearing his costume and proudly told everyone that he was a garbage truck (he was a recycling truck). Mommy let everyone know that Beatrice was a recycling bin. We went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and were joined by the Haugen family. Gus and Elliot are good buddies and they were pretty funny together. Gus's parents took lots of pictures and I'll post them as soon as I get them. The following are shots from our Halloween dress rehearsal.