The Armstrongs: Christmas Day 2011

For weeks, all Turner has said that all she wanted from Santa was a bell from the reindeer's harness, a nod to our reading of The Polar Express. We did finally get her to list a few other things she might like - some realistic like the Disney Princess castle and some not-so-realistic like a stable and a horse.

When people asked her what she asked Santa to bring her she didn't know how to respond, because Turner doesn't like to talk to Santa. She will look at him from a distance, but as far as crawling up in his lap and talking - not happening. We have two pictures of her with Santa, one at 3 weeks old, and one holding his hand from as far away as she can possibly stand from him at age 2. I don't push the issue because quite honestly, I'd much rather her focus on the real meaning of Christmas anyway. She explained to me one evening, "Mommy, did you know that Christmas is not about giving gifts? It's about Jesus' birthday!" So we find a healthy balance between the "magical wonder" associated with Santa and the "supernatural wonder" associated with the birth of our Savior.

Santa did make a stop by our house, and as you can see below he managed to consume a few cookies, leave Turner a note, and drop off a bell from one of his trusty reindeer. Turner was very excited about the bell!

She was a little overwhelmed at it all at first...

And as always...it's the little things that make her the happiest. The glittered, sequined, LIGHT UP sneakers from Payless that she's putting on below brought the loudest squeal of the morning.

But, the Disney Princess Castle (which by the way she found in it's box, hidden in the guest room shower earlier in the week) has been a hit. That's an interesting story - trying to explain away what she "thought she saw".

Mark's Aunt Arlene has to be one of the neatest people I know, and I honestly wished we lived nearer to her so I could sit under her tutelage in both the cooking and sewing arenas. She looked at Turner's Christmas list and when she saw the Disney Princess castle she decided to put her knitting skills to the test and hand-knit an entire wardrobe of Barbie clothes. She actually had to purchase a Barbie to determine proper fit, etc. I was expecting to open the box and find a beautiful knitted sweater or shawl for Turner...and instead we unwrapped tiny shawls, coats, jeans, workout clothes, evening wear, and sweater dresses for our princess dolls!

A little later in the evening we found Rebekah and Matt playing Barbies and changing all their clothes... and this is how they were all outfitted the next day. I have told Aunt Arlene that she could likely open up a shop on esty.com and keep herself quite busy selling these hand knitted clothes!

And this picture is a rare one - when we actually surprise my Dad with something and he doesn't quite know how to react. I am so much like him so I can identify - he truly didn't know how to express his excitement at his upcoming NASCAR experience. He'll get to drive around the track at Talladega among other racing things - it's going to be a family affair and I feel certain this event will occupy blog space in the future. :)

Mark is such a practical man - he was truly this excited over a new griddle and so was Turner! This means many more of Daddy's special grilled cheese sandwiches in her future!

This little piece of technology - the V-Tech InnoTab - is really neat! It's a partner product to Turner's V-Reader that she got last Christmas and is basically an iPad type apparatus for 4-8 year olds. She has amazed us with what she can do on this already!

And my Mom was also truly this excited about a new Tupperware marinating pan - she's had the same old one (now broken) for 20 years and this replacement was long overdue. I am grateful that Mark listens well and heard her mention her need for this back in the summertime.

I love this picture - the proud look on Matt's face and the sheer excitement on Rebekah's that he got her what she wanted for Christmas. An iPad 2. :)

And Mom pretended to be surprised at her new iPhone4S, though this was a calculated decision she made to move from Blackberry world into iPhone world. And the thing talks back to her....all we need is someone else to talk to Tootsie!!

Matching tiger pants that Mark had a CWE counselor's mom make for us! They are SUPER warm!

We devoured a yummy breakfast of Paula Deen's Christmas Breakfast Casserole (easy recipe and delicious) and went to church mid-morning, returning that afternoon to enjoy a leisurely day of cooking, snacking, and napping before Christmas dinner that evening. Post dinner activities focused on throwing glo-sticks (another hit present - $1 a box at Target) into the air outside and seeing who can pick the most up the fastest. If you'll look closely below, you'll see that Turner did stay in her gown all day - even through dinner.