You better watch out, you better not cry!

[Ralphie from the movie The Christmas Story, while visiting Santa at the department store]
Santa Claus: How about a nice football?
Ralphie [narrating]: Football? Football? What's a football? With unconscious will my voice squeaked out 'football'.
Santa Claus: Okay, get him out of here.
Ralphie [narrating] A football? Oh no, what was I doing? Wake up, Stupid! Wake up!
Ralphie: No! No! I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!
Santa Claus: You'll shoot your eye out, kid. Merry Christmas. HO.......HO........HO

Yesterday was Wyatt's Christmas party at school and the parents, grandparents and siblings were all invited to attend. The teacher planned all sorts of fun things - a singing program, goodies, and a visit from Santa Claus himself. What kid wouldn't love that!? I think the above photo pretty much sums up how it all went down for us.

Wyatt has a love/hate relationship with Santa. He knows that Santa brings toys and treats and that excites him, but part of him is mildly terrified at the thought of this strange man lurking around. We've been telling him all week that Santa is coming to his school to mentally prepare him. On the way to school that morning, he was in the backseat, psyching himself out. I could hear him mumbling under his breath "Dere's nothing to be scared of Santa.......Santa's willy nice....... Santa's just for fun."

Even after the heartfelt pep talk he gave himself, he choked when it came time to talk to the big man. It started with a loud knock at the classroom door and a deep voice booming out "HO! HO! HO!" Wyatt literally screamed in horror "NO! NO! I don't wike Santa Cwaus!" as he entered the room. Santa was a little lumpy looking, but altogether not bad. His beard was fake, but I'm pretty sure his belly was real.

The kids went up one by one to sit on Santa's lap. When the teacher, Katelyn, called Wyatt's name, he stood frozen in his spot, like a deer in headlights. She tried to coax him up, but he stayed rooted to the ground, an easy 10 feet away from Santa. When he realized his opportunity to submit his requests was passing him by, he shouted out "Santa! I want a movie! .......Toy Story movie!...... and a transformder!" from his safe distance. Everyone laughed, including Santa.

C'mon, Wy. Throw mom a bone. If you don't let me get a picture, what will I put on the blog? I finally convinced him to sit on Katelyn's lap instead, but even being that close to Santa freaked him out. I sat next to Santa, hoping it would help him muster up courage and he finally climbed into my lap. He quietly mumbled his toy requests again and we snapped the money shot. Santa gave him a book, which he normally loves, but he was quite disappointed since he had just asked for a Toy Story movie. What do you mean I don't get it RIGHT NOW?

Oh well, the day wasn't a total loss. He had fun after Santa left. You really haven't had a proper childhood unless you have a photo of yourself red-faced and wailing on the lap of a mildly annoyed Santa, right?

My contribution to the treat buffet. I had fun trying out my new tools from a recent cupcake decorating class I took. It turns out pretzels are really hard to break in a precise manner. I used almost an entire bag making the antlers, but the kids loved them so it was worth it!

I love that Wyatt's school still allows homemade treats. I made cookies-on-a-stick (I found another use for those decorating tools!) for Wyatt to give to all his classmates.