The Korenaks from A to Z: Meeting Santa and Our Own Little Workshop

As you might remember last year we took Zane to Santa's Magical Village in St. Louis. There were tons of lights, which Zane loved, but he wasn't very excited about meeting Santa himself. He had been excited during the days leading up to meeting him, but as soon as we got in the line to go see him the anxiety mounted. By the time it was our turn he was terrified, didn't talk to him, and there was no time for a photo op. Our pictures last year were with a wooden Santa, adorable, but still a bit of a let down for all involved. This year we have cautiously optimistic about Zane meeting Santa.

This year, during the days leading up to meeting Santa, we made it very clear to Zane that Santa is a real life, very large, old man, not a cartoon. We practiced what he should say to him, i.e."Hi my name is Zane, I want robots." We talked about how nice of a guy Santa is, again reinforcing that he is old and has a beard, "like Uncle Able Mamma?" Yes, just like that. The big day was Tuesday night at the Guernsey family Christmas party, at Bricktown Ballpark. We arrived right at seven, since we knew our window before meltdowns was going to be very short. Right after we drank a little hot choco Santa arrived, very jolly, and not nearly as old as last years Santa. There weren't a lot of kids there yet so Zane was second in line, no time to get scared or nervous. He was very polite, told him his name, and asked for robots and a hamburger. As Santa started talking about the weather Zane became a little concerned, so pictures were quickly taken, Santa gave him a little box of presents, and the whole thing was ruled a huge success. Of course Rowan was petrified, but we took a family photo with Santa for posterity. I think the box of candy, bubbles, and penguin playing cards really pushed Santa over into being "a really nice guy." Hooray!!!

Needing a little reassurance from Daddy.

Proudly displaying his little present from Santa.

Back at the farm there has been a lot of playing Santa, especially since Gary brought Zane his very own Santa hat. Sometimes Zane is Santa, sometimes a grown up is Santa and he is an elf, sometimes Gary, sometimes Zane the elf. There are always presents to be made and a sleigh to fly to deliver presents to children. It's been lots of fun and today I had the genius idea to merge his love of pretending to be and elf with my desire to make some Christmas crafts. Crafting with Zane has slowly gotten better over the past few months so I thought setting up a Santa's workshop would push it over the top.

Santa's workshop was set up, Daddy was Santa, I was mommy Elf, and he was Zane the elf. We had all kinds of ornaments to paint, put together, and decorate. Santa's shop stayed open all day. We made a family thumbprint reindeer ornament first, then Zane got to free style paint some plastic balls. Session two involved painting lots of popsicle sticks various colors to later be assembled into a Santa, a Christmas tree, and a reindeer. Then Santa made an airplane out of a clothes pin and popsicle stickes that Zane the elf got to paint. The last session of the day involved putting the final touches on our Christmas tree, giving Rudolph his nose, putting Santa's beard on, and adding string to everything so they could all be hung proudly on the tree. A great time was had by all and we have some really cute ornaments to remember it by.