stalking

I love Santa. It's true. I love the magic he brings to an otherwise commercialized holiday, I love the joy he brings to little kids faces, and I love the anticipation of when he will be here!

Yesterday Mike and I had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the big guy himself. Like really close, as in Mike was in the big red suit.

Jenn, my older sister is a preschool teacher and was in a bit of a bind when Santa called out sick. She called and asked Mike and of course he said yes. He was a bit nervous at first, those are really big shoes to fill, but once he was decked out in the get up, he said it was awesome. First we went to the baby room (1yr old and younger), where all but two of them were completely terrified. He posed for pictures with screaming babies and gave out presents.

Then we were on to the bigger kids. The 3-4 year old kids! This is Jenn's classroom. She had all the kids in one room and they were singing Christmas songs, "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" to be specific and Mike walked in and the kids freaked out! They were SO excited. Running up to him and hugging him. Thanking him for being there. Telling him just how much they loved him and how good they've been this year. He was fantastic. With oodles of "ho ho ho's" and getting his belly to jiggle as much as possible, he played the part really well. In this room there were more than 30 kids and he gave them all their presents and then sat for pictures with them and helped them open their new toys and examine the very cool things he brought them. Watching him play with the kids made my ovaries ache like you wouldn't believe.

If you don't have little kids in your life, you may not be familiar with NORAD tracks Santa. This is my favorite thing of all time. As a kid (ok I guess teenager) when this came out my dad LOVED it. It's the dorkiest thing ever really. You can check in online and see where Santa is at any given moment. They give you facts about the different cities and an ETA for when you can expect him to visit your house. I'm 27 and I track Santa like a crazy ex-girlfriend. I love sharing it with my cousins. It makes me feel like I'm sharing a bit of my dad with my younger cousins, in such a fun way! So, go track Santa.