Christmas already??

Yes, Santa has already visited the Hacker household! He came tonight, November 24th. This afternoon as I began to pull out some Christmas decorations Nathan saw my 2 ft Santa that I put up on our plant shelf. I was honestly quite surprised that he remembered his name, and that he was the one that brought presents and toys. He really wasn't it to it much last year. I have a feeling he's going to make up for it this year! He couldn't play enough with that little Santa. All he talked about this afternoon was getting new toys from Santa. It was hilarious!

To fuel the fire the doorbell rang during bathtime. Nathan was convinced it was Santa. I told him I would go check to ease his instant desire to get out of the bath before it was time. Sure enough, the UPS man had come with a package.(It was brother Andrew's birthday present from Trampa and Grandma) It was perfect timing. After convincing Dan to play along we informed him Santa had visited. he he he!

Dan grabbed the video camera, and we began to record Nathan's first Christmas present from Santa! It was priceless and I am so thankful we caught it on film! He ripped into that package as if he had never had a toy in his life. The entire time he kept talking about Santa Claus. As he ripped through the first bag, he found some Curious George books, and then an actual Curious George. As he had just spent the afternoon watching episodes of Curious George it couldn't have been more perfect! It was as if Santa knew he wanted that! Trampa and Grandma had sent a little Buckeye shirt for Nathan, which he desperately wanted several days ago, but now was nothing more than a sheer item of clothing. It was tossed to the wind like the tissue paper the toys were wrapped in.

This was just the preview for Christmas Day! I cannot wait! I only thought Christmas was fun as a child, now I know the truth: it is more fun as the parent!

On the spiritual aspect, I am amazed at how quickly this need for toys and present has emerged. I know I shouldn't be so surprised, he is a sinful human being, and 2 on top of that! Now the questions arises: "How do we keep his focus on what Christmas is really about?" I am so thankful that we have a church that is as dedicated to this as we are! Our church will be passing out advent calendars, which I am so excited to begin. I am hoping this will be a new Hacker family tradition that will keep our focus off of ourselves and more on the birth of our Lord and Savior.