Sunday, November 28, 2010

When will I ever learn...?

When will I ever learn...to take my camera every.single.time.we.leave.the.house?
To mark the end of our holiday weekend we took the whole family out for, what else, pizza! We were missing our oldest, who was not able to make it home, but everyone else was there tonight. As I grabbed my purse off the kitchen island I saw the camera...thought for a split second...and then decided to leave it at home. *sigh*

Theo enjoyed watching everyone else eat real food and he got a bottle of vanilla formula. Blech. Zhen ate some pasta, jello salad, and some diced ham off of the salad bar. Rose ate too much dessert pizza. Jordan was the last one done eating as usual!

Leroy ate very sensibly, like always. When we first sat down he spied a Christmas tree next to the exit door. Next to the tree was a fancy chair. He asked me when Santa would be there! I looked around and saw a sign near the kitchen. Together we walked across the room to read the sign. 15 minutes.

Santa was coming at 6pm! Only 15 minutes!!

The pizza joint was empty when we arrived, but started to fill up soon after. By 6pm the place was packed. When Santa burst into the room with a hearty ho-ho-ho, the whole place went nuts. He made his way to his chair in front, shaking the hands of children as he went. Ralph was so excited he was about to burst. He was jabbering and waving. Jabbering some more!

I was so happy I nearly cried! Watching Ralphie have fun is different than watching my other children and more special than just about anything I can think of. It makes all of the around-the-clock night breathing treatments, oxygen tank changes, and midnight meds worth the while. All the heartache was not for nothing. It seems to have made life more exciting and colorful now.

Oh, and today I'm thankful for cell phone cameras. :)






Ruby waiting her turn.


No fear! Ralph couldn't wait to sit on Santa's lap. He kept waving and jabbering to Santa from across the room until we gave up on him finishing his dinner and took him over to see the big guy.

Ruby, also fearless, signing "more." More candy, that is!


Leroy couldn't think of anything to ask for!

Fearless is not a word used to describe Zhen. He wasn't going to have anything to do with Santa.

On our way out the door. One last snuggle with Santa!

I just had to get Theo out of his seat to meet the jolly elf. He wasn't all that impressed. I was just pretty relieved that he didn't throw up on Santa's white gloves!

Merry Christmas dear friends!!

2 comments:

Julia said...

Love Mr. Fearful Zhen.... Love that he is in the loving arms of a loving family who are committed to holding him safe in all his fears and quirks and personality issues. Love it.

Anna said...

what a great looking Santa! And those were taken with a cell phone?!Ive forgotten mine several times since little G has come home. Glad you had your phone....the pics turned out great.