i want a hippopotamus for christmas...

That song has cracked Dalton up since the first time he heard it this year and daddy found an even sillier you tube video to go with it so Dalton was REALLY beside himself then with the giggles!  Luckily the closest we got to getting a hippopotamus for Christmas was the game Hungry Hungry Hippos from Aunt Dawn, Uncle Todd and the cousins.  And he loves it and we have played it many times since Christmas Eve.  Anyhoo...back to our Christmas story!  

Grandma Wanda arrived on Thursday and Dalton was SOOOO excited...it's like having a non-stop play date the entire time she is here!  She will do whatever he asks her to do...watch him play, play with him, watch TV, read him a book, go outside!  It's really handy for mom and dad too because we can have guilt free time to do what we want and not feel like we are neglecting his needs or wants!  Mommy used her time to finish cooking, baking, wrapping and getting things ready for Christmas!  Grandma Wanda lives in a small town with only one restaurant so when she comes to visit she likes to eat out...who can blame her!  So Thursday night we headed to Mimi's Cafe and had a nice dinner and then headed out to look at some Christmas lights...it was nice other than Dalton kept stating that he wanted to go home so he could watch his shows...he was so worried that he was going to miss Dora & Diego on Nick Jr!  I am not sure if that is because that is part of his bedtime routine or if we are allowing him to watch WAY to much TV?!?!?  Probably a combination of both...a resolution in 2011 is less TV time for Dalton and more one on one time with mommy!

Friday was Christmas Eve and we spent the day at our house...mommy cooking and baking as well as assembling the ginger bread train that I just knew Dalton would be SO EXCITED about decorating...it's still sitting on my kitchen counter untouched.  He did however want to help mix the cookie dough for Santa's oatmeal chocolate cookies.  Dalton spent the majority of the day playing with Grandma Wanda and that was how it should be and then after lunch we opened gifts from daddy's side of the family...their gifts arrived several weeks ago and we have been waiting!  We try to spread Dalton's gifts out so that he doesn't get them all at once...it makes me sad to think that Dalton has SOOO many gifts that we have to spread them out so he will appreciate them and other kids don't receive near enough!  Such a struggle this time of year!  He is a blessed little boy who have lots of family that love him and love to buy for him...Aunt Cindy & Uncle Mike got him super hero dress up clothes (Robin, Batman and Superman) as well as a puzzle, stamp sets, John Deere lunch box and a John Deere dry erase board.  Grandma Wanda picked him out a Buzz Light year laptop computer and a Diego Rescue Pack that he loves!  And then later that evening we headed to Aunt Dawn and Uncle Todd's house for dinner and more presents from mommy's side of the family!  He got the Hungry Hungry Hippo game from Aunt Dawn, a huge set of Tinker Toys from Uncle Kevin, the Imaginext Batman Cave from Grandma Beverly and Pa and one of those singamajig (Sp) he was SUPER SUPER excited about it... Great Grandma Zahner got him that.  The kids were all on their best behavior...gosh I wonder why?!?!?  We had yummy potato soup PBJ if you are Dalton and by choice have a very limited menu...another resolution for 2011...expand the little guys menu with or without his consent!  By the time we got home...oh my goodness it was super late there wasn't much time so we hurried and got Santa's plate ready...Dalton thought we should leave him 4 cookies and an apple juice box and then some carrots for the reindeer!  So that's what we did and opened the fireplace doors and headed straight to his bedroom for pj's and Twas The Night Before Christmas...Grandma Wanda got to read this year!  And Dalton was finally in bed asleep at 10pm...just about 2 hours past his regular bedtime...oops!

Super cool dress up clothes from Aunt Cindy & Uncle Mike...he loves them and every friend or cousin that has been over has tried them on! 

He loves the red pull on boots with Superman's costume and the way the cape flies behind him when he runs around the house...yes the boy runs and runs some more inside the house! 

Helping mommy make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Santa...and there is Diego's Rescue Pack in the background!  He wanted a jet pack for Christmas we convinced him that the rescue pack from Grandma Wanda was pretty neat too...so far it has worked!

Another sweet treat mommy made for Christmas day...red velvet cupcakes with white frosting and candy cane crumbles...thank you Uncle Todd!  He is the only one who ate one on Christmas day...the rest went in the trash...they looked cute though...right?!?!?

If we scoot Miss. Melanie in just a wee bit more we have all the cousins in a picture from Christmas Eve at Aunt Dawn & Uncle Todd's house!  They are watching the cool Christmas train Uncle Todd got for their Christmas tree this year...Dalton is a big fan:)

He loved all of his gifts but this one got the best reaction...lately he has the best giggle!  And the singamagig he got from Great Grandma Zahner!  By the way it is still cracking him up and it even went with us to the Oklahoma Science Museum!

Grandma Wanda reading Dalton The Night Before Christmas...in his last pair of cheesy footed pj's for Christmas...I promise:) 

We were all a little on the sleepy side...I don't think Dalton even protested the one book!  Usually daddy reads him two and mommy reads him two as well!  We love it because it is the only time that crazy kid sits still:)

Christmas Day morning and of course Dalton rose at his regular scheduled time 7am...ouch this is going to be a long day!  And he came into our room and said something like there are presents there are presents!  We went and got Grandma Wanda up because of course she didn't want to miss a single minute of the excitement!  Santa left Dalton a drum set, a spider man bike and a magic hat with lots of trick...including a cape, magic wand and white rabbit!  He has been into abracadabra for awhile...lots of reading for mommy or daddy to do before we get any tricks but it will be lots of fun!  Santa thought he had been extra extra good and left a couple of more gifts like a shooting gallery game, Super Hero Squad DVD and Iron Man book.  His stocking was packed with a stuffed  scooby doo, a matchbox snow plow with a kit to make snow, a slinky...that's already broke, chocolate Santa's, p-butter cup Christmas trees and gingerbread cookies!  Mommy, Daddy and Grandma Wanda too got a few presents from Santa too...I guess we were extra good too!  Santa was sweet enough to take some time to eat a cookie or two and write Dalton a note...he even shared the carrots with the reindeer! After all the presents were opened Dalton began his rock concert for us...he loves those drums.  There has been a cut out from a toysrus sale add since spring on our fridge...the boy knew what he wanted for Christmas!

Santa made his way to our house...

Our rock star!  In super cool PJ's!

The coolest kid on the block spider man bike with training wheels of course!

Stocking stuffers are fantastic too...a snow plow with a little science experiment on how to make real snow!  Or enough to play matchbox snow plows in daddy got a snow plow in his stocking too!  Luckily mommy got bubble bath and body cream from Bath & Body Works in hers:)

Way fun snow plow with snow...

A special note from Santa left for Dalton by his countdown to Christmas Santa reminding him not to forget his last cotton ball and to thank him for being an extra good boy this year!  He always signs it Claus because when Dalton was little (because he is all of almost 4 now...) he would call him Claus not Santa or Santa Claus but Claus!  This year he called him St. Nick a couple of times!

Mommy, daddy and Dalton at Grandma Beverly's and Pa's house on Christmas Day!  Daddy even wore his Christmas shirt that mommy bought...he was a good sport!  Dalton wore his cool but kind of too big Batman shirt with cape attached! 

Family pic with Grandma Wanda and Dalton being done taking pictures...we tried!  There is a family picture from Christmas Eve floating around on Aunt Dawn's camera we will post later! 

Decorating sugar cookies with Grandma Beverly...hers turned out SOOOOO cute this year!  I should have gotten a picture of them:)

The cousins minus one who was with her other Grandma...decorating more sugar cookies!

More drum time when we returned home...Grandma Beverly and Pa came back with us to check out Dalton's toys from Santa...lucky for them his drums didn't fit into the car because that was what he wanted to bring to their house earlier in the day.  We went with the Batcave instead!

Bike time...he is doing really well!  He wasn't a big fan of the tricycle but he is a big fan of the bike with training wheels...we had one crash and busted the spider man plate off the front and scraped the handle bars but daddy was able to fix the front plate and scrapes are bound to happen!  No bones broke or scraped elbows or knees so we are good!