I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

This past weekend we celebrated one of the most cherished holiday traditions in the Crimmins household.

Ye olde Tacky Christmas Sweater Party.

Are you my new Mommy and Daddy?

Don't be alarmed!  Conor and I did not magically morph into better looking people overnight.  Those are just our friends, Sarah and John, who happened to attend our party wearing t-shirts that perfectly matched the sweater of our boy.  Were we going to miss such a prime photo op?  Heck, no!  Fionn actually seemed pretty comfortable sitting between Sarah and John on the couch.  It was a little unnerving.

But I digress.  Here is our official 2011 Tacky Christmas Sweater Family Photo.  Because every family has one of those made annually, right?

In case you can't truly tell from this photo representation, my sweater lit up.  I mean, it literally had its own battery pack (this, of course, was conveniently tucked into a red stocking which was also part of this glamorous little number).  The sweater also had a "blinking" option which I chose to employ whenever a conversation drug on a little too long.  "What was that?  You're having trouble concentrating on your story about your recent work project?  I'm so sorry!  I wish I could make this sweater stop blinking, but it is beyond my control!"  Haha.

I think this was our 4th Tacky Christmas Sweater Party, and I have to say that I enjoyed it more than any of our past parties.  I'm not sure why exactly.  Maybe it was the nice blend of adults and kids.  (I say this, of course, as a mother of a boisterous little boy.  I'm pretty sure I heard some of the singletons refer to the party as "birth control" at least twice.)  Maybe it was the fact that I did so much of the preparations ahead of time that I was able to enjoy myself more at the party.  Or maybe it was the special visit by The Big Guy.

Yep, that's my hubby underneath all that red faux velvet.  He surprised (and horrified) all the children by entering the party in a newly purchased (from e-Bay) Santa suit.  Poor Conor.  He only wanted to spread some Christmas cheer, but I think he re-traumatized half the children at the party.  Many of these scared children were coming right off the heels of their first Santa at the Mall experience the previous week.  So you can hardly blame them.  But Conor felt a little crushed by the reaction.

Well, there was one kid who didn't shed a tear (at least for this Santa experience -- more on that in a bit).  Our boy.  He took one look at Conor, pulled down the white beard, and exclaimed "Dada!"  Doh.  Outed.

As the party drew to a close, I took a few pictures to capture what it means to have a "family-friendly" party at our house these days.

Haha!  Gotta love it.

Okay, I will sign off here by coming back to my previous statement about Fionn and Santa Clause.  Don't be fooled by his reaction to Conor Clause.  Because, let's be honest, I definitely let it get my hopes up that Fionn would react well to the Real Deal.  (And by "Real Deal" I mean Mall Santa.)  Yeah, not so much.

So the Monday after the party, I toted Fionn to the mall to see Santa.  We went with two of his best buds, Zach and James, who were also featured in the last post regarding the train display.

Let's just say that it was not pretty, folks.  It was not pretty at all.  Lots of tears.  Loads of screaming.  One precious moment captured in time.

Can I ask for a new mama for Christmas?

I'm pretty sure this makes me a bad mother, but I can't look at this picture without cracking up.

Happy holidays, all!  I'll write when we return from Minnesota where we are spending the holidays this year.  Here we come, Crimmins Clan!