Considering that we are half way through March and a few days ago we got another 5” of snow (albeit most of it is melted now) I think I still can!  While you are reading, if any of you can think of a reason why I still live in Minnesota, please comment…Florida or Arizona sound so much better each year! 

I never got any Christmas videos or stories up, so I thought I better get at least one humorous story down in writing for Josh and Audrey to enjoy when they grow up…along with a little video evidence.  Don’t worry, I will not bore you with too much Christmas morning footage, but I have to present one video as Exhibit A in the case of “Dad versus Kids”.  Dad is charging Josh and Audrey with the crime of “Christmas Morning Liars” and I think my evidence will speak for itself.

Santa had quite the elaborate plan this year.  About a month before Christmas, Dad had finally taken his XBOX out of retirement and introduced it to Josh.  More than Dad ever expected, Josh became quickly proficient in a couple games and Josh’s addiction to the XBOX was born.  Santa is quite a clever guy, and even when it looks like he can make mistakes, in the end, Christmas magic prevails and everything turns out perfectly.  When Josh and Audrey visited him at the Apache Mall, Josh told Santa he would like ‘Star Wars Legos’ meaning the real Lego toys.  Well, Santa knowing that Josh loved XBOX now, thought Josh would enjoy the Star Wars Legos XBOX game just as much (dont’ worry, Josh’s Christmas morning was a complete overdose of Star Wars).  He also figured it was time for Josh and his Dad to upgrade from their antique XBOX to a brand new XBOX 360.  Santa had devised a plan that would surprise Josh and Dad while at the same time put a little mock shock into Josh until he ‘figured out’ what Santa had done.

So here is the skinny on what happened.  Santa got a new XBOX 360 all configured and ready to roll and hid it behind a book so that it wouldn’t be easily spotted.  There were plenty of other toys on the floor that Santa left that should distract Josh and/or Dad from noticing the XBOX at first glance.  The controller for the new XBOX was hidden in the bottom of Dad’s stocking, so it should have been safe there for a while since Dad is usually the last to check his stocking.  Santa then put the special Star Wars Legos – The Complete Saga game up on the half wall with a special note to Joshua explaining that since he got him such a great ‘special present’ that Santa thought it would be ‘ok’ to take their old XBOX to the Island of Misfit Toys to give to someone else.  He was counting on Josh getting a little frazzled about the XBOX missing and was attempting to make it look like a ‘mistake’ that Santa got what would now be a non-functional XBOX game instead of real Legos.  However, at the bottom of the note, he gave Josh a little hint to check all the stockings to make sure all the presents were accounted for just in case there were other special presents.

To summarize, Santa told me he expected the morning to go as follows:

1. Josh and Audrey wake up and call to Mom and Dad to come downstairs so they can go look at their presents (Dad had told Josh and Audrey no getting out of bed until he came down there to video tape – this is an important point)
2. Josh and Audrey would be overcome with excitement about their new presents scattered on their Christmas blankets, not noticing the new XBOX behind the book on the half wall.
3. Josh would finally get to the special present, open it, and be ‘frustrated’ because Santa gave him a XBOX game (360 no less) instead of the ‘real Legos’.
4. Upon reading the special note, Josh would now be learning that Santa took the old XBOX, rendering the special present ‘useless’.  Josh’s mood should be coming down a few more notches - he’s only 4 remember, he’s allowed to be a little ‘selfish’ on Christmas morning ;)  Does anyone remember Dad’s childhood Christmas mornings?  Sounds eerily familiar to a stunt Santa pulled on Dad with the good ol’ Intellivision.
5. Luckily, the end of Santa’s note gave Josh a hint to check all the stockings, at which point, he would find the new controller in Dad’s stocking, which would lead him to find the new XBOX 360, which would make all things wonderful again!  Christmas mornings rock!
6. If luck would have it, Dad would get all these entertaining mood swings on camera.

Well, I think Santa might be underestimating today’s 4 year olds.  The plan took a direct jump to the middle of step 5 from above and skipped right over step 6.  Santa, you have to do better!

To make my case and guarantee a guilty verdict, I present the following video.  As you watch it, you will notice several points:

1. Almost immediately in the beginning of the video, when asked if they went out to the toys (note that they are sitting there looking at one of them), Josh denies it and says "No" while Audrey has their 'story' mixed up and admits "Yes" to the question.
2. The guilty looks on their faces and awkward silence...tell tale signs of lying!
3. The start rattling off presents that they received that are still out in the living room, yet they still deny to have been out there...do they have X-ray vision?
4. Finally the confession..."Actually I did"...comes out of Josh's mouth.

Given this conclusive evidence, there is no denying that the morning of December 25, 2008, Josh and Audrey were liars!  But I still love them!  I’m especially glad Josh finally admitted to it before we left the room.  It did make Dad much happier ;)

Some other fun things to watch for that you’d probably miss that just make the spoiling of Santa’s plan that much better:

1. Josh saying he didn’t get anything “out of my stocking” – implying that, for some reason, he only dug through Dad’s stocking.
2. Never have seen a XBOX 360 wireless controller, Josh still figured out the button sequence to push to turn on the console (which remember is hidden).  In an attempt to ‘cover his tracks’, he obviously found the console and turned it off so Dad wouldn’t notice.
3. Right at the end of the movie, I pan the video over to the wall to show Santa’s hiding spot for the new XBOX…it should have been sufficient.  Notice the ‘obstacles’ in Josh’s way to get to the XBOX…like I said, never underestimate a four year old.

Here are a couple more videos I’ll share related to Christmas.  In case you didn’t see Dad’s new and improved dance moves, you have to check out this video.  Too bad Dad isn’t a celebrity or he’d be the next Dancing with the Stars champion!  And to give you an idea of Josh’s proficiency at XBOX, I have this little clip of Josh playing Pure which shows that even video games can provide exercise too! (in a manner of speaking)

Enjoy.