For those who don't know, Santa left a note on our Christmas tree (in December) saying he had another present, but it didn't fit in his sleigh, he would have to bring it later.
- Clean their room
- Keep their toys cleaned up
- Take apart their beds
- Have fun at the Primary Activity the next day
- Do 5 jumping jacks
- Obey Mom and Dad
- Leave him a special treat
Saturday after the Primary activity, we had to "run a few errands." Luckily, the kids all fell asleep in the van on our way to hang out at Target and get lunch (that took about 1 1/2 hours). Then we had to go in the store and get lunch (an hour---they had really cool straws so the kids just kept drinking.) Then we had to walk around and make sure we saw everything we could in the store (another 1 1/2 hours). Pretty soon we found out that Dad "was on his way home" so we thought we'd head home too. (For those wondering, yes the kids were still in their pj's---from the activity.) We got home and decided to make sure we had the whole list done. We took the beds apart the night before, all the toys were cleaned up, they obeyed and had fun...they just had to make a special treat. Sterling had been saving his last red vitamin for Santa for 3 months...he was very excited to add that his treat bag.
So they are done. We are super excited about them.
A few things:
- They are solid black walnut
- The 4 stairs have drawers in them
- There are 3 drawers underneath the full bed (bottom bunk)
- We will probably put shelves in the space under the stairs, but for now it's just open
- There are adjustable shelves in the headboards
- There are trapdoors in the headboards too...why have wasted space beneath the headboard.
- They even came with removable labels so the kids know which drawers which cloths go in.
- We will put caps on the tops of the posts, but we had to wait until we got our new tool to do that...more to come on that later. Ü (if this smile could get any bigger...it would be!)
- And most importantly....they are completely reversible. The underneath drawers can go on the other side, and the opening to climb from the stairs to the top bunk can be switched around.
Here is the poem Santa left with the beds. We had so much writing it, we wish we knew someone who illustrated and would help us make it into a book (any takers...we'll pay you.) There are a lot of hints about how the progress of the beds are going and the time that had passed. See if you can pick up on any of them.
We had the perfect gift
Planned for you last year
But as we went to load the sleigh
We had to say “oh dear!”
Your gift was just too big
To fit inside the sleigh
We knew deep inside our hearts
We had to find another way
We made a plan to get the gift to you
as quickly as could be
And hitch a trailer behind my sleigh
Oh what a sight to see.
The Reindeer pulled and strained and stressed
And gave it all they had
But realized they couldn’t do it alone;
Oh they felt so bad.
So, we all joined in and hoped our strength
Would give the needed nudge
But try as we might that sight of ours
Just would not even budge.
We called a special meeting
of all the Legendary Figures we could find
And talked through the ideas
That popped into their mind.
“The Cold North Wind” said Mother Nature,
“could drop right down there.”
But we thought your Christmas gift
Need extra special care.
The Easter Bunny wanted to
hide its parts in Eggs ‘round town.
But that idea was quickly stopped
and unanimously shot down.
Cupids wild idea was filled with hearts
and flowers and chocolates too
but we had no idea how it would work
to get your gift to you.
The Leprechauns tried to play a trick
to keep it for themselves.
But their plan was foiled by our
quick and witty elves
We continued thinking and
We thought we had been beat.
But the reindeer soon devised a plan
Which was a welcomed treat.
They figured they could find some help
At the annual Reindeer Games
So they set a big booth inside
And took down all the names.
They held all sorts of tryouts
To find the strongest in the bunch;
Then they got right down to business
As they rehearsed their plan o'er lunch.
We all came back together
And hooked all the reindeer to the sleigh
And with the added strength they found
They were able to make it on their way.
We headed straight to you house
Thinking everything was grand
But our delay in coming,
made for warmer weather than we planned.
So, we headed back to the North pole
To trade our runners for some wheels
And quickly fixed up all their squeaks
And all their little squeals.
And once again we headed out
To your home today.
And everything was going good
We hoped it’d stay that way.
Your lights were off, the doors were locked
Our timing was just right
We got your gift unloaded
and went to work with all our might.
We finally got it placed,
In the best and most perfect way.
And decided to leave this special story
of how it got to you today.
We hope you had a Merry Christmas
And will forgive us our delay.
We hope you will enjoy your gift
on this beautiful April Day.
From: Santa and his 8 flying Reindeer.
With the help of their friends
Speedy, Tuff, Little Toot and Moe.
We hope you enjoyed our adventure as much as we did...sorry it's so long...at least I learned how to do collages so I didn't have to add every single picture on here. Ü (Thanks Crystal!)
