So, I told her we'd give Santa a note and tape it to the outside of the chimney. When I asked her what to write, she said, "Tell him to leave the presents outside and go away." So, I did. We taped the note to the chimney. Annie had a little bag of Reindeer Food, enough for eight tiny reindeer, and she wanted to leave it far, far from the house. She thought there wasn't really enough food there for all eight of them, so we added in a bunch of whole oats I had in the pantry. We dumped the reindeer food on the dormant brown grass as far away from the house as possible.
Annie finally went to bed and fell asleep. Santa didn't come in the house, but instead threw all the presents down the chimney. They landed haphazardly in front of the fireplace instead of under the tree. And it was very cold and very dark and very late when those eight reindeer found the scattered oatmeal thrown on the edge of the lawn. It took them so long to eat every single little piece....
Annie also had a part in the church Christmas play. She was Wise Person #2. She brought baby Jesus Frankensteins. The other two Wise Persons brought gold and myrrh. Gold, Frankenstiens, and Myrrh. Annie's hat was too big and kept falling over her tiny face.
KA