Christmas traditions

We all have them. Growing up in the Howard house, our Christmas traditions consisted of decorating the tree to Kenny & Dolly's Christmas album (don't mock it until you've heard it), Erin and I helping dad find the perfect gift for mom and then Erin blabbing what it was before the big day (in her defense, this happened MOSTLY when she was younger), and to top it off, spending each afternoon counting down the days until Christmas with Santa and Toy Boy from Santa's Workshop.

If you didn't grow up in Kansas, or at least in the areas that the local ABC and then CBS channels covered, you missed out on one of the best Christmas shows. Ever. This locally-produced hit featured Santa in his workshop full of the coolest toys of the year and with the help of his little sidekick Toy Boy. (To be exact, Toy Boy was originally Kake Man when the show was on KAKE channel 10. When the show moved to KWCH channel 12, he became Toy Boy ... the one and only.) Craig and I both remember sending in our grade school photos to appear on the wall of the workshop on one episode. And we would listen at the end of the show to see if our names got called from Santa's "good" list. (I'm pretty sure "Carrie" made a more frequent appearance than "Craig.")

Here's a clip from one of the original episodes:


After years of being off the air, the show was back this year with eight new episodes. Santa is played by the original actor's son, and Toy Boy (or Kake Man) is the same actor. Really, no one could ever replace Toy Boy (although Craig can do a pretty good impression). The workshop is pretty much the same, too. Except instead of Cabbage Patch Kids and Tinker Toys they're featuring marble games and lead free instruments.

So now you know why you didn't get a Christmas card from us this year. It was nothing personal, we've just been busy getting caught up with Santa and Toy Boy. But seriously, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year.

Carrie, Craig, Zoe and Luka