HONOLULU: A handful of kids calling to pinpoint Santa’s progress on his Christmas Eve journey may have been surprised to hear Michelle Obama’s voice on the other end of the line.

The first lady is vacationing with President Barack Obama and their daughters in Hawaii, but spent about a half-hour Tuesday manning the phones for the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The agency’s NORAD Tracks Santa program takes calls each Christmas from children wanting to ensure their presents are on track for timely delivery.

Around the time Mrs. Obama was taking calls, NORAD’s tracker showed Santa and his reindeer making their way through Europe.

Mrs. Obama delicately avoided those grim facts as she wished the callers a merry holiday. "I see his sleigh with eight tiny reindeer and he is over Sudan — South Sudan. That's in Africa," she told a girl named Ella. "And right now, he's delivering some gifts. He's going down, swooping down to some little kids who are in South Sudan, OK? That's where he is right now. It's really, really very cool, don't you think?"

South Sudan has drawn more and more of President Barack Obama's attention recently, yet it was far from the mind of young Ella, who politely asked the first lady when Santa would be coming to her home in Kansas City.

"When you are fast asleep — that's how he works," Mrs. Obama replied.

It’s the fourth year the first lady has taken part in the tradition.