Santa Picture

Can you believe that Christmas is only...EIGHT days away? Oh my goodness, I have so much to do!  One thing I can check off my list is the annual Santa picture.  The best part about homeschooling during December is bypassing long weekend lines to visit Santa.  There were only a handful of preschoolers in front of us.  When it was our turn, the photographer had to get creative to fit all seven kids in the frame (it looks like there is room for one more):

Mark and I think this picture really captures the unique personalities of each of the kids.  Ian, growing out of visiting Santa, is putting up with our request to smile-for-the-camera to the best of his ability.  He did, however, ask Santa what kind of cookies he would like left out for him on Christmas Eve.  Shane wants to follow Ian's lead, but is still hoping a telescope will magically appear under the tree.  Evie, loving her baby sister, is still experiencing magic and asked for a new (old) video game and controller for our aging Nintendo 64.  Fiona, wearing her prettiest dress, asked for a remote control car in purple and a new hair ribbon already tied into a bow.  She experienced a major disappointment last year: she asked for lipstick and only received chapstick!  Daniel was prompted by a sibling to ask for a lump of coal; the sibling responsible will remain unknown as they won't 'fess up (Ian insists Daniel thought of asking for coal all on his own).  Ian especially was disappointed when he found out that I wasn't going to let Daniel ask for coal-although he probably does deserve it.  Daniel actually asked for a video game and smiled his best smile for the camera although we were trying to get him to at least say, "cheese."  Lula just wanted another candy cane after I bribed her with one to sit on The Stranger's lap.

The kids' picture is great, but the Best Santa Picture Award for 2013 goes to Charlie, our grandson:

You just can't get any better than that!!!