Almost their turn!
No one cried, yeah! The couple of groups just ahead of us had at least one child in hysterics. Ellie was looking a little nervous as we rounded the bend, like she was wondering what on earth Santa was doing to those little kids ahead of her. But no worries, all three did great :O) 
‘Twas the month before Christmas and all through the land,
Most pressing of all (to the mothers at least),
Is obtaining that perfect family photo,
To be mailed North, South, West and East.
The children three were all perfectly dressed,
head to toe in their very best.
Primped and polished and brilliantly clean,
Now a pose and a smile from each is all that we need.
With Mama holding the camera and the kids there in sight,
And Dad at the ready to help with his might.
We prepared ourselves eagerly for certain photographic delight!
Our three little angels, at this holy time of the year,
Representing blessings of the Season, success seemed so near!
When what should happen? The most dreaded of scenes,
The children won’t cooperate, not a smile to be seen.
Our eldest, the firstborn was embodying “Hope”.
By turns he was silly, and then he would mope.
The middle, our princess, was to represent “Peace”.
She was whining and crying until we cried CEASE!
But the baby; our so happy, and tiniest boy,
Had been carefully selected to represent “Joy”.
Nary had a smile crossed his wee, sweet face.
We wondered if “Humbug” shouldn’t be in its place.
Alas, at that point we gave up and called it quits.
We’d had enough of near constant apoplectic fits.
The kids off to their rooms for some quiet time,
The adults near the fire, with a nice glass of wine.
While the pictures aren’t the best, our desire remains,
To wish you all blessings and so we proclaim,
“Hope, Peace, and Joy from our home to yours”,
(And a wish that next year’s card won’t be such a chore!)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
(With great affection for and our deepest apologies to Clement Clarke Moore)
William is definitely not into our first snow of the year. He was initially excited to go outside, but slipped and fell almost instantly. And he spent the next 5 minutes crying and holding his hands up in the air until I took mercy on him and put him back inside. It would probably help if I could find boots for his tiny little feet. I have seen lots of girl boots in pre-walk size 3, but no boy's boots at all. If anyone sees some out there let me know! But don't tell me Meijers, we don't have those here :o(
For the nine years we have been married, we have never had anything on the top of our Christmas tree. I have been vacillating for years over star vs. angel. I am hoping this year to finally make that big commitment and decide on one or the other. Anyway, last year I saw a neat ornament made from a photograph of a little girl dressed as an angel and I am hoping that one of these pictures will work out for something similar. I'll keep you posted...
We started the Christmas decorating today. After I finished making the wreath for the front door, I hung it temporarily on the staircase. Who knew this wreath would be such a kid magnet?! They just couldn't stay away. Eventually I threw them into some seasonal clothing and took a few photos. And luckily the wreath survived the experience!
I bought one of those whip cream in a spray can things to top the pumpkin pie. (I know, not very classy, but this was Thanksgiving last minute. I do what I can.) William was walking around grumbling for some reason and to keep him quiet I squirted a big ball of whip cream into his hand. Whoa! What a surprise! He loved it! Of course then the big kids were whining about not getting any too....
We are thankful for our family and for our friends. For health and happiness, security, and the ability to provide for our family- especially this year.
Can you tell he was up to something here?! ("rehanging" the blinds)
