Santa Claus and Paws

It wouldn't be Christmas without a couple picture of the dude in red and the kids, right? Well this year Hannah and Lizzie consented to having their picture taken (barely consented) with the Santa at the Holiday Shop at their school. Our Mall Santa days are long over. First I let them spend money buying stuff for each other and grandma (and I think Rob and I, too) and then I let them make a craft of reindeer food and then I bribed them with food. Truth be told, Hannah was fine with the photo from the get-go, but Lizzie what-did-all-the-other-fourth-graders-do Rasmussen wasn't all that into it. Even SANTA told her that the 5th and 6th graders were all over the photo. So finally -- because she still kind of, maybe believes that Santa may be real or at least in constant communication with me -- she said okay. And it turned out to be one of the best Santa photos we've ever taken (mostly because Hannah is not crying!)

Cash, on the other hand was MUCH more cooperative for his first ever photo with Santa. This was to support the Cat Angel Network (I didn't tell Cash that) at our local PetSmart, which is why the photo is pretty terrible. It's also nearly impossible to take a picture of a black dog. Cash had a great time playing with the other dogs, too, and was generally well behaved and only tried to "marry" (if you get my drift) one other dog. Luckily I caught him in time AND no humans or dogs were harmed in the taking of this photo.
Hannah and Lizzie, however, were NOT so well behaved. They told me over and over and OVER they wanted a guinea pig, and guppies. And that their hamsters needed donuts and fruit chews. We came home with the hamster food and this lovely photo of Mr. Cash with Santa Paws.