jolly old saint nicholas

Santa Claus, that jolly old elf... he really is a good guy. So why are little kids so scared of him? I don't think Nick ever minded sitting on Santa's lap, but I know Emmalie refused to when she was younger... and now Benjamin doesn't want anything to do with him, even though he doesn't mind other strangers. Since it is Photo Friday, I thought I'd share this pic, taken last Friday at our village hall. It cracks me up!:

(Maybe B just thinks he's getting coal in his stocking this year, LOL.) Santa was a very good sport, and posed for about 8 different pics. Here's another one taken that same night, along with Mrs. Claus, Em's friend, and Em:

Luckily, I did get this photo taken at a mall back in November. B wouldn't sit on Santa's lap then, either, but at least he didn't mind sitting on Emmalie's, next to Santa:

Emmalie has already written her letter to Santa. (She told him she wants American Girl toys, and since she knows they are expensive, he doesn't have to bring her anything else. LOL!) Nick is planning to write his letter later today. He mentioned something about wanting to get deer food... I'm not exactly sure why!

I can't believe there are only 17 more nights till Santa makes his rounds. I have soooo much to do before then!! Maybe if I were one of Santa's elves, I could get things done faster. ;) Speaking of that, a friend posted a link for a fun game called Elf Yourself. I tried it and came up with this... wish I had this much energy in real life!: http://www.elfyourself.com/?userid=79bb89455eccd4ded3036ab_20061206 (Sometimes this site is very slow, but if you don't get into it the first time, keep trying ~ it's worth it!) Of course, once I showed it to the kids, they insisted that I make them and George into elves, too. I did, and we all agree that George makes a hilarious elf! :) If you want to see it, let me know and I'll email it to you. (I don't think he'd be very happy if I just posted it on the net, LOL!)