santa claus is coming to town

'Twas the day before Christmas and all through the town all the people were shopping with no parking spaces to be found.

But my mom and I decided to brave the crowds and take the kids for pictures with Santa.

First, we drove over to the east side of Houston to a store called Bass Pro Shop which had advertised free photos with Santa.  However, when we got there, we were informed that all the Santa passes had been handed out to the customers who lined up before the store even opened.

I had made the rookie mistake of telling Katelyn who we were going to see before we even left the house so there was really no negotiating out of it.  My mom even offered to buy her ice cream to which Kate replied, "No.  Ice cream will give me a brain freeze and my mom said we were going to Santa's workshop."

So we drove over to the south side of Houston to the mall where we waited in line for over an hour for a one minute visit with Santa and a twenty dollar 5X7 photo.

But it was totally worth it.  Kate asked Santa for a flute and Sam loved him.  He cried and reached out for Santa when it was time to leave.  Also, we got this adorable picture.

I think Santa was pretty impressed that Sam had a nice black eye.  Last Sunday, he was attempting to walk at church and took a tumble face first into a chair.  Santa told me that I should tell people he was outnumbered in a fight with the neighborhood kids.

Later that evening, we traveled over to Dee Dee's for our traditional German buterglaze and reivelkucken (which I don't think any of us know how to spell) and some presents and family fun.

Katelyn went around the room shoving M&Ms into the mouths of unsuspecting people.

Finally, we made it home and started preparing for Santa's arrival.  Kate was so excited to put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.  When it was time for bed, she didn't complain at all.  She was so worried about Santa flying over our house that she didn't even open her eyes when we tucked her in and kissed her goodnight.

It was a good thing too because Dave and I had a lot of things to do to help Santa.  To get into the Christmas spirit, we did our elf chores while watching one of my favorite Christmas movies, Truman Capote's Christmas Memories.

We finished our work just before midnight and collapsed on the couch.  Being one of Santa's helpers is hard work!  We're so excited for tomorrow morning though.