30 Days of Thankfulness ~ Day 15

Oops... forgot to post this last night.  :( 

Tonight the girls got to get dressed up in new pretty dresses and visit with Santa.  They love talking to him and having a little bit of time to spend with him.  Which is why I "hate, hate, hate, double hate, loathe entirely" the mall Santa.  They shove the kids through as quickly as possible and they get no time with him at all. 

At one time, Sears would have Santa come in to the portrait studio and each family of kids got about 15 minutes with Santa to chat, have their picture taken and feel like they were special, instead of a cog in a machine.  Unfortunately, the Sears portrait studio closed... so we had to find a new Santa experience. 

A friend of mine steered us towards a local camera store.  It was entirely free, so what the heck!  We'll try it.  Oh. My. Gosh.  They spent tons of time with Santa and we got a couple great pictures, all for free.  We purchased our Christmas cards through the store... best of both worlds: the girls got a fantastic Santa experience and we spent our money locally. 

So when I saw that Photo Pro was doing the Santa experience again this year, I was super excited!  I went shopping and found very cute dresses for the girls (they aren't just used for the Santa picture; they'll wear the dresses for their Christmas programs as well). 

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, Emmie proclaims, "This is the camera fix store!"  Yes, yes, it's the camera store.  "That means Santa's here!!!"  We get in the store and sure enough, Santa made a trip down from the North Pole to spend a few hours in Photo Pro visiting with little boys & girls! 

What's fantastic is that the employees remembered Emerald & Ireland from last year, "Oh, it's the little girls that always have the cutest dresses on to see Santa!"  Meanwhile, those cute little girls had the entire store captive with their antics. 

Emerald: Since my zippered jammies don't fit anymore, I need zippered jammies.  Size 5 zippered jammies.

*laughter*

Santa: You want zippered jammies?

Emerald: Yep. Ireland does too.  (She doesn't)

Santa: Do you want anything else?

Emerald: Well, and maybe a couple of Nooks.

*laughter*

It only went on from there.  :)  It ended up that the girls each asked for footie pajamas, a Nook and Legos.  (Oh, and the girls told him that they really seeing him at HyVee when we eat there!)

So today, I am thankful for magical wondrousness that is Santa.   

Photo courtesy of Photo Pro

Day 9 ~ Thankful for the Generosity of Others

Tonight we took the girls to see Santa at a local photo shop.  They were running a promotion where you would get your picture taken with Santa and a 4x6 print for free (any additional prints would need to be paid for).  Yes, I know they are hoping to boost business by getting people to pay for additional prints. 

But on the other hand... I paid not a single penny for the look of awe, wonder and excitement on my daughter's face when she saw Santa.  I paid not a single penny for the smile plastered on her face the whole time we were there.  I paid not a single penny for the conversation she had with Santa.  I paid not a single penny for my daughters' experiences... and yet it was priceless. 

For this, I will patron to this local business for their generosity and Christmas spirit of providing this Santa service for free, rather than going to a "big box" store.