The Elusive Christmas Photo

everyone warns ya not to mix kids or Wild Things (interchangeable?) with photography. ya think crying babies and toddlers are stressful??
try getting five kidz to grin all at once. or even all look at the camera simultaneously. one gets the giggles and one gets the grumps and i'm trying to keep the atmosphere lite'n'Christmassy so that all the grandies get the good vibes on their walls forever...
and then we all give up and i think... let's have coffee and try again in a minute, and by then it's raining and well, everyone is sick'n'tired of posing for momma. so i try bribery with candy canes... but do ya think that'll work? it's hardly hard currency. i think i need to tame them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once (book line for rach, see, i'm eduKATEd)

the Good News is, even though The Sardine Tin died last week, fab friends have lent us their car for Christmas Travellin', and Santa has pretty much done all his deeds, as soon as i get these photos sorted...
otherwise this year's Handmade Christmas is looking rather elusive X