Say "Cheese"...or "Cookies"...or whatever will make you smile

The Christmas season is upon us once again. And once again I am faced with a daunting task: taking a photo of my children appropriate for a Christmas card. Matt had a brilliant idea for a card this year, but as he is slacking in preparing for his idea (and I'm not sad about it), I must do something. Last year, it was hard enough just to get Annie to smile and look Christmas cheerful. Now, we have Kate to worry about, too. I have to catch Annie in just the right mood to first sit with Kate, second look at me, and third smile. And Kate has to be propped up and not crying. This may sound easy, but I assure you it is not. It involves careful planning, as well as a number of foodstuffs and television shows.

And I've still failed so far. Here is what I'm working with so far:

We start off not terrible, but I know we can do better. And Annie looks kind of dumb.

This one might not be so bad if it weren't for the Yogos in her mouth.

Then our situation rapidly deteriorates. I believe she is saying cheese here.
Annie will not even touch Kate any longer, and Kate is not looking her best.
And, my personal favorite, which pretty much sums up my feelings on the matter. I laugh hysterically every time I look at this one.

There were more, but we'll stop there. At some point, I gave up on a shot of the girls together and attempted to photograph them separately. This was also fruitless.

This could have been cute, but she leaned forward at the last second. And my laundry is in the right hand corner. Not exactly the Christmas cheer I'm going for.

She may have been simply reflecting the look I was giving her at this point. Hard to say.

I will try again later today when I can store up enough energy. Or maybe I can just send a card with a link to this blog. I think there are a few pictures around here somewhere where Annie is smiling and Kate is not crying....

*Kate was not harmed in the taking of these lovely holiday photos.