"As long as the kids are here it's always fun," say Santa

He holds court in what is usually the center court of most American malls.
Relying on his experienced crew of elves to make the final preparations, Santa spends the last few weeks before Christmas making sure the children of Arkansas deserve to be on his list of stops.

Santa quizzes a little boy, "Are you being a good boy? Okay. You've got two more days 'till Christmas. That's all. So you keep being a good little boy and I'll see what I can do about that transformer race car okay?"

Christmas gift requests for Saint Nick range from the modern devices like wiki games to lap top computers and video games, to gifts popular for generations like Barbie dolls, trains or remote controlled cars.

And some children can be very specific about what they want.

One boy told Santa, "I also like Lego, stuff that is power minor. I have the granite grinder and the stone chopper. Okay?

But for Santa, it's the memories made that keep him smiling thought it all.

Santa Claus says, "I've had people come back and pull out their wallets and show pictures with the years of progression from baby on through. That's a very neat feeling."

Laurel Zegar brought her little boy for a picture with Santa. But she has her own memories of the big man in red.

Laurel recalls, "I was four years old and I woke up in the middle of the night Christmas eve and I swore that I saw Santa outside my window flying in his sleigh. And I still actually kind of believe that I did.

Santa already left the mall headed back to the North Pole. And if you've been a good boy or girl this year, he just might be coming tonight to bring you a pre