one thing we {try to} do each year is get the kids picture made with Santa. this has taken a life of its own now :) When my 1st was born, i was allllll into the santa thing. after my second was born, i had come into the belief that to believe in santa was a sin and to tell you kids a lie about santa was an unpardonable sin :( so, i began telling my kids there was no such thing as santa from birth, pretty much. well, the kids have decided their own path with santa. Some totally don't want to believe in him and some, no matter how much they are told he is not 'real' still want to make cookies for him and want to talk to him every year.

My {ex} mother-in-law LOVES to have Santa pictures of the children,so we started out getting santa pictures done for her--but of course, I had to have one, too :) . On a trip to a friends house during the holidays one year, i noticed that she had all her kids' santa pictures in a basket as part of her Christmas decorations. I LOVED that idea. I hate to have pictures that aren't useful or don't document a passage of time or a moment. so. I decided i wanted them displayed. I started hanging them on a big red ribbon and hang them on the wall. we are now up to 4 ribbons about 4 feet long. we have had santa pictures made every year but two. i have no idea why that didn't happen, but it was during a very hard time as a young, homeschooling, wife of a pastor, mom. this has become the highlight of our decorations with our family and guests. the only thing that comes close at our house is the fact that each child receives an ornament each year and our tree is heavy laden with ornaments.

the oldest picture is 26 years old, made with a polaroid camera and are beginning to lose their color and sharpness. I decided this was the year to digitalize them....here is a slide show of the pictures. the last few years, though, we have found a santa that camps in his front yard each and every night for pictures. we LOVE it :). no lines, no crowds. we have a tradition of going out to eat dinner--at a nice place :) (which for a large family is a huge deal...financially and practically) and then go get our pictures made. it is one time when all the kids are committed on being here! We do have one picture where the 2 oldest just could not make it home from school/work. each picture has its own story with it and there are some that are my absolute favorite pictures. the kids LOVE to gather round them and talk about all the special memories--most funny, some not....one of my most favorite things of the christmas season.....