The Magic of Santa

Every year we take the kidlets to get pictures with Santa. Some years have turned out pretty good and some years...well not so great.

1998 - Big J didn't mind Santa too much.

1999 - Big J and baby Einstein with Santa. (Doesn't Einstein kind of look like he could be Santa's love child? Did I mention that I really love Santa.)

2000 - This was our most famous year. A local news channel happened to be filming at the mall while we were there and the boyz were briefly shown on the evening news. This picture was taken a 1/2 second before Einstein started screaming. You can see the frown starting.

2001 - By now the Boyz and Santa were good friends.

2002 - This year Roo made her Santa debut. She looks a bit confused by the fact that her parents just dumped her on some strange guy's lap.

2003 - Santa finally ran out of room on his lap for everyone.

2004 - I am not sure what happened this year. I know we went and visited Santa, but I don't know what happened to the picture.

2005 - LaLa is so surprised to meet Santa this year. Check out how chubby her little legs are were.

2006 - LaLa wasn't a really fan of Santa this year.

2007 - Ham got in on the Santa fun this year, even if he wasn't real excited about being there.

Oh wait you say, where is the fifth child?

Here she is. She was PETRIFIED of Santa this year. Would not even get near him.

2008 - We had just gone and watch 'Polar Express' at the Imax in 3D so we were already in the Santa mood and just happened out in the mall and Santa was sitting there without a line and we decide it was the perfect time to get a picture with him. I am so glad that the kids were dressed kind of nice.

Santa is a big part of our Christmas celebration. My Mom did a really amazing job of instilling the magic of Santa. I believed in Santa as a child and I still do....no really.

I didn't realize how much I believed in his magic until a few years ago I was in the mall when Big J and Einstein were pretty small. It wasn't Christmastime and I saw this older gentleman walking towards me. He was wearing jeans and a red turtleneck sweater and white cardigan. He had a had a white beard and a smile on his face. As I realized who it was my heart actually started beating faster and I got the nervous/excited feeling in my stomach as I realized it was Santa. Our eyes met and he gave me a little smile. I couldn't even say anything to the boys because I was so excited that I had seen Santa in the mall.

That's when I realized that I still believe in Santa and his magic.