annual santa visit

Look what we did today! Now to peel my girls off the ceiling!

Yes, they were THAT excited! Funny, because I've chosen to be 'that' parent and I've told both of my girls the truth about Santa. That was really hard for me, but I have my reasons. I've always wanted honesty with my girls, mainly because of their story, adoption and all the questions that already have and will continue to surface about their birth, birthparents, etc. I also want them to know that the (real) story of Christmas is true, that our Lord Jesus' birth, death and resurrection really did happen, it's not a fairy tale and it's not pretend... I never want them to question that.

And even though they know Santa is 'pretend', there is still a huge part of Santa that my girls find magical. I like that.

her first santa visit!

This morning, amid a messy spell of freezing rain, we headed out to meet Santa Claus at the local mall.

Phebe didn't seem too worried about ths "sampa" visit, and was even shouting and waving at him - "Hi Sampa!" before it was our turn to see him! I think she was happy to finally meet this chap that her big sister has been raving about! Of course, for Phebe, anything her big sister does is the final word. She follows along with glee.

She even had a chat with santa, although, to be fair, santa may not have understood a lot of it!

And the best part for me, I got to take my own pictures!