He's back!

I'm totally getting swept into the whole Elf on the Shelf and Santa thing. Santa was never a big deal growing up in the McVay family. Our stockings were always full and we had plenty of presents under the tree, but we didn't talk about what came from who. We didn't have extended family that lived close by, so "who gave what" was never an issue. And we didn't normally ask for a specific item. I'm not sure why. Maybe I did one year and then didn't get it, so I stopped asking? Not that I was upset, I was just a very practical kid who was aware of money and the price of items from a very young age. Also, my parents had 5 other children to buy for and after I turned 10, there were grandchildren! Who knows, but I was aware and I was okay with that.

This year EC started asking about Santa as soon as she heard Christmas. Where did this come from? We didn't really mention Santa last year. We did have our Elf (Soovie) and may have read the book once, but EC never really understood "elf is watching me and telling Santa about my day". I may have left that part out during our first reading. So Elf was merely another form of hide and seek to her. Since there has been so much talk of Santa from her this year, we read the book again tonight and I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole "be good because Santa/elf is watching" idea.

Tonight she asked about visiting the North Pole. I told her that I didn't think we coud do that. She said, "Sure we can, we just need a little bit of magic! We will take Soovie with us!"

Bo and I were also talking about picking out a toy to give to a child that is less fortunate than she is when she asked, "But won't Santa bring them presents? Why do we need to give them presents too?"Wow! Smart little monsters.

I did ask how she knew so much about Santa. She told me she "watched all about Santa on Barney". Thanks Aunt Deb!

I really don't want her to get wrapped up in Santa, but at the same time I do want her to feel the excitement and magic of the season. To understand that Santa represents the spirit of giving to all, no matter what their religion may be. But mostly I want her to understand that Jesus is the greatest gift of all and all of the excitement she feels about her gifts on Christmas morning pales in comparison to the excitement we feel knowing that God gave us Jesus because he Loves us more than we can imagine.

We have Truth in the Tinsel from last year and I plan to start it tomorrow or Monday - this weekend has already been quite crazy! I overslept this morning (thanks for trying to be sweet hubs), then had to rush to get the girls dressed and out of the house. We picked up our amazing photographer, Kimber Furman, grabbed a CFA sandwich so I didn't loose all my strength, and rushed to meet family on the square for some Christmas pictures of the Lane grandbabies. Here is a very low resolution sample set.

Pretty amazing huh? Kimber's technique and knowledge are growing right before my eyes! I have been SUPER impressed with her photos since the beginning, but I can also see how much she has grown as a photographer.

Here are some unprofessional outtakes from Oula's iPhone :)

I am very glad we brought Kimber to take the pictures! Not only does she have some amazing equipment, but she is so chill and good with the kiddos. Plus, I really think it took all of us to get some of those smiles. Children are hard to photograph, especially at these ages! 

So how do you handle the Santa/Jesus balance at your house?