Breakfast with Santa

For our church party this year, we had a breakfast with Santa. It was a wonderful time. I much prefer it to the evening party last year because Hallie was too exhausted by the time Santa arrived. As we were getting dressed for the party, I asked Hallie what she would tell Santa. She said "I will say 'Thank you for the candy cane!'" She remembered that was what Santa gave her last year when she sat on his lap. That daughter of ours has an incredible memory. She was barely two when that happened. What is so special about this year is that she loves Santa because he is magical. She doesn't realize that Santa brings gifts. To her, he is a sweet, happy man who loves Christmas. I am so pleased that we have another year without the full Christmas commercialism setting in. It isn't about what Santa is going to bring. It is about the fact that he is Santa. I am so excited about our new Christmas tree ornament. It is Santa Clause kneeling at the manger of baby Jesus. My grandmother has had a little statue of it for as long as I can remember and I feel it sends such a sacred message about the true meaning of Christmas. I have been searching online and in stores and could never find a version to my liking. Then Laura recommended I check a Catholic store. Bingo! The statue I want is fifty dollars so I will wait to get that in the future. But, they had a precious minature version for the Christmas tree that I purchased. I placed it on the tree without telling Hallie and waited to see her response. "Mommy, that is Santa Clause with the baby Jesus!" she exclaimed. We talked about how Santa loves baby Jesus and that we celebrate Christmas to remember the night that Jesus was born. I love these pictures of Hallie enjoying Santa.