It happens every year....

This may cause someone who reads this to go, "What? Why?" or, "We sent you one!" or, "I love them!" but I have to say it...I HATE PHOTO CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!!!!!
There, I feel better. I don't know what it is about them specifically, I just don't like them. I always send at least the kids' pictures in our Christmas cards to family members. It costs a lot of money to buy the highly overpriced but GORGEOUS school pictures every year and to have other pictures printed for the ones who aren't in school yet, but I think it is very special, especially to our older relatives or the ones who live far away. They get to see how our kids grow each year. We have never sent out a photo card. The closest we ever came was one year I bought photo frame cards and put in a 4 x 6 print of our family portrait for the year. That type doesn't bother me because you can totally frame a 4 x 6 print!!
I think one of the things I don't like about the photo cards is that they are usually too small to put up on the wall. If you have ever been to my house, you have seen that I like to put pictures up on the wall in the hallway. When I get a new picture of someone I put it up where the old one was. With a photo card though, the print size is usually 3 x 5 at the most and it is swallowed by the frame and too small to really see whole "X" family clearly. Another thing about them is they usually have the family "signature" printed on them instead of it being handwritten. I usually buy the big boxes of assorted cards and choose which card I will send to each person on our list. I'm sure someone reading this may be thinking, "Well, you don't have a job, so you have the time to do all that." To which I say, "Clearly you have never been to my house and seen what it takes to be me!!" Or perhaps I should go with, "It really doesn't take that long and you can spread it out over several days and work during nap time if you need to."
Sometimes, though, it is the only time we get a picture of a particular family or child. This makes me even more mad. In this digital age, it costs nothing to e-mail me a picture that I can then spend my own money to print if necessary. Jayme's step-Mom is a fabulously talented photographer who takes them most beautiful pictures of anyone she sets her lens on. She is gracious enough to take our portraits anytime we ask her to and she even lets us use her professional printing service to get the highest quality portraits at a very reasonable price. Unfortunately we don't get down to Crosby that often and I don't like to ask her to "work" every time we go.
I have to admit I do like the newer style of photo cards where you can put a few different pictures on it. Although this does make the pics themselves even smaller and still not frame-worthy. All things considered though, I suppose I should be happy to get the holiday greeting at all and stop grousing about what form it comes in. I won't get started on the whole, I-send-out-60-cards-with-pictures-in-them-and-only-get-about-20-in-return!
So, what is your opinion on the photo card? Have you ever sent them? Do you like/love/hate them?