Nine Weeks until Christmas

I can hardly believe it is the end of October already. This year has passed so quickly. Last thing I knew, it was June and we were having a blast. Between all the things that happened since summer and now, I feel like I lost so much time! The weather lately has been uncharacteristically warm. It's the end of October and we are still wearing tee shirts. We need jackets in the morning, but by midday, it's warm enough to go without. It really doesn't feel like winter is coming.

Already, I am thinking ahead until Christmas. I've already started thinking about what I am going to do with my Christmas cards this year. It's one simple thing that I can take care of early and have out of the way well before the hectic holiday schedule hits us. Often I ask myself - are we going to take a picture of all the girls together or do separate photo's? Props or no props? Funny or serious (the Big Kid wants to stage a picture of himself dressed as a zombie with the girls making mock horror faces)? Do we include the dogs or not? Outside or inside? Folded or flat? As you can see, it's no easy task picking out our cards.

We choose to use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards as they have so many creative backgrounds to choose from. We have always been happy with the service we have received and how fast our products have shipped. Shutterfly has so many unique card designs so there really is something for everyone!

One of my favorite's this year is this card. I love the simplicity of the initial wreath and the short message. The simplicity of this card really makes it stand out. This year we are trying to go a little easy with Christmas. We want to step back, give thanks and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Spending time with family and friends, trying not to stress out over what "should" be done and to really enjoy the whole season is what we strive for.

Last year - we used this design. It allowed us to be a little creative and get some good shots of the girls. It took us awhile to get the right pictures. Normally we take a group shot, but we weren't happy with the way any turned out - something was always off. Then we went to take pictures and the battery on the camera was dead. A third attempt led to issues with the background. Finally, we came up with this card as our finished product and were thrilled with the way the finished product looked.

While we were in Maine last weekend, I took a cute picture of the girls in front of the Nubble Lighthouse. While the girls are not up front and center, it's a cute picture anyway. I've been thinking of using that picture on a card with a nice red border. Putting my picture into this card, I came up with this design.


Since it's still early, I'm not entirely sure what design I will use. What I do know is that when I get "the perfect" picture, I will find the design that fits it perfectly. Once I find that design, I know that the service I receive will be quick and that my cards will arrive just the way I want them.

Do you want a chance to win 25 FREE cards? Leave a comment telling me your favorite card design and why by November 23rd. I will randomly pick three winners who will each receive 25 FREE cards of their choosing. For an extra chance to win, tweet or post a link to this post on FaceBook and then send me the link. I will need a blog contact or email address to contact the winners.

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This post was written as a promotion for Shutterfly. I will be receiving 50 FREE cards this year.

On the second day of Christmas...

...my babycakes gave to herself. Today at school was the annual children's craft fair, where the kids could bring in money and buy gifts for their family members. I sent each girl in with money and instructions to try and get something for each member of their immediate family. And if there was any money leftover, they could spend it on themselves. Moe came out and said she got me something, and her sisters something and herself two somethings. When I asked if she got her dad anything, she said she "trogot". These gifts, while different always hold a special meaning because they are something they picked themselves, without any influence from family members.

So I asked her to show me what she got for herself and sh pulled out a hair thing-a-ma-bob and a tea cup, filled with biscotti, tea bags and a honey spoon. She was sooooooo happy and asked if she could open it RIGHT NOW. Once I stopped laughing and I told her it was tea and that it wasn't, in fact, a lollipop in there, she still wanted it open. I convinced her that maybe, just maybe, we could give that to daddy since she "torgot" him. She agreed and I offered up a lollipop at home instead.

When we got home, she watched me pull out a gift for Husband that I picked up from a friend who braved the Black Friday madness (of which I will not name in case he actually reads this). She looked and exclaimed "you got something for daddy!". And then was happy that her daddy wasn't "torgotten".

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The winner of my NaBloPoMo posting everyday is C Sierra from Suburn-dwelling Sierra . Congratulation's!

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The first day of Christmas

When did Christmas get extended from Twelve Days to Twenty Five? And if there are twenty five days to Christmas, why has ABC been airing Christmas show for the last two weeks (as their countdown to the twenty five days of Christmas). And on the subject of ABC, why for the love of god, do they start their programming at 8-9 pm? My kids are in bed at 7:30 pm, so it is entirely frustrating to them that I won't let them stay up (no way are they staying up to 10 on school nights watching TV!) and frustrating to me for being the bad guy for telling them to go to bed!

Back to the subject of Christmas....

Yesterday we decorated the tree. For the first time since before kids, we put glass ornaments on it. Within a half hour, Moe broke one. This morning, Einey ran by and broke another one.

Broken ornament total: 2