I've been slowly adding to my scrapbook pages, maybe at some point they will all get put together into a book. Since my printer only prints 8.5 x 11 pages (and not the standard 12 x 12 scrapbook page) I have to get creative. Mostly, I just make a page and back it with some pretty paper. This one I decided to add journals to each side. It's a little out of order here, but picture the journalling on each side of the page.


Wow, I can see my forehead a mile away in that picture.

1. Don't leave Christmas shopping until Dec 22nd. Especially if it's your anniversary, you have a free casino hotel room and a babysitter. Never again.
2. Finishing shopping on Dec 23rd is no fun either.
3. Tired, sick 2 year olds are no fun. None.
4. Patience, patience, patience.
5. Children act like children because they are...wait for it...children. If you treat them like adults and expect them to act like adults, all they turn into are bossy children. No thanks.
6. If you buy toys that need batteries, include the batteries.
   
7. A simple hug and "I'm sorry" goes a long, long way.
8. If your belly is full, STOP EATING.
9. The best part of my Christmas, as always, is watching everyone open their gifts slowly. For 4 hours. Really, I'm not being sarcastic. I honestly love that my family all gathers Christmas morning (parents, kids, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins) and opens each gift in turn. But parts of me also wish for a simple Christmas morning.
   
10. When your Christmas tree falls over on Dec 27th, it may be time to call it. Although a little early this year, we will be clearing out our Christmas gear soon.

And, I haven't even looked at any pictures taken in the past two weeks. But I did just (very quickly) create a few scrapbook pages from all the photo Christmas cards we received. I still had last year's sitting around, so I did those, too. I've been wanting to save my friends' kids' pics and be able to watch the changes from year to year.

It feels a little early to being visiting Santa, but December is such a busy month. I know it's busy for everyone, but if you can ever help it--don't get married AND have a baby in the month of December! (Well, and if you can help it--not in the same year--ours were 3 years apart.)


Growing up, we always went to Kelly's Country Store and it's such a great memory for me that we always take our kids there. Umm...I'm getting to the age of my blog where I am repeating myself...yikes. Check here for the background if you are new to this gig. Yeah, so long lines and waiting. I'm not sure I knew or if they ever had Santa visit on the weekend, but this year we decided to try it and since it is early in the season maybe we would have some luck? It was a little better at least. We did wait an hour and a half, but did I mention it's because Santa spends at least a full 5 minutes with each kid? (not just each family, but each kid!) He's a pretty special guy.

We did a lot of prepping for Mikaela, also. We didn't want to have another scream fest. When Santa first appeared she was scared, but she saw other kids sitting on his lap and then two girls from her daycare were there and I think that helped, too. She did great--quiet, but no crying.




And this year..we are SO into the Santa threat, "Santa is watching you! He knows when you are bad or good! You better behave if you want Santa to bring you a gift!" Is it possible to wear this out before it's even December 1st?




Oh yeah, and he's NOT getting a dog...

You are just going to get blasted with post after post--none in any sort of order.

This year seems to be the year of the stray card. I pride myself (actually I'm astonished at myself) in having an updated Christmas card list all ready and waiting for me each year. Seriously, I'm surprised each year that I am that organized. This year...I seemed to have dropped the ball--big time. Not only did I run out of Christmas cards (I had extras last year!) but one came back with the wrong address and two are still sitting here waiting to be addressed. I didn't even make it in time for the "New Year" crowd.

So, in case you didn't receive yours this year--I apologize--and offer up this post instead.

We took hundreds of pictures (in low light) to try to get the kids looking all cute in their Christmas clothes. First of all--reality check--Cameron refused to wear the sweater vest I bought him (can't blame him...it is a sweater vest after all) and Kaela's sweater to match didn't fit anyhow. I scrapped that idea and went with the clothes they already had. I could only get Cameron to wear the sweater because I made it sound very exciting that there was a dog on the front.

So, this is the best shot of the two of them together (not blurry)



Obviously, not card-worthy. Here's a little diddy about the real pic:

caption read: Visions of sugar bums danced in their heads...

Yes, my children have a streaking party every night before they get their pj's on. To them, it's the best, and most freeing, part of the day. As soon as that time came, they calmed down, listened and actually held hands in front of the tree. All was right with the world for 2.3 seconds...

Every family is a little weird, right? Well, you probably think you're normal--especially when you are a young, innocent kid. Then one day, your friends look at you like you just jumped ship from Mars because you assume they have noodles and apples for every holiday meal as you do.

Don't even google it people, it ain't there. Maybe I'll have to share that recipe sometime. Stay tuned.

OK, so my family apparently isn't so normal and here's how Christmas goes down: Christmas morning get up and open stockings (while parents sip coffee) at your leisure. If Christmas is at your house, then yippee--stay and play with the loot. Don't dare to open a gift before other family members arrive. If you have to travel to another house, DO NOT GET DRESSED, do not pass go, just get your presents and your heiney in the car and get to the house before you start receiving the calls. (cell phone: um, where are you? home phone: you're still there??? Hurry up or we're starting without you!) Once all family members are in tact, then pass out the presents to the lucky receivers, as the givers eye them and you up and say for the last (and millionth) time this Christmas season, "I know what you're getting!" Snatch the first of at least 20 cookies to get you through the first couple hours, and look over your pile. The youngest starts to open their gift--and now this is the important part--as everyone else watches. NO, we certainly do not open all gifts at once nilly willy. There is order, there is attention, and darnit, there will be oohing and ahhing! So, when it is finally your turn, you choose the tastiest of all gifts, ignoring all the shouts of "open mine next!" and rip it open. (Let the oohing and ahhing begin) Crumple up that paper and throw it as hard as you can at your brother (I mean, the youngest who must be the garbage bag holder) and then model your new Wonder Woman UnderRoos (cursing your mother for not buying you whichever one came with the bra--cat woman maybe?) until it is your turn again. This process can take anywhere from 4-6 hours depending on the event attendance. We will usually take a break and have some breakfast so the Irish coffee drinkers and the elders don't pass out before it's over. It's all great fun and I have a hard time enjoying any other gift opening when there is paper and chaos flying about. FYI--I should have left those Underoos in the package. The boys' version of R2D2, which I believe I also had, is going for $200 on ebay. One more comment, I hate the word panty. With a passion.

...my man, that is. I know, you all think you have the best husband in the world, but I'm sorry to tell you that title belongs to mine. Seriously, did you see the pic in my last post? The pic where I said I was "keeping it real"? I won't tell you how many days unshowered I was, but let's say it was more than one. Probably more than several. So, he says to me: you look sexy. I'm all--wha? then he shows me the pic he's looking at--stinky pic--and he says he thinks it's a good picture. Only a face a husband could love, I tell ya. What a guy.

And then there's this:



Sorry, Ladies (and probably a few gents) he's taken--and not by me. Let's just say, she has blonde pigtails, loves to sing and dance, and goes by the name of Chubba. Ok, so that could be me...but it's not.

These photos are from a series of hundreds that we took tonight. We got the kids all spiffied up and decided that tonight is the night we get our Christmas photo! Unfortunately, we didn't consult the real bosses on this decision, and we got some cute pics, but none are card worthy. Don't worry, the job is done, just not how I expected. When you receive them in the mail, you will laugh thinking back to this post and all of the time spent looking all nice and pretty/handsome. And I will also say, the idea was all Kyle's. Man, he's having a good day. Here are a few more cuties from tonight:

(notice the painted walls--yea!)

Cameron has taken to drinking "warm" tea and "warm" chocolate, especially when we are having a cup. He loves his boy-sized mug:


"Mama, whachu doing?"


He's also taken to saying, "Look at that" in the most old lady tone. It's too darn cute.


And those curls...


And the finale!


This last one, well, this is dedicated to Kyle. We have all been afflicted with a serious head cold--I cannot breathe out of my nose at all. My lips are dry, my nose is red, my head is foggy. So, one of the hundreds of shots taken was accidentally snapped as I was laying on the floor for "an artistic perspective." Eat your heart out, Giselle.



PS I had to work this morning, so I did shower!

I almost forgot that I saw this on the Today Show today. They were talking about what a big deal Christmas cards are and getting the perfect picture for your card. They showed some families where they hired private photographers to get the perfect family photo or action shot--just for the card. While I have not hired a photographer, we did trek it to Sears last year (note photo on the left side of the screen) and I have spent many a moment contemplating the Christmas cards. I rehearse scenarios of matching pj's for the family, or the typical cute kids bundled up with hats and gloves on a snowy, yet sunny day. Unfortunately, those are rare around here and I have a feeling that the kids runny noses will somehow ruin the scenery. And yet, as I was pulling out of the driveway I thought about how beautiful it could be if we took the short walk down to the lake and shot some family photos there...

WHY? Why is it that the Christmas photos get all of the attention? Why is it that while I am wondering this I am still playing out elaborate graphic designs in my head? Oooh, I think I just came up with a winner! You'll have to wait to see :)