Holiday Prep, Pledge and Photos

I love this site called The Art of Doing Stuff.  The author  (Karen, I feel like I know her) is very creative and funny.  In fact, consider yourself warned..DO NOT CLICK over to her blog unless you have hours of free time to laugh.  You will want to read each and every post and you will want to become friends with Karen too.

But I digress...Each year, my friend, Karen posts about the Christmas Pledge.  She suggests that everyone pledge to get all the "work" of Christmas done in the month of November leaving the month of December for the fun stuff like sitting by the fire sipping cocoa and watching Christmas movies or whatever else is fun for you.

Last year, I gave it a try.  And it was wonderful.  I attempted to get my shopping, cards, and decorating done so that I could focus on spending quality time with my family and celebrating the birth of Jesus and all of our Christmas traditions.

I am doing it this year too.  I told my kids to get their lists ready and I have already made a decent dent in the shopping. This year, we are trying to focus less on gifts and more on God.  The peanuts are allowed to ask for something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read.  Surprisingly, they were fine with that.  We will also pick a few philanthropic projects to do as a family.

So-- one of my biggest stressors each year is my Christmas card.  I LOVE Christmas cards. LOVE them! I save all the ones we get from year to year.  I start looking at all my favorite sites months in advance.  Sometimes, I fall in love with a card first and other times, I pick a photo first.  And as much as I love cards, I also love crossing this particular chore off my "to-do" list.  And it brings me great pleasure to say today that my cards are ordered!  Hurray!

In just a few days, the company I used is offering a fabulous giveaway here.  So, be sure to check back and enter.

I like to use a photo from our vacation some years but this year, I did not get one due to a sudden rain storm the night we decided to do beach photos.  So much to my kids dismay, I hauled them out for a mini session this past Saturday evening.

We arrived at the nature center at 5:51 and the sign said the gate closes at 6:00 p.m.  That did not leave us a lot of time. Luckily, I shot two outfit changes and a handful of poses quickly and I had several to choose from.  Here are a few that did not make the cut.  And I got a lot of fun bloopers that I'll post soon too.

So, take the Christmas pledge and start your list of November chores and be sure to check back within the next few days for a chance to win your Christmas Cards.