What? Christmas Already??

We're already deliberating over here over what we're going to be dressing up as for Halloween. (Well, the kids are as I'm not much of a dresser upper, even though I married into a very Halloween-y family... Thankfully they love me anyways!) We can do that because it's now September, just a month prior to October. It's totally on schedule, right? But Christmas? Surely not... I really didn't just see Christmas ribbon and ornaments decking the halls of our local super store, did I? That's a tad early, and a bit coo-coo, if you ask me. I mean, the temperature still pretty much triple digits most days.

I guess I've got a bit of the crazies going on too because I made (a version) of our Christmas card already! I guess it's not too crazy, seeing that's what I do, but if you look at my track record our card is generally the last one I get too. Last year, I actually had to send out a "Happy New Year" card because I was so delinquent. I decided to take our vacation photos and get after it. I'm also excited to try out some new shapes and designs I'm considering offering this year. So here it is... Let me know what you think!

A funny, telling, little side-story: We took the kids to the beach one night in coordinating outfits with the intent of taking some photographs to hang on the wall. Our expectations were high and we let the kids know exactly how we wanted them to act. We were a bit intense, if we're being honest. And you know what? They. were. terrible. They were goofing off and not following our directives. We were grumpy. And gripe-y. And disappointed. But you know what? The pictures turned out great. I really couldn't be happier with them. Their little personalities showed through. They were acting like their little brother and big sister selves. He was pestering her, and she was in her motherly (bossy) big sister mode, directing him and positioning him. If I were not in such a tizzy, I would have seen how precious this evening was. We got back to the condo, looked at the pics and promptly offered our apologies to the kids. Then we headed to Dairy Queen for Blizzards!

We definitely should have toned it down. No direction needed.

Lesson learned.