Christmas Card Drama!

I had such great plans to get our Christmas cards done and out by Dec 10th. However, I didn't make that goal. Here is why.

I wrote my annual Christmas letter the first week of December, so that was done--along with updating my Christmas Card address list database. Now I just needed to get a super cute picture of the kids in their Christmas clothing.

There was a particular dress that I wanted to get for Hannah and I've been eying it on Ebay for months. Every time it was listed it, would go for over $20.00 (plus whatever they were charging for shipping). The bargain hunter in me just wouldn't pay that much. I just kept waiting and watching--and I finally got it NEW WITH TAGS for the bargain price of $13.50 plus $5.00 shipping. Even though it was after Thanksgiving, I figured I was still okay with my timeline.

Well, it took the seller over a week to get it to me, so now we were into the first week of December. Then, I had to find the perfect shoes to go with it. I'm not sure why I didn't think about the shoes sooner--I just didn't. So, back to Ebay to find a bargain. That took some time too since her foot is so wide, I wasn't confident about buying a pair that might be too tight. After over a week of deliberating with myself, I decided to go with good old reliable Pedipeds that she always wears because I know they fit well and are super cute. I lucked out with another seller on Ebay and got a great deal on these. They arrived on the 17th. Sigh. Luckily, I already had Sammy's outfit ready to go.

So, now to get a great picture. I was set to take the kids back to JC Penneys and was all ready to do so when Hannah had huge fall--and landed right on her forehead. She fell face first on some asphalt so it also scraped her head a bit. She had a large red lump and some scabbing. I obviously had to wait for THAT to heal before we could take pictures, so there went another week.

I then decided to just use Costco to do our cards since they had a great deal on photo cards--50 for $15.99 and you get it within 24 hours of submitting it!! Who can beat that price?? It's way better than Penneys, so I set out to take my own photo and get this done!! Which leads me to this post.

I have tried over the past 3 days to take just ONE decent picture of my children. I have taken more than 50 pictures. And I don't have ONE that had both of them smiling/looking at me/not moving/not making a goofy face/not running away/not grouchy.

So, for those of you offended that you didn't get a Christmas card from me this year...I didn't ignore you, I'm apparently just sending out New Year's cards at this point. And I am seriously considering calling JC Penneys in the morning to get an appointment for tomorrow.

Here are some of my attempts for your enjoyment.

This one makes me laugh! When I got the camera out, they both leaned forward with these HUGE grins and yelled "CHEESE!"

Did you notice my feeble attempt to make these more "professional" by using a white sheet to drape over all the furniture? Too bad the kitty condo is right there in the background---oops! The more I look at this one, it isn't all that bad...maybe I'll use this one after all.