"Ready or not, here I come!" ~Last week I heard my boys shout that out in our family room while playing hide and seek. I think it also applies to the Christmas season! I might not feel ready, but Christmas is coming anyway. So, Aaron and I made a day of it and decorated the house on Friday. We started at 8:30 am and ended at 3 pm when school let out. What a great helper he was for me. I tried not to think of what it'll be like next year when my little boo is in school all day...
After the big birthday celebration last week, I put my Christmas music in the van and started playing it. Aaron heard this line from a song: "Soon the bells will start..." He piped up from the back seat and indignantly said, "Bells?!! I don't hear any bells!" I think of him every time I hear that now. :)
Yesterday I broke the news to Derek that it was the day to take pictures of the kids for our Christmas card. For the past few years I've done it myself, but this year I needed his help. How was I going to get 3 kids and a very active German Shepherd to pose for a picture? I had envisioned a great outdoor shot with the kids laughing and playing around Ginger, all dressed up in red and green. Candid shots of my kids just being themselves. Complete with our puppy.
Well. Freezing cold temps and single-digit windchills killed my dream.
So, we sat the kids down by the fireplace and brought Ginger over to sit with them. Too small of a space to romp around in with such a big dog. If our card had audio embedded in the photo, you'd hear things like this:
"Boys, your job is to look at the camera and smile, NOT at what Ginger is doing."
"Aaron, I can't see you--scoot forward."
"Braylen, DON'T MOVE"
"Braylen, smile nice, NOT like that."
"Ginger--SIT! STAY!"
"Aggghhhhh!!!!!!!"
Amazingly enough, we got several usable shots from our very high-stressed photo shoot. For those of you who will receive a card from us, now you know the rest of the story. :)
You know what you should never do after a photo shoot like that? Put ornaments on your tree. Letting my kids decorate the tree is ALWAYS a madhouse. This year it was even worse, thanks to our crazy picture-taking fiasco. Aaron cries because he doesn't have many ornaments. Well, Braylen is twice his age--what can I do? Kaleb just wants to play with his ornaments. He whines when I tell him they're supposed to be hung on the tree. Braylen bosses them both around, telling them where they can (mostly can't) hang their ornaments. I just want to toss the ornament totes in the air and walk away from the whole mess. Isn't this supposed to be a festive time? Remembering when they made their ornaments, or who they received them from? Nope. It's complete and utter chaos. When they are done and banished to the basement, I look at our sorry tree with clumps of ornaments hung on the bottom half. I sit on the couch and shake my head and think, "Maybe next year will be better." But then I think, "Someday I will miss this."
To wrap up our fun day yesterday, we had supper by candlelight. You want to know what our elegant meal was? Little smokies (complete with football toothpicks to skewer them with), cheese and crackers, and apples with fruit dip. Alvin and the Chipmunks were singing Christmas songs in the background, and all I could do was look at my husband...and laugh. :) Ready or not, Christmas, here I come!
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