christmas weekending ...

i love that the whole of christmas fell on a weekend this year ...

christmas eve is actually my favorite day of the two ...

because that day is just for us ...

beyond noon, it's generally a day with few interruptions...
no errands, no visitors, no emails, no phone calls - just us ...

we eat fondue dinner after the early church service ...

we choose a single gift to open at the table over dessert ...

then we watch It's a Wonderful Life in our christmas pj's ...
it's my kind of bliss i tell you ...

and with christmas eve being a saturday this year,

the pace this year was especially slow and easy and fabulous ...

with plenty of time to enjoy it all ...

and of course, being our first christmas with the pup ...

well, you can imagine the extra fuss ...

all the gifts were so tempting to such a curious girl ...

and after our blissfully quiet and calm christmas eve together,
so filled with anticipation and guessing from the ladybugs ...

well, then came the energy of christmas morning ...
and all was answered ...

new sheets for the big ladybug ...

and clothes ... LOTS of clothes ...

little ladybug was beyond thrilled with her signed copy of the Cake Boss's new book ...
as well as the official Carlo's Bakery chef's coat and hat ...

now she's all ready for her 4-week class at michael's: 'cake decorating 101' :)

she also got these vinyl wall decals she had asked for ...
and look what she wrote on them ...

warms my heart to read these ...

manbug received a book ...
a hilarious book that definitely rings true in our house ...

and of course, there's the pup ...
isabel received more gifts than any of us ...

a pint-sized snuggie ...

mini dog bones ...

and a spiffy red wool coat to take walks in ...

by lunchtime we were with manbug's family ...
at his father's house along with his two brothers and their families ...
so that meant the cousins got to play and hang out ...

the human cousins also hung out, but they weren't nearly as cute ...

christmas 'dinner' falls at around 2:00 ...
delicious as always ...
we all ate way too much ...
and then went into a food coma by the time the sun was setting ...
zzzzz ...


all in all, a very merry christmas ...

thank you, toddy ...

Hard to believe that Toddy will soon be leaving with Santa for the off-season ...

Over the years, he's become such a treasured part of Christmas ...

He represents the magic that is starting to fade from my girls' eyes ...

My girls who are too grown up to believe ...

He reminds them of the wide eyes and wonder they used to have ...

He reminds them that it's ok to be young ...

And to let go of what's deemed cool or uncool ...

And to just believe in the magic of Santa ...

And the love and hope and happiness that he represents ...

Even if only for just one brief moment each morning ...

first day of elf season - albeit 3 days late - toddy greeted us at our door

gotta keep cool in the icemaker when you're used to those north pole temps ...

aaawww, look ... they have a picture of me :)

true ... there really IS no place like home ...

hanging out with the big guy ...

mission impossible pose ...

on the kitchen window at sunrise ...

sledding with the hallmark singing snowman and friends ...

playing connect four with mr. panda ... this game progressed as the day went on ...

on the chandelier at 11pm ...

keeping vigil by gigi's photo ...

chilling with his ornament friends ...

in the christmas card bin ...

by the fireplace ...

on christmas eve toddy waits in a stocking for a ride home in santa's sleigh

Thanks for the memories, sweet Toddy ...

We'll see you next year ...

And hopefully on time in 2012 ;-)

card reveal ...

As I mentioned previously, I have had about a decade+ of intense annual christmas card smackdowns photo sessions all in an effort to get that elusive 'perfect' shot.  I've been so fortunate to have a winning shot each year and consider myself blessed to have a full decade of happy smiling joyful card photos.  In fact, this is the shot that started it all - the very first Christmas card shot of my two ladybugs ...

circa 2001, ages 6 months and 3

But this year was different.  Completely different.  After ten years of hard labor to get the perfect shot, this year I had no expectations whatsoever for our photo.  I went into our annual session with my bar set low.  Really really low.  In recent years I've reached a tipping point with the whole card aspect of Christmas.  In short, I'm burning out.  Heck, I've had ten great years in a row - all were stellar cards to be proud of - cards that I painstakingly handwrote by the dozens and dozens (we were up to 135 last year - it's ridiculous).  Until just last year, I was still stuffing empty border cards with actual 4x6 photos and in some years I was even tying red plaid ribbons into bows on each and every one - I look back at that poor overachieving mom and shudder to think of all the time and I stress wasted on those cards and said 'enough!'.

So on a sunny Sunday morning in early November, I decided to try for a picture.  It started like any other year - little ladybug was whining about not wanting to wear a headband and big ladybug made it known that she hated that green sweater ... this is where that 'I could care less' attitude really served me well.  I ignored the whining and asked them to nestle into big ladybug's giant beanbag chair (from last Christmas if anyone remembers) for some warm-up shots, there was some beautiful light coming into her room at the time and I just wanted to try a few shots to see how the pup would do.  And this is what I got just five shots into it ... 

Miraculously, I caught all 3 of them looking right at the camera ... the girls are smiling and natural, the pup is adorable with her ears perked and the paw up, that ethereal white light behind them is heaven-sent (thank you, sweet gigi) ... screw the fact that we hadn't gone outdoors yet, or that technically we hadn't even gotten started ... this is the shot!

So in an unprecedented 'I could care less' year, we ended up with this as our 2011 Christmas card ... 

... and in less than 10 minutes, too!  Man, I should really care less more often!

loooong exhale ...

i've been offline all week ...

i was head down, nose to the grindstone ...

nothing but focus on making that final push with the christmas gifting ...

up first thing each morning with a list of to-do's in my hand ...
to-do's in crowded places like shopping malls and big box stores ...

then awake until late-night revising my list so i could do it all over again ...

i seem to have one giant stressful week like this every december ...

where it's time to put the game face on and get. it. done. ...

it's as intense and draining as college finals back in the day ...

but thankfully it pays off ...

this was the scene on friday morning ...
the day I was ready to ship out our gifts ...
it's a big deal ...
it represents the most challenging aspect of our gifting ...
at last, their gifts are chosen and wrapped, carefully boxed and labeled ...
then shipped off to 6 different destinations ...
this is the day i switch gears from christmas stress to christmas relief!

cue long exhale ...

friday morning was my deadline ...

because it was winter concert day at school ... 

christmas cards, shipping, teacher gifts, and winter concert ...
they all go hand in hand each year ...
in that same giant week of stress ...

cue long exhale ...

i arrived at school ready to enjoy the winter concert ...
so many huge things freshly crossed of that dreaded list that had plagued me all week long ...

cue long exhale ...

i sat back to enjoy the sweet sound of young children singing and giggling ...

and the sight of their proud families gathered ...

and their adorable younger siblings cheering from the audience ...

not being quite as young,
my ladybugs came on a little later in the concert ...

5th grade, finding their places on the top riser - look how tall some of these kids are!

7th and 8th grades in this shot, 6th grade just barely starting to fill the bottom riser

and as of noon friday when the final winter concert song was sung, we were officially on vacation ...

cue long exhale ...

off we went to enjoy our favorite pizza restaurant for lunch ...
and the reality set in ...
the shopping and run-around is behind me ...
it's time to sit back and enjoy christmas ...
from now on just the fun stuff lies ahead ...
lazy mornings ...
hot breakfasts ...
wrapping the gifts that will go under our own tree ...
baking ...
delivering goodies to local friends and neighbors ...
lazy homework-free nights ...
and soaking in all of the JOY this season has to offer ...

cue one final looooong exhale ...

image from here

december weekending ...

final new puppy appointment

all shots completed

she's a big girl now with her rabies tag jingling

5 1/2 pounds and still not even halfway to full grown!!

skating

warm lunch

tree trimming at pop-pop's with the cousins

baking treats on a cold day

spaghetti dinner

wizard of oz for movie nite!!

***

sleeping in

lazy hot breakfast

time to get dressed up

off to the city

Boston Ballet's Nutcracker!!

amazing performance

happy memories

little ladybug's two friends/classmates danced in the party scene ...

onstage for about half of the first act!

the Bear is still our favorite

Arabian and China dancers a close second ...

and Mother Ginger ...

and those Russian dancers jump so high!

I take it back ...

impossible to pick just one favorite ...

gorgeous sunset as we drove home

favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner ...

in honor of those Chinese tea dancers ;-)

another merry December weekend ...

image from here

card photo smackdowns through the years ...

Ha! ... from Christmas joy in the last post ...
... to Christmas smackdowns in this one ...

The very first Christmas-related task in my household is the dreaded Christmas card photo.  This process takes place well before Christmas each year - typically in early November - I don't like the added pressure of Christmas is breathing down my neck, so it's the one and only thing we do early ...

I'll be the first to admit that I've been very blessed with my Christmas card photo results through the years ... last year, I posted every year's winning photo for the last decade (see here) and my heart truly shines when I see the end results all together like that - each one of those photos is such a treasure to me.

But I worked hard - as in HARD - to get those shots each year.  Back when the girls were little, I'd politely ask snarl and bark for Manbug's help to keep them focused and sitting still - but by 2003, he quickly realized that there was no bargain in this task and dropped out of sight ... and I've been left on my own ever since - with nothing more than leftover Halloween candy as my bribe.  Sigh ...

Several weeks ago, just as I was attempting our 2011 photo session, Pam posted this hilarious story about trying to 'beg and plead' her way through their own annual Christmas card photo session (with herself, her husband, her four children and, oh yeah, a puppy - holy smokes is she brave or what?!).  She titled the post "Our Annual Christmas Card Photo Shoot Smackdown" - the title alone had me on the hook - because Lord knows, I feel that same pain each year!

Anyway, Pam's post got my wheels turning ... I knew I had never deleted any shots from my sessions each year ... surely I must have some similar outtakes to prove my pain and suffering?!  

well as a matter of fact, yes ... yes, I did ...

2001

2002

2003

2005

2006

2008

2009

2010

Talk about "keeping it real" ... sheesh ... it usually takes between 50-90 shots to get the one photo I want each year ... lucky for me, my ladybugs are pretty patient and somewhere between shot #50 and the very last frame, I am rewarded with perfection ... lucky me ... lucky as a ladybug, I'd say ...

So, how did we do for 2011?

Stay tuned ...