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 ...

joy rising ...

as oprah would say, we had a whole lot of 'joy rising' this last weekend thanks to our annual weekend-after-thanksgiving explosion of christmas cheer ... everything christmas-related came out of hibernation and let's just say that toddy the elf is thrilled to be reunited with his old pals ...

it was an all-weekend commitment to let in the JOY ... we started off with gingerbread houses ...

which led to a whole new career path for the little ladybug ...

future cake boss at work ...

meanwhile, momma ladybug was busy being a christmas sherpa ...

then we took a break to bake some of this delicious gingerbread from a trader joe's kit ... can you smell it when you see these photos?  It was fabulous!

after fueling up on warm gingerbread, it was go-time!

first the angels ...

then the nativity ...

even the pre-school nativity scene made a reappearance for the first time in years ...

then came the wreaths and garland, both indoors and out ...

and finally, the stockings ...

By this time, it was late afternoon - not a moment to spare, it was time to choose our tree!

once we were finished with the drama of getting the tree into the house and into the stand (why is this always so frustrating?!), we got right down to the business of decorating - the sun had just set, the christmas tunes were playing, and a fire was burning in the fireplace.  And in the end, we had this ...

... we also have a 4-foot fiber optic tree that belongs to the ladybugs, complete with all of their homemade ornaments that date back a full decade at this point ...

we always celebrate the completion of our christmas setup with a big family dinner in the dining room, which is otherwise sadly underused in our house ... one of my favorite parts about christmastime is that with the dining/living rooms (they are open to one another) looking so festive, we actually use these rooms just about every day of the week ... such a great side effect of the JOY of christmas ...

not bad for a 36-hour stretch!  each year the JOY of christmas rises just like this over one wonderful weekend ~ and they are truly my favorite moments of all other than christmas morning itself ~

merry merry christmas from our house to yours ...

elf-ing ...

image via pinterest

Actually, I'm not talking about the movie (and btw don't even get me started on how funny I still find that movie even after 17,000 viewings!), I'm talking about Toddy ... our "elf on the shelf" - anyone who has been here a while might remember his appearances last year when little ladybug was fashioning teeny tiny handmade lunchboxes and to-do lists for him - not to mention serving him miniature portions of pie and knitting him his very own shawl to stay warm.  Amazingly, this year is Toddy's fifth year with us - half of little ladybug's whole life - and the magic is still there.  I think my girls will be coming home from college and still expecting to find Toddy changing places with each new morning ... he's just that special to us ♥

But I nearly blew it with poor Toddy this year - those of you who already partake in this tradition know that your elf is supposed to appear the morning after Thanksgiving and stay with you through Christmas Eve, when he returns back to the North Pole with Santa's visit that night.  Of course, we were in Florida the morning after Thanksgiving and the thought hadn't even crossed my mind.  Nor did the thought cross my mind for 2 more nights after returning north ... until my sweet big ladybug turned to me in privacy after little ladybug's bedtime and mentioned that she hadn't noticed Toddy hanging around yet ... in a "just sayin" sort of way ... phew, thank goodness for that sweet eldest child of mine - her heart is pure gold for sure!

So after eldest was tucked in last Sunday night, I immediately dug poor Toddy out of his storage spot and put him in the front doorknocker as his first location of 2011 ... 

note that little ladybug's hand-knit shawl (and store-bought mittens) are still with him

... and it's been so much fun to search for clever new "finding" places for him ever since ... 

note which frame he's holding onto ... that's his picture inside ;-)

Our beloved Toddy is always the first sign of Christmas joy ... from that first morning with Toddy, it's a trickling wave of Christmas cheer that follows and within a week or so, we're full swing with all the decor ... a colorful tree, ribbon-wrapped wreaths, holly garland, advent calendars, stockings, tabletop carolers, the girls' angel collections, christmas card displays, etc etc ... such a magical season ...

At Christmas play and make good cheer
For Christmas comes but once a year
~Thomas Tusser~