Baby Pics. *poof* Gone! Crap.

The day I realized 98% of my son's baby pictures and my eldest daughters toddler years photos were gone for good, a little bit of me died.  That same day, I swore I dedicate my children's precious images to paper and get (what I had left and would create in the future) off my computer.

And I have. Now I have a bushel of photos I need to put in photo albums. Needless to say, they are still in the packs they came in.

Wordless Wednesday

County Fair 2011

Could they look any happier?  Maybe?  Sheesh!

Creative organized holiday greetings amidst utter chaos? Totally Doable.

As the days counting down to Christmas dwindle away, many of us find ourselves wondering what in the world we are going to do and how the heck we are going to pull it off. With the current economy still wreaking havoc on many of our pocket books, this can be even more stressful and anxiety laden. I know. I wake up nights wracked with concern, sweat pouring down my face, many times screaming "SANTA! STOP!" Ya, probably something I need to bring up in therapy...

Anyway, my point is, I GET IT! And I'm here to tell you (and myself) that it doesn't have to be this way! We live in the age of technology and it's a wonderful thing! It can save us not only money, but time and most importantly save us from ourselves!

Case in point. How many times have you said "I would LOVE to get a family portrait done of my beautiful wonderful children and send it out as a Christmas card, maybe with our year updates for the family members we hardly ever see." And then your oldest starts "cooking" for your middle child who wants to help and sets off the smoke alarm, waking up the baby, who starts SCREAMING because her diaper is full and her stomach is empty, while your darling hubby (with out missing a beat or looking up from his game)asks "Honey, will get the baby? I'm on level 40 and this guy has me locked in battle." Then you realize, there is NO WAY I'm going to be able to get these kids to sit still and look cute all at the same time, let alone the big one virtually taking his aggressions out on a dwarf!

*deep breath* OK, probably not that often... but you get my point. Right?

Well, this year I know exactly how I'm going to handle it! I have several great pics of the all the family, just not of all of them together. And with the awesome holiday photo cards they have available at Shutterfly.com, I can just pick the best of each of them and BAM! Precious holiday photo-card greeting done! I can even get them in a folded card so I can add updates about our family, like Libby's birth, Liam starting school and all about Cait's awards. Come to think of it, they also have gifts you can personalized. I know Nana and Papa would LOVE a calendar loaded with pics of the kids. And my Dad would totally get a kick out of a mug with their precious faces on the side so he could brag all day at work. :0)

Well there ya go! Christmas solved! Stress relieved! Scary Santa nightmares... I'll work on that one. Until then, stress less and have a great holiday season everyone!
;0)

{This Moment}

From Soulemama via Not Blessed Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."

Ok, so I'm late a day this week. oops.

{This Moment}

From Soulemama via Not Blessed Mama:

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see."