Friday Favorites – Christmas Faves

One of my very favorite things every year is receiving Christmas cards from family and friends.  The cards are all displayed around our house and at the end of the holidays I take a moment to add them to our Christmas scrapbooks.  I love, love looking back at how everyone has grown and changed.  We were late taking our family pictures this  year so I am still waiting on my friend Nichole of Quick Design Company to work her Christmas magic.  Here is a look back at some of our Christmas cards.

This is probably one of my favorites!   We whipped up a batch of my Meme’s cookies and created this “sweet” card.  Despite Keith appearing to not be happy you will see as we move forward this really is his smile!  Ha!

Honestly this card was suppose to just be our family picture but after having a little photo shoot with Dillon and Carly by the tree one night I fell in love and had to include more pix!  Gosh I can still remember that night and all the giggling!

Some years are just easier than others to find a time to get together and someone to snap the picture.  For real….my ex-husband took this picture for us!

And then there are years like this when you finally take a family vacation and hire a professional to take some pictures for you!  This was the only year on record when my cards were ordered in October and mailed the day after Thanksgiving!

Sarah Burns of Butterfly Chaser Photography took Jordan’s senior pictures and she is nothing short of amazing.   She comes from a big family so dealing with my crazy crew is not even a challenge for her.  She actually designed the card for me as well this year which made my life so much simpler.

Our card for 2011 was an utter fail with me using my remote and trying to recreate something I saw on Pinterest. Yikes!  So it was back to Sarah for our 2012 pictures.

Back to me with a tripod and a remote in 2013 and note the weird way I’m holding my head…hence why I’d rather have a professional.  It’s just too much to concentrate on getting that remote to work!

I was a little sad looking back over some of my favorite Santa pictures because I know this is something that is not going to happen anymore.  Last year I was able to snap a picture of Carly on Santa’s lap but she is adamant this year there is no way.  As she clearly explained last night the “real” Santa doesn’t come all the way down here from the North Pole to talk to a bunch of kids.  Here are some of my faves!

Riley was not impressed with Santa and the look on Jordan’s face is priceless.  I’m sure she was just going along giving Santa her list without a care in the world that Riley was screaming his head off.

Finally when he was four he decided Santa wasn’t all that bad.  We had so much fun at the mall this night and I so loved back when I could dress Jordan up!

Sweet Dillon and his first chance to meet Santa.

Carly was not nearly as impressed with him.

And at two she still wasn’t really sure about him.

At three she was flat out disgusted!

Yes, yes, we have an elf at our house!  BJ arrived on December 1st and the fun began.  Carly has been complaining that “he isn’t doing anything fun this year” but I’m thinking he’s just getting going.  BJ first came to our house 5 years ago and some years I have enjoyed him more than others.  The fact is I know that this time is limited and before long I will no longer have any “littles” so I’m enjoying him this year.  BJ has been extra prepared this year which makes his life so much easier!  Here are some of the things he’s been up to since arriving December 1st.

My friend Holly and I thought up this little idea a year ago and this year she created this cute little graphic.  Feel free to tag your Elf pix on instagram #unshelfyoelf2014 and join us for the ride.  It’s been fun seeing what everyone else’s elf is up to.  Follow me on instagram @QueeninBetween.

One of my favorite things each year is to take the kids to shop for toys to donate to the annual M*A*S*H (Make a Smile Happen) project hosted by a local radio station.  This year they are looking to collect 6000 toys for our community.  I would love to post the picture of my kids with the items they chose but it seems my Macbook has decided to finally call it quits and continues to shutdown.  Santa I hope you are reviewing my wish list!  I think when we purchase for toy drives small children come to mind but this year they have really mentioned the older kids and things they need.  We decided on a karaoke music machine as one of the items

The house is decorated and one of my favorite things is sitting with a cup of tea or a glass of wine (probably more likely wine) after everyone has gone to bed and just enjoying the lights and the peace they bring.  You can view the rest of my Christmas decor here.  The most wonderful time of the year!