This week …

my cards came from Artifact Uprising. I waited until the last minute this year yet I was still rewarded and caught the 25% off Holiday Card Sale. The are the 3-in-1 card, you can tear them along the perforated edge to reveal a hang tag, a square photo and I guess you toss the name plate. Instead of writing a long letter as I always do I just gave myself the back of the card, it was short and sweet.

 

Pulling out the rest of the Christmas decorations I found a stack of our old cards from years past. Its hard for me to look at these, I don’t know why I feel sadness but I do. I think it might have something to do with the oldest leaving the nest soon.

Lets start with 1997 and out first family photo card.

Denim on denim was all the rage, I guess my hubby missed the memo and took off his denim jacket.

I’m not sure where all the cards are for the first 7 years … I’m sure I have them. I do have one of my all time favorite photos of Super B and my mom, I know she’ll smile when she sees this one.

Fast forward 9 years … 2005

2006

This was a second card I made – I didn’t see the original one, of course it had BOTH kids on it, didn’t want to permanently scar kid #1 by excluding him from the Christmas card that year.

2007 

Super A was not to sure about this and looking at my choice in cards I’m not either!?! Using any color other than traditional holiday colors was in style. I went for Easter Egg.

 

2008

This was one of my I don’t care what photo I use cards.  – I mean just look at the photo of my husband and I, he might as well been giving me a firm handshake. And then there’s Super B threatening to lick the gingerbread house. Sometimes its good to lower your expectations.

 

2009

I loved these photos that year.

2010

New bangs, new camera, same park. (I had a thing for flare, its in alllll my photos that year)

2011

Still one of my all time favs… taken at our desert place.

 2013

from our first family photo session ever. This was the year of the very long letter and the new tradition where we for go something under the tree and donate to a cause the kids chose. (

 

2013

and this years photo was taken after the first round was a flail. They argued, the rolled heir eyes hey looked in the wrong direction and blinked but just one was pretty close to perfect.  You’d think that was a fake backdrop behind them, they are sitting on the retaining wall and I’m teetering on the top step of a foot ladder praying I don’t fall in the pool.

Life is so busy I let the cards sit until the weekend, until after the last teacher gift is wrapped and party is over.

The school “holiday” performance where every cultural tradition gets equal performance time and the word Christmas is never spoken. Not Super A’s favorite thing in the world but she’ll do it. The problem nowadays is that the kids aren’t performing to parents they are performing to a sea of recording devices. That must feel pretty cold.

Work is wrapping up, I can finish out the year from home so I tidy up before heading out to my last holiday party. You’d never know from the likes of my office space that I wade through a sea of clutter at home.

Held at an unlisted bar with no signs, kinda like Fight Club where the bartenders serve bourbon laced brambles in their well trimmed beards and Santa does shots of Casamigos. George & Randy would approve.

 

Sunday its the opposite of a speakeasy, its Disney on Ice, although that kinda sounds like it could be the name of a cocktail.  You probably can’t tell from the photo Lily has a BIG SMILE on her face. Show was great and Super A got some good cousin time in.

 

Twenty years later my sister and I STILL show up wearing the same outfit.

I love it.

Next week is my last week from this series. I think I will stretch it out to include a little bit of that last week in December. Or not. I can’t quite figure out the right day to start a 52 week project when the 1st doesnt fall on a Monday.

Oh well, first world problems, right?

Right.