the most perfect family photo (and a very merry christmas to you).

 

(card credits:  main card background: Purdue Avenue Etsy shop; frame: kitschy digitals; leaves and red gems: design by dani.)

almost a month ago, before sickness and the hecticness of the holiday season bombarded our home, we sat down one sunday afternoon to take a candid family photo.

how did I do it?

well, for starters, I begged my family.  told them it was all that I wanted for christmas.

then I told them that they could wear whatever they wanted.

then I told them to bring something to do.  bring a book to read, a toy to play with, or a doll to hold.

I wanted candid…

then I set up my tripod, put my remote on my camera, checked the settings, then had to add my bounce flash to get the lighting just right.

then we were in business.

106 pictures later…

we got it.

and by “it”, I mean four that I could stitch together to make my perfectly candid family photo.

took merrill from here:

took lynn from here:

(the peyton + me combo here was a close second for the final cut..)

took ashley from here:

(for the record, this is the most pleasant expression I got out of ashley the whole 10 minute ordeal.)

and, well, peyton and I were perfect together here:

and we got this masterpiece:

(you know, after photoshop magic…)

and for your enjoyment, consider it a christmas gift from me to you, a couple of outtakes:

because sitting on the couch is SO overrated.

from my family to yours:

Merry Christmas!!!

it’s that time.

what time, you ask?

time to get your advent on.

(among other things on my list.)

remember last year’s advent?

no?

whelp, here you go.

not to mention it was spotted and liked just a little bit.  I was featured at the crafty blogstalker.  (!!!!)

she has the perfect help for anyone planning on doing an advent for this all too fast approaching christmas season.  darling ideas there I tell you!!

our countdown to christmas.

so, sure, we have many countdowns to christmas.  many.  but how can you resist making another cute one?  this one will end up in the trash in the end anyway..

we have darling countdowns that grandma pitcher made years ago, reminiscent of the ones she’d made for her own kids years ago.  they are sweet, and something I have used, but have had trouble with, with the girls at different ages.

with the ones she made for us, you tie each treat onto a long fabric strip with ribbon.  my problem usually comes in with my hands (thank you genes and arthritis..).  it’s always cold, and sometimes stormy, which is a great little story problem that equals aching hands in my situation.  the second problem is one, two, or three little girls, who like to steal treats prematurely.  then I get ornery because chances are, my hands are still hurting after the initial 75 treat tie-ons, and then there is one (most likely more), treat to tie on.

(now I shouldn’t blanket blame all three..  it’s usually a certain culprit..  ahemashleyahem..  who likes to take their sisters’ treats and say that they did it.)

(it is also partly my fault, as they inherited my sweet tooth.)

so I started thinking about this waaaay back in november, and came up with a pretty sweet solution.

(bonus: it is also up cycling!!)

so if you can’t tell, we’ve been saving toilet paper rolls like they are spare change.

it didn’t take us long..  helps to have the hotel pitching in.

I placed three treats in each empty roll cardboard core thing, wrapped it in tissue paper (okay, merrill did), and then twisted the ends, and tied them off with some string.

(okay, merrill did that part too.  my hands aren’t hurting!!  sweetheart.)

I printed off papers that are brand-spanking new from jessica sprague + heidi swapp (genius combo.  can not go wrong there.).  cut them to fit my rolls (got enough for 4 from each 8.5 x 11 sheet), and then taped them on the back side.  I finished each one off with a number to identify just how many more days until christmas, that I printed off and punched with a 1 inch circle punch and stuck that on with a glue dot.

getting them all hooked-up together wasn’t as easy as I initially thought.  I tried glue-dotting the heck out of them, but they just wouldn’t stay.  it was too heavy.  so I resorted to my trusty old glue gun.

worked awesomely.

I took a small piece of ribbon and hot-glued that to the top roll to use as a hanger.

now, all the treats are concealed, and safe, until the right day comes.

the girls tear off one side and there’s the treats!

but really, I love these papers..

love these colors!!

trying really hard not to re-do the scheme of the tree this year….

and it would totally work, I re-painted the wall in the family room as one of my “keep yourself busy because merrill ditched us for two weeks” projects.

links to jessica + heidi’s new collections here and here.

dudes…  they are totally on sale now too, along with a ton of other products!!!

Christmas Day 2010.

I am still a little shocked, a little appalled, a little of both, that I didn’t take more pictures this Christmas…  it was nice to relax and all, not be the paparazzi Christmas morning, but I still miss the variety of pictures that I usually have.

This was the first year that the girls got us up.

Really.

7:34 am, there they were in our room, ready to go.

Every other year, it has been us, waking them up.

Great fun indeed!

Santa got his traditional sugar cookies and milk (no Reeses this year..) and an added bonus: Lynn wrote him a letter, asking some pretty specific questions…

The girls also got a little note from the big guy himself, telling them to share…

This:

 

It was a Christmas of Polly Pocket Princess style much to Merrill’s displeasure. 

(He HATES putting those little rubber clothes on those tiny plastic dolls…)

Lynn got a reply from Santa:

 

The girls got home made doll beds for their American Girl Dolls.  They look like their own beds.

 

 

 

They came with fitted sheets, pillows with pillow cases, and comforters. 

(I should really post more about these on the ol’ craft blog…)

And we had our traditional pull-a-parts and cocoa, or chocolate milk for those of us (ahem…  Merrill..) who call cocoa “caca”.

 

Lynn and Ashley also got roller skates.  They had fun “practicing” inside the house.

 

 

And what is a Christmas sock without lip smackers?!  These were super cool, they are magnetic!

 

Peyton loved playing Princess Pollys all day long…

 

We headed over to mom and dad’s for lunch and more gifts..  Ashley was extremely bummed when she didn’t find the Jessie doll she has been wanting since the beginning of November underneath the tree at our house.  I knew that mom and dad had bought it for her just a couple of days within her saying she wanted it, so I kept telling her to just hold on, the day wasn’t quite over.  We still had grandpa and grandma Pitcher and grandma and grandpa Mayes’ to see..  When Merrill’s mom and dad came, they just brought a crummy old Wii (sarcasm here).  No Jessie doll.  She was slightly (sarcasm again) disappointed.  She was quite distraught and despondent until we got to mom and dad’s house.  As soon as that wrapped, perfectly sized box with her name on it was placed on her lap,  there was happiness and nothing else, not even a moment for mom to get there with her camera to capture the perfect moment. 

Nothing but happiness I tell you.

Pure happiness.

(It is official, she loves my mom and dad more than she does me and Merrill.)

 

We were all pretty happy with mom’s chicken noodle soup too.

 

Levi loved his Star Wars toys.  The ton-ton even has innards that come out….  it was so fun to watch Ken play with his boys.

And Peyton ate her black olives perfectly.

 

See..

Happiness.

After a little cat nap in the car, on the way home, we all played the Wii.

 

And had a blast.

 

Just a sampling of the damage done during our day.

 

It was a Toy Story, Polly Pocket, miracle kind of Christmas this year, and it was pretty great.

Oh, Merrill got me a new Kitchen Aid hand mixer. :)  It is nice to have one that works again, like as in, BOTH beaters rotate.

Life is good.

More December traditions.. coming to you in… January.

Just playing one gigantic game of catch-up!

(Don’t mind me..)

So many fun things happen in December.  We try our hardest to do many things together as a family, and to make new traditions as we enjoy all the old ones.

Here’s a smattering:

Ogden’s Christmas Village.

This year, we went for FHE and invited some of our favorite neighbors along.

 

Just 7 kids between us.  No sweat! 

 

 

 

 

We walked around until we were cold enough, then went back to our house for a variety of cocoa (between Julie and myself, I think we have just about every flavor that Stephens has ever made!) orange, and cinnamon rolls.

It was a fun night!

We started a tradition when Ashley was 2, that we paint ornaments as a family.  My parents did it one year, and I remember it well.  I am already for next Christmas!!  I bought next year’s on clearance for 29 cents each. :D

The girls love it too…

We do sugar cookies every year too.  It is another favorite around here.  Santa expects them. :)

Peyton’s favorite: the frosting.

One of the last, and best, is the sleeping around the tree on the Eve of Christmas Eve.  We eat pizza, watch movies, snuggle up on the air bed or the couch, and just relax.  It has been going strong for three years now.  It is a nice way to take a break after all the busy-ness of the month.

(I got the idea from another blogger, Holly Brimhall.)