Christmas Cards

So, I have a confession.

Several weeks before Christmas (or was it only days?), my dad handed me 6 red envelopes, bound with a rubber band. It was the kids' Christmas gift from him. When we unpacked from our trip, I put the envelopes in a safe place...right next to the stereo. I saw them occasionally before Christmas Day and once that day, before things had settled down enough to get one more thing out.

The next time I saw them was....

yesterday. The first of March. OOPS!

Thanks, Dad! The kids REALLY liked their gifts. And it felt just like Christmas!

I hope you weren't too offended that you didn't receive a single "Thank You" letter. The kids aren't the ones to blame.

Christmas Pajamas

I sewed like a mad woman to get the pj's done in time to take pictures for Christmas cards. Then the printer ran out of ink and I was tired of having so many unfinished projects. So the cards went out without pictures; just a note to check the blog.

Sorry for the lack of effort. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed this week (though I'm trying hard to fight it) and needed the stack of Christmas cards out of the house. It does feel better to be checking things off my list.

I got a new calling (RS Sec) and I'm trying to adjust mentally to all that I'll have to do there as well as survive the remaining Christmas commitments. And I haven't been released from choir yet, so there's still that in the back of my mind...somewhere.

Anyway, here are all the shots I got of the kids. One of the reasons I gave up on getting pictures out was because I couldn't find one I really liked. So you get them all. :) It's too big of a challenge to get 6 little people to cooperate for pictures. When the camera batteries start going out, the shots get even worse. Fun times for all.

Christmas letter correction

This is like bonus material at the end of a DVD.

I was just rereading the letter I printed nearly 30 times and sent out to 26 different people when I finally realized why it bothered me to say that it's Leah's first year of TaVaci. DUH! It's her SECOND. Sorry... I know that some of you are wondering why I even bother to mention it, but others of you will know that it's not her first year and I just wanted that group of people to know that I finally caught that. I'm just not about to actually contact you all individually to point it out.

Also, this is SUPER SHORT notice, but the kids' TaVaci Christmas concert is this Saturday at 4pm. If you wanted to come :) It's free. Just so you know you're invited. Sorry.

Check your mailboxes!

I finished up my Christmas cards last night. We sent out a total of 26. That's a lot less than in years before, but it became embarrassing to send out cards every year to people that apparently didn't want to keep in touch. So, I'm down to 26. If you're reading this, and have ever gotten a card from us in the past, you're likely still going to get one. :)

I was going through my address book and noticed that I need to broaden my scope of friends. Can you believe that there isn't anyone for the 'S' and 'T' pages? No 'O' either. LOTS of 'C'...huh, go figure. No 'G', 'H' or 'I'. No 'Q' (probably not a big surprise there) and no 'U', 'V', 'X' or 'Y'. And since I'm just trying to remember my address book, there may be more. I'm too lazy to get up and really be thorough.

Now that cards are done, I can get to work on other projects that need to be done by Christmas. I can think of at least 4 different projects...all of which will take some time. I'd better get busy!

If you want to be added to my Christmas list, send me an email! (collettfam at msn dot com)

I have been Blogging like crazy!

Too bad you can't read any of them since I only wrote mental blogs.

My Christmas To Do list is finally getting smaller. And this afternoon it will shrink considerably.

This is the day of our class Primary party. I think I'm the only one in the whole Church doing a class Christmas party. How come no one does them anymore? Anyway, we are going to color Shrinky Dink nativity pieces to make ornaments while we watch the Liken The Scriptures Christmas movie and get sick from too much sugar. I promised them I'd ruin their dinners and they are expecting it! I cheated and bought cookie dough...already divided. I am giving each of them a bookmark with their name cross-stitched on it.

So this means that I need to clean some places of the house that have been neglected for a while. (Darn!)

Yesterday morning was spent on Christmas cards. Some people really frown on mass-produced, printed Christmas letters. If any of them are on my Christmas card list, they'll have something to grumble about in the next couple of days. I try to make up for it by writing something to each family in the actual card. Otherwise, the first 4 people would get a really newsy card and the last 4 would get a "Merry Christmas!" (if even that) And the remaining 20 cards between those? They probably wouldn't exsist. So if you aren't on my holiday greetings list, here is a picture that was second choice for the card.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(A little insider information for loyal blog readers. The girls' pajamas aren't finished. The bows are pinned on, the backs don't close yet and the bottom ruffle still hasn't been made. I started cutting the pajamas out about 2 hours before this picture was taken. I got as far as I could, as fast as I could.)

The boys have matching pants on that you can't see, which is why this was second choice.

And I would love to blab on and on, but Rebekah is apparently going to die from starvation. I guess it's time to go be a mom.