'Tis the Season!

Okay, so I am officially in the Christmas spirit! Over the weekend we took family pictures, set up the tree, and gave from our hearts. Yep, that'll get the ball rolling! One thing that Al really wants to do is have our own family traditions...something that the girls will always think of fondly at this time of year. For me, I associate Christmas time with COLD WEATHER (that east coast snow!) and the Temptations Christmas album. My mom would blast that album all season long and I still love it to this day! We also would have these German calendars that had a piece of chocolate for each day in the month of December. We would take turns "opening the day" to get the candy. I can't remember hardly any of the gifts I received as a child but those three things will always be in my heart. We want the same feelings for our girls.

One of the things Al came up with was giving to Toys for Tots. Being a former Marine (I know, there's no such thing), T4T is a charitable organization that he wants us to be a part of. Soooooo, we each picked out a toy and dropped them off at the local Babies R Us. It feels good to give back!


Like most families, we trimmed the tree together. Well...Al and the older girls did. Kalissa and I just watched! It would have been nice to have had the Temptations Christmas album playing but we did turn off the t.v. for the occasion! Putting together the tree (yes, I only do artificials...I just can't get into the real trees) was a lot of fun. It's not quite finished though because we ran out of garland. Speaking of...is there a garland shortage this year?? We had to go to 3 different stores to find some!

We also took family pictures at Sears. I was really impressed with the job they did! Our photographer was great and was very patient with Kalissa. Miss KRae was cranky because she hadn't slept all day. She gets like that when her sisters are in town...she doesn't want to miss anything!


And here's my little Covergirl in her solo photoshoot. She was workin it! *lol*




As you can see, I just couldn't pick one or two shots! I had to have them ALL. Luckily, Sears knows moms like me and allows you to purchase all of your pics on a CD and gives you full copyright release to print your shots however you want them. Let me know your favorite and I'll be happy to send them to you! Hope your Christmas season is in full swing and if not....head on down to your church and get a dose of 'feel good'! *lol* If your church is anything like mine, the messages at this time of year are powerful and a sure way to get you all warm and fuzzy inside!