Santa's Visit with the Fire Department

Every year we wait for an hour in the freezing cold for Santa to come and visit the neighborhood. He is chauffeured around by the Fire Department, bringing candy canes and lollipops for all who are willing to brave the elements for his arrival. While the parents are usually grumbling and frozen, it seems to be a delight for the children so we do it year after year. And after it is all said and done, we always go home to warm soup and hot chocolate, discussing what a great tradition it is. We love our neighborhood friends and it is a great few minutes of chatting and hanging out, so although we are usually frozen and tired by the end, we really do love the tradition.

Christmas Card time!

Remember the days when I actually hand-made my Christmas cards? Actually, remember the days when I actually SENT a Christmas card?! I don't have my card-making stuff anymore is one excuse I have. Then I just don't have the time to design a great layout on Photoshop either. Well, I can officially say that after checking out the great designs and layouts that Shutterfly has to offer, I am out of excuses this year! They have hundreds of designs for anything from Christmas cards to address labels to photo gifts and just plain photo prints. I have used Shutterfly for great photo books but I am excited to use them this year for my Christmas cards. By the way, I need your current addresses, so if you've moved or you think I have forgotten about you, send me a note with your address so you can get a Shutterfly card from me! :) Maybe I'll use this one:

Or this one:

So many to choose from! I can't wait to dig in and narrow it down a little. So with that, I'm starting to come up with one more excuse not to have my cards sent on time this year: which one of their dozens do I choose?!!