The Painful, Laborious Birth of a Christmas Card...

When Paul gave me a really nice and expensive camera a few years ago (the possibilities of which I still haven't even discovered let alone mastered...), he did so with an inferred promise from me that because of this generous gift, we would no longer need to pay a ridiculously large sum of money to a "professional" photographer for a picture we could  just as easily have taken ourselves.  Just as easily being the operative word in that entire idea...  Easy doesn't even come close to describing what it's like to try and get a "photo-that's-worthy-of sending-to-all-your-life's-acquantainces"--type of Christmas card picture.  In fact, the pictures below alone describe the difficulty of keeping 3 little boys simultaneously holding still, smiling, and looking at the camera...

It's almost impossible.  No wonder people didn't really send "photo Christmas cards" much in the years that preceded the digital camera era.  As a kid I think I remember my parents receiving one such card every holiday--maybe.  Fast-forward to today and that is all any one with a family or cute dogs even sends.  Truthfully, that is all any of us want to get in the mail anyway--at least instead of the boring store-bought cards with only a name signed below the merry wish.  However, the stock cards with handwritten notes inside from the sender are actually quite exciting to receive.  The tedious (by today's society) task of writing an individual note  inside the card is usually reserved for those who are really meaningful in your life.  After all, why waste that kind of time on a mere acquaintance when a preprinted picture of your kids with a generic greeting that is robotically stuffed in an envelope and addressed, assembly-line style, not only conveys your holiday message but also sweetly and sometimes creatively depicts a little piece of your life...

It was hard to choose the best ones from the "Christmas Tree Session" below.  They were all so precious...

They kinda all look the same if you just quickly glance at them.  But if you really look at them as you are scrolling down you will definitely see the  precious differences and sweetness they all possess.  It was really was tough to narrow it down (but then I am completely biased--I think every picture of my kids  is amazing and memorable...). 

I really love this one... 

In the end, these are the four that we went with.  See--I could only narrow it down to 4 and even that was pretty hard!!

Renovations

Since we moved here almost 4 years ago (WOW!!!), I  feel like our house has been in a perpetual state of renovation.  Here is what we have been up to lately...

Our master bathroom renovation started clear back in July while the boys and I were in Utah.  However, we didn't really have a plan so all that really happened then was the demo.  Slowly, we have been getting the design and layout done and hopefully soon I will no longer have to share a tiny little bathroom with 4 boys...

Here are a few "before" pics of our master bathroom.  The room was hideously painted and stupidly chopped up by some genius who lived here before us.  And, the disgusting-ness of it was completed by cheap countertops and ugly, dated sinks...

This is the size of the "before" shower.  I couldn't even bend over to shave my legs.  I don't even know how Paul fit in it.  Aside from what it lacked in size, it was almost covered in mold in mildew.  It was DISGUSTING.  

While we had the world's tiniest shower, what you can't tell from the picture below is that to make up for it whomever owned this house before us decided to install the world's largest jetted tub.  I am not even kidding.  All five of us could easily fit into this thing.  It was also hideous and it while it was a nice stand-in for an in-ground pool, it HAD TO GO!!!

The early months of the renovation... 

Making a little progress (at least the gross "Mallard Green" paint is gone)... 

And then the tile even makes the progress look more substantial... 

Anyway.  We are still without a bathroom.  Hopefully this month it is completed, but I won't hold my breath.  We are currently waiting on our plumber to hook up the shower and tub, and this is just a side-gig for him so we are sort of just waiting for him to have some free time.  We will keep you posted on the progress!!

As if having a major bathroom in our house renovated wasn't hassle enough, we decided to have our bedroom and kitchen painted while we were in Vermont over Christmas.  Before this could be accomplished, however, we needed a professional to come in and fix more than a few patches on our walls and ceiling.  The previous owners had some ridiculous speaker system installed and we were more than happy to finally get rid of the huge and ugly speakers marking the walls in the kitchen.  However, this meant that a lot of mudding and sanding needed to happen.  In order to protect the rest of the house from white debris, I had to sheath the kitchen in plastic.  It was a lot of work.  (It made me wonder how Dexter does it so easily)...

Anyway, I haven't taken any "after" pictures of our kitchen or bedroom, but it is amazing how a paint job can clean up a room.  We are far from finished renovating this house, so, keep looking for more posts about "before's" and "after's"...