Another Shutterfly Deal

I just ordered the Buddy Walk thank you cards yesterday, but I am using them to send to people that supported Emmaline and our family in the 2010 Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome in September (yes, I'm a little behind). For posting this project, I'll be receiving a $25 Shutterfly gift card that I plan to use towards Emmaline's 4th birthday invitations (still can't believe my baby will be 4 in February!). If you are a blogger and are interested in earning this great deal, clickHERE for more details. A big thank you toEmily for letting me know about this!

Buddy Walk Thank You Notes

Classic Without Edge Party 5x7 folded card

Create personalized greeting cards and invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I Love Getting Mail at Christmas!

I {big red puffy heart} Christmas cards! We got our first ones last week and the kids are enjoying looking at all of the pictures of their friends.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 10 years, you've probably used, or a least heard of, Shutterfly. I love using this website to print our digital pictures, but they also have really amazing card and gift ideas. This year they are offering 50 FREE cards to anyone willing to blog about their holiday deal. Details can be found HERE.

They have a lot of great Christmas card options to choose from this year. My favorite can be found HERE. I love it for the following reasons:

1. You can personalize it with your family initial.

2. It lets you use multiple photos of your munchkins, pets, loved ones, etc.

3. "Merry Christmas" - I despise cards that are politically correct and say "Happy Holidays". If not for the birth of Jesus, there would be no event to celebrate, so every year when you receive our Christmas card, it will proudly proclaim "Merry Christmas" as a reminder of the One who makes life possible.

4. It's RED!

If that card choice doesn't strike your fancy, click HERE to see all of Shutterfly's other card options that come in just about every color scheme and theme imaginable. We've used this site for birthday party invitations, birth announcements, and thank you notes, so there is sure to be something that will fit with whatever you have in mind.

They do more than just cards though! I was up WAY too late last night finishing calendars for Christmas gifts for some relatives (who shall remain nameless as they read this blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!). Calendars are a super easy gift to make online. You just choose your pictures and then arrange them however you like for each month of the year (or they will arrange them for you, but I like to do my own!). There are tons of different backgrounds to choose from and you can even personalize birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates. Even better...they save the dates in your account, so when you go back at a different time of year to make another calendar, you don't have to re-enter the information. With a few clicks of the mouse, they will automatically fill in the dates for you! While I like the traditional-size calendars, this desk calendar is quickly becoming a new favorite in my book. Right now, their calendars are "Buy one, get one 50% off", so don't let this deal pass you by if you have a few people left to buy for this Christmas.

So, check out the great holiday collection at Shutterfly, and then come back here and leave a comment with your favorite card or gift idea. I'd love to hear what you come up with!

All Dressed Up

It isn't often that Nathan and I get dressed up to go out, so we were excited to put on fancy clothes to attend a wedding today. It was for my friend, Jessica, whom I sell Usborne books with. The wedding was so sweet and the reception was a lot of fun. We even ate salad out of martini glasses. On a side note, when we got married 12 years ago, someone gave us a set of martini glasses that we have never used since we don't drink. I can't wait to put salad in them! There was also a fun area at the reception that had dress-up clothes and a disposable camera. We had fun with this, as evidenced below!

UsBuddies: Jana, Me, Sherry (our supervisor...her daughter is the one that got married today), Billie, and Janine

UsBuddies, take 2

Todd (Janine's husband) and Nathan

SNOW!

We got our first taste of snow and it's not even officially winter yet! It was only a couple of inches, but the kids were so exited to play in it after church today.

Jacob's snow suit makes me laugh! It is the same one that I wore when I was younger and I hated it because it wasn't girly enough for me. I'm glad that my parents hung on to it though because it is perfect for Jacob!

Ellie thinks it is funny to pretend to throw a snowball at me whenever I take her picture!

It's a Very Veggie Christmas!

Today was Very Veggie Christmas at church. Basically, parents drop their kids off at church and can enjoy several hours of kid-free shopping or whatever they want. While the kids are at church, they watch a Veggie Tales movie, play games, sing songs, make a craft, and eat lunch. It's a great community out-reach and our kids have an absolute blast hanging out with their friends. Mom and I help run the registration area and then organize the kids' papers and crafts so they are ready to picked up when parents arrive. There's also lots of down time volunteering in that area, so I get to follow the kids around church to take pictures.

Jacob

Playing games in the auditorium

Run, Run, as Fast as You Can

Ellie gets ready to make a craft

Emmaline throws Bob the Tomato into the tub