The Story Behind the Cards

Christmas 2007: Noah was four and Zoe was four months old. I did like any mother would do- I dressed them in nice clothing and set them up for a picture together. It turned out very nicely and I slapped it on a "fill-in-the-photo" Christmas card and sent it out to family. I imagined it would be like this every year. I had no idea this would be the last time I would ever get the two of them to cooperate with photos OR the last time Zoe ever sat still for anything.

Christmas 2007:

So, when the holiday season of 2008 rolled around, I thought, "I've got this!" But I really didn't, I found out one evening as I sat them down for the photo shoot. It became apparent to me that it wasn't going to go as I had planned, so my goal was to get one picture with the two of them in the same frame and one of them wearing a Santa hat. An hour and a half later, I wrapped the session, sent both kids to bed in tears while I was ready for an alcoholic beverage or a prescription for something relaxing. I sat down at the computer, uploaded the photos and began searching for something, ANYTHING in the rapid succession of photos that would work. I found nothing - and the whole experience was just so nerve-wracking that it zapped my Christmas spirit. I sat there "hrummph"-ing and sighing and, perhaps in a mean-spirited sort of way, I decided that I would just send the worst picture to family. They were expecting photos of the kids and I failed to deliver, so I would show them what it was really like. And I found the perfect photo to sum up the photo session. I made it into a simple card complete with a snarky sentiment, printed them out and sent them on their way.

Christmas 2008:

Everyone LOVED them!! For months, people were telling me about the chuckle they got when they opened their card and how it so accurately reflected what kids are really like- not like those cards where everyone is sitting prettily and smiling at the camera like some Stepford Family. Nu-uh, no sir, that is NOT my family!
So, the idea was born- to send out more realistic cards at Christmas. None of the following years has been quite as raw and real as the original. In fact, they have all been staged, but they have all been a hit and fun to create.
And now, to quote Paul Harvey, you know "the rest of the story." Please enjoy.

Christmas 2009- front

Christmas 2009- back

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2011