Christmas Card Outtakes

I really wanted this to be our family Christmas card.  I really really did.  Because.

1. It is perhaps a more realistic representation of our family than what I will chose to have made into a card.  And...

2. No one EVER sends out bad photos of their family.  So...much...fun!

Honestly the truer version would have had Derek squinting and me with a more prominent double chin...but my aging self esteem can't go that far.

So here is our honest family Christmas photo and a few super fun outtakes....

 You see my son is crying and about to blow a gasket because we asked him to do the impossible...sit cross legged.  And My daughter...well she is apparently terrified.

 



  

Through his gritted teeth he is saying...."I can't take this"

 

Love this level of enthusiasm...This would make a pretty good card too.  My son looks like this (or the face above) any time things aren't going  EXACTLY his way....

 

 

Actually this would make the best card...Cleo is always camera ready.

Sweetness...

 

These faces are what keep me from making the long drive to animal control....

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

This photo shoot didn't turn out quit how I wanted...but still cute.

 



 

Halloween

I did Halloween solo this year.  And it went pretty well. "J" will only be creepy things for Halloween.  This year she was a vampire (just to wear the teeth) and "T" was Herobrine (a character from a game called Minecraft)

 

 

This is Herobrine...so I think we made a pretty good likeness.

 

 Cleo got into the act.  AS the only dog that won't make a break for freedom when we open the front door, she was allowed to greet the trick-o-treaters.

 

I put out creepy decorations....

I added to the effect by not sweeping the front porch for weeks...

The skeleton was motion activated and he talked to everyone who came to the door.  FUN!

This guy with red glowing eyes pulls off his head and laughs maniacally...the preschoolers LOVE it.

CAMPING

Nope...this month isn't over and boy am I tired.  But no matter how tired you are you just can't say no to Girl Scout Camping.  (Can you?...Please tell me more)

Can you see our cabin...neither can I.  It was a LONG hike with all our gear (no cars allowed).  Ok, its true...at this Girl Scout camp they have a variety of options for housing.  We were assigned a cabin full of bunkbeds.  Trust me...I'd pitch a tent any day rather than sleep in a room with 12 screaming girls equipped until late into the night with flashlights and glow sticks.

 

 



 Technically my child isn't old enough to be allowed to try archery.  But since she told the supervisor she was in 4th grade (which is true) she was allowed.  Because of her age she is a 3rd grade Brownie and technically not allowed to participate...Oh well....She did great and got a bulls eye.

 Her truth telling friend just watched. 

All well prepared scouts need to learn cookie decorating (and eating)

 



 It's not camping without spiders...although I am usually trying to avoid them-not catch them.

Each year the girls create "WHO Hair" 

(like the little creature in the Dr. Seuss story about the Grinch who stole Christmas)

 



 My creation (not pictured here) wasn't good enough so she asked the older girls to help. And thanks to their liberal use of hairspray and Styrofoam balls...it was a decision that she would come to regret.

 

 But she was happy for a while...Notice this room.  It isn't a rustic cabin.  It's a clean modern "troop house" with indoor plumbing and a full kitchen.  Some girls stayed here....but not us.

 

 

Because I REALLY TRY to be a good mom I let my child do this to me...

 

In a humorous twist the lake supervisor thought it was fine for the girls to take a canoe out alone...

 Only two of the girls were willing to paddle and they both complained bitterly that they

had done all the work...

 

  I love how genuine her friend was, (the one in the middle) she dispensed with pretenses and didn't even bring a paddle.

After the harrowing removal of a full can of colored hair spray we get down to the real reason for camping...burning marshmallows and running around the fire.

 



Sunday was horseback riding. 

FINALLY "J" was old enough to be on her own. 

She was so excited to control the horse without being led around.

She did great!  I am so sorry I can't buy this kid a farm.

Amelia Island

Our fall beach trip was very low key.

 

There was fishing

Ice cream eating

More Fishing

 

 

 

Then a little Sitting on the beach

 

 

And a little more fishing...

And we disturbed the peace..... 

We also attended a reenactment sort of thing at Fort Clinch