It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

My favorite season is here! I love Fall- I love the cooler weather, the changing leaves, the colors, pumpkins, Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas! We always decorate our house for Fall- with pumpkins, leaves and scarecrows. But as soon as Thanksgiving is over, we pack it all up and decorate for Christmas. And can I tell you a little secret? (Ok, if you know me this isn't really a secret!). I LOVE sending Christmas cards. I really do! I love taking the perfect family picture and writing our update letter. I know in this day and age of Facebook, blogging and twitter, everybody knows everything everyone does all the time. And everyone sees loads of pictures. But there is still something warm and nostalgic about sending Christmas cards through the mail. I look forward to checking the mail everyday of the season and so do the boys!

But this year, our life is CR-AZY! Seriously. I've been wondering if I was going to get Christmas cards done this year! I mean, usually by this time we've already taken  our awesome family photo on the beach. But no beach trip this year due to cuts at work. And our wonderful family vacation to our friend's lake house included a trip to the ER for Noah's check meeting the coffee table! Not a good look for Christmas pictures! What's a frazzled mom to do? Enter Shutterfly!

I've used shutterfly for lots of things in the past- to share pictures of the boys, for baby announcements, but I've never used them for Christmas cards- that is until this year! They have the cutest designs... I'm going to have a hard time choosing one. And even better, many designs allow you to use multiple pictures so I don't have to worry about getting one perfect shot! I really like this design:   

 

I love the colors- you know I am a sucker for anything blue and brown! Plus I like if we do get a great family pic I can use it while still highlighting pics of each boy!

But I also like this folded card too.

I like that it has room for so many pictures, but I also like that it is folded. I can write our update letter and put it inside of this card. But who knows? They have so many awesome designs, I may end up choosing something else.

They even have cards that have room for pictures and an update- right on the card! That's for you Stacey! Here's one where you can put in 4 pictures and some brief updates- and there are more like it too! No need to write a separate letter!

And did you know you can even get Shutterfly to address and mail the cards for you?!?! (Yes, that's for you again Stace!). You can even add some festive address labels that coordinate with your card (yes, I know I have issues!). Shutterfly also has lots of great gift ideas too. Like a wall calendar. I've done one of these each year for the grandparents and extended family with pictures of all of the kids throughout the year. It's always a big hit. 

This post sure has made me excited about the holidays! I am so looking forward to family time, decorations, laughter and yes, the perfect Christmas card. How about you?

(Shutterfly is providing me with 50 free photo cards for doing this blog post, however, the opinions offered are my own and I truly do love Shutterfly and am so thankful for their Christmas cards this year! If you are interested in blogging about Shutterfly & receiving photo cards, check out this post.)