Nothing says the Scardino family is “all-or-nothing” more than our 2016 Christmas card. I have always felt overwhelmed when it comes to holiday cards. The thought of picking a photo, gathering addresses, getting the order in on time, addressing and mailing them… It stresses me out. I always want it to be humorous for some reason, so that makes it hard for me to choose the right photo. I can never really get it together. While I love getting holiday cards and save them all, we have not done well with getting ours out. I take photos constantly. My family call me the Paparazzi. Which means I am rarely in the photos. Not that I mind that terribly. Well, this year we started a new tradition.
My plan is that every year we do a Halloween photo shoot for our holiday card. Obviously not on Halloween night, since they are allowed to dress up as whatever superhero or Pokemon they choose. That is their day, but the day before we will dress up in whatever ridiculous complication Mama chooses. This year we were the cast of The Big Lebowski (Maude, The Jesus, Walter, and The Dude). My older son was all business and played the part well. My younger son had a bit of a problem keeping that wig on. I have to admit that I took him to a candy store afterward to reward him for playing the part well, THE DAY BEFORE HALLOWEEN! Not my proudest parenting moment, but he was super happy in the end. Next year we will most likely be the cast of The Royal Tenenbaums, but that is subject to change. I hope that our oldest, Madison will be in town then and is willing to get on board with our shenanigans.
This all started because my husband already had the Jesus costume from a few years back and we all needed to dress up for a friend’s Halloween party. I had the robe made, so I could be Maude. Sadly, the party was canceled. We had to use this robe that I paid for, therefore a new family tradition was born. I threw together costumes for my family. My husband refused to shave his beard into a goatee. That was a disappointment, but who blames him. It is his face.
I hired my friend Andrea with Andrea Turner Photography. She was so great. She came over to the house and went along with our crazy plan and our funny family. My son spilled his virgin White Russian (aka milk) all over Andrea’s velvet backdrop as we made these family memories.
When I say we are all-or-nothing, it is because we went from not sending out family Christmas cards to having clothes made, dressing up, having a family photo shoot, my husband creating the graphics, having a local printer print the cards, and of course sending them out. Then committing to do it again and again each year. Totally us. I wish all of you a happy holiday filled with laughter and love.
Do you do holiday cards or just find it too much? Do you love getting them? Please comment; I would love to hear.
