Im a bad bloggy friend.. bad bad bloggy friend!!

But here I am..  I don't know what happen to me over Christmas.. I just did not have the whatever it takes to make myself blog.  I think I was just too busy.. bear orders galore and family time.  I finally shut down the "bear shop" about 10 days before Christmas as I needed to enjoy the holiday.  which I did.  I had the house decorated the weekend after thanksgiving and spent most of December puttering, shopping, playing with my grands and working on bears.  

   

Do you remember when I talked about my secret Christmas mission?  Well this is what it was!  I dressed all my grandpies up as a nativity scene and had their pictures taken.   It all came together very quickly.  I had to enlist the help of daughter Jennifer so that she could bring her step children Ella and Carson and I needed help with all the kids anyways.. so she was in on it from the start.

   (Ella)

I had a gift cert for a photo shoot that I had been saving for the whole family but figured I would just use it for the kids and once this idea came into my head I was totally OBSESSED.     Unfortunately the photographer did not have any openings.  So I called a woman from church who also takes pictures and she agreed.  We were able to pull it together for Veterans day when the kids didn't have school.

(Lillianna)

We were going to do it here which my husbands barn as the back ground but it had rained and the ground was pretty wet.  so I have a good friend with a 200 year old cabin in her yard with a little porch on it that worked out perfectly!

(Scarlet)

I got the crazy idea to have a live Donkey.. and since I live in the country.. there are plenty around.. I called about 5 or 6 different people with donkeys but it didn't work out.. some were willing but had no trailer,  one was out of town.. and the weird old man down the street was willing if I brought the kids down there.. but he is pretty strange and I thought Not!  so we had no live donkey!  lol!  but I sure did try.  just ask the girls I work with..  I was obsessed with the idea!  lol!

(Carson)

I borrowed the nativity costumes from the church with the exception of the lambs.  I made their costumes in about an hour one night!  seriously simple!  basically traced around a size 2 outfit cut it out and sewed it together.  Then I cut a slit down the back so we could put them on them.   The hats were a little more involved but still really simple.    And they turned out sooo stinking cute!  lol!

(Marla)

So that morning Jen and I collected up all the kids.  We told their mother I was working on a secret surprise for Christmas and off we went!   I took a pack and play with us to put babies in while we set up..  that was probably the smartest thing we did that day! lol!!  We threw straw around the porch  put the kids in place.  and within about 45 minutes we were done!

(Torry)

And the end result was just magical!   they all cooperated... perfectly!  amazingly!  beautifully!  awesome little kids!

(violet)

Stephanie, the photographer took about 60 or more shots and gave them all to me on a CD.  so hard to pic my favorites!    WE told the kids to keep the Christmas surprise a secret, but soon after returning them all home Tiffany texted me to tell me that Marla had spilled the beans about the virgin Mary!  LOL!    Bethany said that Torry tried to tell her about it a couple times but she would stop him and tell him not to tell her.

so for Christmas I had the pictures mounted and gave them to the parents  from the kids and I.  I think even though they had some ideas,,  they really didn't know what to expect!  I also had my friends dad make these little shelves out of barn wood and I bought little lambs and a donkey to put on the shelves under the pictures!  soooo stinking cute I tell ya!

here's what they look like all together!  I have and extra lamb and a camel for my grouping.. also I didn't give then all the extra pics of each of the kids, just the ones of their own.  But I of course have them all! lol!  they can order the others if they decide they want them.  I love that I had them mounted and that they aren't framed.    I couldn't hang mine until Christmas morning before they came.. which was killing me because I wanted then up soooo bad!  so I hung them in the morning and then covered them with a sheet of wrapping paper until they had all opened theirs.   Needless to say that they all loved them.    

OK.. sooo anyways..   I'm sorry Ive been missing. .  I'm going to be back more.. now that the holidays are behind us and I'm not obsessing about that.  I feel like I can take on blogging again!   I still love all my bloggy friends!  And if you are wanting to see all my Christmas decorations..   just go to my flickr.. this years pics are there.  Ive been posting on instagram and on facebook.. just not here.... :( see... bad bloggy friend is what I am!   but Im back!  have a great day!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo