Happy howdydays!

We decided to go native for this year's Christmas card, and what better way to do that in Texas than a cowboy-themed Christmas? I was taking a bunch of pics of Sammy in his Halloween costume back at the end of October and as soon as I uploaded this one onto the computer, I said to myself, "This is the one. This is this year's Christmas card." I spent a few hours editing the image and designing the card and before I knew it, I was finished. On October 31st. I have never been that far ahead of the schedule before in my life. You can imagine how hard it's been keeping the final product to myself for so long. (You can check out the rest of the awesome entries in the Paper Mama's 2011 Holiday Photo Challenge by clicking here.)

I chose Pear Tree Greetings to handle the printing of our card this year; I liked the fact that I could upload my own design and that they had a magnetic option--no more trying to figure out how to display all of your Christmas cards--you can just slap this puppy onto your fridge and be done with it.  I've never ordered from Pear Tree Greetings before, but I can definitely say that I'll be doing business with them again, thanks mostly to their incredible customer service; when they say that they're not happy until you're happy, it's not a slogan--they actually mean it.  Some of the cards that I received had a small portion of the text cut off--not a big deal, but enough that I noticed it (however, probably no one else would have)-- I contacted their customer service department and they immediately printed off another batch, no questions asked.  (I wasn't compensated in any way to review Pear Tree Greetings--I just think their customer service is awesome and that everyone should know it.)

Yesterday I decided to take Sammy to the local mall so he could meet Santa.  I was hoping that since I'd been talking to Sammy about Santa and showing him pictures of Santa and we'd wave to Santa whenever we saw him at the mall, that maybe, just maybe, we could get a half-way decent picture of the two of them together.  No such luck.  If you look closely, you'll notice the death grip that Santa has on Sammy's thigh and torso--this is because Sammy was kicking and squirming with every fiber of his being.  Oh, and yes, that is a real tear trickling down Sammy's cheek.  He did not like Santa.  Not one bit.  I, on the other hand, was doubled over with laughter throughout the entire photo shoot--mother of the year right here. (I'm also linking this gem to Harper's Happenings Santa photo link-up.) Have a great weekend everyone!