THE Christmas card picture.

Awhile back I saw this adorable rustic-y winter-y Christmas picture idea on Pinterest that involved a couple holding a "Merry Christmas" banner. I fell in love with it and decided we had to re-create it. Well us + our three adorable (and oh so cooperative) children. How hard could it be?! Just hold the sign and smile at the camera, right?

Ha! I should have known better. Pinterest ideas never work. At least not for me. 

We had a few unexpected challenges in capturing THE picture. For starters, I certainly wasn't expecting Hannah to be afraid of the sled. Thus requiring Joe to hold her PLUS the sign. Which doesn't sound too complicated...except everytime I ran to start the camera's self timer the sign would get tangled. And Joe was helpless to stop the tangling process...because...well...hands full o' toddler! (A toddler who refused to smile because of the "scary sled"!) Nor did I anticipate most of my letters (which I had painstakingly hot glued to the ribbon) would fall off due to the previously mentioned tangling! Oh and don't even get me started on the slightest breeze that would make the banner un-readable! I am sure the neighbors were enjoying the free show we were putting on in my parents' front yard. Oh the things we do for THE picture. 

So here it is in all it's tangled falling apart glory...the outtakes...

Oh how they make me laugh. (Though admittedly I wasn't laughing during the photo session.) I think I like them more than the finished product. Charlotte's one-foot-on-the-sled-hands-on-her-hips pose was ALL her idea. I didn't tell her what to do what so ever. And I love that she was determined to stay in that pose regardless of the chaos ensuing around her. Clearly Isaiah was most interested in watching the letters fall:) And Hannah was giving the camera a good stare down. Don't we look lovely? And full of Christmas cheer? 

Actually the finished (edited) product turned out alright, if I do say so myself....

It doesn't hold a candle to the original Pinterest photo, but I like it. It's got character. And a few funny memories to go along with it. Plus it reminds me just how much my husband loves me...remember when Joe was all sick and feverish upon his return to Minnesota? Um yeah, these pictures were taken at the peak of his illness. The man felt TERRIBLE, yet he still got dressed and stood out in the cold for me. And he smiled through it all. That's love.