Blogville Christmas Card Exchange

We have been fortunate many years that people have emailed us to remind us to register. Last year sadly we missed the deadline and were quite sad. Mom has been haunting her reading list since Halloween as to not miss the deadline this year so she thought she would help others by providing the information here, too in case you missed the original post.

Blogville Holiday Card Exchange

We love the Blogville Holiday card exchange and this year we swore we were going to be registered before Lassiter Chase and Benjamin had to remind us. However, Mom has been hunting since Halloween to find out about the card exchange and couldn't find a thing as it has a new host this year. Thankfully we have pawesome Sheltie buddies in Lassiter and Chase and they posted on our blog Monday to tell us how to sign up. So we thought it only fair to share with others who might be as clueless as we.

This year the Blogville card exchange is being hosted at Kylascott and you can find all the info you need to sign up here. The deadline to sign up is November 17 so you'll want to get your information in soon.

Looking forward to posting all my cards and seeing everyone else's card piles too.

Christmas Cards are on the Way

Despite snow and icy roads Dog Dad got to the post office and mailed out all our Christmas cards yesterday, so they should be coming to Blogville houses soon.

Turns out it is a good thing that same day service really means same day service at the photo department. We pushed Mom really hard to work through all the card lists in one day. That is something of of a record. She normally does the cards over a couple of days.

We hope you are enjoying your Christmas preparations. We are doing our best to keep everyone safe as they keep moving stuff around to put up decorations.

Christmas Card Wreath

Christmas Cards began arriving right after Thanksgiving and Mom and Dad brought out the wreath holders to organize our paper cards. We've been getting e-cards, too. Along with sending and receiving cards from family and friends, Mom participates in 2 online card exchanges every year and she loves watching the card wreaths take shape. We want to thank all our Blogville friends for taking the time to remember us at this very busy season and tell all of you that no matter what kind of cards you send we read and appreciate all of them.

We mention this because we got a disturbing email from someone who perhaps thought they were trying to help, but was kind of insulting. We send paper cards to all the people on both our card exchanges that live in the US. We just got our picture taken for our Christmas card on Saturday, so don't be surprised that you haven't received our card yet. We did send out e-cards, though. Only our Blogville list has residents outside the US and we send e-cards to those on that list. We use e-cards instead of scanning our Christmas cards or creating picture cards to attach to our emails. It is our choice and our preference. I've gotten both over the years and understand everyone chooses what works for them. We received an email from someone upset that they couldn't print our card and therefore had taken a picture from our Blog and created their own Christmas card from us so they could print it and display it I guess. Then they sent me a copy of the card so I could use it.

Well, clearly they thought they were trying to be helpful and I am trying to respect that. However, if I'd wanted to send a picture card, I could have done that. I didn't choose to do that. We don't print our e-cards, it is just too crazy this time of year to get to more than just reading them. However, we do enjoy the various types cards we get every year. The cards have ranged from hand made works of art to very simple cards and each is a sign that someone remembered us and thought to send us a card. As far as e-cards go we also get a variety from funny or sentimental e-cards to picture post cards and again all are welcome and appreciated. Each person does what he/she can.

The Blogville community is a very special one. However, all successful communities are based on people being considerate and thoughtful of one another. The Christmas Card Exchange is a gift we give to each other and we all participate in the best way we can. The simple reaction to a gift is thank you, not you didn't give me what I wanted in the format I wanted. These are the kinds of reactions that do eat away at the goodwill of a community.

So we end this on a positive note by thanking all of you for all the cards you send each year. We love seeing our Christmas wreaths fill up each year with cards people send. We also are grateful for those who remember us by email as well. There are many people who feel lost and left alone at Christmas. It is an amazing gift we give each other just in remembering and reaching out in what ever format that takes.

Card Wreath is Full

Thanks to a pile of cards that arrived yesterday, our second card wreath is full. The card wreath has slots that will accept more cards so if your card is on the way it will have room. The point is there won't be any holes in the wreath as Christmas arrives.

It is much harder to get a shot of this card wreath because it is located in a hallway. Mom did her best, but she couldn't quite get all the cards in and she apologizes.

We are trying to be really good as we wait for Santa to come. It seems like it's taking forever. Dad's parents arrived on Saturday and Mom's Mom is coming to the state today. That means lots of goodies on Christmas Eve, even before Santa comes.

Thankful Thursday: Christmas Prep Continues

Mom is making progress on getting ready for Christmas. Dog Dad picked up our Christmas cards last night and Mom worked on addressing them until she ran out of stamps. Not giving anything away, but Dog Dad says this is the best card ever because of Katy. As for the lack of stamps, never fear, Dog Dad picked up today when he mailed the huge stack Mom finished yesterday.

Dog Dad suggested making use of the flower boxes on our deck, so they went out searching for something to put in them last night. We are hoping the birds will discourage the squirrels.

The Card Wreath is Up

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was delightful. Lots of attention. However, Dog Dad forgot to buy us birthday cookies. We celebrate a birthday on Thanksgiving and we are used to getting special bakery cookies on birthdays. As soon as the birthday song started, we sat down very nicely and waited for the cookie. No cookie came and Mom realized why we were being so respectful. Then she offered us one of our regular cookies. We were very disappointed. Birthday girl got her birthday pie, but we made sure Dog Dad won't forget us for the upcoming birthdays we will be celebrating this month.

Over the holiday weekend, Mom and Dad started transforming the house from Pilgrim themed to Christmas central. Katy has become fascinated with the tree this year and it is making Mom a bit nervous. She has realized she's just short enough that she can walk around the Christmas tree and scrape the branches on her back getting a little back rub. Of course, this also knocks ornaments and risks knocking over the tree, but every bit of fun has some hazards. Mom's not seeing it that way.

After the tree, one of the first things Mom insisted had to be out was the card wreaths. She has been busily addressing Christmas cards to friends and family all weekend. Three stacks have been mailed. We are still working our paws to the bone working through the Blogville list, but we will get all of you your cards soon.

We are having a debate with Mom. Technically, she got the first card of the season from one of her crochet friends before Thanksgiving. However, in the great Thanksgiving clean up the card has gone missing. Since she can't find it to put it in the card wreath we aren't sure it counts. Mom says it does. The debate continues.

Christmas Card Wreath

Well Mama has filled the first Christmas card wreath and has moved on to the second wreath cardholder. This is why the card exchange is one of her favorite traditions. It does make for a really pretty house decoration that every who visits comments on as they see all the beautiful cards.

Mom finished off all the cards yesterday and Dad brought home a boat load of stamps to get the second batch of cards mailed out. Mom also sent out e-cards to those who live outside the US border. She wanted to make sure everyone got remembered. Hopefully, all of you will be getting your cards soon, even with the bad weather making postal deliveries challenging.

We are finally getting a decent supply of snow cookies. Dad is worried we are due for an overabundance of snow cookies this weekend. We are torn. Grandma and Grandpa are flying in so we need the skies to be clear for them to get here safely. However once they are to their destination, we want a big storm because Mom and Dad have plans to be busy all weekend and we want them home with us. Mom keeps saying Santa wouldn't like our attitude and something tells us she has an in with the big guy.

The Card Wreath is Up

Well Mama is doing better in this card contest this year than last year. So far, we are of course winning 7-3, but that is closer than last year.

A note from the Mama, with the warm weather we've had an higher than normal level of moths. Bailey is ignoring them, but Katy has taken to hunting them down and batting them out of the air with her paws and then biting them to make sure they fly no more. She takes no moth prisoners.

Papa has been pulling the Christmas boxes out of the attic, which can mean only one thing, the turkeys, will soon be headed to the attic. While we know Mama will be pulling out our special Christmas only toys, we hate to say goodbye to our Gobbling friends. It seems they stay such a short time each year.

Wreath 2 Filling Up

Wreath 1 is completely filled, mostly with our Christmas Cards. Wreath 2 is also filling up with cards from our blogging friends. They are adding lots of festive cheer to our holiday! Mom is having a tough time getting shots of the 2nd wreath with her phone as she doesn't have room enough to back up to get the whole wreath in the shot.

Two Grandma's and one Grandpa will be arriving soon for Christmas. None of them are staying with us, but they will all be visiting, especially for the big Christmas Eve party. Daddy's parents bring the BEST pressies. Since they come on Christmas Eve we even get our stuff early!

We are Good with Santa

We went and had our chat with Santa on Sunday. It took two pictures, but we have our proof that we went in case there is an issue later with our presents.

Bailey earned Santa points when he helped keep a young pup from bolting away from Santa. Dad helped get the dog to sit on Santa's lap so the pup could have her picture taken with Santa. We are hoping Santa remembers all those good deeds when it comes time to visit our house.

Mama promises to post the picture with Santa after Dad scans it in.

As you can see, the first card wreath is almost full and it only has two cards belonging to Mom and Dad. The rest are all from you, our blogging pals. Mom has two wreaths, so we she will have room for the cards that are sure to come from the Grandmas and other family.

Wordless Wednesday: Checking out the Christmas Cards

We have to break the rule of Wordless Wednesday and thank all of those who continue to send us cards. We have received cards from:
Chewy Deravi, Bella and Daisy, Bert King, Miley and Maggie, and Dakota & Cody, Frankie Furter, Freedom, Casper & Nikki, Maggie Mae and Max, Sweet William The Scot, Finn, Urban Hounds, Julep & Derby, Remington, Max, Bugsy and Knuckles, Reggie and Lola Baker, and Douglas, Oskar Hoerauf, Brandon, Tessa the Maltese, Erika, Blair, Koda, Sophie, Indy & Jack, Minnie and Mack.

Now We are On Christmas Cards

First it was mugs and t-shirts, but now Mama has had Christmas cards printed with us on them.  (Not this picture, she wants it to be a surprise.)  Dad went and picked them up Saturday at Walgreens.  Do all of you have to go through this with the Paparazi?

Mama did promise us a trip to Santa.  Dad always gets us a treat when we visit Santa.  Not a bad trade off for another picture trip.  Especially since Santa does always fill our stockings with such nice treats.

The Christmas card list gets started today.  Mama says she is starting with family first and then will see how far our cards go before she has to dig into the boxed cards.  We are so excited to get our own Christmas cards this year.