What Fun It Is To Ride and Sing a Sleighing Song Tonight!

Behind the Scenes of Our 2011 Christmas Card

Part V:

While cruising along State Street of a neighboring town one day, this "VANSTROSITY" caught my eye (how could it not?), and I just couldn't shake it out of my head.  My first thought was, "Oh. No.  Dave's going to be all over this like a van is all over a snow tread."  Which doesn't make a whit of sense, but neither does this: 

What the whaaaaa?  Hands down, this . . . this . . . this THING (I don't even know what to call it) reigns supreme out of all of Dave's vehicular cravings.  

(Okay, everybody.  Now, when you saw this in our Christmas card, you didn't really think this was our, er, vehicle, did you?  Um, no.  {And, I thank my lucky stars for tender mercies such as this.  And, that's a huge understatement.})

If you don't mind, let's take a moment to reflect on the transportation purchases Dave has previously considered.  Remember this, and this, and this?  Well?  Well?  Did I call it, or did I call it?  This vanstrosity definitely takes the air out of all of those other cars' tires, does it not?!  The train of thought going on here simply escapes me.  

 But, whatev!  It made for a great backdrop for our final pic for our Christmas card, so I'm chalking this one up as one of those gurus of the power of positive thinking win-win dealies! 

Even though I was directing the whole affair, somehow I missed the memo that said we should all pretend to be singing the exact lyrics to Glória in excélsis Deo, instead of grinning from ear to ear as I did.  Oh, bother.

Grinning . . .

Grinning . . . 

 

 Gri . . . oh, never mind.

Yes!  I know, still grinning . . . 

Christian was the man with the fleet feet who set the timer on the camera and literally flew into the shot.  You'd never guess that he helped himself to a burger and some fries along the way.  That kid is a gazelle!

And now, I'd like to offer up a ginormo "thank you" to my long-suffering fam for indulging me in yet another one of my shenanigans featuring the Sagers clan.  I bow at their feet with much respect for their restraint in not completely throttling me at my every whim.  I love my family!

(I'm also hoping to curry a little favor with Dave for my next post coming down the pike.  Just wait.  It's a beauty.)

Bells on Bob Tail Ring, Making Spirits Bright!

Behind the Scenes of Our 2011 Christmas Card

Part IV:

Grandpa Richard was beyond patient with us while we dilly-dallied behind his back.  Bless his heart, his Ph.D. and former university associate dean status brought a decided bit of dignity and decorum to this bunch of nonsense.  We're forever in his debt.  And we promise to never call him "Bob."

Grandma Pauline manned the camera for these particular shots and deserves a boatload of applause and a plate of cookies for her spectacular photo skillz!

Ehhh, not quite right.

Take three!

Take four!

We'll get it right, just be patient with us!

Ooh, so close.  So close!

Ding, ding, ding!  

Thank you, Professor Sagers and Grandma Pauline, for making us look better than we have a right to!

But, what about Bob?  


Love that movie :D

O'er the Hills Fields We Go, Laughing All the Way!!

Behind the Scenes of Our 2011 Christmas Card 

Part III:

In my quickly scribbled down outline for our 2011 Christmas card, I had written "o'er the hills we go" as opposed to "o'er the fields we go."  Did ya catch that?  Give yourself a gold star if you did because not one of us did.  Not once.  During this whole ordeal.  Not one of us scratched our noggins and said, "Hey!  I think the song says o'er the fields we go, not o'er the hills we go.  We're looking at you, Mooooooommmm!"   Oopsie.  

Not until after the pictures were shot and we were adding the text did I finally slap my forehead with the realization.  Ah, well.  Hills.  Fields.  They both look kinda the same in photos, don't they?  For our purposes here (and so you don't hurt my feelings), the correct answer would be YES.  

We were originally gunning for a hill here.  It subs as a field, no?

Testing, testing . . . 

Bingo!  O'er the hills fields we go!

While we're on the subject of "o'er the hill," does this hold a strange appeal for you too?

In a One-Horse Open Sleigh!

Behind the Scenes of Our 2011 Christmas Card

Part II:

See that good old Radio Flyer sled attached to our handsome Dobbin?  That sled has been in my parents' garage long enough to have seen decades filled with Richard Nixon, Laugh-In, Led Zepplin, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, mullets, macho 'staches, big shoulder pads, stretch-stirrup pants, yuppies, Sun-In, "The Rachel" haircut, popped collars, Crocs, Harry Potter, Uggs with short shorts, Facebook and (shudder) Twitter.  I think this mighty little sled could be rightly deemed a precious museum piece for having out-lived all of that mess of good and bad, don't you?

And now, that sturdy little sled has successfully survived this particular humiliation honor!

Poor little Dobbin has no clue what's awaiting him.

Testing out the lighting as well as Dobbin's patience level.

Uh, yeah, it was just a touch bright!

In this shot, I'm just trying to concentrate on my driving skills as I ignore Dave's constant reprimanding of the boys while he threatens "to turn this sled right around if they don't stop bugging each other!"  jk.

We eventually had to ask Sean to sacrifice his knees being scraped along the ground as we sailed onward, but we finally managed to snag the shot, and Sean's knees seemed no worse for the wear.

And, speaking of mullets (and we were, and you'd know it if you were paying any attention at ALL), there's this:

If you are not able to play this video straight from my blog, just click where it says, "Watch on Youtube."  It'll give you your mullet fix for the day, so you're going to want to be sure to click that extra click, dude.  Dude.

Dashing Through the Snow!

Behind the Scenes of Our 2011 Christmas Card

 Part I:

What a gorgeous day in December for a jog!  No dashing through any sort of snow for us, and I was more than pleased as a pickle about that!

Dave was especially excited to get out in the fresh air to test out his super-duper, high-tech, moisture-wicking, black trouser socks and to pair them up with something other than his stuffy banker's suit.  What d'ya think?  (Please keep those comments positive, right?  I mean, I still have to face Dave every day, so I can't really afford to tick him off too much.   Cuz, I know the temptation is there for you, isn't it.  Believe me, I hear ya.)

I'm undecided about whether I should tell you that I changed into my running gear for this shot while standing behind a little shed just off to the side of the somewhat occupied football stadium.  Yeah, I guess it's better that I don't tell you that.  So I won't.  

Oh.  

Darn.

Testing the camera angle . . . 

Dave doing his warm-ups

Sean's a bit out of sync here--kinda like the Abby Road album cover?

We've aaaaaalmost got it

Set the self-timer!  Cut!  Print!  We've got a winner with this one!

A Few Footnotes . . .

The process that went into making this year's family Christmas card was not completely filled with precision or  exact planning.  Uh, obviously.  I mean, just LOOK at the chaos going on here.  You see, I get these very distinct visions of the end product in my head and then make up the innards on the fly as I haul everyone hither and yon, crossing my fingers that something takes.  

On the other hand, it sure was a hoot and a holler to set up all of the photo shoots while my family good-naturedly rolled their eyes and heavily sighed, "Okay.  NEXT."  Everyone was truly a good sport about engaging in yet another hare-brained idea of mine--even old Dobbin stifled his complaints about having to lug four good-sized adults on his rickety little Radio Flyer.  

My family is simply stellar in indulging me time after time whenever I fling another loopy adventure at them, but I just know they've gotta hate it when they see that lightbulb click to the "on" position over my head.  They roll with it anyway, and I love them for it.  

Over the next few posts, I'll treat you (yeah, right) to a few behind-the-scenes photos of our Christmas card exploits of 2011!  I know!  You're so excited!  Right?

Freezing F.R.I.D.A.Y. Festivities!

Where is Aldolpho in this pic from our most recent F.R.I.D.A.Y. foray out on the town?  Hint:  This restaurant was crazy cold, and Aldolpho sought refuge in the warmest place he could find.  Kimball thought the whole thing was pretty ridiculous . . . .

So, how many of you spied Aldolpho hanging out at Gandolfo's?   Aldolpho at Gandolpho's.  (Kinda has a certain ring to it, doesn't it.)  Anywho, Aldolpho looks like he is gearing up to jump right into the middle of the Sagers family's wild and crazy mosh pit, with his specific target being the top of Christian's head.  Our mosh pit is not quite the same as the mosh pit we survived at that one Wolfmother concert (whooo doggie!), but it's close.   Grandma Bea can get worked into a frenzy with just the right music, dontcha know.

Puffs Plus, Please!

This little firefighter drove away yesterday leaving me with a major heartache and a very empty and quiet house.  Oh, and he also left me with one lonesome Papa.  (Dave says that after having so much fun playing Ants In the Pants and the Cootie game with Kimball, playing  these games all by himself just doesn't seem to cut it anymore . . . .)  

Somebody grab the Kleenex box, will ya?  Both Papa and Deedee might need one.  

Or two.  

Or three.  

*Sniff, snifffffff*

  How could you not love this little man?

*Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh*