These are my 10 favorite Valentine books for kids, all available on Amazon:

1) I Love You Through and Through

2) The Day It Rained Hearts

3) A Book of Hugs

4) If You’ll Be My Valentine

5) Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine

6) Henry In Love

7) You Are My I Love You

8) Kiss The Cow

9) Everyone Says I Love You

10) The Night Before Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is around the corner and I am loving some great DIY projects I am seeing on the web. I have always loved Valentine’s Day and now with a family who loves celebrating, it couldn’t be better. I especially have my heart set on gifts and projects that are handmade with love and meaning.

First up are Valentine’s fruit stickers from Twig & Thistle. How precious and practical!

A Personalized Kraft Notebook from Paperwink. You know why I love it.

Pie Crust Heart Cookies from smashed peas and carrots as seen in One Pretty Thing.

Country Living magazine’s TreeMail as seen in DesignSponge. Brilliantly sweet concept.

Its almost the new year! Will you be celebrating tonight? We are having friends over for a book study, to hang out and reflect on what a blessing this year has been. I’m definitely ready for 2011.

With a new year comes new goals, wishes, dreams.

I haven’t had the chance to sit down and write them specifically, but I do know what they are. Here are some of the major ones…

1) A major goal is to spend more personal time and travel more as a family. When I think of the most memorable times, I remember our personal projects, quality time, and travels most.

2) Live a more healthy lifestyle. Slowly working on this. Like go to bed before 3. And don’t eat too much chocolate.

3) Never forget where I came from. It reminds me of countless opportunities and blessings I have and I am forever grateful.

4) Think and do more for others.

5) Be authentically creative.

6) Take more risks both personal and business.

7) Ask for help.

8) Spend more time face to face with people instead of online.

9) Live simpler. We have been purging lots this past month and may it continue.

10) Continue to dream and dream bigger.

I have more specifics especially with the dream section and hope to “cross out” and share as time goes.

I highly encourage you write your dreams down and print out where you can see them everyday.

Happy New Year.

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas with loved ones.

We had the best Christmas ever. Why? It snowed the entire weekend here and it was the first white Christmas for our whole family. I never thought I could get so excited about snow consistently falling on my favorite holiday. We also took the week off from work and I have to say it was one of the best things we have done for our family. Its been one busy wedding and portrait season and we wanted to really celebrate Christmas and spend quality time with our girls and this was truly so memorable.

Christmas cards have been sent off and here are the results of our 2010 Holiday Portraits. How appropriate for an out & about :)

Gray’s dress: Bonpoint

Gray’s scarf: Bonpoint

Gray’s headband: crewcuts

Gray’s shoes: Kid Express at n2 shoes in Chattanooga

Campbell’s dress: Zara Kids

Campbell’s tights: H&M Kids

Campbell’s shoes: Gap Kids

Garrett’s shirt and sweater: Ted Baker

Garrett’s jeans: Zara

Garrett’s shoes: Baggat from Milan, Italy

Joy’s dress: Banana Republic

Joy’s sweater: J.Crew

Joy’s headband: J.Crew

Joy’s shoes: Banana Republic

Joy’s tights: Kate Spade

Location: Asheville, NC (Photos by Brandy & Sticky Rammel)

old
1. opening one gift every christmas eve, pj’s or a game to play together
2. leaving cookies and milk
3. watching “twas the night before christmas”
4. getting our stockings first and pics with them on the stairs BEFORE peeking
5. setting up the nativity that was my great-grandmother’s

new
6. leaving cookies, milk and now, reindeer feed (in the yard)
7. driving around with hot chocolate to look at the lights
8. attending the local parade, again with hot chocolate
9. christmas eve service at church, sometimes followed by cookie decorating with the grandparents.
10. watching my daughter and mom set up the same nativity set that i used to. love to see it come full circle.

and of course we still do the pics on the stairs with our children now. i also make sure that we watch “twas the night before christmas”, “frosty the snowman”, and of course, “rudolph”!

Thank you Jennifer! I love your traditions! We especially love driving around looking at lights and the Christmas Eve service, we may see you there!

It is fun to ask your family to respond to a list of “favorite” questions each year and then compare to what they said in past years.  Especially fun when kids are small and then remind them of their answers when they are older.  Also fun to capture what adults (parents) reveal and how that leads into story-telling from their childhood memories.  Here is an example of the questions:
1.  Give your favorite Christmas memory.
2.  What is your favorite birthday memory?
3.  What was your favorite vacation memory?
4.  What is your favorite holiday meal?  Why? and would you like to change it up any?  How?
5.  What is your favorite activity with your mom?  and dad?
6.  What would you want to give your parents if you could make it anything?
7.  Where do you want to spend Christmas five years from now?
8.  Where do you like to spend time when you want to be quiet?
9.  What is your favorite song?
10. Do you think you will know the answers to what everybody else said?
I never come up with more than 10 questions but have always discovered this leads to alot of conversation, laughs and more awareness about your family members.  We do it on Christmas eve and do it in our own handwriting……..somehow that makes it more personal and when you look back, it is another fun memory to see the handwriting of the family member (some of which may no longer be with us)
Thanks for asking for this question – it was fun to think about and recognize that we all have some kind of traditions in our families!

Thank you Sharon and I totally love this. I love that it is handwritten and adds such a personal touch and warmth to it.

Photo from Google Images

You HAVE to watch this super fun alternative holiday greeting sent from fab friend, Lisa of E Events. This is a collaboration of both Lisa and the equally talented Jeffrey of Stoner Video.

Click here to watch their creative greeting!

Lisa says:

It was a creative, fun, MESSY, eco-friendly way to send out our greeting this year. We simply emailed it to everyone that was on our Christmas card mailing list.

Its that time of the year again. It’s hard to believe its the 6th year of our annual holiday tradition of “feet” Christmas cards. It has become quite the tradition.

What started as a 10 minute, simple portrait session, has now turned into a full blown different-destination-each-time-pick-your-clothes-six-months-early-highly-anticipated-published-in-a-photo-magazine-photo-session.

Can we say stress?! Well, to date we have survived each year and although it takes much planning, it has been so worth it.

Things worth noting:

1) It has been SO fun to see our kids grow through the series. We started when Gray was just 6 months old. She is now 5-and-a-half and Campbell turns 2 in January. Tears!

2) The photo destinations! We used to live in Orlando, then we moved to Chattanooga. I am from Charleston, SC, and Asheville, NC, was a random choice. Hmmm, where should we go next?

3) Our photographers! Long time friend, Paul who lives in FL. And wedding clients turned friends, Brandy and Sticky, who we also photograph their session. Both have been so patient with us and lots of fun!

4) Our change in style. Someone told us they noticed the change especially in Garrett’s shoes. Hehehe.

For years people have asked what and where do we buy Gray’s clothes for the session (part of the inspiration for the out & about series on this blog) as well as many of our portrait clients ask where to shop and what to wear for clothes for THEIR holiday family photos. So, in addition to reminiscing over our 6 year card tradition, I will also mention some of the clothes info.

out & about family!

2005 in Winter Park, FL (Photo by Paul Martin)

Graycen’s coat and pants: Gap Kids

Garrett’s jeans: Gap

Garrett’s shoes: Kohl’s

Joy’s pants and shoes: Banana Republic

2006 in Winter Park, FL (Photo by Paul Martin)

Gray’s coat, jeans, and shoes: Gap Kids

Garrett’s shirt: English Laundry

Garrett’s jeans: Diesel

Garrett’s shoes: we can’t remember!?!?!?

Joy’s top: Modern Grace Boutique (College Park in Orlando, FL)

Joy’s jeans: Diesel

Joy’s sandals: Marie-France Boutique (Thornton Park in Orlando, FL)

2007 in Winter Park, FL (Photo by Paul Martin)

(Note: Just came back from visiting Europe: Paris, Aberdeen, and Lake Como, Milan. We had to go shopping!)

Gray’s hat and dress: Bonpoint (Paris, France)

Gray’s shoes and leggings: H&M Kids (Aberdeen, Scotland)

Garrett’s shirt and jeans: Zara

Garrett’s shoes: Bagatt (Milan, Italy)

Joy’s dress: Zara

Joy’s shoes: Bagatt (Milan, Italy)

2008 in Chattanooga, TN (Photo by Brandy and Sticky Rammel)

Gray’s shirt, shorts, tights: Zara Kids

Gray’s shoes: Gap Kids

Garrett’s shirt: 7 Diamonds

Garrett’s jeans: Guess

Garrett’s shoes: Steve Madden

Joy’s maternity dress: due maternity (Buckhead in Atlanta)

Joy’s shoes: Michael Kors from Nordstrom’s

2009 in Charleston, SC (Photo by Brandy and Stick Rammel)

Gray’s dress: bebe children’s boutique (Park Avenue, Winter Park, FL)

Gray’s headband: crewcuts

Gray’s shoes: Gap Kids

Campbell’s dress and sweater: Gap Kids

Campbell’s tights: crewcuts

Campbell’s hair clip and shoes: Pediped shoes, WiggleWorm children’s boutique (Chattanooga, TN)

Garrett’s sweater and blazer: Banana Republic

Garrett’s jeans: Guess

Garrett’s shoes: Robert Wayne

Joy’s dress: Anthropologie

Joy’s sweater: Express

Joy’s shoes: Aldo

Stay tuned for our 2010 photos in Asheville, NC!

A friend recently posted on Facebook, wondering about the length of time and planning required for a holiday portrait session. Garrett responded after a few fun comments so I wanted to include it here below:

You should start in the summer sometime. This is assuming that you update your wardrobe on a somewhat regular basis. Don’t go out specifically looking for holiday picture outfits, or you will be angry and frustrated. Months in advance, keeping in mind the ages/sizes of your children, when the right outfit jumps out at you get it and don’t look back.

You may have to invest more money than you wish. But you will look back on these pictures for your entire life, and when children are young, they change and grow and develop every year. In a portrait, often the subject’s personality is revealed in their outfit as much as it is in their face. In our family (my current immediate family) the holiday picture is a standard by which we look back upon. Of course I realize my perspective is different.

Once you have identified that “it” outfit for whomever is the lucky person, you can begin looking for outfits for the rest of the family that compliment. As a photographer my suggestion is to compliment, not match. People often make this much harder than it really is. If you want the children to stand out, put them in something that will stand out against what the parents are wearing.

Last year I found a great knit dress for Gray when I was working in Orlando. We dressed the rest of us around it and everything came together quite easily. This year was a little bit harder. We had a great dress for Gray from France that we got several months back, but we weren’t  sure if it was the right one for the holiday picture. A few weeks ago in Orlando I found a really chic little dress for Campbell and it compliments Gray’s dress perfectly. It also provides good contrast, so they should photograph well together. Joy and I were a bit harder to outfit, but it’s more about the kids anyway. Of course it’s important to pay attention to shoes and accessories, as they can make a huge difference in making the scene look “finished.”

If you’re struggling try reading magazines. Sad to say, I read Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire on a regular basis. Hey, it’s part of my job…kind of. Vogue Bambini and Milk are also great kids fashion mags. When you look at their editorial shoots you’ll see how easy it really is to coordinate subjects. The obvious constraint is budget, which we all have to consider. It’s easy to go overboard….don’t!

Final suggestion, hire a good, patient photographer who “gets it.”   ;-)

And don’t forget the fabulous giveaway (which ends TONIGHT at midnight ET) from Envelopments here on the blog. All you have to do is comment and you get a chance to win 3 beautiful sets of notecards! Details HERE.

1) opening one present Christmas Eve – always pajamas and always excited
2) not being allowed downstairs on Christmas morning until everyone had washed faces and brushed teeth and made their bed….we went down stairs in single file
3) stockings, breakfast, presents…one at a time
4) fondue on Christmas Eve (growing up…then became lobster newburg and now what ever I choose)
5) watching Love Actually, The Family Stone, and The Holiday during December with Marty
6 ) a fabulous Christmas card! (Janelle is one of our awesome clients and photo above is by cobblestone rue!)
7) collecting Nova Scotia Crystal annual ornament for each of the girls
8) traditional Christmas fruit cake that I make in October , wrap in Rum soaked cheese cloth and store away
9) getting together with British friends to make proper plum pudding. Everyone stirs the batter and makes a wish
10) making trifle for Marty (or he makes it…once weighed 13 lbs!)
11) we don’t have a church here so we read the Bible story and other favorite readings after dinner on Christmas Eve…all stragglers come to our house (those with no family to go to) and they are invited to share as well

Thank you so much Janelle! We definitely share the Christmas card tradition as well as watching holiday movies with the hubby! I love all of them :)

From Amanda:

In no particular order, these are the things we did EVERY YEAR at home. I am a complete nut when it comes to Christmas. Just ask my parents, and especially my brother. They think I’m a little bit crazy, too.

1. Load up entire family + aunts, uncles, cousins and drive around looking at Christmas lights the week after Thanksgiving. While we were out, we would go and buy our fresh Christmas trees for each home and we (kids) would all eat candy canes and giggle our heads off.

2. Kids receive a new ornament every year that relates to something special about them for that last year. (Example: Freshman year of H.S., I sewed my first dress and my mom gave me a sewing machine ornament that year. This year, Maddox gets a Lego ball to hang on the tree and Maggie gets a little puppy dog. Her obsession.)

3. ALWAYS leave out milk and cookies on a special plate w/ a special mug for Santa on Christmas Eve. It was always gone when we woke up the next morning. We do it with our kids now.

4. On Christmas Eve (when we still believed in Santa) my dad would have a friend hide outside our house somewhere and ring sleigh bells. If there were plane lights in the sky it was even better. :) He would tell us to hurry and get to bed b/c Santa was waiting to come while we were asleep. Such a good memory!

5. Mayfield’s Peppermint Ice Cream – a must!!!!!!

6. No presents under the tree for kids until after they are asleep on Christmas Eve. Even now that I’m married, my Mom wont put the gifts for ME or my kids out until we are upstairs. It’s so exciting to go to sleep w/ an empty tree and wake up to that magnificent goodness of presents all over the place. Magical!!

7. My brother and I would always sleep in the same room together on Christmas Eve (even until I moved away and got married). I would get overly excited and couldn’t go to sleep, so my dear younger brother would play board games and talk to me until I fell asleep. (I tend to squeal a lot on Christmas Eve. The excitement is too much to handle!) We could see the shadows of our parents going back and forth down the hall, hauling gifts to the tree downstairs. We were forbidden from opening the door. :) The next morning we would wake up at horrifying hours such as 4am and our parents (who had just gone to bed) would get up with us. The rule was that we had to sit on the top step together until our parents went down and turned on the tree lights and set up cameras and video cameras first. We still do this whole scenario (except for the sleeping arrangements) when we are both in town at Mom’s for Christmas. Sorry that was a long description, but it’s such a happy, good memory for me. :)

8. ALWAYS have Blueberry muffins for Christmas morning breakfast.

9. With Maddox, we’ve started reading him the Christmas story (Jesus) all through December and then HE gets to sit in front of the tree on Christmas Eve and “read” the story to us. Until he can read the whole thing himself, it makes for some very sweet and heartwarming video memories to hear him tell it the way he understands it.

10. It’s not Christmas unless you listen to Dolly Parton’s “I’ll Be Home With Bells On”. I drive everyone nuts singing it every year when I show up at my Mom’s door for the holiday. :)

Thank you Amanda! We share in the tradition of riding around looking at Christmas lights and the LOVE for Christmas!