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4 Last Minute Family Picture Ideas

Last Minute Family Picture Ideas for Your Holiday Card

Sharing 4 Last Minute Family Picture Idea Tips for Your Next Holiday Card, Budget friendly family picture photoshoots, Tips for Taking Last Minute Family Pictures || Darling Darleen

Say What?! It’s the month of November, and you haven’t done your family pictures yet?? Well, don’t fret! Either have I! Don’t get discourage and throw the towel in quite yet. There’s still a chance to snap the dreaded family picture and get your cards out for Holiday delivery. Last minute family pictures seem to be the yearly theme in our home lately. Honestly I don’t recommend it, and for me personally my goal is always to get them done in September or October. BUT it seems to never happen when I want it to happen. However, I do get a family photo card out during the holidays. No bragging here. Some years are better than others. So here are my tips for last minute family picture ideas. If you are looking for family picture clothing ideas, check out this helpful post

Ask a friend to take your family picture–That’s what I did with the two pictures above. I had a dear friend meet me at the park and take our family pictures. No strings attached. If you don’t have a large camera, than use your phone’s camera. Technology has advanced so much that the camera on phones can really produce a gorgeous picture. Also, there are so many photo editing apps and filters, that you can edit your own pictures in just a few seconds.

2. Use a Casual Family Picture From Earlier in the Year–One year we randomly took these pictures at the beach during a summer trip. I actually forgot we took them. During that month of November, while I was dreading family pictures, I remembered we had a taken these pictures. They are not professionally done. We just snapped them during sunset. This saved me the biggest headache! Take the time to go through your camera roll on your phone. You may have one that will do the trick!

3. Use a tripod— Yup. Those two pictures above, where taken with a tripod. I pulled out my tripod, placed it on our lawn and put my big camera on it. Then used the self-timer. They aren’t the best, BUT I’d say they came out pretty darn good. We took these one Sunday afternoon when my kids were looking nice. Saved some money and a random day of headaches!

4. Search for Mini-Session Photoshoots–Many local photographers may offer mini-sessions photoshoots. These are usually budget-friendly, last about 30 minutes and on a specific day. You may only get about 5-10 pictures, but really you only need that ONE good photo for the card. Also, you may need to drive and rearrange your schedule to fit with the photographers schedule. These two pictures above where taken with a local photographer when we lived in Georgia and we set up her studio for mini sessions. We had to drive an hour to take these pictures but they were worth the time and money saving. A good place to search for local photographers is on the search bar in Facebook and through hashtags in Instagram. Search by your area for example, I would search “Connecticut family photographer” or “Fairfield County photographer”. Or in Instagram, I would search #ctfamilyphotographer or #connecticutphotographer. You may need to reach out to the photographer and see if they are offering mini-sessions.

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day

Sharing a little bit of my Mother’s Day from over the weekend. Mother’s Day for me is really a time where I take a step back and contemplate my role as a mother to my children, and the gratitude I have for the many blessings of having them in my life. Each child is so different and needs my love shown to them in different ways. Mother’s Day is nothing fancy in our house. My kids do little service tasks for me, so I don’t have to be on mom duty. They get up at so early to make breakfast in bed, and my favorite part is they always end up eat it themselves. The cards are always so adorable and the little words they write mean so much. Time is flying but these Mother’s Day cards are cherish items.

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Holiday Cards

Holiday Cards

When all the holiday cards are mailed out, I feel a huge relief and sense of accomplishment! Silly, I know. But it’s always a mad rush of timing to get our holiday cards ordered, then labeled, stamped and then out the door. This year I am actually a head of schedule, compared to last year’s Christmas cards. I ordered again through Minted. I’ve been ordering from them forever. They are my favorite, and always do such a great job. One of my favorite things they offer is free address labeling on my envelopes. It saves me a ton of time and forces me to update addresses once the cards are ordered. And did I mention it’s free! What you have to do is create a profile, add your addresses. The addresses are saved, so the following year all you have to do is update anyone who has moved, add or delete. The great thing is you really don’t have to worry about sorting though multiple files and addresses books to gather your family and friends’ addresses for your holiday cards. It’s all in one location and ready to be printed. Minted also offers letterpress cards and gold foil cards. There are so many styles to choose from! This year I choose the rose gold foil cards.

But if you happen to miss the rush of Holiday Cards, no worries! New Years cards are becoming so popular. I love Minted’s selection of New Years cards that I almost decided to just orders New Years cards instead. Less stress and easier on the budget to order after the holidays.

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Cutting Our Christmas Tree

Cutting Our Christmas Tree

Tradition. It’s all about family tradition during the Christmas holidays. And one family tradition that we continue to do every year is cutting our Christmas Tree down. It all started the first year my husband and I spent Christmas together as newlyweds. We lived in Salt Lake City at the time. That Christmas year it had already snowed. We snowshoed into the beautiful Utah forest and cut down our first tree. We put the tree on a sled and skied back out. It was so adventurous and so much fun! I can still smell the freshly cut Christmas Tree. From that year on we continued to cut our tree down. Even when we moved to Connecticut and it was freezing cold outside and we have little babies, we would bundle them up and head to the Christmas tree farm.

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On Children: Hunter boots | Fur Vest | Ugg Boots | Fur Vest older girl | plaid leggings

Fast forward to today, we are still cutting our Christmas tree. My kids beg for us to keep this tradition up. The difference is, is that the Christmas trees in the south are not every attractive and don’t have the fresh pine smell. We call them Charlie Brown trees. I have to admit, I’d much rather head to the local nursery and buy our tree there. But tradition. That’s what it’s all about. So we keep cutting these southern trees down and laugh and enjoy the sweet holiday memories we are creating. The tree farm we go too really does makes up for all the things we miss in the Connecticut and Utah. After we cut the tree down they have ornament decorating table, hot cocoa and apple cider, cookies for the children, pony rides, tracker ride. Santa Claus is always there and ready to hear the kids Christmas list and we always get a Santa Claus picture with kids. The area is also really beautiful with horse pastures and gorgeous Southern homes.

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Fall To Do List

Fall To Do List

This season’s schedule has probably been the most crazy with our children’s sports, dance and musical activities. Looking at our calendar, you would think we’d never have time to do anything fun! A Fall To Do list is a must. I know. I know. I’m one of those mom’s that over schedules my kids, but it keeps them out of trouble and off the devices! Anyway, I’d say we’ve been pretty good about taking any open timeframe and making the most of what we’ve got and fully enjoy the Fall season. With this change over to a new season and it’s usually a short season, a Fall To Do List is a definite must have! For me, the best way to do this is through the use of Post-It Notes. Once I’ve completed a task, I can just cross it off or remove it from the board completely. There’s so much for me to do this month and I don’t think I would be able to get through it all without writing a list.

Finally down here in the South, the leaves are changing colors and there is that crisp breeze against the warm sun. Just cool enough for jackets and boots, but still warm to spend the entire day outside enjoying the beauty of all the Fall colors. One of the first Fall activities we did on our Fall To Do List was go apple picking. When we lived in Connecticut, we started the apple picking tradition when our babies we so little. The apples are so yummy up in the northeast, and you can even get fresh maple syrup. Luckily, we have found a few apple orchards in North Georgia that have a few different varieties of apple trees. Not the same as Connecticut picking, but good enough to make a fresh homemade apple pie.

Of course, a trip to the pumpkin patch is a must on our Fall To Do List. When the Fall season arrives, I always get a little nostalgic for our time living in Connecticut. New England just simply has the best Fall days. Which bring be back to the pumpkin patch. We have been searching for a true pumpkin patch down here in the South where you can go and pick your own pumpkin off the vine…in a field. From what I hear it’s just too warm to grow good quality of pumpkins. So, instead we just head to the “pumpkin patch” to buy an overpriced pumpkin. The kids still love it. The plus side is we’ve come across some pretty good corn mazes.

So here our Fall To Do List that we have done or still planning to do before this season quickly moves on to winter! What are some of your favorite things on your Fall To Do List?

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30A Florida

30A Florida

Jump for joy for route 30A Florida! One of my favorite things about living in the south is how close we are to the 30A Florida beaches and beach towns. White soft sand, blue warm water, charming beach towns. It’s true beach heaven. I always tell my husband that we need to just move down to the 30A Florida because we visit too often and are always so sad to leave. I love that we finished the summer visiting the 30A Florida during Labor Day weekend. We met up with my other family members for the weekend who drove from Texas and Tennessee. We rented an awesome beach house right across the street from the beach and was large enough to fit about 30 people in it! No complaining here! It was the perfect set up.

So what is the 30A Florida? It is a scenic highway that runs along the Gulf of Mexico coastline about 20 minutes from Destin, Florida. The most charming small beach towns line the quiet highway. I have posted about some of their towns like Seaside , Seaside Beaches, and more Seaside! Seaside, Florida is where the Truman Show was filmed. This year we rented in Sea Grove, a town over from Seaside. I loved the beach because we were right next to Eastern Lake, so it was great for the kids to play in the shallow section of the lake that ran into the ocean.

The ocean water near 30A Florida was so warm! I’m usually one who just likes to beach on the sand and not really get in the water. But this year, I spent quite a bit of time in the water boogie boarding, paddle boarding, snorkeling, kayaking and getting wet with my kids. It was so fun and the warm water helped make it perfect to do so! I’m so glad my family came out to enjoy this beautiful area. Even my brother from Vegas flew out to the 30A Florida, so it was quite the treat! Here are a few pictures from our trip. And of course, I wish I took more but beaching can be so busy!

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Merry Christmas, Love the Meier’s

Merry Christmas to you and yours! This was the easiest family pictures–no stress! We did it one Sunday afternoon, in between lunch, in our front yard and with a tripod! Seriously it was so random and unexpected. Maybe the pictures weren’t like last years, but it worked with our time schedule and it was one of those things like we do it now or it’s not going to happen. Sometimes you have to just go with the flow with what’s best for your family. Come what may and be happy about it! We are so grateful this time of year as we reflect on our Savior and all he has done for us! We are especially grateful for healthy bodies! We started off the Christmas season with a nasty flu virus, and my husband and I were talking about how grateful we are when our bodies are strong and healthy. And grateful for a Savior who knows the pain of sickness and can heal all things! We remember and love him for all he has done! Merry Christmas.

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Thanksgiving Barn Dinner: Children’s Table

We are well into December, and I have been needing to put these pictures up of our children’s table at our Thanksgiving Barn Dinner. We placed a short-legged table in one of the horse’s stall with fresh hay bales adorn with gorgeous vintage quilts. We had a lot of children to squeeze around that table so we packed them in and kept them very busy. I printed up the cutest tee-pee name cards and Thanksgiving bingo cards designed by Rae Ann Kelly. The kids loved these activities. Definitely a printable to bookmark for your next Thanksgiving. I also used my Cricut explorer to cut paper feathers for the children to make feather headbands.

Holidays are the best for spending time with family. My kids had so much fun with their cousins! We are lucky to live close to family to drive.

How cute is my little nephew?? I got to nibble on him alot that weekend.

I love my family.

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