If Elle Macpherson Can Do It So Can You

November in Texas is one of my favorite months.  It finally almost feels like fall.  We can sometimes justify wearing a sweater.  If we remembered to coat them with “Mop & Glo” we still have our pumpkins and fall decorations out, without the ghosts and plastic skeletons.  Granted, some people have jumped the gun and started putting up Christmas decorations prior to Thanksgiving, but this isn’t supposed to be a controversial blog, so I will stop there.  November is also that month that the Smith-Cesarz sisters panic, remembering that November is the 11th month in the year… not the first.  

In 2010 we were desperately trying to come up with Christmas presents for grandparents and a birthday present for mom (December 28th), and we landed on the idea of putting together a calendar filled with pictures of the great/grandkids. (We were not at all motivated by the three for one deal at Snapfish that happens in early December.)  The first year was relatively easy, we gathered semi- on point pictures of the kiddos from the last couple of years, and we all lived in Houston so we could easily fill in a few. The next year was a little harder. We remembered to take some cute valentine pictures of Caroline and Billy, and bluebonnet pictures were also an annual tradition.  

Once you start giving a calendar filled with pictures of grandkids you don’t get to stop giving a calendar filled with pictures of grandkids (you’ve been warned).  As we moved to Dallas and Sarah and Billy moved to Corpus.  It became harder and harder to just run out and grab a couple of seasonal shots.  Honestly, we also just forget until right about now… a week or so before Thanksgiving.  The real tradition is gathering an armful of clothes from each of the kiddos and trying to see what works together and what would have been a seasonally appropriate outfit.  Then, finding different spots around town that don’t give away the time of year, and seeing how many months’ worth of pictures we can shoot in a weekend.  Oh, you got braces in September and this is for July… figure out a way to smile without showing your teeth.  Yes, you are going to wear shorts when it’s snowing outside if Elle Macpherson can do it so can you. (Okay, it hasn’t actually snowed while we’ve been doing calendar pics and they don’t know who Elle McPhearson is, but you get the drift).  In one day, Caroline and Billy (and sometimes Shannon) will wear VBS t-shirts and shorts on the playground, toss on jeans and sweaters and climb on the pumpkin display in front of HEB (yes, the best place for pumpkin pictures is in the giant pile at the grocery store- the teens aren’t fans of this plan), make caramel apples in more distinctive fall wear, and look festive and Santa ready in their Christmas best.  

Every year we say next year we’re going to do better… and yet again we’re shocked it’s November.