Once again, I went for the yearline card, which allows me to add one large photo on the front, and four smaller photos on the inside. The perfect solution for those of us with lots of kids, and no single great “family shot” where no one is blinking, frowning or looking the other way. There is a box that allows you to select where you want the photo to appear on the card, and an icon to upload the photos.

This year, I choose “Snowflake Window Holiday Card,” designed by Stacey Day, in Birmingham Alabama. The gorgeous part of this card, is that a snowflake appears on the front, directly over the picture.

Once your photos are in place, you move on to the “caption” area. In the Yearline card, there is space to write a “caption” to tell the story of your year; an express version of the “Christmas letter. ” I use the space to add funny things the kids say, such as “Mom, I’m glad you married Dad, or I would look completely different.”

This year my quotes went over the text limit, again, but there is a warning message on top that relieved me of stress: “If your text is cut off or placement is off, please don’t worry. A professional designer will make sure your text is clean and legible.” And that is exactly what my designer did. Everything fit.

And this is the picture:

The effect is stunning, as the snowflakes literally jump off the page, and appear to look as if they are part of the actual picture.

Thank you Minted, for making that one holiday stress so “stress free.”  Is it time to watch the Bishop’s Wife yet?

Minted provided me with 25 free cards to try. I purchased an additional 75 cards.

6:15: Little ones, supposed to be asleep, are up to join me. I plow forward with my routine.

6:22: I hear a clap. This is the signal that someone needs help in the bathroom. I pause the DVD and head to the bathroom. (The signal is his idea… not mine.)

6:22½: OMG. Send the boy to the bathtub to soak, while I clean up this mess. A yoga chant is still humming through my head, challenging me to stay calm, as I scrub the floor, the toilet seat, and my own toes, and then the boy.

6: 38: Scrub under my fingernails again to get rid of smell.

6:39: Begin yoga DVD again…

6: 43: The little boys begin searching through the laundry piles for costumes that are not yet washed… they begin laughing and giggling, while I press forward through the routine.

6:51: I hear one say, “Close the door… all the way.” While in crow pose, I begin to imagine this:

my little boy inside the front-loading washer, and the door is pushed shut. The older son laughs, and hits the button to start the machine. He screams, at what he’s done, and I frantically rush in and begin pushing buttons to stop the machine. I suddenly remember the one time I forgot a pair of stocks, but the controls locked and I couldn’t get the machine to stop, or the doors to open. I run to the fuse box to shut off the power, and I think about the machine’s “air-tight” seal. When I get back to the machine, I realize I’ve turned off the button that “releases the door.” And all I can see in my mind is my little boy trapped behind the glass of the washer, his hands pushing against the glass. With no air.

6:51 ½ : I jump out of crow pose and head over to the laundry area to see if the pictures in my imagination are real. I thankfully see the washer empty, everyone still breathing. But there are sparkles all over the floor, and the laundry. Glitter. Everywhere.

Notice, the dainty socks.

I should have stayed in bed.

This, is truly, Motherhood.

For the PBN Blog Blast Microsoft”s “Portraits of Mom” campaign that runs from April 19-May 11, 2008. “Portraits of Mom” features an opportunity to visit a neighborhood Windows Live Portrait Studio in San Francisco or Brooklyn where you’ll be treated to a free professional family photo that you can edit and share with your friends and family.