A Walk In The Park

We weren't going to buy the kids Christmas outfits this year. "They're too expensive, we're not going to any parties, no family will be in town, why bother..."- and then a picture of Eleanore's first Christmas, a cute chubby babe in her white fluffy holiday gown, froze on the screen saver.

Never mind. We're getting Christmas outfits.
Right now. Lets go.
So we packed up the kids 5 minutes later, headed down to Target (because in this town, its one of the 3 places to shop), argued over whether we should get Eleanore a sweater dress or the plaid ruffle skirt, accidentally dropped and lost but then re found Lovey in the toddler department, and an hour later we were on our way back home, trying to think of when and where to take pictures.

See, the way that I figure out if I really care about something or not, is I ask myself "in 10 years, will this matter?". Example- "In 10 years, will I care if I wore maternity clothes for a year after I was pregnant?" ...no. So we're not spending money on new clothes for me. I'll gladly wear pajamas and sweats, day in and day out. I have one pair of jeans that fit me, and since I never leave the house, it doesn't matter. I'm a frumpy housewife. So what. Another example- "In 10 years, will I care that I looked like crap in this picture with my son?" ...no. All that I will see, is me and my baby boy. And I'll probably sob, because its already hard for me to look back at baby pictures (they grow up so dang fast), how am I going to handle it when hes older and wants nothing to do with me? One last example- "10 years from now, will I care if I never took pictures of the babies in designated Christmas outfits?" ...YES. I will care. I will beat myself up for it until I die, so- its worth the $50 that we'll spend on the outfits. The pictures will be priceless. Especially if I take them myself.

I had an idea of what I wanted to do, in my head. But just like every other day, when it comes to photographing children, or anyone really, nothing is ever set in stone, everything is pretty much played by ear. Otherwise you're setting yourself up for disappointment. And I'd much rather have fun during my photo shoots, than be pissed off ...ya know?

All that I asked, was that everyone keep their outfit on, and that Christopher help me carry the chairs from our house down to the forest by the park (I'd be the one that carried them back).

The pictures that were developed in my head, were nothing like the ones captured by my lens. The final product was the result of a fun filled day in the warm December sun (Oh, Texas), and the excitement that goes along with sticks and stones. And in this particular case, leaves.


All 3 of my babies.


Charlie, with his black eye.
Evelyn, with her sass.


Waiting patiently for the boring to end, and the fun to begin.
But looking so darn cute doing it.



Mismatched socks.
The only way to live, really.


I'm down.
(Thats how Charlie says done).


Seriously Mom, your photo shoot sucks.

Alright babies, you're right. Daddy carried the chairs like he said he would. You've all kept your clothes on like you promised. I did get one of all 3 of you. Everything from here on out is just for fun.

Run free.


So Charlie did just that.


While brother stretched his legs and flapped his arm wings, Evelyn battled her sleepiness in the shadows.

But like always, baby girl. Sleep will win.

We had moved the chairs from the path, to over near a tree. And before I knew it, Eleanore was channeling her inner 70s record cover...


The exposure was all wrong, but it was all wrong in such a great way. I couldn't bring myself to delete the picture. And it turned out to be my favorite.


And when Brother saw that Sister had a secret stash of vintage action figures with her- the chairs didn't look so bad after all.


Even if she didn't want to share.


Someday you'll be fighting your siblings for action figures, too. But for now, you just keep on fighting the sleep.


Sticks and stones.
And hearts and argyle.



Whats that over there?

Are those ...?


Piles of leaves?!

Somebody had swept up all of the leaves in the forest, and moved them into several well formed piles, ready to be bagged up.

My children then proceeded to dive in, and tear those piles apart.

I'm willing to take the blame if need be.
It was worth it.

And as for those action figures?


They were abandoned, along with the chairs.

The kids went crazy.
I couldn't keep up.









At the end of the day, I was glad to have spent the money on those Christmas outfits.





This is a comment-free blog:)