Family Photo

Every year at about this time, I case the closets of our home trying to find five different outfits that all compliment one another. Now finding an exact match would be a stretch (unless I made an extra shopping trip), so I settled today for a combination that simply had the same color scheme.

This year, we all went with kind of a Christmas feel . . . to match Makayla's Christmas dress. It is a very fancy dress that her Nana bought her about a week or so ago. One morning, she insisted on wearing that thing out to run some errands. I figured, what the heck? Who is it hurting to let her parade around in this Chris Kringle type gown?

So when I made the announcement this morning, that Makayla would be wearing her dress for the picture, her eyes lit up. She was bubbling with excitement. Fussing with her hair was another story altogether. We started by getting it wet. This brings out her curls, so naturally I played with it to get it looking bouncy and full. Then I combed her bangs down a bit, and played with the top a little.

She was devastated. I wouldn't let her put one of those headband thingy's in (she calls it a lizzie). For the next ten minutes, she cried her eyes out. Mark and I stood firm, and told her she could go play after she was done throwing her fit. The fit didn't last very much longer. A half and hour later, after playing with her brother, she waltzed back into the bathroom saying that she liked her hair now. Women - who can figure them out?

Normally getting the family ready for our annual family photo is a stressful situation. While I am trying to get my hair to cooperate, there is so much more to consider (all of less importance of course) such as Mark's shirt to iron, making sure the kid's brush their teeth and of course my all time favorite - getting out the door on time. I even decided to give Ginger a bath for the occasion so that she could join us. She added a nice touch to the picture, being the furriest one in the bunch.

Things really went pretty smooth today. We didn't have to wait very long. The pictures looked good, and there wasn't a lot of tension. I wonder if it is because the kids are getting older, and they can pretty much get themselves ready. Maybe it has something to do with my own maturity. Through the years, I have learned to let a lot of things go. A hair out of place or a wrinkle in a shirt just doesn't bother me the way it used to.

Our family takes a portrait every year around the holidays. It is really a lot of fun to see how much the kids change. Mark and I aren't getting any older though . . . it's the strangest thing.

God has given me a lot to be thankful for. My family is the greatest blessing in my life. Every portrait - every snapshot . . . has been a picture of God's incredible grace.