Wednesday, October 8, 2008

300 reasons we don't pay for family pictures...

Mom was in town this week. (yay hooray!) While she was here, she insisted on taking some pictures of the whole family. Her step mom has been asking for some and since I love, but rarely see my Grandma Peggy, we obliged. We actually found a moment that everyone was dressed...in clothes. (No costumes, underwear only, or pajamas.) And the stains on shirts weren't too bad yet. Well, now that I look at them again, maybe they are too bad. Reid's shirt is a mess and I have a hole in my pants. I'm in dier need of a hair cut (and a re-application of make-up), but since that wasn't happening, Mom took some pictures Monday afternoon.

It was a disaster. Ten minutes is all I was asking. The boys (including Spencer) faught that tooth and nail. I have been thinking how nice it would be to get some really nice family pictures done. There are so many cool artisitc things being done with family pictures these days. I'm amazed at the creativity of so many photographers. A skill I covet. But after these ten minutes of chaos control, I'll think I'll wait a few years before I fork out that kind of dough for some nice pictures.

Mom managed to take quite a few pictures, but not one decent picture in the bunch. I'll prove it:

Parker is wearing vampire teeth


Still wearing the teeth.


Teeth are now out which equals one uncooperative crazy...and at our house, one uncooperative crazy, equals at least two uncooperative crazies.












This is me calmly squeezing the life out of Parkers arm while he cries.






I posted these in order of when Mom took them. There seems to be a progression of chaos. Sometimes I wonder what I got myself into.

Any favorites?

Besides that, it was as helpful as usual to have Mom in town. We had a free babysitter for date night. I got to leave the crazies when I went to a meeting. I didn't have to wake the younger two up from naps to pick up Parker from school. And on top of that, Mom and I endulged in a little girl time. Not only did we do a little crafting, but we ate out and shopped...and we both came out with two necklaces, two pair of earrings, and matching purses. Cute huh? Thanks Mom!

21 comments:

Traci Elizabeth said...

Oh my....I think I would have ended up throwing something.

Vampire teeth, stains, and a majorly holy pant leg, and your family is still adorable.

Jenn said...

Traci you are funny...I think I would have threw something too. Sounds like you had a great time with your mom in town! Your family is too cute and growing up fast!

jeanine said...

I think my favorite is the second to last one! Classic.

jeanine said...

Oh... and glad you had so much fun while your mom was in town! Yea for moms!

jeanine said...

ps... I saw that you sold a bag! Congrats!!!

Kim said...

Honestly I like the first the best (and I'm sure it drove you nuts but the vampire teeth are cute)

Erin said...

I always say personality shots are the best. My geeks don't pose well so one of our favorite shots is us all having a tickling fight! I agree with Jeanine the 1st is cute even with the extra teeth!

And awesome you got to hang with your Mom!!

Brooke said...

Katie, if you change your mind about having a photographer take family pictures I know one that works great with crazies (she has three 3 girls of her own about the same ages as your boys). Here's her website: http://www.thadenphoto.com
She did my pregnant, anna's newborn and a family pictures and we loved them. Hey, we are even on her website. Brooke

Kelly said...

So funny, Katie!! Good luck in the future with photos- it just gets harder! I hate it too!! They are so impromptu and some cute faces are in all of them!! Love the holy jeans!!

Kris said...

Katie,
That was hysterical!!!! I loved every single one of those pictures,; and if I were you, I would frame them in the order in which you showed them to us, and hang them on your wall. Your "crazies" will love it! SO typical!! I KNEW your Mom had to be out of town...no blogging! Hey, are your bags selling on ETSY? Where are the pics of your purses??? Jewelry????
Waiting patiently.
: )

Stubbart said...

Family photos are not fun at all! We just had ours done, but luckily our photographer was fantastic! She kind of followed the boys around the house to get photos of them in their natural elements, so theirs turned out great. The ones of the whole family together were not so easy to come by, but we did get one where the stars aligned and everyone was smiling and looking at the camera, even though Evan had his "I hate this" smile on his face. I'm so happy we did it!

But, your photos are still so cute...it's fun to see the personality of everyone, and in 20 years you'll stare at the photos and love them!

Autumn said...

Those are SO much more fun than posed pictures!!!! I LOVE them all. TRULY. My faves: last two and 4th to last. Love your shirt and hair-your hair looks GREAT. And your smile as usual. How fun to have your mom in town!!!

Genn said...

Very very cute post Katie. AND adorable family photos. I think the ones with the imperfections are often the best photos to save and remember. I love the first one, and it is even cuter that Parker has his vampire teeth in! I love it!

Way to go on selling one of your purses too!

AND, your hair is so cute like that. I can't tell you desperately need a haircut at all. I love it, and I love your holy jeans. I had a real worn looking pair with holes in both knees that I just loved loved loved. And I have never been able to get back into them post Hannah. I used to try them on every few days thinking ok, maybe today they will fit. I finally gave up and decided they would go in the "skinny" pile of things to save. Maybe one day again I can wear my holy jeans. Yours were great. It made me miss mine.

Eric said...

That's funny! I totally stress out when I take pictures of my kids. I always want cute ones for holidays and I seriously start sweating and get all mad because they never cooperate. I guess it's not worth it and having the pictures of them being crazy is kind of cute too.

Kris said...

Hi Katie,
Just wanted to say thanks for the sweet post on my blog. And hey....way to go on selling one of your darling one of kind Katie creations!!!

Crystal said...

I can't believe he had vampire teeth on. That's awesome!! We are the same and thus why we still don't have a family picture. Good luck deciding.

Kelly said...

I love those 'home'made' pictures! You couldn't get some of those poses in a photo studio.. they're priceless!

Abbey said...

Well, I love them all but my favorite is the fifth one from the bottom. I would have giving it a shot if you wanted me to. By the way I had just as much fun at your house as I did in New Mexico. There is never a dual moment in your home, the pictures are proof of that. Oh, yeah look for Grayden's Birthday card I am hoping to get it in the mail soon. I hope it went well.

River said...

Great! Thank you for sharing now I don't feel so bad not having professional pictures. That's why I got out of the portrait industry and switched to landscape. Ha! But semi candid shots have always been my favorite family pictures.

Amanda B. said...

Those are absolutely hilarious! I love the progression of the craziness. I SOOOO understand. ha ha! Those were great!

Love the homecoming pictures also. You were obviously, most definitely not a dork. You were popular because you were pretty, friendly, and most importantly- you were you- it is because you didn't care that made you popular. You were who you were and you were proud of it! :)

Harmony said...

thanks for commenting on my blog! i see you have no shortage of comments here! wow. these are hilarious. maybe someday i'll have the opportunity to take some family photos for you. i'd love to. your family is so cute and its so funny how our husbands share a name and a mission and our kids are close in age. you're amazing by the way. enjoying motherhood, making and selling awesome things (love the harmony bag of course), AND looking great!