Father's Day Gift

For Father's Day, I took the kiddos to get their pics taken while J was in Portland visiting with friends and attending John's graduation. It was nice since I had both my parents around to help. I knew it was going to be tough getting Strat to look and not cry, and getting Beck to just sit still long enough to let them take any pictures. They turned out so-so, but honestly speaking, they look a lot better than I thought they would while we were taking them. I didn't intend to be in any of them, but came dressed just in case the kids weren't cooperating, and as you can see, I ended up taking almost just as many as they did. Oh well, when you're shooting a 5 yr. old, a 20 mo. old, and a 4 mo. old, what more can you expect? J liked the pictures and is taking them into work to put in his office. These are scanned in, so obviously the quality isn't quite as good as the originals.

I love Strat's goofy grin in this picture. You can see how big he is for 4 mo. when you compare him to me. I love my chunky monkey!

I thought this one turned out best of all, even though they're looking at me right next to photographer instead of the camera itself. Oh well, can't win them all!

My sweet Kylie enjoyed the process, but getting her to put on a real smile instead of the fake one she usually gives took some creativity.

Group shot of all of us. Seriously, I know these look like the kids were very calm, but between all these pics were MANY of Beck walking away and Strat crying...

I think my favorite part of the event was Beck on the way out of the mall. The poor boy ran full speed into the glass doors leaving the mall. He fell completely backward cracking the back of his head on the tile. I couldn't help but laugh as he sat there screaming because it really was one of those moments where you wished you had a camera. In the end, he's fine, minus a couple bruises and the evil looks I got from all the other mom's sitting in the play area right next to us. Seriously, if they knew my Beckster, they'd laugh too.

I have one other story to share. While watching t.v. this past week Ky asked me how someone can be so happy they cry. I tried to explain to her that sometimes when you get so excited or happy that you're overcome with emotions, and happy tears come out. Last night, while I was putting her to bed, we were talking about how she was going to start VBS with her friend Makenzie today, and she said in her best fake sad voice...'I can't wait until tomorrow. Did you hear me mommy? I said it very sad because I'm so excited." I just started laughing hysterically. I love that silly monkey!