I was really fortunate around the holidays because I had the opportunity to photograph many families. Some just wanted some updated pictures, but there were lots that wanted pictures for their annual Christmas card they send out. For some reason I’ve just never done a Christmas card for us. I think a lot of it is because the same people that I would send a card to, follow the blog, so I only imagine them getting a card in the mail from us and saying, “Yep, seen this picture on the blog, so this is boring” and then chunking it in the trash. And I would be saying, “Why did I spend that money on postage and also create a card with a picture that everyone has already seen?” I mean that’s how I USUALLY feel. But with all the pictures I’ve taken of everyone ELSE’S kids, I woke up the other day on a mission because I had NO pictures of MY kids. So I became mommy dearest and started ordering everyone to PUT SOME CUTE CLOTHES ON AND SMILE BECAUSE I’M GOING TO GET A GOOD PICTURE OF YOU! They were very accommodating. Brittain was tired from school and Coleman was just tired, but they trecked to the backyard to try and appease me.
Certainly not the greatest photos of my beautiful children. Coleman was less than thrilled to be doing this because all he really wanted to do was eat the grass. Brittain did her best, but at that point in the day her best was a plastered on smile which i’m convinced is as much as she could muster up at the moment.
But still I look at these and smile because even in their worst moments they are still the best children I could ever ask for.
A few years ago me, Cec, Matt and Dan all went to see Dane Cook (comedian) perform in Atlanta. Several of his skits we had heard before on his DVDs that we owned, but many were new and there was one in particular that he did at the end of the show that stuck with it. He was talking about his mother (who had recently passed away) and Thanksgivings at their home. He said that every year his mother would call him and his brothers and ask them to come home for the holidays. Some would do it willingly, some out of guilt. Each year they would arrive and his mother would go on and on about how thankful she was to have them there and how ALL she wanted was for them to relax and she would cook them food. She was just thankful to have them there in the house and that’s all that mattered. But then Thanksgiving day would come and they would all be awakened by the sound of pots and pans crashing and the voice of their mother? yelling, “GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OUT OF THE BED. I HAVE BEEN SLAVING AWAY IN THIS KITCHEN COOKING FOR YOU WHILE Y’ALL ARE DOING NOTHING AND I AM TIRED!”
Can everyone relate to this? Because when we heard it that night Cecilia and I started rolling because it sounded all too familiar to us. Tell me, is there a family out there whose holiday get-together ISN’T stressful?
The holidays are stressful. There. I said it. Deciding on the food, making the food, deciding on who’s house, then getting that house ready. And then of course you have the family. You know, the whole reason to celebrate the holiday. The family.
I know, I know. I get it. People come and people go. Especially when there are spouses whose families DON’T live in Griffin, then you have to learn to SHARE your family. And even with the people who are IN town, we now have to wonder if they will show. Anyway, I digress.
For me, Thanksgiving becomes meaningful when everyone finally sits down together…as a family. All of the stuff that lead up to that moment doesn’t matter anymore. You’re finally able to sit there, look around at the people you love and be thankful for their presence. I love my family and what everyone brings to the table.
I am beginning to realize that I am somewhat inconsistent…especially when it comes to Halloween apparently. Last year I had Brittain’s costume ordered a month in advance. This year, despite the fact that I had TWO children to think about costumes for, it ended up being the very last thing on my mind. As Halloween approached Brittain received several invitations for different events where she was asked to wear her Halloween costume. Instead of having just one that was her “go to” outfit, we ended up experimenting with several different ideas. It started with a dress that Gramy made her. It was somewhat of a “princess” dress you could say, but it was a bit confusing because of the red and black color. Gramy also found a fancy hat that matched, but again, didn’t so much go along with what the general population thinks of as a princess. In the end, she went to the church Halloween party as the evil stepmother of Cinderella. And apparently that worked out just fine since a friend of hers was dressed as Cinderella…
The second costume occasion was Ava Parker’s 5th birthday party. Sure to be rousing success, I knew everything would be to perfection, including the costumes. The invitation was for ALL of us attending to wear costumes, but that was surely not happening. Dan had to work that day of course so I knew the best I could do was to get Brittain ready, and I wasn’t even sure that was going to happen. We did our best that day. I thought that perhaps having her dress up as Fancy Nancy would be cute. She already had the basic costume that someone had given her a couple of years back for her birthday. And at that point, having read several fancy nancy books, I even had some ideas of accessories that could be added to make it even more authentic. I think she turned out pretty cute, but I couldn’t help but be like, “well, I did my best” when she got the whole costume on and I saw a huge stain on the front of the leotard from where she had played dress up in it for a few years now. Oh well. Then, she ended up removing all of the necklaces because they “pinched her neck” or something. In the end, I have no idea if anyone knew what she was. I think she looked like a cute girl with a semi-leotard on (with a stain on it) and a see-through tutu. It worked. And she didn’t care anyway. She played the games and celebrated with her good friend and was just happy to be a part of the party. We should all be more like kids…
In the meantime, the focus then changed to her wanting to be Elphaba since we had gone to see the musical, Wicked, around this time. I knew this would be a fairly easy outfit. I bought a long-sleeved black leotard and she already had a black skirt. She even had a witch had from when she had been a witch last year for Halloween. So, then it was just black tights and shoes and it was done. But oh…the green face. Gotta figure that one out. I decided to just buy some green face paint at a halloween store despite the fact I had learned that Elphaba in the musical was green from green MAC eyeshadow. In the end it was a little dark and didn’t stay nearly as smooth as Elphaba in the musical. In fact, there were times when she looked downright scary. And on Halloween night when I was taking the kids trick-or-treating by myself, she started to cry about something and it streaked horribly. But hey, she was green. I even straightened her hair and sprayed it black. She was thrilled with that part of it.
Oh…my OTHER child? Are you wondering what he was? Well, at least a day before Halloween I texted my friend Brittany. Brittany has 2 boys of her own and has actually completely outfitted Coleman since the day he was born from hand-me-downs from her kids. I knew that the year before her youngest, Bo, had been Baby Yoda, so I called her and asked if I could borrow it. On Halloween night we headed out of the house with an overly green Elphaba and a Baby Yoda. Our first stop was Gramy and Papa’s and we made it halfway between the car and the front door before Coleman spit up all over the costume. It was cute while it lasted but that was the end of Coleman and his first Halloween. He spend the rest of the night in a diaper.
