Christmas Card Outakes

Yesterday I took the kids to Milliken Park to shoot some pictures for our Christmas Card. The weather here yesterday was just perfect. The temperature was warm enough not to have to wear a coat but still cool enough to wear "Christmas" clothes that would be appropriate for a Christmas card. I had their Christmas outfits all picked out and ready to go (thank you Mee-Maw) and I thought to myself, "well, it's now or never". So the kids and I headed off to Milliken Park. I am not a trained photographer by any means and I was the only adult on the trip so I wasn't sure how the expedition would turn out. In summary, we were there about 1 1/2 hours. I took 115 pictures and only three of the 115 photos that I took were any good. So... the three good ones are going on the Christmas card. I'm not going to reveal the "good" ones here today. Inspired by a friend's BLOG (which I thought was so funny) I am going to share with you our "outtakes".

Looking back at it now it is funny. But at the time.... I had a little boy who kept saying over and over... "Are we done??? Can I play???" to which I responded "NO! Just keep smiling" Then he would give me the cheesieest "cheese" smile he could muster and I would say "Don't smile like that, just look at me" Then he would open his mouth wide. Ugh..... three year olds do not take direction well for picture taking. All the while Anna Grace is crawling around in the dirt picking up every little stick she could find and putting it in her mouth. I am seriously laughing now thinking about it, but at the time I was thinking that it was a terrible idea to try and take their pictures by myself for a Christmas card.

All that being said... I am happy with the final Christmas card result. Really, it actually turned out pretty good. AND I have some memories I can laugh about and I will remember for the rest of my life. How awesome is that???? Enjoy the outtakes.....

So I think all three of us decided that Anna Grace sitting on Zachary's lap for the picture was not going to work. Don't they look happy???? NO WAY!


As soon as I would put Anna Grace down for the picture she would try to escape.



Here is my 10 month old daughter eating dirt. Yes, that's dirt she is putting in her mouth. Ugghhhh....