A Slightly Less Painful Shoot…

I’ve been biding my time since July when we moved into our house surrounded by hardwood trees. I knew the fall colors would be glorious, and the kids were so excited to pose for photos. Not. Being the good mother that I am, I shamelessly bribed them with candy bracelets (they sell themselves pretty cheaply).

The hardest part was convincing my husband not to clean up the leaves in the yard before the weekend. Of course, he spent most of Saturday afternoon blowing and raking, with the boys’ help, and you can’t even tell it today, so many more leaves have fallen. His man-logic is that it’ll be quicker to do it several times with a lighter layer than all at once. I think he just wants to use power tools as often as possible.

You can almost see their candy bracelet thoughts, can’t you?

The eldest kid was the most cooperative, of course. He knocked out a tooth when he was not yet two, and it finally came in this summer. I thought (foolishly) that we’d finally have a non-gap-toothed smile for fall photos after six years. Of course, he lost another tooth 2 weeks ago.

Brothers. They spent all afternoon raking leaves into piles then jumping in the yesterday. The same boys that still insist I kill any bugs they see. I didn’t point out the amount of life in a pile of leaves. They both passed out by 7:30 and didn’t want to get up this morning for school at 7:00, they were so tired.

Who is this sweet little girl? Obviously our daughter was kidnapped by aliens and replaced with a vastly less dramatic version.

Again, I’m pretty sure he’s calculating just how big the candy bracelet will be. This one is always thinking and always surprising my with the results.He asked last month why Johnny Appleseed died. I explained that when people get really old their bodies wear out. This one says, “Well, we better call grandma and warn her!” So we did. She thought it was hysterical. I think.

I realize this is not focused. It’s just such a joyful shot of her, though!

He thinks he’s the first kid to ever think of leaves as a hat. And that’s okay. It made him smile his real smile, not his get it over with quickly smile.

My kid who has mastered layering for school, as well as posing for me. He looks so cute in a t-shirt, button-down, and sweater, but my laundry piles are increasing exponentially. Of course, today he wore a blue and gray t-shirt with “Mathlete” on it and brown sweats. Not such a great fashion look.

My favorite. I already ordered a canvas print of it from Costco, and I can’t wait for it to arrive!

Yep, every year I have grand visions of the fabulous photos I’ll take in the fall. This year came pretty close, I think, to the vision. And, like labor (or so I’ve heard!), I’ve already forgotten the pain and suffering involved. Almost. Thank goodness for those little candy bracelets.