Pictures

I just love a digital camera! I have two because we always seem to be leaving one in a goofy place. Sometimes they disappear for months before we find them and are delighted by the pictures that we forgot that we had taken. I am seriously looking at buying myself one for my birthday that is bright pink. We can't seem to keep up with a grey one or the bright blue one so maybe I would have better luck with a pink one..... I take lots of pictures and pretty much irritate my whole family by putting them on facebook for the whole world to see....



Just in case you don't know, I have four kids ranging from 21 on down to 8. Three boys and a girl. The oldest two are attending a community college but are still at home. My daughter has become a social butterfly and has somehow aquired a boyfriend! Between, school, 4-H, church, softball, saddle club events and an occasional goat show or rodeo thrown in, for unsocialized homeschoolers, we sure do keep the road hot.





You see this nice family picture. Don't we look all happy and rural? Little House on the Prairie only the modern version.....Slow paced, long lazy days of summer, hanging out on the front porch... .. It is all a lie. You have no idea what it took to get this picture....


First of all, I had to drag Neil in from the hog barns. Not an easy task especially since he really didn't want his picture taken. He tried to use the excuse that he didn't want to take a shower and then go right back to work. Coming straight from the hog barns, he stunk to high heaven. I didn't care--- this was not "scratch and sniff" photography. Nobody would know, unless I told them. Believe me, I've told lots of people.....





Then we had to find a spot. I chose the newly baled hay with the barns in the background. This farm is pretty much what our lives revolve around. I just felt that is was a good spot that represented who we are....... Unfortunately, it was a popular spot.....

EVERYBODY wanted in the picture, including the unfriendly llama. They were just SURE that we had to have something really special going on out there on that hay and no amount of arm waving or shrieking would run them off.

After we got the girls all dragged off and put back in the pens, I convinced myself that the sweaty, dishevelled look I had really wouldn't show up in the picture if there was enough distance. I knew that if I left the scene to go tidy up, the rest of the clan would scatter like a covey of quail and I would not get a picture.
After much grumbling, complaining, and smart remarks, my friend got a remarkably good shot of us.
I've been thinking alot about that day because it is really way past time for us to get another family picture. The "big kids" are on the edge of leaving the nest. The "little boys" aren't so little anymore. Time is passing by so fast it takes my breath.
Charlie is off hiking in New Mexico until later in the week. We have a soft ball game on Tuesday night and I am working the concession stand. The county fair also starts this week so we will be hauling livestock to town. On top of all that, there is the garden and normal farm work that pays the bills around here that have to be done by somebody.
Even though it is going to be a hectic week, I am determined to get a family picture. I've started trying to prepare this bunch. I wander around and ask, " Do you think that might be a good spot?" or " Do you have a decent shirt?" I announce at meals that picture day is coming -- I just don't know when...... Stay tuned to see just what happens.....