Christmas photo fun

Before I begin describing our recent Christmas photo fun, I have to quickly say the semester just ended and my husband took his last final on Wednesday! Of course, there will be, Lord willing, many more semesters to follow, but we are so thankful for God's goodness and faithfulness to us as a family.

Now for more Ellison family fun:

We try and send out Christmas photo cards each December. Granted, I don't usually get them mailed until the week before Christmas, but I am really just thrilled to send them out at all. I am not a go get 'em type girl, as my friends and family can truthfully verify. Actually, when doing on of those personality profiles, I was described by some friends who know me quite well as the why stand when you can sit? personality. Very accurate description of me.

Anyway, I thought I would be very brave the other day during a Kindergarten break between math and reading lessons and try to take the Christmas photo of the kids. By myself. Those of you who know me probably know where this is going. Honestly, though, I thought this was a good idea. My kids love having their pictures taken. If they even see the camera, they will ask for me to take their picture.

I got all three littles' good clothes on, their hair combed, and even got their shoes on. I positioned them all in front of the tree. Carter here. Josh there. Sophie in front. So far, so good.

Here we go. As I say, "Smile everyone!", the fun stops cold and Sophie starts making faces like this:

and this:

The fun just kept up on coming! Soon, Sophie's pouty faces turned into outright bawling:

Here's a fun shot of Sophie after I had to take her dress off due to her excessive sobbing which led to gagging:

After several Mommy/Sophie meetings, I got her all cleaned up and the Lord helped her to have a more cheerful heart. We ended up with some really sweet moments. Here is one I was able to capture with my camera:

Of course, at this point, poor Carter's mouth was cramping! Josh just goes with the flow- it's all good with Josh. One more, just for fun:

Every time I think about this experience, I laugh out loud. Of course, I do not laugh at my daughter's poor attitude. But I laugh at motherhood and all its challenges, at the work required for even the most seemingly simple tasks, and at the joy that comes from raising our children for the glory of God. Worthy work, indeed!