"Easter" Pictures

One of the perks of being a mom is dressing up the family for Easter.  This means I have complete and total control over what everyone wears and very likely there is matching or coordinating involved.  And we have to take lots of pictures. :)  Since General Conference fell on Easter Sunday, we weren't able to wear our cute Easter outfits last week, so this Sunday was our dress-up day.

It takes a lot of effort and planning to get everyone up, dressed, fed, and geared up for pictures.  I thought we had managed the morning pretty well and had everyone lined up just so for pictures.  I happened to take a closer look at Ian's shirt and saw some yellowish patches across the front.  "What happened to your shirt, buddy?" I asked him.  He glanced down and shrugged, "Oh.  That's butter."  Of course.  What Easter picture would be complete without butter?

At best, Paige was disinterested in taking pictures.  At worst, she was utterly rebelling against them.   I was able to catch a few pictures before she attacked the camera, ran away from it, or wandered off towards the house. 

Ian struggled to get his "camera" face on.  He much preferred sticking his tongue out or crossing his eyes to giving me a sweet smile.  First he was slouching down, so I asked him to sit up straight.  So he did.  So straight his chest was out so far and his chin up so high, I was afraid it would take a chiropractor to get him back down to size.  Poor kid.  A boy was not meant to have to endure the torture of so many pictures. :)

Merry Grace would much rather look at Paige than at the camera.  In this picture, she's hanging onto Paige's hand for dear life, so that sweet baby Paige wouldn't escape.  I snapped the picture a millisecond before Paige screamed, broke the death grip and ran away. 

Oh yes...she finally got away.  That little mess. :)  Elise, of course, was as good as gold.  Her trial was trying to be patient while I called the other kids to order.  Its so hard being the grown-up, responsible sibling. :)

It took about 1/2 a second's pause for the kids to escape and run over to the crepe myrtle in the front yard and start climbing.

Somehow, Elise and Merry Grace remained spotless while Ian ended up with dirt all over his formerly white shirt.  He had to change and ended up with a shirt that didn't match his pants.  But he looked nice for the pictures, so I cut my losses and counted my blessings.

Even with all the work it takes to pull it off, I wouldn't trade anything for that one shining moment where my freshly scrubbed, smiling, adorably perfect kids are lined up and smiling back at me.  It may take us 'til next Easter to recover from the ordeal, but rest assured, we will do it again next year! :)