Fingerprints and Family Pictures

I am on a never ending quest to eliminate sticky fingerprints and smudges from every surface in my entire house, basically all the time.  They really get under my skin.  It is starting to make me psycho.  It's like that arcade game whack a mole.  A mole pops out of the hole you whack him on the head and then another one pops up.  I walk around with Pine Sol, a soapy wash cloth and basically when I think I've got them all, the sun shines in just right and I see another fingerprint or sticky smudge out of the corner of my eye. Most times, I will finish cleaning the stand up mirror, Aubrey will walk up to it to admire herself and lick it or put her mouth on it.  Sigh. I really am like a dog chasing its tail.  Oh well.  This is a season of life and I know full well when the fingerprints are gone my house will probably be way too quiet and definitely not as fun.  Today, I had to stop playing whack a mole and walk away.  It really doesn't matter.

We are taking family pictures this evening.  Anyone who knows me well, knows, that I am a picture freak.  I love to take pictures, I love to look at pictures and I take family pictures often.  Some would say maybe too often, but I disagree. Life is flying by, the girls are growing up too quickly and I want to capture the stages, the toothless grins, the baby mullets and the chubby legs.  I just keep adding the new pictures on top of the old ones in my picture frames.  Every time I change them out I take time to stop and look at all the older pictures.  It's amazing how quickly I forget how my kids used to look, or for that matter, the way Ben and I used to look... hehe.  For better or for worse right?

I came by it honestly.  If you ever want to see a life size portrait of my face so large and so close up you can see inside my nose go to my Mama's house, there you will find my senior pic.  I never doubted how much she loves me;)

I have family pictures all over the walls of my house. Simply because what better way to decorate  than pictures of people you love the most in life. Also, when I'm having a really bad day, it's easier to count my blessings when they are smack dab in my face plastered all over my walls.

I'm nervous.  I am a little obsessive when we take family pictures.  I admit it.  I want each child's hair perfectly coiffed the way I want it.  Nobody has a choice of outfits, not even Benji.  Anna will be happy to know that tonight she does not have to wear a dress.  It takes alot of time and work getting my crew the way I want them, let alone keeping them that way.  Inevitably, the minute I fix Aubrey's hair she will rip it out and grin at me.  I will probably feel like spitting nails.  But, maybe if I'm lucky that won't happen.  The photographer wants to take the pictures in St. Augustine which is about forty minutes away from my house.  Can I do it?  Can everyone make it there in one piece?  I'm praying.

The prep... I broke out the old school hot rollers...

I had photos taken of the girls last spring but we haven't had a professional family photo with Ben done since Aubrey was 5 months old.  Too long.  These four kids are causing me to be a slacker.  The last time we had our picture taken, Ben said that we weren't doing it again until Aubrey was 18 years old.  After that photo session, I was drenched in sweat and we both needed a stiff drink. I'll let you know how tonight goes.

Otherwise, we are doing the typical weekend stuff, Easter candy eating, drum playing, soccer game winning, neighbor visiting, Capri Sun sipping and pool splashing!

Never happier than when my family is all together.

Happy Weekend to you.