Fish in My Hair

Good times, good times.

It’s spring again in north Texas, which means the occurrence of two events. One, the wildflowers are in bloom. Two, the weather is warmer, which means I’ll be wearing short-sleeved shirts, which is unfortunate for my fellow Texans. One of the more dramatic effects of aging is that I now look like I had two saline implants which broke loose from their moorings and drifted toward the backs of my arms, where they now swing and sway, unhindered, when I do anything more than breathe. I apologize in advance to anyone who has to witness this.

Anyway. Back to the wildflowers. Texans are very proud of their state flower, the bluebonnet. In fact, I believe there exists a state law that says that every family must photograph their children in a patch of bluebonnets in the spring. And a good bluebonnet photo can win you contest prizes, anything from a blue ribbon at the State Fair of Texas (“Home of fried Twinkies, fried Oreos, and fried ice cream! Sponsored by the Lard Producers Association.”) to having your name placed on a genuine oil refinery tower in Galveston.  So there’s a lot of pressure to get that annual bluebonnet photo taken.

The steps to taking a good picture are as follows:
1. Get your children dressed in clothes.
2. Transport them to a site where there is an abundance of bluebonnets that have not already been squashed down by 873 other butts.
3. Take twenty minutes to arrange and pose children.
4. Take the first photo.
5. Check photo display, and see that one child was trying to roll only one eye at the moment the shutter opened.
6. Re-pose children, and take the second photo.
7. Check photo display, and see that another child was caught in the act of cleaning his ear canal.
8. Listen to whining and complaining: “I have to go to the bathroom.” “Did you bring any snacks?” “Eww, there’s a bug on the ground!” “Are we done yet?” (And that’s just from the two oldest.)
9. Repeat numbers 1-8 until you finally have to promise your children milkshakes, a Wii game system, and movie tickets if they will just smile.

For my family, as if the above wasn’t enough rollicking good fun, we usually end up taking our photos in the best field of bluebonnets in the area – at the local cemetery. This makes getting a good photograph a bit more tricky, because you don’t want to end up with a photo of your child with the words “George Pfutznuffer, beloved son, died 1891” behind his head. It wouldn’t be fair to poor George, who, even in his advanced state of decomposition, probably looks a lot happier to be among the bluebonnets than this:

Human Wings

2:59 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by Anonymous

Yup, I too have that phenom I call wings or chicken flaps on my upper arms. I am hoping my time in a wheelchair will firm 'em up, but I fear it is only firming my lower arms, which don't flap.

You always make me laugh. Keep it up, at least while I'm recovering and can't see you at church.

Just Gorgeous

5:58 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by MiryClay

What a lovely family you have. That shot looks like a professional photographer took it! If I was a Texian, you'de get my vote. :)

Well worth it!

6:14 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by DreweLlyn

That picture was well worth the hundreds it took to get it. It is absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful family!

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7:21 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by sherrydhoneycutt

The pictures are absolutely gorgeous!

Sherry

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9:52 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by Chris

we go to sears....yep

so know i know what they all look like yep

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10:15 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by 2peter318

It's a great picture. You have a lovely family. :)
JoAnn

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10:47 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by CerealKiller

Wii game systems are fun. =D

And yes, I don't like writing that much. I'm not good at writing about fictional stuff or other stuff like that.

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11:56 AM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by tess

That is a georgous picture!! And they truly look happy!! What a beautiful family!
Tess

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12:42 PM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by Anonymous

A great photo!

As a native Texan currently residing in Massachusetts, I'm feeling great pangs of envy because I can't take pictures of my baby girl (11 mo. next week) frolicking in a field of bluebonnets.

Maybe we can find a nice picture of some bluebonnets and photoshop her in. But then I still couldn't get the candid shots of her eating the flowers.

Melanie B

Nice Pic!

3:26 PM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by 40winkzzz

...and I like your blue-green-white color scheme, too. Your Step 1 should have read "Get kids dressed in COLOR-COORDINATED clothes," which is infinitely more difficult than getting them dressed in mere "clothes". I usually start w/the kids who has the fewest colors in his/her wardrobe and go from there. (Or in the case of our family pick taken last Thanksgiving break, we went started with the only non-T-shirt that my college son had brought home with him. Fortunately, it was gray, which isn't hard to coordinate with.) Of course, at least one of the kids is bound to steadfastly declare his/her hatred for every single item in his/her wardrobe that coordinates with the color scheme. More bribes.

Hope those great-looking kids are enjoying that new Wii system.

And how much chocolate did you require in order to recover from your photo session?

And the problem with not logging in before I post comments is...

3:33 PM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by 40winkzzz

...that I can't go back in and correct my typos. I really loathe the idea of something written by ME and containing funny grammar being posted out there on the world wide web for all the wide world to see. *Sigh* How humbling. I don't suppose you'll go in and correct it for me. I don't suppose any one else cares. *Double sigh* But I do. *Sigh again*Sniff* Life is so unfair.

Bluebonnets

10:00 PM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by Junosmom

I don't even live in TX, but I have a photo of my daughter in those flowers :-) My mom used to live in SA. Beautiful family you have. They're so grown up. You can, like, have a life?

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10:14 PM, Apr. 14, 2007 .. Posted by foxvalleyfamily

That is a gorgeous photo!!!

Gorgeous!

11:01 AM, Apr. 15, 2007 .. Posted by jengresak

If the torential downpours would let up for a weekend, I would have my bluebonnet pics already. Don't you ust love driving down the highway and seeing perfectly sane parents propping their babies up on a hill ten feet from the interstate so they can get a picture?? I love bluebonnets!!!

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4:19 PM, Apr. 17, 2007 .. Posted by PumpkinsMomma

A very beautiful picture and beautiful kids :)
marie