Stories Behind the Pictures

Sometimes I wonder, when 20 or 30 years from now, when the boys are looking through pictures from the past what they will think about some of the pictures I have. Will they know the stories behind the pictures? Will they make up their stories? Will they remember them the same way I do? Will they think that I had totally gone nuts taking, literally, thousands of pictures?

Take this first picture for example, Oliver can be a complete pain in the rear at times and that's putting it nicely. He is a strong willed, in-your-face kind of kid. He will argue, question, manipulate and continually poke at that open wound until you snap. Then when you do snap, he gives you that, what is wrong with you, kind of look. Don't get me wrong he is also a blast! An incredible sense of humor for a 5 year old, funny, smiley, lover of life that can suck you into whatever fun he is having. Anyway, I went in on Monday morning to wake him up and found my big boy peaceful, sleeping, surely recharged and ready for the day. I stood there wondering if this was going to be a day filled with fun and laughter or day filled with battles royale?!? I went and quickly and quietly grabbed my camera. The second click of shutter woke him up, he rubbed his eyes, gave me a look and said, "Sheesh lady do you wake everyone up like this?" I laughed.
Then there is this picture, we were waiting to pick Oliver up from his classroom after the Christmas program and this little angel grabbed my attention. She doesn't look happy to me. Does she look happy to you? It looks like her and her little angel boyfriend just had a major fight. Her hair is messy from running her fingers through it in a show of frustration, one wing sags in defeat and her mascara is running because of all the crying. Poor little angel girl.

Our TV broke, we got a new one, this is Oliver telling me that I can't throw his new home away.

We bought the boys new mattresses too. They both wanted the memory foam type like Joel and I have. They came vacuumed sealed and rolled in these boxes. I'm not sure if the boys were more excited about their new mattress or their new robot armor! I made sure to take pictures of this because my eldest is starting to show signs of not wanting to play like this anymore. He is like a teeter totter, one day he is up reaching for young adulthood pushing toys aside, asking for a cell phone, asking for a facebook page, wanting me to let him drive around the neighborhood (not on my lap), and getting very frustrated at me holding him back. The next day he is down, wanting to cuddle, color, play with his toys, play with his brother and, on days like this, make robot armor out of a cardboard box. Yep, going to take pictures of that!

Or course to boys suited up in robot armor results in wrestling...

I don't get the chance to take many pictures like this anymore. He actually wanted to wear the hat and he had a moment of weakness when he let me brush the hair out of the way of his beautiful blue eyes. I somehow managed to get a smile too and it made my day.

This picture is one of many I took while Oliver was playing "Jumping Santa." The old mattress got tossed on the floor for the boys to play one for a couple of days. Oliver was jumping up and down on the mattress saying, "Jumping Santa, HO HO HO!" followed by giggles. Repeat over and over while mom takes pictures and giggles herself.