Failed Photoshoot: Take 6 Million

We went to my nephew's first communion last Saturday, and as we arrived home, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to get some pictures of the kids.

Since Seb was settled on the steps, I called everyone over to the steps. Seb of course immediately found staining berries, slighlty less potent than lilly pollen, and began smashing them on the hot stones.

By the time Freddy got to the steps, complete with a balloon for bribery, Seb said "All done."

 

So there you have our spectacular family photo shoot.

Mooj appeared a few minutes later in boxers, having taken off all of his nice clothes, so there was that small problem as well.

 

Zita had also changed clothes, but took a seat and smiled.

 Doesn't Seb look thrilled?

Warerlogue

I'm having such a fun time messing around with the Warerlogue App. It doesn't work well with all photos, and seems  to work best with landscapes instead of people, but these three pictures came out okay.

It would be a cute way to commemorate a beloved stuffed animal, or pet. I can't wait for Zita to get home because I know she will go wild over this. 

First Family Photo Since Christmas

Any photo is a good photo when the following criteria are met:

a) I am not in bed wearing pajamas
b) everyone is looking at the camera smiling

I finally got my hands on Sebby's baptism photos and there are quite a few framers in there that I can't wait to order.

School Picture Miracle

The first week after Sebby was born, Zita and Freddy had school picture day. I was certain they would be horrible after our experience last year with pictures at this school. Zita looked like a contestant in a messy hair contest, and the photos haven't left her drawer since then.

The school tried a new photographer this year and the new company did a fantastic job.

Freddy had me study the names of his classmates with him, and then he quizzed me afterwards. It wasn't too hard given there are four girls named "Leonor."

Here's Zita's. She regrets not leaving her hair down, but this is by far her best school picture.

They each got the traditional head shot as well.

I can't wait to see Moojie's now.

Radom Updates:

Mooj has a test every day this week, and then he gets to cruise into Christmas break starting on the 14th. Zita and Freddy have finished the last of their tests.

Zita and Freddy both gave up a toy bring to catechism today, which is such a win win. I love reducing clutter! They are going to put on a nativity play this morning at school and Zita was not pleased to be cast as a poor villager who she insists is not even officially part of the nativity scene.

Sebby turns 1 month old today and had a check-up that I will post about tomorrow. Happy 1 month Sebby!

Baby Collage

Since I started using a digital camera in 2005-2006 I stopped ordering prints, and most of the frames we have are pre-2006. I was particularly bothered by the lack of baby photos around the house, but I don't like wall clutter and we are running out of space for more frames. I feel strongly that things on the wall should be framed and something we all love to look at, so I love the idea of a collage where many photos can be displayed in one tidy spot.

 I created the below collage for $3.49 and the frame is IKEA so the whole thing was less than $10/EUR10.

 Pretty much every photo sharing site has the collage feature, but I used Kodak Gallery since that's where Freddy's baby photos are kept.

(now that I've posted this, I can see that the lower frame is not straight. It's now fixed)

In Freddy's collage, I included all the things I love about newborns- their little bums, those chubby dough-like fingers, tiny toes, and that tummy down fetal pose. I never took closeups like this for Moojie and Zita and I regret it so much.

The frame below is Freddy's birth announcement and the photo that went with it. If you didn't send a birth announcement, use one of the collage boxes to put basic stats like name, weight, length, and birthdate.

Since every act of mothering on Happy Street is measured and compared closely by two children in particular, as soon as Freddy's collage and birth announcement went up on the wall, I was immediately questioned about the timeline of delivery on the other two collages.

When my backlog of prints-into-albums project is over,  I´ll make a collage for Zita and one for Moojie too by scanning in prints.  Although, by this point I'm not too sure Moojie will love that on his bedroom wall.

School Pictures Are Here

The boys got their school pictures back yesterday and we are still waiting on Miss Zita's. Every year when the kids bring home their school picture, I make them sit with me, tell me the names of everyone in the class photo, and tell me a little bit about each person. Moojie has had the same class for four years now, but with that school uniform, it's still hard for me to keep some of those girls straight. It also doesn't help that there seems to be roughly 3 names divded among 16 girls.

Freddy's class is much the same. I pulled him into my lap and squeezed him as he listed his classmates. It went something like this "Leonor, Afonso, Leonor, Afonso, Lenor, Afonso, me, the teacher, ....." This is very normal in Portugal- everyone sharing a limited supply of names- hence the prevalence of two syllable nicknames, usually ending in a vowel.

I use pseudonyms on this blog, but they are the kids' real nicknames. Nickname use is taken to such a level that many people's real names are not known until their obituary is released. Many a time I have sat at a funeral mass, gotten the little paper thing they give you, and wispered to Pai, "you mean Tio/tia ´toto, titi, mimi, meimei, bla bla bla´was  really named Maria/Miguel???" I digress. Back to the kids' photos.
Here is my Freddy bear

He's grown so much since his first ever "school" picture. I think his face is squeezy and cute now, but man oh man do I wish I could get to 2007 and smooch those baby cheeks.

Here's Moojie who will never forgive me for making him go in such a small sweater.* As we were looking at the photos after school, I was laughing so hard at Moojie's Italian-man-in-a-tight-sweater impression. That's something I love about Moojie- he can put on any accent and do a Saturday-Night-Live level impersination.

*I've blured his school shirt and school emblem

Christmas Cards

Our family Christmas card was non-existent until 2008. I always tried to get photos before that, but I never felt like they looked good enough, or professional enough. I look back on this picture from 2006 and wonder how on earth I could not have thought this was the most wonderful picture in the whole wide world. I mean, just look at that squishy Freddy, sweet 3 yr. old Zita who was so proud of her baby brother, and what I thought was such a grown up Moojie at the old age of 8.

I can't fathom why I didn't send the below picture out in 2007 because looking at it now makes me want to eat them all up. Who doesn't love kids in flannel PJs.?

I thought I would solve the everyone-blinking-and-no-one-looking-at-the-camera problem with silhouettes in 2008. I went to a lot of trouble getting photos taken, picking a design, sending photos to a lady through Etsy, and then writing mini novels to every single recipient. This did not all go to plan because apparently people did not realize that the silhouettes were my children, and assumed the cards were store bought.

In 2009, I opted for a collage of photos using TinyPrints.com and was happy with their service.

I loved my 2010 card from Shutterfly.   I wound up not sending half of them since I was so late in ordering, and again I felt the need to write out somewhat long messages in each card.

This year's card was also made on Shutterfly. I was able to order and send out my US cards early because I had help (thank you!!), and because I let go of getting that perfect shot.

Today is Freddy's big Christmas play so stay tuned for photos of either a) a total meltdown and removal of our family from the auditorium, or  b) a proud confident narrator in black tights (heh heh- sorry Freddy!)

Photobooks and the Excitement of Getting Mail Abroad

Living abroad has made me as excited about getting mail as the average 5 year old. I always have a package to track or an order to make and the holiday season kicks that into high gear. The mail is full of delightful goodies like food products, clothes, shoes, cupcake sprinkles, good magazines etc. Bills come too of course, but those are put aside so I can focus on more important business like using new cookie cutters or trying out a newly arrived Penzy's spice.  Zita went to New York in Summer 2010 and I just got around to making the photobook now.

I love this full picture cover and the fact that Snapfish let me put a title on the binding.  This is the first time I experiemented with scanning in ticket stubs and journal entries and I'm so pleased with how it turned out.

Zita in particular savors every photobook and pours over her childhood books so often that my efforts never feel wasted. The books don't just contain photos, but every blog post I have ever written is pasted in, and a summary of the season is too if I get around to it.

Over the past couple of months, I did a major catch-up, bringing all photobooks current to Summer 2011.  Here's our Spring book that also just arrived. That's a huge pile of cork behind the kids in case you are wondering.

Our photobook library is getting so big that I'm starting to feel like a Royal archivist. (see why I like the title on the binding option? otherwise it's really hard to find the book I want) One day I'll either be loved or hated for making so many of these things. (around 75% are pictured, the rest are kept in the livingroom)

Tips:
-Always have a photobook pending and add to it as you upload photos.
-Make it a habit and it becomes easy to just make a page here and there. Having to start a book from scratch is much more daunting.
-Put in funny phrases the kids say- that is the part we enjoy the most when looking back at old books.
- When you're all finished, keep the book in your "cart" and wait for good deals before you order. I always get deep discounts on extra pages, extra books, and up to 40% off.
- archive photos on your computer by date. This makes it so much easier when putting pages together.
-when all else fails, try out books that Kodak makes for you, using your online albums. I did this for my Summer photos since I had thousands. The post book editing only took a few hours as opposed to the weeks it would have taken me to sort through so many photos. It's now in my cart, ready to go.

My projects for the coming year will include making a photo family recipe book, and scanning in old photo prints to make unitl-now life books for Zita and Moojie who do not have such fancy pants books of their babyhood and early years.

A Post Script: The Failed Photoshoot

I'm posting these in the order they were taken. The light and background were perfect. The kids were not so much.

As soon as I saw Moojie sit down to get sand out of his shoes, I seized the moment and asked the other two to sit with him. Not so hard, right?

First try: Not bad, but not great, and certainly not Christmas picture worthy.

 

 I was willing to overlook the fact that he's clutching his Crocs, but Freddy closed his eyes, and Moojie put on his get-this-over-with face.

Note that they've been sitting for 1 minute tops, and Zita gives up. So that was it.

I didn't give up. Where there's a mom with a camera in the pre-Christmas season, there's a strong will. This is a pefect opportunity to get just the boys, I think to myself.

Freddy: Eyes closed. Moojie: Eyes open

I finally get Freddy to open his eyes,  and Moojie closes his.

I still don't give up. "Just one more try boys. Moojie, open your eyes!"

 

Moojie did open his eyes, and even lovingly puts his arm around Freddy, who once again

HAS CLOSED EYES!

This long and photo heavy post was all a long and excuse driven explanation for why- if I do get a Christmas card out this year- the photo will be any photo I can get with 6 eyes open, three children, and at least semi-normal expressions. Forget wardrobe coordination, combed hair, or  Christmasy props. I have accepted defeat with a tip of my hat to all the moms out there who manage to do this.