I love when a picture surprises me.  When it reveals something about someone I hadn’t recognized before.  Like Ben.  Since when does he flip his tongue like this?  And how did I never notice it before when it’s so stinkin’ cute?

Here’s a huge lesson I’ve learned about taking pictures of kids.  IT HAS TO BE FUN!!!  It’s so much easier to set up a situation that the kids will enjoy (in an upcoming blog I’ll show you our shaving cream experiment… exciting!).  No child likes to sit down all dressed up, made to look at a camera and forced to smile.  Where’s the joy in that?  Sure, mom and dad are behind the camera trying to make funny faces, but all kids can feel our underlying desperation….  Admit it.  We’ve all been there.  A bubble machine = real smiles.  Guaranteed.

For the most part my kids are wild and loud and fun and crazy.  But sometimes, in the quiet stillness of a picture, they’re downright magical.