My perfect "as is"....

I promised myself that I'd take family pictures every month for the next year. You know my drill - - life is too short, capture them while they're young, we never have enough with everyone in the same shot....

When we were on our little spring break get-away last month, I planned to get my April version of "four people, twelve times." Yes, I planned, but that doesn't mean it worked as I had envisioned. The weather didn't cooperate for my perfect outdoor shot. So I settled for something indoors at the hotel.

Seems my family didn't cooperate very well either.

I rejected these shots outright. They just weren't what I wanted....what I expected. They weren't what I had planned.

But, after looking at them again, I realized they are exactly the shots I want to take. Of course, they aren't perfectly posed pictures. But (oh yeah, I remember now...), I don't like perfectly posed pictures. Rather, I want the pictures with a story behind them.....

And we had a story: Henry pouting and refusing to sit in the spot I assigned. Anna wiggling and refusing to look at the appropriate time. Blinks, bad lighting, and bad attitude.....But they also tell a story about bouncing back after these shots for a wonderful afternoon at the Science Museum. Together.

In the end, these pictures tell about that moment. Of piling on the bed together. My family. The story of our entire weekend together. The weekend that Henry and Anna are still talking about today.

So, what I initially thought of as rejects, I realize now tell about who we were, just then. And to me, that makes them perfect afterall.

Here is my April "as is."