Christmas Pics

This morning I saw the proofs from our Christmas mini photo session. I don't like any of them enough to pay another $15 to get all the images on a CD. I'm just ordering the prints that were included in the smallest package. Because of that I won't be able to post the pictures on the blog. If any of you (such as grandmas) want to check them out, go to www.mhp.shootproof.com. You have to enter something in the email address and the password is jolly. I am ordering one of the pics of all three kids and one of just Ian and one of just Oliver. Nadia is usually the easiest one of my kids to get a nice smiling picture (with a dimple!), and I don't like any of the pictures she put in our gallery of just Nadia. The ironic thing is that when she did our family shoot in August, she took tons of great pictures of Nadia. She is really nice to work with. As I looked at the proofs, I was wishing one of the pics of Ian was cropped to be more of a close-up. I sent her a message on FB, and she immediately cropped it for me, which I greatly appreciated. It is a really nice picture of Ian.

Well the bottom line is that I have zero desire to sign up for another mini session (she does them for Valentine's, Easter, patriotic, fall, Halloween, and Christmas).  It's much cheaper for me to take pictures myself. I am determined to get a nice close-up photo of my three kids together next week. If I have to try every day, I'll do it until I get a good one. I'm waiting until next week since Paul will be off of school. It's hard for me to get all three kids to smile and look at me while I'm also taking the picture. I'll still need to pay someone to take our family picture next year, but I think I'll make it my goal that by 2015 I learn how to take our family picture myself using a timer or remote. The two photos in this post were taken this afternoon on our way to the playground. You can tell we live near Amish people!