Unearthed Treasures

Honestly...
After months and months...and months of hearing about how I need to keep blogging, I finally got myself in gear.  I won't bore you with the excuses such as life is busy, I have 5 kids, hubby works 3 jobs, laundry mountain...blah, blah, blah.  Every one is busy, and truly, I do have time for this, but I haven't been prioritizing my time to allow for writing.  Ugh!  Priorities!  Whether we recognize them or not, we all have them.  I generally, like to keep my priorities in order and for some reason lately I haven't.  To make matters worse, I realize that they are not in order and I even complain about it to myself but haven't done anything to change it.  Pretty dumb, really.
...I won't claim a corner on the market of getting priorities straight, I'm just gonna try harder.  Okay, I'm going to try.

Treasures...
Years ago, we bought a video camera with a cash back rewards check thing from Costco.  Pretty cool way to get something we wouldn't normally buy!  Also, it was cool because it has this gigantic internal memory, memory card slots, and a wi-fi thing (hope that's not too technical).
Funny thing about internal memory is that it is pretty easy just to leave it-internal...for a long time. 
Why move it?  Sure, I could save it to a memory card and then actually use the pictures or video for something, but that would require forethought.  Squirrel!! Yes, I get distracted a lot throughout my days, by kids, laundry, schooling, more kids, meal prep, and usually the kids.
So, long story short, I forgot.  
Today, Caleb was downloading things for a movie he's making and we found allll sorts of pictures from once upon a time.  Way back when everyone still had that cute little "I'm little" chub to their faces. 

Here's Emily, looking as vivacious as ever...eagerly expecting some food in her high chair.  Look how little she is!  She is still as vivacious as ever, and just as loud.  Now she can use real words instead of strings of babbling.  I am usually thankful for that. 

This picture cracks me up!  Here's the scenario...

Nice spring day...kids out playing...having a great time...Mama working in the garden...then comes screaming from Titus and the other kids...Mama! Mama!  Quickly!  I rush over and this is the face that greets me...the "I'm stuck" face.  Being the mother that I am, I quieted the shrieking masses and insisted on calm actions..."Caleb, go get my camera."  Don't judge.  He wasn't bleeding or in any immediate danger and he wasn't even really and truly "stuck".   In fact, if you look closely you can see this was actually after he was freed.  

Here is my happy troop on one of our famous "Family Explore's".   I love how Emily is looking at Titus with her "You're my fravorite Brother on Earth, Titus."  look.  They are 23 months and 27 days apart, a great space apart to be good friends.  Sophie always has a sweet smile, Ethan has that "I'm thinking about doing something mischievous" look, and Caleb has his, "I hate having my picture taken" look on.  Pretty much, everything is the same today, except that Caleb no longer minds having his picture taken. 

 Fast forward a few years, and here is how they've changed.  Poor Sophie was trying to put on a happy face, and we were trying to get just a couple good pics, but she was having a problem with her eyes on this particular day.  I don't know what started it all, but her eyes just started watering and hurting and she was a mess...a sweet mess, but still, not her favorite picture.  
I have every intention of  trying this kids photo session over again, but first things around here have to thaw out and start blooming.  Yes, the late Fall foliage has some gnarly looking things that are good for outdoor photos, but I'd sure like some good old fashioned green.  

Finding old photos is such fun.  It is always fun to look back and share stories and memories with the children.  They love to hear stories from when we were kids or stories about their older relatives.  I never even considered telling stories to my kids as I was growing up. Who ever knew that the time that I fed my brother dog food would be a lunch time storytelling favorite?  Did I think twice about toilet papering the girls bathroom in 5th grade, so I wouldn't have to tell my kids about how I got detention and had to pick up trash after school?? Hopefully, they'll learn from my mistakes, laugh at the funny parts and pass on a few good stories of their own to their kids.