The Patch

Yesterday I found myself with 30 free minutes, a beautiful afternoon, my iPad and pictures that have been begging to be posted for almost two weeks now. The perfect storm to blog so I started this post. But then, my 30 minutes was up and the whirlwind that was Halloween took over. I find myself, post Halloween, trying to wrap it up so I can come back and share, well, what else but Halloween pictures! I do hope you had a fantastic Halloween!

I wonder "Will I ever get a grip on this new normal?" I'm starting to think no because not having things together is the new normal, at least for this season of life. If you have it figured out please share. Seriously.

Last year we didn't make it to the pumpkin patch for the first time in our tenure as parents. I.was.devasted. I felt like a complete failure. How can you not go to the pumpkin patch?

This year I was a woman on a mission. Come what may we were going to go to the patch AND there was going to be this beautiful picture of my three boys with just the right set up. Costumes were packed to get the perfect pictures for my annual display of costumes and we were going to have the best time.

Let's just say the message was lost in translation. 

This is the only shot of the three boys that I got. Hilarious, no? I would like to say that I took it all in stride but I didn't. I got flustered and down on myself.

I may have begged for Garrett to take a picture when all he wanted to do was go play on the bounce houses. He is becoming such a good sport.

And there was much coaxing to get Owen to be still enough for this when all he wanted to do was run around and watch the tractor.

And I likely looked like a fool on my belly desperately trying to get Travis to look at me when the grass, dirt and hay was so much more interesting.

It wasn't until I got home and was looking through the pictures that I could laugh and recognize what in the world was I trying to do. I don't take portraits of my boys. That is photography that is best left to others.

When I mentioned this to Mitch he agreed and admitted that he wasn't quite sure what I was trying to do, that just isn't my style. But as good husband's do he supported me and tried to help me get what I wanted.

I think that sometimes we are so focused on what others are doing that we forget to celebrate what we do. My strength lies in natural, candid, journalistic photography. I need to do a little more celebrating of that instead of berating myself everytime I fail, miserably, at getting my boys to come together with pleasant looks on their faces for the perfect picture.

Oh and that perfect picture of my three boys? Turns out I got it. Look again. Garrett is doing his best to please me, Travis is very curious about what Owen is doing, Owen is trying to roll a pumpkin and create his own adventure and Mitch is trying to redirect Owen. There will never be another moment in life like this and I captured it. You only get one shot at this life and I will take this photograph that freezes my life as it is in this moment over any other one.

Thanks,
Monica