Behind the Picture

 I take a lot of pictures of my children... and sure, it is very satisfying to capture that elusive perfect moment when everyone looks at the camera at the same time and flashes a genuine smile... but the truth is, that is not always why I take the pictures.

Sometimes, I just get to capture my children's personalities more than a perfect smile.

I took this picture before we left for church a few weeks ago.  We actually had a few extra minutes before loading the car, and the kiddos looked so nice, so I asked them to come over for a picture.

Here is the sweet picture of my half-dozen Mountain Miller children.

Here is what is behind the picture

• The girls picked their own clothes, and wanted to wear "church dresses"
• Tracey's dress is supposed to be a Christmas dress (red velvet), but it fits her, and its sleeveless so I didn't say anything.
• Lee Lee insisted that she needed a coat because it was cold.  It was easily 80* when this picture was taken, and it would be in the mid-90s before we got home from church, but she was very happy to wear her soft coat.
• Lee Lee and Tracey could find church sandals that fit and that they like.  Caroline tried on two different pairs of church sandals but opted to wear socks and sneakers because the sandals hurt her feet.
• Howard decided to wear a shirt and tie because his sisters were dressing in church dresses, so he happily dressed up too.
• His shirt is tucked in and he's wearing a belt.  The belt has a buckle with a bull rider on it.  Daddy bought Howard this belt after he took 2nd place in the County Fair Muttin Bustin at the rodeo... and he had worn this belt EVERY SINGLE DAY from the day it was purchase to when this picture was taken -- about ten days in a row.  To date, he still wears this belt A LOT -- easily 5 days/week, but occassionally he will wear shorts without belt loops and doesn't wear his belt on those days.  He did wear it twice with shorts without belt loops, but Daddy told him to only wear it with belt loops from now on, and Howard has heeded that advice.
• Caroline has a sparkly star hair clip on her hair.
• Tracey has a dandelion in her hair.
• Both Tracey and Caroline put on makeup (their little girl makeup, but makeup nonetheless) while I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes, and I wasn't thrilled about it... but they were thrilled and sometimes its okay to just let your kids be happy.
• Hunter is in a collared shirt and at an age where he wants to be with the big kids (lined up for a picture) but he doesn't want to stand still or smile for the picture.  Five seconds after this picture was taken, I have a picture of Hunter walking away while the other children are still saying, "Cheese".
• Brady is content in his car seat -- not quite smiling for picture yet, but he always smiles at people who are smiling at him.
• Lee Lee is carrying a Minnie Mouse purse that she takes to church every Sunday and a small King James Bible of mine fits in the purse perfectly.  This has practically become Lee Lee's Sunday purse.
• Howard has his Bible in his backpack, and he was bummed that I made him use his preschool backpack to go to church.  This picture was taken the day before the first day of school, and he and Caroline both got new backpacks for kindergarten.  I made them save their new backpacks for the first day of school and they had to use their old backpacks to carry their Bibles to church this day.
• Brady is barefoot -- it is such a luxury to have a summer baby.  I don't have to worry about his feet getting too cold when he kicks off his shoes and socks.

I really am the luckiest mother on the planet that these amazing children are mine.  They are all healthy, and safe, and (mostly) happy.

Lookout, World!  We're raising a half dozen Mountain Miller children and God has amazing specific plans for each and every one of them.