Halloween: The Final Chapter, I Promise
November 5, 2007
Liz, I am officially way more lame than you.
My most favorite photographs are not the ones that are technically the best, or even the ones that where the children look their best. Instead it is the photos that tell a story.
I was using my skil saw to carve the tops off of the pumpkins. Miles was covering his ears and shouting as loud as he could. It was loud and chaotic and typical of our family. I love how my 8 yr old son is looking over at Miles and laughing. I might have forgotten about this moment if my 11 yr old hadn’t decided to grab the camera and take some photos.
He also captured for all time my poor decision to wear baggy gray sweatpants to carve the pumpkins, because now I want to add a note to each photo that says, “My ass is not this big and lumpy. It is the sweatpants. Please children when I am dead remember this.” There are precious few photos of me, they might need to be reminded of this. Not to worry, I will not be sharing those photos with you.
Then they scooped all the pumpkin guts out and there was lots of gagging and pretending to vomit. I love that in the photos you can’t hear me shushing them and telling them enough with the vomit jokes. And them laughing and saying that there can never be too many vomit jokes.
I love watching them interacting with each other.
When they step up and help each other.
And encourage each other.
Because too often it feels like I only notice the bickering and fighting. Too often I feel like a failure for not getting them to skip around the house singing Kumbaya in harmony together. People who have siblings tell me that this is the way it goes with siblings and I cling to this bit of hope.
Like a drowning man clutching a branch, I cling.
And if that fails at least I have the photos to persuade them to my revisionist history.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:
http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/2007/11/05/halloween-the-final-chapter-i-promise/trackback/
I love pictures that tell a story too. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of pumpkin carving at your house. It looks loud and fun and full of love. That sounds really sappy but you know what I mean, right? Your family is so cute.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:40 pmYes! I am always so surprised to look back at photos and see everyone smiling and happy and having fun. All I remember is the bickering and whining and my nagging. Take pictures, everyone! It’s worth it, even if you can’t get around to organizing them for the next 20 years.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:43 pmYour kids are so sweet. Cute, cute pictures.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:44 pmWhat a great post - thanks for sharing your kids with us.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:51 pmYou know, those beautiful pictures make this site have a lot more style!
Shame on 11 y/o! Doesn’t he know the #1 picture taking rule is no pictures of mommy’s butt?
November 5th, 2007 at 1:12 pmsibling rivalry is a huge part of every family with siblings. They fight more than they get along but at the end of the day everyone loves and helps eachother out when needed. That is why it is awesome having siblings. Even as adults it is still the same. We argue less and all get along now. Help eachother when needed! I love having siblings and your kids love having eachother I am sure. How could they not they have you for their mom!
November 5th, 2007 at 1:16 pmi got a call from one of my older daughters at college, she was just gushing with excitement that she had just gotten a call from her younger sister, asking for sisterly advice about boys- my older daughter was just so thrilled to really feel like a big sister.
November 5th, 2007 at 1:20 pmvery cute. it is heat to see them depend on each other as they grow older- even if it is only to unite against their crazy parents.
Great post. These are my favorite pictures too–the ones that tell a story. Thank you.
November 5th, 2007 at 1:55 pmI am one member of a family the size of yours, SEVEN. The closeness of my siblings is the greatest gift my parents could have ever given me. We are not nearly as close in age as your children, we range from 75 to 59, but what we have shared through life is the most precious part. Oh yes, we did argue, fight and bluster, but never carried a grudge about it. I could not, and have not found better friends than my sisters and brothers.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pmYou have given them the gift of each other.
Oh my gosh yes. What a great post.
And yes, this is the way it is with siblings…the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mine fight and bicker as well, but then there are the bonding moments, and those just make it all worth it.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:13 pmI am the oldest of 7!! I am 38 now and my youngest brother is only 20!! But it was my job for the longest time to supervise the pumpkin carving and help the littles cut and scoop out the guts. I am sure I complained at that time but now we all sit and talk about those times as the most fun!!!
November 5th, 2007 at 2:53 pmI love your pictures.
November 5th, 2007 at 3:04 pmYes, that’s what siblings do. No matter what the age difference. They fight, they encourage, they blame each other, they tell on each other, they help each other but mostly they grow up to all be best friends.
Beautiful pictures and wonderful stories.
I grew up in a small house with five brothers and sisters, we fought a lot and beat the crap out of each other, but now we are the best of friends with amazing memories. We now know that the greatest gift from our parents was the fact that our parents were so unselfish as to have so many children. It may not always seem like it, but I’m sure your children will feel the same way.
November 5th, 2007 at 3:13 pmI love the pics! The first one is my fav. It looks like your family has fun together and actually enjoys hanging out together. Very lucky.
November 5th, 2007 at 3:59 pmAnd don’t worry, I don’t think any family holds hands and sings Kumbaya together. They shouldn’t anyway. It is a dumb song.
When my second child was born, she was very cranky. She was born and her sister wasn’t, and that made for a miserable, lonely little baby. I can’t remember anything but screaming for her first 3 years of life. But every picture I have of her, and there are hundreds, are of her smiling and laughing! I don’t remember that at all! I must have caught every smile she ever gave. And I am glad.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:03 pmyou can keep the halloween posts coming, the pictures are beautiful!
November 5th, 2007 at 4:21 pmThis is beautiful and as such, I officially win the lameness war.
I agree that the quality of the photo, as a mom, rarely matters as much as the content. I’ve learned not to delete “bad photos” so quickly because sometimes those end up my favorites.
November 5th, 2007 at 4:35 pmI love your pictures! Throw one up of you in your baggy sweats…we’ve seen you in adorable outfits…we know your butt is tiny! Don’t leave yourself out of the memories over a lumpy pair of sweatpants!
November 5th, 2007 at 5:06 pmBeautiful! And on the other end of Judi’s statement about her daughters, I just got off the phone with my youngest sister, 12 years my junior and 19 today (!!) and the youngest of the 6 kids, and we had a long giggling talk about all the fun we had as kids and her memories as a kid in our house versus my memories. I’m sure if she were sane enough to remember much in the blur of childraising, my mom would have a very different perspective on some of our more memorable (read: traumatic and now funny) experiences. Good for you for capturing it. If any of the kids are so inclined, it may be fun to have them create their own journal of the events and see how they compare.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:34 pmYup, that’s how it usually is (or at least it was in my family) for siblings. We played hard and loved hard and even though there were moments we swore we hated each other (even though it wasn’t true and it’s not nice to hate) we always knew that if the other needed ANYTHING that we’d be there. And we still are:)
November 5th, 2007 at 7:49 pmThis is why I do film. Film that sits in my film fridge for 3 months before I get around to developing it. After pouring all the chemicals and standing around in the dark for an hour the images appear and I remember. “oh yeah, I was there 3 months ago….and it was beautiful. I had forgotten about it.”
We forget far to many things in life because we dwell on the things that are forced upon us and not the things that we want to see.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:13 pmI’m from a family of ten children. If your kids are “singing Kumbaya in harmony together” I think you should be very afraid. Just my opinion.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:30 pmLove the pictures and the story that they tell! (and the story they don’t tell ;)) And I must say that the saw is brilliant; I can’t imagine why we never thought of that!!!
November 5th, 2007 at 11:22 pmYou make me want to have a houseful of children. Beautiful pictures.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:54 pmThat’s the way it goes with siblings. Your family is wonderful and you are doing a fine job.
November 6th, 2007 at 3:39 amI knew a woman who’d been an only child. When she adopted two little boys (as babies) and they started beating on each other on a regular basis, she was scared that something was horribly wrong with them and she was going to find a child psychiatrist or somesuch - I just had to burst out laughing. ALL siblings (even adopted) beat each other up, then love and defend each other too.
Hey, what, you don’t toast the pumpkin seeds!?
November 6th, 2007 at 6:43 amBeautiful.
Not just the pictures (because they totally are!), but the accompanying narration.
These are the days… Chris. Lumpy-sweatpants-ass and all.
November 6th, 2007 at 9:53 amYou crack me UP! I too deal with the fights and squabbles and wonder how I never got my kids to skip around hand in hand singing kumbaya either.
great story with you photos!
November 6th, 2007 at 12:27 pmSiblings getting along, working together- great theory right!! My neighbor called me today and in conversation she gave me a compliment on how she enjoys watching my children help each other- What and When is she talking about?? At least she caught one of those glimpses of goodness that I might have overlooked! Actually I have to say they really, for the most part, on the majority of occasions, actually get along pretty well. *C’mon you guys, stop it!* I mean, yeah they really love each other and *don’t sit on her* play calmly all/mostly/never nicely! Have a great day! http://momof4girls.blogspot.com/
November 6th, 2007 at 12:27 pmHorray for revisionist history! It’s actually just a time for us as moms to think back and remember things when we’re not worried about someone getting hurt, sick or mean. Love the pictures!
November 6th, 2007 at 3:13 pmThat was such a beautiful story. I loved the ending!
Thanks for sharing with all of us :o)
November 6th, 2007 at 4:57 pm[...] wrote a wonderful post yesterday that everyone should read if they haven’t already. Go on, click over. I can [...]
November 6th, 2007 at 6:26 pm