Quick Takes Friday
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The kids are all about clay these days. Here's one of their creations:
I'm trying to think how to channel this into Christmas shopping (besides just stuffing their stockings with cans of play dough). Modeling beeswax? How-to book or DVD? Sculpting tools? Kiln? Any suggestions?
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We got our picture taken for the parish directory last week. I have lowered our expectations for such things. Instead of having everyone gussied up for posterity, I simply settle for all of us looking reasonably well-groomed and nobody's outfits clashing. It feels kind of sad to admit that out loud, but it is outweighed by the promise of a professional family portrait. The last one we took was in 2000.
We caught the poor guy at the end of what must have been a long day, and though his patience sometimes looked (sounded) a little thin, he never lost it. Out of fourteen shots, most of them had a blink, a yawn, someone looking the wrong way. I am very familiar with this from the photographer's side! Getting eight kids, some of them not capable of self-control, to look and smile at you at the same time without weird expressions (intentional or otherwise) is a herculean task. Maybe one shot (the one we chose, of course) was flattering enough to all of us to pass muster, without pleading with the photographer and all the people in line to let us sit for just a few more shots. We got it, and our 8x10 will be here in a few weeks.
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Remember all those brothers and sisters future House Speaker Boehner talked about? One of them is a local here.
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My camera is ailing. There are several settings that just won't work. I can still manage to get decent pictures by fiddling with it a little, but it is the fiddling of an amateur with an amateur camera that is broken. Well, I wanted to get a new one anyway, ever since I learned that I can't control the aperture on this model. I'm teaching myself photography in fleeting baby steps. So I guess it's on my list for Christmas! And I'll hand this one down to one of the kids; we might even be able to get it repaired. Only thing is, I don't know what kind of camera to get--is there a relatively inexpensive model between the versatile point-and-shoot that I already have and the costly SLR for people who know what they are doing?
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This is a great story--read the comments for more of it! Please pray for this family as they work to bring their little boy home. (H/T Elizabeth Foss)
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And because she makes everyone so happy:
What are your Quick Takes?
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