Imagine

I had a pretty normal childhood; lots of hide-and-seek, cops-and-robbers, playing house, tag, exploring, playing barbies, jump rope, kick-the-can, you get the idea. But, I never had an imaginary friend. Ashlyn does. Its name is Fanny. Sometimes Fanny is a boy. Sometimes Fanny is a girl. She talks to Fanny. She gets in fights with Fanny. She blames EVERYTHING on Fanny. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if Fanny is an imaginary friend or an imaginary enemy.

The other day, Ashlyn tattled on Fanny. Apparently Fanny was naked. Brian quickly asked if Fanny was a boy or a girl. Luckily, Fanny was a girl that day. Phew.

I have learned from trying to take pictures of my nieces, nephews and my own kiddos, that you can not tell a child to say "cheese". Most of you will understand why. If you tell them to say "cheese", you never get a cute smile. Instead, what you get are puckered lips,raised eyebrows, gritted teeth, and a wrinkled nose. It takes hard work and/or luck to get an authentic smile. This has been my solution as of late:

Show me angry face -
Show me sad face -
Show me silly face -
Show me surprised face -
Show me ??? face -
Show me happy face -
There we go. Close enough.
What a beauty.