Nine Days and Counting

Our family is a blended family. My husband and I were both married before and both of us had children in those marriages. He has Jesse (will be 13 in December) and Ethan (turning 11 in January). I have Claudia, who will be 11 on Valentine's Day. Together, Jason and I have Anakin (5 this November) and Amelia, (affectionately called Mia who will be 3 in October).

Claudia's father lives in Washington State, 3000 miles away from where we live in Delaware. She flies out to her dad's twice a year; for a week or so at Christmas and for nine weeks in the summer.

While I miss her terribly, I try to look at it positively. I'm happy for her that she gets to spend the time with her father and she's made friends there and really enjoys her time. Well, of course she does; her dad tries to cram a whole years worth of fun into a couple of months. And now that she's getting older and is rapidly approaching those tempestuous teen years, I figure that it will be a nice break from each other. LOL

However, by the end of the summer, I start getting twitchy for her to get home. The little ones are counting down the days and plans are being made to have lots of fun together before the school year starts.

That also means that I start wanting to take new portraits of the kids as I never buy the school pictures because my kids never look like themselves in them.

Claudia especially. She's one of those kids that always seems slightly uncomfortable when the camera is turned her way. She's more likely to stiffen up and smile woodenly with a "please just let this be over" look on her face. It's OK though as she gets it from me. There's a reason I got into photography; it's easier to hide from the camera if you're the one holding it. LOL

Unfortunately, that also means I have less pictures of Claudia because I don't want to torture her. Well, not too much, that is. Maybe this time I'll get her looking at the camera. :)