fables, photos and gaston

Sometimes when my children say or do something fun, crazy or weird, I wish I could take that moment and just cork it up in a bottle so that years and years from now, I can open it and laugh, wince or cringe again.  I find stories much more interesting than facts.  When I think about my ancestors, I am much more interested in how they felt about something, or hearing their version of an event than just knowing the exact day or time in which it happened.  I've never been the best at keeping up with logging each and every cold, pound and inch my children take, but I have found that taking their picture and writing stories about them the most amazing way to capture our family.  Every year, I do an (exhausting) photobook.  Even though they are long at 90-100 pages, they are worth it.  Each year on Mother's Day, we offer one to my mom, one to my mother-in-law and one will go into each of the children's hope chest.  Journaling has been fun, because the kids can get in on the action and draw and color things too.  I write anything that I find interesting, that maybe no one else would ever know about.. maybe the way Mila tells a story, or how Remi sings in his crib and Arnaud and I will even write them letters.  I love to photograph their favorite objects, like Remi's Gaston, the gorilla and even art projects, like Mila's "peacock" partly out of fear that I will loose them.  At least we'll have a photo.   It's so fun to capture their "Diego" and "Baby Cat"  periods in the way that most think of art.  Because it is their life and I find it my favorite artform.