Fall Foliage

Every year I try unsuccessfully to get cute pictures of my kids playing in the leaves. This year was no exception. I should have known better... truly. Madelyn missed her morning nap due to a Women's Bible Study, and had just fallen asleep for a much over-due nap when we arrived at our destination. I let her sleep for a few minutes in the car while the kids ran around, and then hoped she would be okay with a short catnap. No such luck. She was not a happy camper. Did I mention she's stubborn? She literally had a show-down with Josiah without speaking one word! I told Reagan and Josiah I wanted them to walk Madelyn up a big hill of leaves so I could get some cute pictures of the back of all three of them. So they obediently grabbed Maddy's hands, and tried to walk her up the hill. Madelyn wasn't in the greatest of moods to begin with, so having people pull her where she didn't want to go was not a good move. She jerked her hands out of their grasp and then proceeded to yell at them in baby gibberish. I told them to try again, and this time not only did she pull her hands away, she dug her heels in as well. Reagan and Josiah are both getting frustrated, and so is mommy. I tell them to try AGAIN, (I really want this picture!), Madelyn gets so frustrated she pulls her arms away, sits on the ground, and cries. Now Josiah is extremely frustrated, and he mumbles, "I'll just walk MYSELF up the hill!" and he marches up the hill with Reagan trailing behind. Not exactly the picture I had in mind...