WonderBoy and the Sweet Sisters

Sunday was such a nice day.

The kids were all itchin' to get out and soak up the sunshine after what has felt like an interminable Winter.

WonderBoy struck gold when we moved here 5 years ago because we happened to move right across the street from two of the Sweetest Sisters ever. One sister is 11 and the other is 9. WonderBoy will be 10 in a few weeks..right in the middle. He and the girls have been friends from Day 1. He adores them and they spend quite a bit of time here playing with WonderBoy which says a lot for the girls because WonderBoy is, how can I say, a handful!

On Sunday the girls agreed to be my models for my photography assignment this week since WonderBoy rarely lets me take a picture of him without a chase. His latest modus operandi when my camera comes out is extortion. Our photosessions usually end up with me promising him something he wants if he would just sit still. Those little promises are getting quite expensive so I found a new method to get him to sit still...I told him I didn't need him for the pictures since I have the two prettiest models on the street right here.

The girls were thrilled to be my models. He climbed the magnolia tree and perched himself above the action. He silently watched the girls pose in their girly poses as I clicked away. They were laughing and eating it up with the props I gave them. WonderBoy hung in the tree overhead and kept looking and looking, just hankerin' to get in on the fun. We paid him no attention at all.

(Note his favorite red crocs. Not exactly tree climbing material!)

Finally he couldn't take it anymore and down he came to join in the fun.

I adore watching these 3 play together. The girls are just darling and so great with WonderBoy. They always make him the center of attention. He is his true self with them and I so enjoy seeing the three of them interact.

As I watched them through my lens I thought to myself that time is just flying by. I wondered, as I clicked away, just how long they would let me take pictures of them, how long they will run up to my front door when they are playing outside for hours to bring me a flower, a ladybug or a worm or tell me that one wasn't behaving. I wondered how many more lemonade stands they will want to do, how many bicycle runs on our little street I will be privy to, how many more moments I will look from my front window and see WonderBoy pulling the wagon with the girls squealing in delight from within. How many more forts, igloos and sleigh ride obstacle courses will be built on my front lawn. I wondered how many more movie nights, bowls of popcorn popped, cookies will be made, juice boxes smuggled, lightning bugs caught........childhood is, after all, finite.

I don't want to blink...so I will click, click, click instead...click away and capture these days because I don't want to miss a moment of the beauty and joy of their lives exactly as they are today.

(Click on the slideshow below and hit the lower right hand icon to expand the photos to full screen)