A Study of Change

I know it's inevitable, but I just updated my hallway pictures this morning and it's shocking how much my girls have grown up.

And that is just by looking at head shots that don't show the great heights to which certain girls are reaching.

We last bought school pictures for the kids a few years ago because the cost was really getting high.  And everyone has a good camera, so it seems silly to buy them.  Since 2009, the school hasn't provided any great pictures anyway.

On to the differences...

Alice, grade 1 versus grade 4.

 She's still pretty cute, but in grade 1 she was SO cute.  That was the year she insisted on wearing a dress and carrying her matching purse to school on picture day.  Now I struggle to keep her out of her ripped jeans on special days.

Laura, grade 3 versus grade 7.  

Suddenly so grown up and always photogenic. 

Some people are always in motion and hard to take capture on film.  Alice tends to be like that - talking or chewing or making a face or impatiently moving onto the next thing.  When she does pose for the camera, it is definitely a pose with a pasted on smile that doesn't look quite like herself.  I tried to catch my mother-in-law in a picture yesterday and she is exactly the same way.

Laura and her character have always been easy to capture. 

 And Beth, grade 5 vs. grade 8. 

Beth is definitely a young lady now.  The differences don't maybe show as well in this picture, but she is easy to picture as the adult woman she will be.

And since we rarely get a family picture taken, I'll be putting this one on our wall too.