My Family, Perfectly Captured in 1 Picture

So, here's where you would think I'd be posting the perfect holiday portrait session with my family- everyone smiling, dressed beautifully, the lighting is beautiful, just amazing. Or, for those of you who are getting to know me a little better, you might be thinking, 'No, she's not posting a portrait sitting, maybe a candid shot of her family on the couch or outside playing or something.' Ehhh, not quite.

During our morning coffee conversation, I mentioned to Z (my best friend) that I had no idea what I was going to blog about today. She looked up and pointed out that the answer was literally right in front of my face. So, I took a picture of what perfectly captures my family:

Our Coffee Table



Though the picture is a little small (setting it on 'xlarge' made it expand all the way into my sidebars, so this will have to do, though I found you can click on the picture and it will open it up larger- you might wanna right click and hit 'open in new window' so you can continue reading while flipping back to the bigger picture), I went ahead and labeled the picture, for easier explanation and emphasis of key points. And, I promise you, this picture was not staged, which makes this blog, and that photo, even more amazing to me- this is a glimpse into my real life, hehehe.

Let us begin:

1. Far left- Z's flip flops, Center- My slippers, Far Right-My comfy shoes. Normally there would be a pair of hubby's work boots to the far right, as well, but he actually took them off in the bedroom when he got home last night, so, kudos to him on that one. What these shoes strewn all around the coffee table should tell you is A) This tends to be our relaxation zone- shoes flipped off, and comfort begins, B) I'm not a neat freak. Yes, those will be picked up and put away at some point today, but for now, they will remain.
2. Legos- A staple in my household. Both of my kids, but my son especially, are Lego enthusiasts, to say the least. My son, almost 6, is pretty much a genius when it comes to building everyday things, or using his imagination to create something brand new. Inside the #2 circle, you will find a Lego gun to the left (my son's own creation, and, to only kill Zombies with- so he told us), and two Lego spaceships to the center and the right, complete with Lego guys to navigate them, though it seems the pilot of the center spaceship has fallen out (poor guy).
3. Call of Duty and Other Video Game Paraphernalia- Section 3 contains 2 lots of circled items, which includes the brand new Call of Duty game (came out yesterday, in fact), a Playstation 3 controller, a brochure to hubby's new Gamespot rewards card and a free gaming magazine he received upon purchasing new Call of Duty game. Tucked underneath the brochure and controller is the movie Transformers 2, so, these two circles shall thus be named 'The Man Corner'. My hubby's section of the coffee table, and the things that best represent him and his interests.
4. Remotes Galore- Section 4 consists of 2 circles connected together- the cable remote, tv remote, and the surround sound remote. Yes, just like any other male, hubby is a home-theater-experience type of person, so the surround sound was the first thing bought when we moved here (even before the beautiful rug you see that was my first housewarming present for us). It has an IPod hookup, is connected to the TV, the DVD player and the PS3- ahh, man talk. We are a family of TV watchers, though, and we do have our weekly shows we keep up with, and love watching movies.
5. My Attempt at Feng Shui- When we first moved into our home, I grabbed my Feng Shui books and went to town doing all I could to create a harmonious home environment. One of the tips I found was to place a (supposed to be round, but I worked with what I had) metal tray with river rocks on it in the center of the coffee table. It's supposed to bring the family closer together in that room, more connected I guess. I placed a pumpkin spice candle (my favorite scent ever) in the middle for not only ambiance, but to 'light the flame' of our family, so to speak. I'm sure all of the clutter around the centerpiece doesn't help it's purpose much....
6. My Daughter's Creativity- Circle 6 shows a beaded bracelet my daughter made (there's another one hidden underneath my sunglasses in the overlapping part of circles 4 & 7). She's been given several bead kits over the years by family members, and absolutely loves making jewelry. As it is a favored past time of mine, I'm proud that I passed the creativity on to her.
7. The Mommy Stuff- Ahh, we finally come to my section of the table. In my little bubble there's a dateplanner/organizer, an unopened pack of index cards, and my flashy, bug-eyed sunglasses. What my section should tell you about me: A) I want to be organized, I do. There's writing in the dateplanner, I promise, but as it's closed and not opened to this week, you can deduce that I don't use it much. The index cards should say the same thing- I'm here to be organized, label things, but, I'm not quite there yet, as the index cards have yet to be opened. B) I like big and flashy. I've loved my big bug-eyed sunglasses since the day I got them. Slightly oversized for my face with big gaudy silver circles along the side. I love these bad boys, I do.

There are miscellaneous items on the table that further tell about our family, too. Beer coasters that have been 'borrowed' from restaurants back east (before we moved, and, in my defense, I was not the culprit in this) are strewn everywhere (you try to keep them in a neat pile with 2 kids and a kitten), and can tell you that, um, my family likes being frugal (??? is that a good way of saying hubby stole coasters from bars and restaurants?). There's a cell phone with the battery taken out of it for the kids to play with in the top left corner- appeases the kids for now, so they stop bugging me about getting them cell phones- no, I don't believe in an 8 year old and 6 year old having cell phones, so please stop asking, kids. And, there's a random tag from hubby's work laying in the near middle of the table. Upon further investigation of why the random tag is there, there is a user name for the PS3 written on it-  a guy at work that hubby can play Call of Duty online with- man stuff.

I realized, too, that the only thing of Z's in the picture is her flip flops. She is part of our family, so, I wondered why there wasn't more of her stuff added to the mix. I guess it's more of a respect for us, to keep her chaos contained in her room, but don't let her fool you- she's not a neat freak.

Isn't it crazy how one picture, with no actual people in it, can tell so much about a family? I would proudly display this picture for a Wordless Wednesday type blog, knowing what the picture meant to me. But then other people would think, 'Why did she just post a picture of a bunch of crap on a coffee table without explaining a damn thing?' So, an explanation was warranted here, and now those of you who read this far will know it's not a bunch of crap on a coffee table- it's my wonderful family.