By Jessica Watson

Life after loss with autism, preemies and a rainbow baby

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You are here: Home / Musings of Motherhood / The many faces of childhood

The many faces of childhood

By Jessica

I created this space for my children.

To preserves the memories of their childhood and give them something to look back on.

Today’s post is just that.

I saw this idea of capturing the many faces of childhood on Pinterest and fell in love with it.

I had the kids show me all of their different moods and took pictures of their cute little faces. I then used PicMonkey to put the photos into a collage, adding in the words.

I promise it’s super easy and you can do it with the free features on PicMonkey.

toddler funny faces

I imagined them looking back at this post and rolling their eyes, unable to believe they were once this silly and willing to do just about anything in front of a camera.

funny faces

It’s nice to freeze time once in a while.

funny face

I hope they come back here someday and appreciate the memories captured for what they are…

the many faces of my love for each of them.

Check out our photo collage for the following year here.

What moment(s) of the present would you like to capture? Do it today!

Yes the teen is absent from these photos. I could not capture her “Mom are you insane? face” fast enough when I asked her to participate.

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52 Comments Filed Under: Musings of Motherhood


Comments

  1. Theriz26 says

    March 9, 2012 at 9:50 am

    I like the concept and the idea. You capture the perfect angle of your kids. And i love all the photos that you’ve shared with us here. Thanks for the post!

    Reply
  2. Charlotte says

    March 8, 2012 at 9:51 am

    LOVE this! Your children are so adorable… and they could totally have careers on the stage ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  3. Jenni & Andy says

    March 4, 2012 at 11:45 am

    What a great idea! It is one of those things it’d be easy to “do tomorrow”. Appreciate the advice, and the motivation, to do it now… bet you’re glad you did ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  4. Robin @ Farewell, Stranger says

    March 3, 2012 at 7:42 pm

    This is so cool! What a great idea.

    Reply
  5. beautydeleon says

    March 3, 2012 at 12:50 am

    Lovely! Your kids are so adorable. Can’t take my eyes watching their photos. Your little girl is such a pretty little lady. I love their facial expressions! Cute!

    Reply
  6. Laura says

    March 2, 2012 at 6:10 am

    Aw, super sute kids, Jessica! How could you make them do those faces? What was the treat?

    Reply
  7. Laura says

    March 2, 2012 at 6:07 am

    Aw, super sute kids, Jessica! How could you make them do those faces?

    Reply
  8. Iona says

    March 2, 2012 at 1:59 am

    Perhaps what you’ll hear about them is, “Mom, take down those pictures. They’re so embarrassing”!

    I love those photos. The kids look so cute.

    Reply
  9. Lanie says

    March 1, 2012 at 11:46 pm

    P.S. I have been voting for you over at Circle of Moms ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  10. Tonya says

    March 1, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    I love this idea! What great, fun, expressive faces and kudos on the perfect lighting too.

    I will attempt with Lucas… stay tuned.

    Reply
  11. Sharon {Grumpy, Sleepy, and Bashful} says

    March 1, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Love this idea!! Such cuties .. I’m impressed you got 3 out of 4!

    Cheers to you and your glass of wine tonight *clink*

    Reply
  12. Kir says

    March 1, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    this was such a gorgeous post, such beautiful, silly wonderful faces. I wish my kiddos would let me me take MORE pictures of them, but the ones I get, I treasure because they are REAL!

    thank you for once again giving me a lot to think about and the urge to go and hug my kiddos.

    your children are so beautiful.

    Reply
  13. Sarah @ Spoon Fed Baby says

    March 1, 2012 at 10:21 am

    Such cute pictures! I ran across you on a MI mom’s blog ๐Ÿ™‚ At least that’s where I *think* I found your blog! haha. I am a MI mom also new to the blogging thing. I used to teach Kindergarten and loved taking pictures of the kids showing all kinds of different emotions. Your kids will love them when they grow up!

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      March 1, 2012 at 3:53 pm

      So good to “meet” you. Heading over to see your blog.

      Reply
  14. JDaniel4's Mom says

    March 1, 2012 at 9:32 am

    This is such a great idea! I so need to see what face my guy would make.

    Reply
  15. Brittany Stewart says

    March 1, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Those are such sweet pictures.
    You have beautiful kids ๐Ÿ™‚
    I think I’d have a pretty hard time getting mine to cooperate, but I might have to try.

    Reply
  16. Courtney Kirkland says

    March 1, 2012 at 1:47 am

    I **love** this idea!! I’ll definitely have to give this a whirl!

    Reply
  17. Natalie @MamaTrack says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:30 pm

    What a great idea! You’ll be so glad you did this. And they are adorable.

    Reply
  18. Galit Breen says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    This is *such* a great idea, Jessica!

    Reply
  19. Stacy Uncorked says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:26 pm

    Oh I LOVE this! What a great idea! Your kids are adorable! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  20. Not a Perfect Mom says

    February 29, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    I love this!
    but how I wish you got an eye roll from the teen…

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      March 1, 2012 at 3:54 pm

      I could have posted a picture of her back because that was pretty much all I got but I thought that would not be very exciting.

      Reply
  21. Justine says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:19 pm

    I love how you composed the pictures of each of them. I wish I was that creative!

    Thanks for visiting my blog today Jessica. I’ve been doing this awhile but fell off the radar a bit and have found it difficult picking back up. Finding new and inspiring bloggers definitely help shake things up and encourages me to keep going.

    Like you said, we’re doing this for our kids. I’m sure they’ll love this someday and that’s why I continue to commit myself to my blog. Our kids are a great reason to keep at this aren’t they?

    Reply
  22. Traci says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:26 pm

    There needs to be a t.v. show about you and your family. John and Kate plus 8 is over, now it’s your turn. lol

    Reply
  23. Christina says

    February 29, 2012 at 5:20 pm

    That would be me ๐Ÿ™‚ I’m glad you did it… they turned out SO cute!

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      March 1, 2012 at 3:55 pm

      Oh yay it was you! Fixing my post to give you credit.

      Reply
  24. Mrs. Jen B says

    February 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm

    Oh my gosh what a great idea! They are so stinking cute!

    Reply
  25. Julie says

    February 29, 2012 at 3:41 pm

    Such a nice collage you’ve made of these adorable faces! I find the idea of such a collage simple genial, our children can express the most common emotions so honestly with their mimicri!

    Reply
  26. Jenn says

    February 29, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    I LOVE THIS! What a great idea!!

    Reply
  27. tracy@sellabitmum says

    February 29, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Oh my word I love this so much!

    Reply
  28. Mirjam says

    February 29, 2012 at 11:40 am

    I really love this idea!
    I’m not sure if I can do this with my kids, they are really hard to photograph right now. I can only photograph their I’m-annoyingly-uncooperative-face.

    Reply
  29. Lisa says

    February 29, 2012 at 11:02 am

    LOVE this! Especially their scary faces. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  30. Kate says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:40 am

    This is such a great idea! They are adorable. Recently my tween told me, “you can’t take my picture & put it on the Internet without my permission!” lol I can relate to your teenager wanting no parts of it ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  31. Leighann says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:16 am

    What a wonderful idea!
    You have captured them perfectly and I think they will look back on this and be so grateful that you took the time to do this with them!

    Reply
  32. Elizabeth says

    February 29, 2012 at 9:13 am

    What a great idea! I love it! Your little ones are super cute. I might have to do this with my kiddos.

    Reply
  33. Mark says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:34 am

    Great idea! And I bet that the kids loved participating in this too!
    m.

    Reply
  34. Barbara @ Footprints in France says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:24 am

    I LOVE this! I’m a big fan of your little guy’s mad face, how cute is he?!

    Reply
  35. Mallory says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:18 am

    I love this idea. The pictures are adorable, you teen is missing out. ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  36. tayarra says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:14 am

    I love this idea. That’s great that you got them to participate so well.

    Reply
  37. Jen says

    February 29, 2012 at 8:10 am

    I love those photos and the reminder. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  38. Kimberly says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:40 am

    This is hilarious. Your babes are adorable…and hilarious.
    I am a mama-razzi so I capture everything. I’m trying to figure out my new camera so I was putzing with it and trying to take a candid moment of Chunky laying in the sun in the living room. Well he saw the camera out and had a meltdown…I still kept snapping away.
    I didn’t delete them.
    Cause you know.
    They’d make a good wedding video.

    Reply
  39. liz says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:20 am

    It IS so important to freeze time for a moment!

    I like that you captured their different types of faces.

    Reply
  40. Klz says

    February 29, 2012 at 7:00 am

    You are just the best mom. I say that without any kind of guile.

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      February 29, 2012 at 7:41 am

      Aww, thank you. Even if I took the idea from someone else? Seriously. Thank you.

      Reply
  41. Jessica says

    February 29, 2012 at 6:40 am

    Exactly, that is why there are no pictures of my teen in this post. She wanted no part of it.

    Reply
  42. XLMIC says

    February 29, 2012 at 3:00 am

    Beautiful, expressive children! They truly will appreciate this… one day ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      February 29, 2012 at 6:41 am

      I’m sure we will go through the “mom why did you make me do that phase” and then if I make it through that, they will appreciate it.

      Reply
  43. Amy says

    February 29, 2012 at 12:54 am

    My dad took a series of these photos of my sister when she was about 3. He had her make constipated face. I shouldn’t be so surprised that my kids are obsessed with poop and pee then, I suppose. I’m so going to do this too, once I can get something other than mad face.

    Reply
    • Jessica says

      February 29, 2012 at 7:55 am

      That is hilarious about your dad and sister. You will have to share the pics when you do it, would love to see how it turns out.

      Reply
  44. Kimberly says

    February 29, 2012 at 12:52 am

    This is such a great idea! I may have to try this with my own kids too.

    Reply
  45. christine says

    February 29, 2012 at 12:26 am

    Absolutely adorable! Your children make such cute faces!!

    I LOVE this idea and am so going to use it. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  46. Lanie says

    February 28, 2012 at 11:02 pm

    Great faces & great post!! I think that they will look back and giggle, roll their eyes, ask you to delete their pictures and then at some point they will reach an age when they will appreciate their own adorable faces (and their thoughtful mom). Take care.

    Reply

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