It sounds like the start of a children’s book…”The problem with pictures frames is….”  You’d expect the author to come up with a silly little rhyme about the frame falling off the wall or failing to hang level.  I can imagine a crayon-drawn picture frame all lop-sided and wearing a crooked grin.  But my problem with picture frames is a little more complicated and, unfortunately, far more redundant.  For me the problem with picture frames is WHAT pictures to put in them!

I love to take pictures…just ask anyone within five feet of me.  I often carry my camera in my purse.  I love to take photos of my kids, capture candid moments at church, and click away at just about anything else that crosses my path.  I wouldn’t classify myself as “camera crazy,” but some might say I’m not far from it.  And what I’ve noticed is that when you love taking photos people naturally give you picture frames as gifts. 

You’ve probably guessed by now that I received a picture frame for Christmas.  YAY, a new frame!  And not just any new frame.  This one is a biggie and it’s set up “collage” style.  WOW!  It’s a picture frame that will hold EIGHT pictures!  While I’m smiling from ear to ear looking at my new frame, it occurs to me that, uh oh, now I have to choose the pictures that will occupy that space.  And thus, my dilemma begins.

I’ve had the frame for a little while now and although it was a Christmas present, I was there when the gift-giver (Karen) bought it.  In fact she’s a really awesome gift-giver in that she let me pick it out!  (Those are my favorite kind of gift-givers by the way!)  It has just the look that I like–black frames.  It’s just the size that I like–4x6s with a couple of 5x7s for flair!  It says family in the middle–a frame with its own topic…wonderful.  But all night I’ve been frantically trying to come up with the perfect photo compilation to bring it all home. 

So, you see my problem. 

It’s not that I don’t have a lot of photos to choose from (I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now.)  I have 10 years of mommyhood to choose from and that’s a lot of pictures.  I have at least 10 albums big and small dedicated to just my first-born.  When my little girl came along I started to chronicle all our family photos on our computer.  This summer’s vacation alone logged over 500 photos and earned its own special file on a separate drive.  And if that weren’t enough, I just got done checking my Walgreens photo account and I presently have 34 albums of pictures housed there!  Do you feel sorry for me yet?

Okay, so you don’t feel sorry for me.  Fine.  It took a few hours, but I’m happy to report that I have all of the photos picked out now anyway.  All except for one that is, but it’s late and all that will just have to wait until tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  The only problem now is where am I going to hang it?