Portrait of the family

Someone asked me on MSN the other day, "Hey, you miss your family is it? How come your MSN display picture is always your family?" Hmm...I guess so. I do miss them, I miss the whole entourage thing that we always have when we go out or when we celebrate birthdays.

So I think this post is more for me than anyone else....just so that I have easy access on the internet to the family photo. This is one of the best family shots I have. The best part about it is how decent we all look.


You see, that's the thing about taking family portraits. We always try to look decent and happy and proper. So I really love the one below. It's so much more accurate because it shows us trying to look decent for a family portrait.



See, in the family, starting from the floor, my brother is the welfare guy. He takes care of a lot of stuff at home and tries to maintain a everything-is-ok appearance at the same time. Shane (who is now 3) was actually in a bad mood that day at the photoshoot and my bro was trying very hard to pacify him while taking the shot. And Shane is one kid who hates attention and who would really rather go do his own thing. Janis, my sis-in-law, is more relaxed than my brother. She also loves to sleep (like me). Look, she looks sleepy here. Keke.

QQ (nephew from my cousin, but he lives with us...long story) is a sweet boy but gets into a lot of trouble coz he can be quite clumsy and is very very easily distracted. And that gets on my sister's nerves because she tries very hard to show him love most of the time. But the usual scenario is QQ comes running, "Auntie Kat! Auntie Kat!" (QQ trips and breaks something that belongs to Auntie Kat or steps on her foot or something). "Oops..sorry, Auntie Kat." And my sis is always in I-dunno-to-laugh-or-to-cry position.

Then there are my parents. For my dad, the family is his life, it's all that matters to him in life really. To be honest, he is actually quite an ah-beng (like go up-class restaurant ask waiter very loudly for green cut chilli type) so while he looks fairly decent, he can be quite a terror, though not to us. And mommy is a sweetie. She's the quiet mommy who pretty much leaves us to ourselves. And the laugh she has now is a typical response from her every time we get together and chatter away.

Then there's me and KW. I am always trying to be the peacemaker at home when everyone gets on each other's nerves. And KW is the "ok, hmm...this is too intense for me. I think I go sleep in Jo's room after this. Smile, smile, look neutral."

Haha.

Oh yes, my brother has one more son, Hon. He's not in the picture coz this is an old picture taken before he was born. But I've been told he's really curious now and will go around touching everything he sees. So I guess even if we went for a family portrait, he'd be distracted and go out of frame anyway. Keke.

Jo