3 Little Angel Belles

They say that every time a bell rings, an angel gets it's wings. These 3 belles don't ring but they certainly do shine. They bring to mind the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. Even without the white dresses and pink satin sashes, these 3 embody the beauty of childhood. Such precious faces with precocious smiles and actions. To find 3 such lovely faces within the same family is more than most photographers could wish for. I wanted to foto them as much as possible. Their smiles, their features, their love for life in their innocent worlds. These are the types of faces that men and women fight every day for...the soldiers who fight for our freedoms. Children...beloved by Jesus, held close by their families and loved by those who are able to be in their midst. It makes me remember how magical the holiday season was when I was young. How the days from Thanksgiving to Christmas seemed to drag by. Cutting each colored construction paper ring for each day gone by until you reached the star or bell that told you that Christmas Day was there. Going to bed on Christmas Eve in a sea of excitement for the amazement of Christmas morning. Of falling asleep in my bed watching the outside Christmas lights blinking on my ceiling and walls...the outside lights that my Dad painstakingly hung every single year past and still does. A lifetime of memories made magical by my mom & dad each Christmas season. Of the sparkling snow in New York as we walked into church on dark Saturday nights. The smell of a real pine Christmas tree covered in colorful lights and handmade ornaments from school and Girl Scouts...added to each year. I still have some of the ones that my once tiny hands made from Popsicle sticks, paint, glitter and glue. Reindeer made from clothespins. The paper plate with construction paper and my Kindergarten school photograph. All of these things crowded my head as I watched these 3 belles gather at the window when an adult told them to look for Santa. I wished for a moment that I was still so young and counting the slow days until Christmas. And then, I heard their laughter...sounding like the tinkling of silver bells.