It's not natural for a photographer to hate the words "Say cheese!". But since I took family pictures for the Millers, I've removed cheese from my personal dictionary. (yes, I'm a nerd who made herself a personal dictionary.) Anyway, chaos broke loose when a giant van pulled up into the parking lot. Out of the van came two parents who could've been more thrilled to be there, followed by eight kids whose names I learned were Mike, Jenni, Ralph, Georgie, Percy, Ramona, Otis, and Piper. They weren't your traditional family. Every kid was wearing something completely different; I saw that the youngest two kids were barefoot.

Most of the kids' hair was frazzled like they'd just gotten out of bed (which you could tell they had due to their bleary eyes and dazed expressions). The mom was dressed like a 1950s housewife, whilst the dad had managed a t-shirt and nice boots. "Hi!" the mom said to me. "Well, this is us.'' I gave a forced smile to the eight kids staring blankly at me. Piper, the youngest, whined and tugged on her mother's faded skirt. That whine caused an instant uproar from the Miller kids. Ralph was asking his mother why he couldn't wear his Giants hat, Jenni was fussing over Ramona's frizzy braids, and Otis was rubbing dirt on his face.

After we went through the introductions, I lead the rambunctious family to the backdrop (a few pine trees). After much correcting kids' form and a lot of shuffling around and pushing, the Millers were ready. "Okay, everyone! Say cheese!" Those are the most regretted words of my life. There was  havoc among the Millers once the dreaded word "cheese" unfortunately escaped my mouth. It started when Ramona Miller said "Can we say pepperoni? 'Cause I hate cheese,"  "You don't like cheese?!" Ramona's brother Percy shrieked. "I hate cheethe too!!" Piper yelled. "I'M YELLING TOO!" Otis shouted. "Great, now I want pizza.'' 

"Mom, can we get pizza after this?" Percy pleaded. "ALL RIGHT! PIZZA!" Ramona yelled, forgetting her disliking of cheese. "I thought you didn't like cheese?" Georgie asked. "I don't like cheese, I like pizza with parmesan on top,'' answered Ramona. Yells of ''doofus'' and "Dude, they're the same thing!" were heard among them. "Ramona's a DUDETTE!" yelled Jenni. "KIDS!!!!" Mr. Miller yelled. Ramona, as if she hadn't been causing havoc in everyone's lives, sat on the grass all wide-eyed and innocent-looking. Mike and Jenni and Mr. and Mrs. Miller finally got everyone settled down. 

Or, at least I THOUGHT everyone had settled down. Everything got chaotic again when Mike Miller sneezed. "You THNEETHED on me, Mike!" Piper shrieked, speaking with a lisp because of missing front teeth. "Ew. Piper, don't wipe Mike mucus on me!" Otis said loudly. Georgie, Percy, and Jenni stifled laughs while Ramona didn't bother to try and hold back her laughter. Mrs. Miller idly smoothed her hair. I stood there in the midst of everything, wondering if the kids (at least Ramona) would get punished. Now was the perfect time to use my secret whistling skill.

"FEWEEEETTTT!!!!!" I whistled. The Millers looked at me like, you're spoiling our cheese argument. "Okay. Everyone say ch-er, pepperoni!" I raised my forgotten camera when Percy yelled, just to cause more mayhem, "PEPPERONI STINKS!!!!!" "But Perthy, yethterday you thaid pepperoni wath your favorite food!" Piper objected. Leave it to the five-year-old to call him out. Percy's face went slack at this. "That's it. I'm done with this family,'' he said. "Me too!" Ramona said decidedly. The rebels stormed out of the picture.