Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Say CHEESE!



We didn't actually say CHEESE... we said, fart, poop, farty poop.... anything to get J's attention and keep him smiling.

Seriously, getting family pictures done (in our house anyway) is kind of like going for a yearly physical.... you know it's a good idea... but just would prefer to skip it.

Ha ha ha.. it's not that bad.  But its seriously not fun for our family.

I stress about what to wear.
I end up at winners looking for a certain colour to "coordinate without matching."
I get mad that I went to Winners where that perfect item only comes in 2 sizes, neither of which will fit the kid I happen to be shopping for.
I pack extra things "just in case" and never don't usually need them. (After the mud puddle incident of 2010 you just never know.)
We expect the older boys to be easy and helpful... but that doesn't usually happen.
I overanalyze every detail and make myself crazy..... as if I wasn't already.
I buy gummy bears to trade for smiles, knowing that it's not an effective parenting strategy, and praying that just for today it'll work.

Then, the event comes and I just feel stressed.  I panic about what happens if when J is difficult... and L runs away.  It feels unnatural, but we're just trying to look natural.... but there is nothing "day-to-day-we-do-this-all-the-time" about cuddling up on shipping pallets and smiling.

You know what...

Its. Totally. Worth. It.

The end result is always magical.  I always feel like it was money well spent.  And I'm always glad that I endured the event to capture our crazy family in that sliver of time.  It's nice to hang an image on the wall that captures the essence of US and reminds us why slug it out in the trenches of parenthood day after day.

Its. Totally. Worth. It.

I'll post a few pictures when they come back... I'm excited to see what she was able to capture in between toddler run aways, kindergarten control freaks and teenage drama McQueens.