Another Picture Day!

So life would have it, school starts and it is by far-the busiest time of the year. It totally catches me off guard. I think that I am always messing up, forgetting something, or not paying for a HUGE ground breaking make or break scholastic event. Thus far-all three weeks, mind you, of school..this mom has been on the ball. I credit that to the fact that I have been so overwhelmed with to do's and must remembers that I have not screwed anything up yet.

This mommy has been to various health care facilities, overseeing care, buying school supplies, procuring new clothes, cleaning house (and by cleaning house-I mean throwing away junk from the kids room) There are so, so many things that must happen when the kids start school. I am so good that I have started going to the GYM! That is right- THE GYM! Can I just say, I am on the BALL!

So that brings us to the point of this post: the Gym call. Melissa (my BFF) called this morning to tell me that our workout was canceled. Not a problem with me! My legs are pissed at the 40+ squats we did yesterday. I digress....when speaking with M, she asks: "Are the boys freaked about school pictures today?"

WHAT? You mean that reminder that was sent home with both of the kids was not a joke? You mean that even though I am related (thru marriage) to the person who shoots the pictures, he is going to work with my kids at their school TODAY? Is it really 7:20am and I have convince John that an undershirt is not suitable for picture day? Oh the worry!

So I get off the phone (sorry M for hanging up on you) yell at the kids to meet me at Ethan's closet. When we convening at the closet for shall we say for the "clothing classic." I pull out two shirts making sure that they are not the same collared shirts that they wore last year. (that is how many we own) I pull them over the kids heads. Tell them to them meet me in my bathroom because you know my kids do not have a hairbrush in their bathroom. We do good to have toothbrushes in their bath. I brush their hair and tell them to finish up and meet me in the kitchen and we will leave.

I do not pay attention as to how much time has past ....until I smell them! That is correct, since and because they are 1-in a collared shirt and 2- because I put them in said shirt they are now "dressed up." Meaning we get in dad's cologne. And by get into, I mean spray at least 18 squirts on our little bodies. WOW! Then I let my eyes travel up their little bodies ( I was looking for a wet spot from the cologne-serious that bad) and see BAM! HAIR GEL! They literally look like they got out of the shower and the only part of their bodies that got wet was their head. I move closer to inspect and it is stiff and hard! Stiff hair on picture day!

BACK TO THE BATHROOM~ I yell! Now it is 7:28! School starts in 17 minutes! I comb their stiff headwear until it looks picturable. OK Load up in the car and let's go. I mess with the dog trying to get her to go to school with us. She will not enter the car. That is odd, she is always ready to GO-anywhere. I put her back in the house and enter the car. NO wonder why she will not get in the car. It smells like a car full of teenage boys that will not take a shower but will instead wear cologne. I roll down the windows tell the kids ONE squirt-thinking that their poor teachers, classmates and how lucky I am that by the time they get home they will be SO over the collared shirts that they will rip them off and I will be cologne free for the evening.

I have a school picture block. Every year I mess up this day. I will not let them take re-takes for fear that they will be even worse than the original and then I will be stuck. So I keep the first shot because who said school pictures had to be good pictures? Who said you had to NOT look like a homeless person? Not this mommy! These should be really good--

I tried!