We all still like one another!

Family Pictures. Never have there been two words that could bring such joy while also bringing so much heartache. Lets begin two weeks out from family beach vacation 2009. I get the genius idea to make my girls dresses for our family pictures this year. Why you ask? Well, several reasons. First, I get very tired of once a year paying ridiculous prices for dresses that I am always certain I can make myself anyways. Secondly, I have a good friend who makes her girls clothing like it's her job, and she promised me it would be easy. Thirdly, I could envision looking back one day at this years family portrait and smiling at the fact that I made those dresses for my girls.

Now that we are on the other side of this adventure, I have to believe that all of those lies I just wrote above must be from the devil. Each dress took about 10 hours to make. If you subtract the cost of fabric and the gas I burned going to and from JoAnn Fabrics 75 times, I am certain buying them would have been more affordable. Also, they were not easy. Patterns are my worst nightmare. I do big picture, its okay if its a little messy kind of work...NOT pattern following. Lastly, I am fairly certain that I will remember the hours of late night sewing before I will remember the charming look of the dresses on my children....but I am holding out that this last one isn't true. Now add into the mix that my sister is the photographer and you have a recipe for some awesome entertainment.

Bless my sister's heart, she is a good sport for sure. Everyone in the family wants their own individual family picture, then one with just the kids, then just the spouses...and oh by the way, we only have about an hour to accomplish all this because of the sun issue. Oh and one more thing, we are not going to pay you a dime for this. Bless her, she is without a doubt storing up treasures in heaven! You know its going to be fun when as you are walking to the beach your six year old is crying that she doesn't want to smile because her "teeth are crooked", your 4 year old is crying because her "eyeballs are sunburned", your 8 month old is crying because he is cutting four teeth, and your photographer is lecturing your children and your husband on how their attitudes better be good ones.

Though there was a little bit of torture, there was a whole lot of laughing and we did indeed endure. I think I actually got three children to look at a camera and smile. The sun set perfectly in the background and we all walked back up to the beach house still liking one another.