against all odds

Today is picture day at school for the girls. I could have sworn that we just had picture day, but I guess that's the new thing at schools -- multiple picture days so you can have even more crappy pictures of your kids with bizarre backgrounds. Anyway, for this picture day they are specifically shooting the girls together. And since it's been over a year since I've braved a professional photography establishment, I figured I give it my best shot in getting a decent picture from this.

So, the girls today are wearing matching dresses, pink tights, their new Easter shoes (thanks, Grandmom! They'll look much better than their Crocs!) and barrettes in their hair. Luckily, I was in charge of drop-off this morning, so their hair looks slightly more presentable than when my better half drops them off (i.e., brushing is not optional on my watch). And I even had the girls practice smiling on the way to school.

But still, I'm not to hopeful that this is going to work out.

1. The top button on E's dress keeps popping open. So, if no one notices she could be sporting a deep V-neck dress a la JLo at the Grammies.
   
2. E also likes to reposition her hair clip. It's never a good thing when she does this.
   
3. Despite my best efforts to counteract it, both girls had massive cases of bed head this morning. So you never know what it's going to look like by the shoot.
   
4. You know how we practiced smiling in the car? We live 2 minutes from school. Perhaps it would have been helpful if we lived a bit further away...like Timbuktu.
   

I believe that there's an online ordering component to the school pictures...so if there is I'll let you know how it went. But I wouldn't get too excited or anything. I'm certainly not.

Of course, if my friend Steel Magnolia would ever get her heiny back to the area and take pictures of my kiddos (as I've been begging her to do), then this would be a moot point. What do you say, SM? A little road trip in your future?!?!?