Fight to the finish!

Have you ever felt like it wasn't meant for you to do something? I have just about decided that about my Christmas cards this year! After Christmas last year, I thought I would be smart and get ahead by purchasing all my boys red sweater vests. They were on clearance, which is my favorite word! I really thought by getting them early all I had to do was get the girls a couple of sweaters and life would be great! Well, sometimes I am really wrong. This would be one of those times. I have gone to what feels like 500 stores looking for something identical in both girls sizes yet to no avail. (They are size 6X and 7). Finally on Monday, I found the cutest little dresses for my girls at the Gap. How precious. I tried them on the girls and I just wanted to eat them they looked so cute! The dresses were knit green and white striped and I monogrammed them in red! Doesn't that sound scrumptious. So, I started laying all the clothes out on Tuesday after the kids went to school. When I picked up Ben's sweater, it had something on it. No big deal. I put it in the wash. Everything was organized and ready to go. When I pulled the sweater out of the wash, the stain did not come out. Have I mentioned that the boys are in to EVERYTHING? Guess what was on the sweater? Desitin. Have you ever tried to get Desitin out of a sweater? Let's just say I wasn't singing praise hymns while attempting to get it out! So, after much scrubbing and no luck, I called Pfizer (the manufacturer of Desitin). Guess what. They do not have any suggestions on what takes Desitin out of clothes. I thanked the customer service representative for at least attempting to get that information for me and went back to scrubbing! At this point I am getting desperate. All of a sudden, a light bulb flashed in my head. My last hope...Goo Gone. IT WORKED! Yeah. So the problem of the girl's outfit and the mystery stain have been solved. As soon as the kids got home, I started shouting orders. You get dressed. You, let me fix your hair. Don't touch that bow. Pull down your turtleneck. Ben and Will, come here and let me put on your shoes. Ty, help me! KK and MiMi, don't wad up your dress. Will and Ben, I said come here! Etc, etc, etc. We finally make it to the car. Half of the battle over, I drive to the Collierville Square. We get out and I am getting excited. I see a picture in sight. One thing I have learned over the years, many pictures are needed when you have a family this size. So, I am ready for this. I pull out the camera and shout a few more marching orders! I can do this! I get the kids posed and take the first two pictures. You won't believe this. My camera totally dies. I try to get at least one more shot. It works. Then, I realize my camera has died and resusitation is not in sight. I can't believe this. I take all the kids home and immediately plug in the camera. We are home long enough to watch an episode of Diego and we are off again. This time we meet with success. I got the shot! YEAH. But, it sure seems like it has been a fight to the finish. I think I will purchase everyones outfits for next year when Christmas is over this year. Also, if you get a Christmas card from me this year, realize that there has been alot of work in that little card. Post it somewhere. It will make me feel better.