Well, today was our first and hopefully "my" last modeling photo shoot. The company I work for is redesigning the website and will incorporate pictures of people in different settings each season or event throughout the year. So, they enlisted the associates and their families for the shoot. Hannah, Seth and myself were scheduled for the St. Patrick's Day, Back to School, and the Fall season shoot. I will try and paint you a mental picture of how it went. Please keep your outbursts of laughter to a minimum.
This morning Hannah was excited about being "checked out" of school early since this was a first without her being sick and of course Seth didn't know what he was in for yet. So began my tug of war to get everything ready for the shoot. First off to Target to buy a green shirt for Seth which was a feat inside itself since he had no intention of going anywhere while Scooby-Doo was on. So of course I had to bribe him with a popcorn and lemonade as soon as we walked in the doors (sugar #1). Once that was taken care of it was on to the library to return some books and pick up some more. While looking for some books that Hannah had requested I look up and Seth is running full blast on top of the bench that runs the entire length of one wall at the library while squealing and chasing a little girl. Who saw that coming? I cut my search short and tried to leave as fast as I could before we were escorted out, but Seth ran into the Clifford Doghouse and would not come out. With all eyes focused on me I decided to go for bribe number two. A sucker waiting in the car for him(sugar #2).
Once home all he would eat for lunch was cheese which did nothing to counteract the sugar but filled him up enough for a short nap which I hoped would help us at the photo shoot. Once he was up though I could tell it did nothing but give him an additional burst of pure 3 year old energy. I thought I was doing good to have us all dressed in our green when we got to the studio since changing clothes is not Seth's cup of tea however, as soon as we crossed the threshold they informed us that they had gotten ahead of schedule and didn't need us in green, so could we please change our clothes? This is where I realize it is going down hill.
I was finally able to coerce Seth into changing his clothes. If only he was excited as Hannah about getting his picture made! Then we had to wait around until everyone else was ready and we all had our makeup on. Hannah thought it was just fabulous that she got to wear lipstick. While waiting I tried to keep her occupied with homework and Seth with cars. Bad idea..... Hannah couldn't concentrate for all of the buzzing activity around her and Seth began catapulting his cars across the studio under every ones feet. So up went the cars and out came the picture books. I thought I had tried to come somewhat prepared for a wait but there were just too many new things to see and climb. You get the picture.
Finally we were ready to get in front of the camera. They had props set up for a backyard barbecue complete with grill, glasses of orange punch, and a table full of cookies and a very unsteady punch bowl. They wanted Seth to sit by Hannah at the punch bowl table because the "just loved" the yellow color of his sweater by her brown shirt. I had to remind them he was 3 and not very likely to sit still and they could count on punch flying everywhere. So they had to improvise and asked me to hold him.
Let me first explain why this was not such a great idea. I have been working in the yard redoing our landscape the past two weeks which included transplanting some very large bushes. I woke up Sunday morning and could not move my neck and yesterday it hurt even worse. I had Todd put the menthol muscle patches on half of my back all the way up to the top of my neck last night and felt somewhat better today. So I thought it would be okay to hold Seth for a short time while they snap a few shots should be fine. However, I never thought it would be for 45 minutes.
There were about 16 people in this particular shot and I guess Seth got the shy bug while Hannah had to be by all the boys. I later found out that she got on to them because they kept burping and told them how disgusting it was. Good for her! I had to bribe Seth to look at me by giving him Teddy Grahams (sugar #3) while I pretended to talk to someone else. This lasted though the first 20 minutes and of course all the Teddy Grahams were gone and my neck was killing me. I just wanted to get out of there and obviously Seth did too because he began telling me he wanted to go home quite loudly. So what did they do? Gave him a cookie with raisins in it (sugar #4). Are you guys getting a picture of this yet? Seth and sugar does not mix well.
While shooting the last shot I was frantically trying to keep up with all the soggy raisins that Seth was spitting out while trying to get him to look up at the ceiling. We were supposed to pretend to be watching a fireworks show. That went over like a ton of rocks after the first 2 minutes. After that he was trying to climb down a hole in the floor that they use as some sort of prop. He was looking for a treasure chest. The sugar was really kicking in.
I think we were all glad to get home and the first thing I told the kids when they opened the car door was to go outside and RUN! Of course I was hoping to burn off all that sugar. It must have worked because they are both fast asleep. "Thank you Lord"
I don't know if any of the shots will turn out okay and actually be used. I guess we will have to wait until fall to see if they show up on the website but I am glad it is over. Hope you enjoyed our picture perfect adventure. I am off to get menthol pads slapped all over my back and I am praying I will be able to move in the morning.
