The EPIC FAIL "free" photo

When Erika was just over a year, we decided to get professional photos done.  Knowing no better, we went to Sears and spent a fortune on many, many photos that we distributed to everyone that would take one.  :)  It was a pretty good experience and we got some cute shots.  Well, as you parents know, the Sears people keep the suckers names and call frequently on milestones (birthday, Christmas, etc) to see if you want to come in for a "free" 10x13 portrait of your child, no purchase required. 
Well, this time I bought it.  I KNEW that they would try and convince me to purchase the collage, the CD of proofs, the mountain of pictures to distribute to everyone I know.  Little did I know what a painful process it would be. 
They sent in a rookie to take the photos.  A ROOKIE.  With a 3 year old.  Seriously.  Like, c'mon Sears, try the rookie with the compliant 6 year old, or the baby that has no choice but to lie there and look cute.  Is it really a wise choice to cut the rookie's teeth with the contrary 3 year old that I had to bribe just to put pony tails in her hair???
We had a window of maybe 7 minutes of tolerance from my daughter, who fed off the nervous energy of the rookie.  The rookie had 3 pages of written poses that she wanted Erika to do, all on a plain white background with no props.  Where was the trained professional to suggest a matching background, or a fun prop that will please my child (and myself) and make her smile?  Yikes.  No, the rookie had her awkwardly pull out her skirt (when there was no skirt to "curtsy" with), or lie on her back with her arms crossed behind her head.  Oh boy.  I saw meltdown imminent.  Trying to salvage at least 1 pose I would want for my "free" one, I strongly suggested we pull down the large foam "3" from the shelf.  After much convincing, she pulled it down so we got a shot that I could live with. I tried to find a suitable background to match the colors Erika was wearing, and the rookie pulled out many rolls of backgrounds that either clashed or were so ugly I had flashbacks of old school photos, so I left the background white.  I think I got my shot...*sigh*
I mean, lifetouch, who take school photos can just project a color on the background without pulling out a massive roll that is similar to laying wallpaper.  Really, Sears?  Really?
The rookie even left the room 2ce to ask her "boss" if she could use props, or how to use a certain type of curtain background. Not once did this "boss" come into the studio to assist, or alleviate my concerns.  This is not leadership, or educating your staff.  This is letting them sink or swim, and let me tell you, she sank.
In any case, after the painful shoot where I had promise Erika many boons to stay and have her photo taken, exit stage left of the rookie. Enter the allusive "boss" to try to sell me the $349.99 package. Ummm, no, thanks.  :/  She went through her sales pitch with an efficiency that only comes with committing it to memory whilst I placated my Erika with a tootsie pop and miles of praise about what a good job she did.  *sigh*  She let me choose from the 1st 3 poses for my "free" portrait, even though one of the poses were fuzzy.  I asked for an alternate shot to choose from since the fuzzy one wasn't up to standards, and she reluctantly let me choose the 4th one.
I did, however, get out of this experience some Christmas card inserts to send to family this year from one of the few cute shots that the rookie got.  Worth it?  I'm not sure yet. 

Next time, should I ever feel the urge to get professional photos taken again, I'll be exploring other options and will not be tempted by the "free" portrait.

Note:  Jessica, "the rookie", was very nice and I'm sure has much talent for photography.  In this case, however, just did not suit my needs.  :)

"My house so beautiful" -Erika

Right on schedule (that is, after Remembrance Day) the house is lit up!  Every year we end up purchasing something new for the exterior of the house. This year, Rick decided to go with the "icicle" lights around the roof line. We've always had strings of lights around there, but are not the type of people to anchor every light so that it's perfectly straight.  Because we have such, ummm, perfectionist neighbours that do just that, our end result is less than impressive compared to theirs.

This is Stan's house, across the street from ours.  Hard to see from so far away, but every little soldier light is perfectly in line, all facing up.  Stan gets on his roof about mid-October to ensure this result.  Dave's, house next to us, is the same.  Not happening at our place.
I think the end result this year is beautiful, and most importantly, Erika agrees. 

The poles we wrapped candy-cane style, and the icicle multi-colored lights work for the roof line. 

(Don't you love the illuminated snow in this picture? Lovely.)

This was my choice this year.  I love these sparkly cones for the front of the house.  I like the different height cluster of them.  There seems to be a trend every year (last year I saw so many lit up candy canes) and this year I'm seeing a lot of groups of 3 branch-like lit up sticks in multi-colored, all blue or all white.  I liked that idea too, but hate to go with the masses sometimes.  These seemed a little different.

  As I said, most importantly, Erika said her house looked "so beautiful".  :)

Three, and as cute as can be!

Yup, my little one is three.  We had a small family party yesterday for Erika, and she was so excited! It was so much work to get it all together (as parties usually are) but so very much worth it.  :)

Rick's employee did the balloons for Erika again this year, and they were beautiful.  We didn't do a character theme, but rather a pink-orange-white color theme. He did a special centerpiece balloon especially for Erika, and made the house look so very festive!!

 Doesn't she look like a little girl!?!! Crazy!  :/ Susan made all of the decorations, goody bags and invitations.  Crafty scrapbooker as she is, they also turned out so well!  :)  All these little extras made the day so fun. 

Blowing out our candles.  I know I put one extra than I should have, but I wanted to give her more to work for!  :) She did quite have the wind power to extinguish the candles...so Daddy unknowing to Erika had to assist.  :)  She loved the experience. 

She carefully opened all of her gifts- so slowly I had to assist at times.  :)

She was so happy to get this package, after I told her it was labelled from Owen, my parent's dog.  :)  He didn't come to the party (too many people), and Erika was a little upset.  She brightened up thinking he gave her a present.  Oh, 3 year olds.  :)

Loving all of her gifts!  These crayons by Melissa and Doug ROCK.

Oh-so-tired little birthday girlie. 

It was a really good time.  Erika was a great little hostess, and shared all of her toys.  :)  She had so much fun showing off her new bed to all of her cousins and they played in her room very well together.  What a great day....Happy birthday to my little girlie, you make life so special for your Daddy and I.  She steals my heart daily.

The light at the end of the tunnel. No, it's not a train.

Yup...I seeeeee it!  CAP completed, reading assessments finished, reports written, just have parent-teacher conferences to go.  I can handle that.
To lighten the already bright light, Rick and I have booked a trip away to the States for just the 2 of us.  This will be the 1st time leaving Erika for a night, let alone 2, but she'll be with my mother and father whom she adores (and Owen, a dog she would happily spend every minute with).  I'm sure I will have much angst between now and then about leaving my little girlie behind, but I am sooooooo excited to have alone time with Ricky. A little time to recharge will do wonders!  I'm using a just-contractually-awarded personal day, so this 3 day weekend is going to be great.
In other news....
Erika's turning 3 in 3 days.  That's CRAZY. She's not so little anymore; I know everyone says this but I really have no idea where the time went.  The small family party will be on Friday; (despite being small, it's so much planning!!) be expected to be inundated with birthday photos of my soon-to-be 3 year old.  Consider yourselves warned.  :D  

I have a problem; Gymboree.

I have a problem.  Really.  I am completely addicted to buying clothes for my daughter.  :(  If all of these clothes came from a reasonable source, it wouldn't be so bad.  The problem is that all the clothes I enjoy buying come from Gymboree. 
Now, for those not familiar, Gymboree is a very nice place to buy kid's clothes.  It is also not on the cheap end at all.  They are so sneaky there; their designs are embroidered pieces of art, all sneakily coordinating to a certain line so that you must buy matching pieces for the look to be complete. (I KNOW I've lost most of you by now).  You should see her when completely decked out in her Gymboree; it's quite height of adorableness. :D

www.gymboree.com

Now, I'm not completely insane about this.  I don't buy something every time I go in; I RARELY pay full price, and I do a lot of second-hand shopping of Gymboree clothes to get those complete outfits.  I also sell Erika's clothes once she outgrows them; that's another great thing about the brand; it rarely shows wash wear and stains are fairly easily removed.  They are an easy sell, and I can recuperate a bit of the investment.  (Just to turn around and buy more, that is!)
Yet, I admit that I spend significantly more money on my daughter's wardrobe than I do my own, and I often know what she's wearing for a special event WAY before I have even considered what I am going to wear. 
It makes me so happy, though.  :/ Today, for example, that tempting store had a 30% off everything sale, and I scored 3 pairs of pants, 2 tops and a sweater dress all for under $55.  (And... I earned a coupon to save 50% off a $50 purchase down the line- known as a GYMBUCK.) I was soooooo happy with the purchases.  The trick is to shop the older lines; you just need patience to wait until they're on sale...

Now you know.  Feel free to judge me.  I just know it will be a very sad day when Erika insists on choosing her own clothes.