I begged my friend Staci to guest blog for me. I knew if she could put her infamous "Mandatory Happiness Day" into words it would be hysterical. She did not disappoint, this is for every mom that has ever tried to wrangle a family for a Christmas picture.
I laughed so hard, I downloaded the pics, blog and posted it straight away! Thank you Foxy Momma for the great post.
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Mandatory Happiness
Oh, if only such a thing existed!
Mandatory Happiness Day for the Fox Family is usually held the Sunday following Thanksgiving. It's a special, special day, we as a family "enjoy" as we try to capture one special moment of togetherness.
It started several years ago when my big girls were about 1 and 3 (now the big girls are 17 and almost 15). If getting two little girls (and a dog once) to be happy or at least look happy, try adding three more girls and mom and dad!
The first few Mandatory Happiness Days were all about matching outfits and coordinated colors. As our family grew it was more about just keeping everyone in once spot for a few minutes and the baby keeping her clothes on....that's all I want! Focus people. Focus!
Over the years we've had a few tears on Mandatory Happiness Day. Ya, they had the audacity to cry on my picture day. We've had smirks, frowns, sticking tongues, and even sucking thumbs. It's all the excitement you can imagine wrangling 5 independent girls for a few minutes. And, you would think that it would get easier the older they got. Wrong! That just means more opinions to deal with. The topper of it all is my dear husband. He doesn't like his picture taken but does indulge me this one time a year.
You can say that Mandatory Happiness Day has become a Fox holiday tradition. Even with all my fuss, I love it. Here are some pictures that didn't quite make the cut this year:
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