Grace's First (paid) Modeling Gig...

A few months ago, Grace and I were approached while we shopped at Sam's Club. A very nice lady told me how beautiful Grace was, and mentioned that her modeling agency is always looking for children to be photographed for print and television ads.  Hmmm...my skeptical self sort of thought...creepy.  Well, after talking with the lady for a few minutes, she asked me if Grace was from Ethiopia.  She explained that one of her best friends also adopted from Ethiopia.  Turns out I knew the person she was referring to.  The whole "modeling agency" thing started to seem more ligit and I took her card.  I knew why we were approached.  Grace is adorable, but she is also diverse for the area we live.  It got me thinking...we should see diversity in magazines, advertisements, etc.  I thought about it for a couple of weeks (i.e. forgot about it), and then came across the business card that we had been given.  I called the agency, had an appointment with the owner.  She met Grace and said she would love to have her as a "client."  We hadn't heard from the agency for awhile, and then we got a call to see if Grace was available to model for a Christmas toy catalog.  Mill's Fleet Farm (a store where you can buy anything for fishing, hunting, home improvement, housewares, etc.) has a huge toy department for the holidays.  They call it Toyland, and they send out catalogs with all sorts of Christmas toys featured.  The stores are located in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and North Dakota.  

Well, to make a long story short, Grace was given an opportunity to model for the toy catalog.  She did a great job.  I couldn't watch (I'm sure they don't want crazy stage moms around), so I had no idea what she looked like or how she posed.  Turned out, she was a natural.  The whole thing took a matter of minutes.   I think we spent more money on gas to drive to the job than she was paid, but she is proud.  Our catalog came in the mail last weekend (I still had no idea when it would be published, etc.).  Grace was fine with it.  No big deal. At school on Monday morning, a few people told Grace they saw her in the catalog and she thought that was pretty neat.  One person asked for her autograph.  So...with that, Grace has had her official "15 minutes of fame."