Yes, it’s Me…Monday

It’s Monday.  And this is my life!  While “Not Me, Monday is incredibly fun, It takes too much mental energy to turn it around some days!! 

Kiahna and I are snuggled up in our lazy boy chair, with my new lap top as I type this morning!!  We are both loving this!  She likes to sit on my lap while I work at the computer, so this makes her smile this morning for sure!!

I am so thankful for my parents helping me out and getting me this new computer.  The old computer is back in the house too.  It has a new/used hard drive installed and will work great for the kids to use! 

The old computer was built in 2001.  It is not equipped to run photo editing programs & deal with large photo files.  The difference in the speed of this new computer is mind boggling!!  I am so impressed, and while it is NOT a Ma*c as many have expressed I should have purchased, it is a De*ll.  And I love it!! 

The photography business is busy!  I have lots of pictures to edit from shoots I did while I didn’t have a computer.  I have posted some new photos on my photo blog, and will be adding more throughout the week as I get them edited! 

I have two more shoots this weekend & a few more pending appointments! 

The weather today tells me that fall is coming and it is going to become more difficult to find beautiful days to take outdoor photos.  I have NO IDEA what I am going to do when I can’t take outdoor photos.  But, since it’s God business, I guess He will have to show me!!

I do find the need to find better balance of my time.  It was hard not to play with my new computer this weekend while the kids were home, since I just picked it up on Friday afternoon.  In the future I hope to spend my weekends on the computer less, and just taking the photos as needed. 

The other thing I am finding is that working on photos until late in the night, after the kids are in bed, does not leave me very relaxed when I try to fall asleep.  I have a hard time shutting down my brain.  Last night, after working until 11, I laid in bed unable to sleep.  Finally getting up and making some tea & praying for awhile & then falling asleep after midnight.  Not ideal for 6 am wake up.

Searching for God’s balance in this new venture!  His ways.  His plans.  His vision.  Show me the way!

JAMES, got accepted to his first college!!!!  We are very hopeful that it will work out for him to go to And*erson U in the fall of 2010.  We are still working on what plan “B” will be, if financial aid doesn’t come through for AU. 

Meanwhile, he is very much enjoying his Senior Year of High School.  Enjoying his work on the school newspaper.  Doing some photography for the yearbook/newspaper.  Playing lots of Football, no catches this week left him feeling pretty bummed on Friday evening.  We lost too.  It was not a good time.

Someone gave me this picture of one of his catches from another game…

Pretty cool shot! 

I took him and 2 of his friends out for a senior picture photo shoot this weekend!  They are hilarious…

ZACH got his drivers permit last week!!!!  I am thankful to have been through this before & to find myself not quite as stressed out about it!  Although, this child is much different than his brother, and I hate to think a bit more confident & sure of his “ability”.  Fun, fun!

In Zach’s game last week he laid on the ground for awhile holding his leg… really scared me….

It is a horrible, horrible feeling to see any player on the field unable to get up.

Turned out he had been stepped on & it "hit in a tendon” causing the pain.  He didn’t play much the rest of the game, but he did get in some.  Enough to make a TD, but then have it called back on a penalty… blah!  Wasn’t his night!

This picture is hilarious!  Not that he got tackled of course, but their legs!  Maybe I could win something with this!!  LOL!!

LEAH, oh Leah… 12 is so much fun… I can feel myself getting dumber by the day… today she wore a shirt that she pulled out of the dryer, wet.  I had just put in in there 15 minutes ago.  She insisted that “it was the only thing that matched”  uhg, uhg, uhg…

Growing pains.

Cheerleading seems to be going well.  She is making some new friends, learning a lot. 

I helped & chaperoned at a middle school dance awhile back.  The cheerleaders were the ones sponsoring the dance.  So, I was in the kitchen selling food, along with the cheerleaders rotating in and out.  My girl always seemed to want to help out in the kitchen during the slow songs (which was fine with some of the other girls!)  She was avoiding being asked to dance!  So cute!  I am just fine with that!!  I am sure that line of thinking is limited in it’s days!

LUCAS is doing well!  Playing soccer, playing with friends, working hard at school.  Struggling with spelling words… he would love to get his hands on “whoever came up with how to spell these words!”

JADON is doing pretty well too.  Kindergarten is going pretty good. His mid-term came home looking positive.  I have been in his classroom volunteering once a week and he is very happy & has lots of friends.

He has had a few (3 last week) of peeing in his pants at school.  I don’t get it.  We do have an appointment with a specialist that our pediatrician set up from last summer’s appt.  That isn’t until November though. I know that sometimes kids pee their pants because of emotional things.  I don’t know if this is the problem and we should be pursuing more counseling?  If any physical problems are ruled out and the issue continues we will have to start counseling again.

He is upset because I threw away his old shoes!  The bottoms were 1/2 of and there is a hole in the toe.  He loves them so much because they are velcro & his new ones are tie.  Velcro seems harder to find and more expensive this year, anyone notice that?  I just couldn’t pay that much for his shoes.  I have found him 2 pair of used shoes & he still wont be in the tie ones… anyone want a nice pair of size one boys shoes.  worn once?  sigh….

My dad told me about something Jadon told him a few weeks ago.  They were eating some candy and my dad picked up a candy, pretended to read it, and said, “this one says, give me to grandpa”.  Jadon picked up another one, pretended to read it, and serious as ever said, “this one says, give it back.”

He is a never ending adventure!

KIAHNA is going to 3 days of preschool now!!  Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday!  Very exciting!  I don’t think that things are going perfect with her at school, but they are going better as far as I know. 

The school is helping break her finger sucking habit.  (and I am thinking after what we have been through who cares!!!) but they don’t want her to suck them, germs ya know, so we are trying to help her stop so she doesn’t get in trouble for it at school.

I took her shopping last week!  We had fun shopping for cute bargains!  I love finding things on the clearance rack & at lightly used shops!!   I really love it when the two work together!  Like this jacket I got at Once Upon a Child (used clothes) and this dress I got on the clearance rack at gap! 

I was also loving the prices at TCP!

We had our own little fashion show when we got home!  (see the tag sticking out of that last one!)

It was fun to go shopping with her, have lunch, lunch conversation!  Like, “Mommy?  If I was candy, would you eat me?” 

We have been having many interesting conversation about babies lately too.  She spent some time with friends who are expecting a baby in December.  She informed me when she got home that “sometimes the baby kicks!”  And she wanted to know if she could have a baby in her tummy & if it could kick her?

Kiahna is trying to figure this all out in her own Kiahna way… sometimes it is quite interesting, uncomfortable, & embarrassing!  Trying to sort out adoption & birth & mommies.  She has been asking people with babies “did that baby come out of your tummy?”  and “who’s tummy did that baby come out of?”  my favorite is the one she said, “who grew him?”.

How’s that for a nice long Monday update!  Our week is full of more football & more photos, and of course the usual laundry, cleaning, cooking…

A reminder that in celebration of ONE YEAR of posting “Gonna Miss This… Moments”, I am giving away a prize if you play along this time!  You have all week to get a post written and link it up with mine!   So go write YOUR Gonna Miss This… Moment!!

Pam