May 9, 2006

Hey everyone,

I wrote a longish email last night, but then didn't send it because it was just too whiny!! LOL
Things are just fine around here, and as of last Friday I am back down to 3 kids. I'm so glad I was able to help my friend, I think the weeks we had her kids here helped her quite a bit. She seems to have turned a corner with her sickness, and her kids never came down with chicken pox, so all is well. And I'm also glad to have only 3 kids again!

Last weekend we went up to Daytona Beach where Ben had a convention. We stayed in the Hilton hotel right on the beach, and we even had a room with a balcony overlooking the ocean! It was really fun. The boys and I hung out at the pool and the beach while Ben was at his meetings, and then on Sunday we drove across the state through Ocala National Forest (BEAUTIFUL), went to church in Ocala (Ben and I want to move there if we are ever looking for a place to move), went on a hike through the Withlacoochee (sp?) State Forest, ate dinner on the beach in Brooksville, and then drove down through Tampa and home. We got home at about 12:30 AM and I was tiiiired. Lots of driving. But I was greeted by the most wonderful thing! I asked the Pratt girls to come over and take our dog out a couple of times while we were gone, and they took it upon themselves to clean my house while they were at it! They folded my laundry and everything. I was so touched.

While we were driving down towards Brooksville, we drove through lots of forested areas and the boys searched for animals. Their imaginations went a bit wild and Joseph was sure he saw an Ostrich and a Python, while Brigham told us he saw bear poop which must mean there were bears in the area. We did actually see a mother racoon run across the road with her 3 baby racoons in tow, and we saw plenty of bugs and birds on our hike. And at the beach in Daytona we watched a couple of dolphins playing around in the water just a few dozen yards off the shore. So it was definitely a success as far as my animal-loving boys were concerned.

Yesterday was back to real life with school and errands and other fun stuff. We made cookies for the Pratts and dropped them off, and then to the dollar store where the boys picked out prizes (ostensibly for being good in the car over the weekend, which they were, but mostly just because there wasn't much chance of me getting out of the store without getting them something... good thing it was the dollar store). They are nice boys, though, and kept picking out things they wanted to buy for each other or for their friends at school or for Madison Curtis, the only baby they know real well right now.

Today was Kindergarten roundup at Embassy Creek Elementary, where the boys will go next year. We went and enjoyed a little show from the current Kindergarten class, and then got a tour of the school and heard presentations by the guidance counselor, PTA president, and Kindergarten chairperson. I'm overall quite pleased with how things appear to be done at that school, and I think the boys are excited too. They did see 2 other kids that they know who will be in their K class, and that made them feel much better. I've been debating whether to put them in the same class or different classes (school lets me choose), and I'm thinking different classes. I'm hoping if they are in different classes they will be happier to see each other after school and will play better and fight less. I hope also that they won't be so competitive with each other (this is a bit of a problem now) if they are not in the same class. Still, it is hard for me to think about separating them when they've been together their whole lives.

I have actually debated quite a bit about even sending them to K, as I still plan to homeschool for most of their pre-college education. Part of my decision to send them to K is simply based on my health. I'm really hoping things will stabilize for me over the next year so that I will be better able to focus on their school. Also I think that having them in a normal school will get them used to a schedule of doing academic work, will get them used to an authority figure other than their parents, and also I hope they can make friends in the area so that when I do pull them out, they will have a group of friends they can still socialize with outside of school.

Anyway, it is strange to me that I'm finally having to face this whole going to school thing. How on earth can my kids be old enough for Kindergarten??

I've also been pretty busy with photography stuff over the past several days. Benjamin helped me construct several other components of my garage studio, which is now mostly functional. I'm waiting for a photoflood lightbulb for my chinese lantern, as the 250 watt one I have is not bright enough and also has way too much of an orange cast. I took the boys' Preschool class pictures last week, and they turned out really cute. I'll attach of couple of them to this email. I also finished up with my maternity photo shoot proofing, and finished the slideshow tonight. I'll attach a link to that if you want to see it. I have at least 3 other photoshoots scheduled for the next couple of weeks, so that is all going well. Oh yeah, I also got my first order delivered, and received my first check! No, I didn't save it to frame it, I deposited it the next day... So I guess I'm officially in business. My website is still under construction, though. I need to work on that, hopefully tomorrow night I can get some more done.

Tomorrow morning I have a doctor's appointment with my MS doctor. He's squeezing me in before his regular appointments since he's going out of town, so I have to be down in Coral Gables by 7:30. I'm taking Mosey with me and dropping the boys off at Melissa's house at around 6:30 (which is coming up soon for me, since it's now almost 1 AM...). My leg is giving me a lot of trouble so I hope the doctor can give me something which will help. I am so ready for this attack to be over already!!

Ok, that's it for now. I promise to get better at keeping up with my updates so they are not so long and boring... LOL.
Good luck everyoen in everything you are doing!