up and running again!!

It's only taken me a WHOLE YEAR to get back on here!!!

Life has been SO crazy since I stopped posting-had my job of 6 years cut me loose back in Feb (had a very unfair boss who was quickly stripped of her management duties shortly after I left) but it's turned out to be a great move for our family!! the house stays clean, I'm able to go to all the kids' functions and it's given me more time to start focusing on starting up my dream job to become a professional photographer!! I hope to have that business up and running by Jan 2011

Katie has hit some road bumps this past year-she was being horribly bullied at the charter school we had her in but since she didnt say anything to us (told her teacher but nothing was swiftly done about it) until it was past the point of fixing-so we removed her from the school and put her into the public one by my house. Not my favorite choice (there are some good public schools out there but they are few and far between imo) but she seems to be doing alot better in that dept. That situation caused her to develop IBS and we've been fixing with that issue along with her pediatrician and a gastro specialist. poor girl has some tough days sometimes!! On a good note though, her cheer squad has been kicking butt that past year and they are headed to National competition in Memphis, TN this coming July!!! we can't wait =)

Chelsei recently had a small setback as well-she just got out of the hospital today after a 2 day stay for a foot infection and a broken toe. The infection was a result of wood chip splinters from playing on the school playground and the broken toe (which we didnt find out about until after she was admitted for the infection b/c the tough little cookie never said anything!!) was a result of playing with friends on a trampoline-she kicked a pole while doing flips. guess she thought the pain was due to the wood splinters-not from kicking the pole LOL. she was given IV antibiotics every 6 hours and now has a support brace (shaped like a boot) on her foot so she can walk. she will have to wear it for the next 3-4 weeks. She has an appt with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday but is happy to be home and excited about seeing her schoolmates on monday.

Sadie is bouncy and upbeat as she always is. She is excited about her teacher being very close to delivering her new baby girl. Teacher is due in 4 days and was still working as of Friday-crazy woman!!

We are very excited about our upcoming California trip!! we are leaving the first week of June and will be spending 2 days at disneyland, going to seal beach, santa monica pier, and also going to sea world!! we haven't had a vacation like this ever so it should be quite a blast. LOTS of pics will follow this trip

I am going to try my best to update this weekly as I'd like to start getting feedback of the sample pictures i'm going to start taking the next few months. My father in law so kindly gave me an actual film SLR camera for me to play around with and I eventually want to work my way up to a Nikon D90 (for starters). I will be taking some classes to help me learn the ropes as well. My friends and family have been telling me for years that I need to go into this line of work so now that my kids are older, I think the time is right :)

I'm off to get some much needed rest now as I think I only slept a total of 8 hours during the two nights I was at the hospital with Chelsei-u can NEVER sleep in those places!! although, I do have to give a wonderful shout out to banner's Children Cardon Medical Center!! the experience there was amazing!! Staff was overly accommodating, friendly, and they made absolutely sure Chelsei was comfortable at all times-I never felt worried about leaving Chelsei alone there for the few times i zipped home to change or grab something to eat.

hope everyone has a wonderful evening-i've attached some pics of chels that I snapped during her good moods at the hospital.