Freak Out Mode

I am full blown freak out mode. I will be working full time again a week from TODAY. Ack! I am freaking out! It is bittersweet. This job is perfect for me. I am excited about it. I know it is a good career move.

But I just do not want to leave my sweet baby. I wish I did not have to.


I am so sad about leaving this sweet face :(

Project 52- Week 8

Shooting the moon

This picture is a huge accomplishment for me. I know it is not great but it is HUGE for me. I shot this 100% in manual mode. I also shot in manual focus, which I never do. I do not have any editing programs so I did some minor sharpening and resizing on my Mac. That's it. I am pretty pleased with the outcome.

The Reluctant Big Brother

My oldest three children are pretty close in age. The oldest two have a 12 month age gap and my second and third have 15 month age gap. There was a good 3 years before my fourth came along. Now because everyone is so close in age, we have dealt with very little sibling rivalry. They do not really remember a time without each other. And it was a known fact that our forth, Cillian is the baby. Cillian was very much treated like the stereotypical baby. And he very much enjoyed this role in our family. In fact, he was quite proud to be the baby. He got attention every where we went from the time he was very little because he was fair haired and very different from my other babies who all had very dark hair and eyes. Cillian loved that attention and role and happily enjoyed it for almost 8 years.

Along came our fifth. Now little baby Conor was quite the surprise. The older three were pretty excited to find out they were quite unexpectedly receiving another sibling. Cillian was not. Not in least bit. We tried to involve him and tell him how fun it would be to have a baby brother. Someone to look up to him. He was not having it. I even took him to a siblings class at the hospital to help get him excited for a new baby. Nope, still not having it.


Waiting for the sibling class to start. Doesn't he look thrilled to be there?
I was pretty worried about how this was all going to play out.

But since the baby was born he has been nothing but an attentive loving big brother. He is helpful and kind. And one of the first people to run and grab the baby as soon as he starts crying. The other day Cillian gave Conor his beloved Elmo doll. Awww. He loved Elmo when he was little. We have gotten rid of most of our baby and toddler toys over the years (we had to start over fresh with Conor. Talk about expensive...but I digress). But we held on to that Elmo doll. And Cillian proudly and lovingly gave that his baby brother.


Poor Elmo has had a rough time in our home. Please note his missing nose.
Cillian is still very much my baby, my bear (Bear is his nickname). But now he happily shares the baby role with his little brother. He is proud of his baby brother. Aww, I worried for nothing.

Photography toys

I have immeresed myself in reading about photgraphy, watching videos/tutorials, joining photography forums and of course practice, practice, practice! When I first started reading it all seemed so overwhelming. It is all starting to click now(Ha ha, get it? Photography? Click?). As with any hobby, the more you get into it the more toys you want to go along with your hobby. Photography is no different.

I have created a little wishlist. I figure my birthday and Mother's day is just around the corner and a girl can dream, right?

- a 50mm lens
- A super adorable camera bag. I already have this one and it is awesome but I can't resist that girly looking bags that look like purses!
-A speedlite

That is all for now. I am sure as time goes on I will find some more toys to purchase. Now I just need to get out there and shoot.

I can't wait until my children start track and football. I figure I should be able to get in tons of practice in a their practices, meets, and games. Can't wait!

Working Girl: Part 2

I got the job! The job I really wanted and knew would be a perfect fit...the one close to home and my children's schools...the one I never thought would call me for an interview and I GOT IT! And they offered a higher salary than I expected (which is a downright miracle with state government)! I am so excited, I think this job is a prefect fit. I start on March 4.

I have two big worries though...

I am worried about putting my sweet baby in daycare. I feel so bad. My older 4 were with me when they were were babies. In fact, only my 8 year old was in daycare. And he was 4 years old when he started daycare so it was a little different. But I have not choice and I need to just accept it and be at peace.

Secondly, I am worried about organization. I am such a terrible working mom. I am just so frazzled and so disorganized. I just do not know how to fix it. My kids are all expected to do certain chores. They help with dusting, vacuuming, putting away laundry, cleaning bathrooms, emptying the dishwasher, etc. But we have no system to their chores. they just do it when I tell them to do so. If the dishwasher needs to be emptied I just get one or two of them to help. I wash and fold the laundry and then call the kids to come get their laundry and put it away but I have no set laundry day. They help and they are good about it and never rarely complain.

When I return to work our schedule will for something like this:

5:45am-Get up, get ready, get kids up and ready/fed
7:10am- Get 11 y/o and 8 y/o on bus.
7:30am- Take baby to daycare, go to work
8-4:30pm- WORK
4:30- Leave work and pick up baby, pick up 11 y/o and 8 y/o.
5:00pm- Pick up 13 y/o and 12 y/o from track practice. Then take 12 y/o, 11 y/o, and 8 y/o to football practice. Luckily the 12 y/o has track and football at the same field.
5:30-7:30pm- Hang out at football practice with one of the kids (usually the 8 year old, he is still a baby in my mind). I generally use this time to jog/exercise.
7:45pm- Get home, eat dinner, and then homework, baths, and bedtime.

Clearly we have little time for anything else. I NEED to keep my home in order. I am trying to tackle any projects (get rid of clutter) in the next two weeks. I need an organized system to make it all work. I have meals down to an art (I am all about meal planning and my crockpot!) but the cleaning is something I struggle with.

Any tips?

My babies

My first attempt shooting in Manual Mode.

Project 52-Week 7

Let me tell you, we have the BEST sunsets here in the Southwest. The absolute best. Unfortunately, my view to the west is a bit obstructed so I am unable to get a good sunset picture from my home. One of these days I will venture out to where I have a better view. Monday evening I settled for a reflection of the sunset on the mountains to the east. This is my view from my driveway every evening during sunset.