even though i have nothing prepared to write about or any of my CF cards near by to unload and even post a photo.  i know, i’m lame like that, i’ve got no problems admitting that to anyone.

so i figured before my head actually exploded from acute sinus distress i should post an update of all of the happenings and going-ons around here.

after a nice summer spent with the family I am already feeling the grips of fall and winter as the senior sessions roll in and families prep for the “oh, crap it’s november and we need a family portrait for our holiday card”  Let me just tell everyone…NOW is the time to book! Do not wait until November…or even late October. I refuse to repeat last year and say, “i’m not working in December” yet continue to live in the depth of editing darkness and the hell that comes with the holidays anyway……oh, and Happy Birthday Jesus! Yes, I would actually like to say, “I’m not going to work in December” and then actually NOT work, brillant concept…and actually celebrate the birth of Jesus….as well as the countless other family birthdays we have in December…mine is the 2nd if anyone wants to send wine, chapstick (i’m an addict) starbucks or swiss chocolate (hee hee…that is for Larissa’s family in Switzerland). Brooklyn’s is the 21st and she’s also fond of wine, chapstick, starbucks and swiss chocolate (ok, those are for me…just stick a webkinz in the package and I’ll be sure she gets that).

i digress….how did i get on the DON’T WAIT TO BOOK YOUR HOLIDAY SESSION soapbox?

The last week has been crazy busy. I’m beginning to realize and accept and embrace the fact that never again will i be able to pee alone or shower without a screaming child in the room. Nor will i ever make it a full 2 weeks without filling up with gas or going to walgreens for refills on medication or for milk or bread AGAIN.

Life with FOUR kids is pretty crazy. I will say however, that this is the best start of the school year thus far in our short career with “big” school. We’ve gotten into quite a nice routine and i’ve only found myself on a couple occassions having to threaten selling the children to the gypsies and hopping the next flight to cancun.

parker is adjusting well to “big boy school” too! he’s up at the church dayschool four days a week now and suzy q-t-pie is still with us on Mondays. Today was the first day that he reached for his aMAYzing teachers w/out any tears and even managed only a slight wimper when i said goodbye.  he has already added a new word to his vocabulary….”CHEESE” and today “OK” so now we are moving along in his speech. He now says “dada” and then will turn and point to me and say “dada” yea, mark thinks that’s hysterical. he says “mama” but not very often. he also says “uh, oh”  “shoes”  “this” and “agua”.  we’re working on supercalifragilisticexbealidocious…..it should be right around the corner.

brooklyn and hudson are settling in beautifully as well. we are going on our 3rd week of school and NOT ONE TIME have I had to throw objects at them to get them out of bed and we’ve only had one encounter of “go! go! go! Here comes the bus!”  my little laundry room organization / paper manager/ back back area has worked nicely. things are for the most part running smoothly. they both have incredible teachers again this year. i’ll be volunteering as a guest reader in their rooms once or twice a month so they’re totally stoked about that which totally stokes me.

larissa is doing so well. i am so proud of her. the sheer amount of courage she has to have to be here and try to cope with this “american” way of life is just astounding to me. she has totally embraced the kids and mark and i and is connecting well. we’re having alot of fun with her and she is opening up and really starting to blend right in with our family. i even had a friend tell me today that when she saw us all together at church that she thought larissa even looked like mark and i.  mark’s been helping her with her homework and i’ve continued taking her to school each day. we went grocery shopping on sunday and she was so fun to watch. she thought the 3 liter bottles of pop were incredible and she had her camera and was taking pictures like a mad woman. i thought it was so cute. she finds it interesting that we have “drive in” everything here…referring to fast food and drive thru starbucks. she really thought it was crazy when i told her you could drive through and get your alcohol, prescriptions and dry cleaning. it’s cool to watch her experience things and take it all in. she’s been really great about everything and the kids love her. she is singing in the choir and she had her first performance last night. mark and i felt awful because both of us had events for work that we could not get out of. she said it was just a small performance for the choir booster club so i felt a little better but still wished we could’ve been there.  at any rate, she is adjusting nicely and we are so excited at what the year holds for us.

AND the biggest news from the past week is that i became an auntie again. On Friday my amazing, incredible beautiful sister gave birth to her 2nd child, a little boy, Graysen Dean. I am beyond happy for her, Ronnie & Fayth and I am DYING to get up to Michigan and see her (so any of you photogs who have weddings up there where you might need someone to 2nd shoot for you….let me know!!! Please!!!!) Here are a few photos of Graysen that Melissa sent me (clearly she needs me to come up and take some professional photos of this child…nonetheless, isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?) congrats M, Ronnie & Fayth-ie-roonie…I love you all soooo much!

ok, i’m off to sleep and forget about how crappy i feel and how much  i hate south texas cedar and the hell of allergies.

…..on a side note: say some prayers for us as we brace ourselves for Hurrican Ike…….