I love the serious look.

You know I'm way more about the serious faces than I am the big grins....well, I love laughing photos too! Sorry if I continue repeating myself but if all I do in this venture of blogging is to show others how important it is to get the photos where the kids aren't smiling perfectly, then my blogging has served us all well.

Look at this sweet face! Her mom dabbles in photography and I know she likes the natural looks too so hopefully I nailed this one for her. I took this in addition to her regular photos (I do have the school portrait style with her smiling too) because I could just see how beautiful a non-smiling photo was going to look. I got permission from this little girl's dad...but failed to get permission from other parents in the class (completely forgot to ask) so unless I think to ask for permission when I see them this week, this might be the last preschool photo you see (sorry).

Today my big girl goes for her Kindergarten screening! She's excited to be the one going to the big school for something that isn't related to one of the boys. I still can't believe I will be turning her loose in the fall! I know she's going to love it and I have no question this year that she is absolutely ready for this. Her current preschool is in the next town over and none of the kids she has met this year will be going with her in the fall. That was a hard choice for me but its been so worth it! We love her preschool and her teacher! :) Keeping her back the first year was such a tough choice but I know it was right....when she gets to 4th and 5th grade, the challenges she has academically will seem more manageable with the extra year under her belt. No doubt she was ready to start school last year - its the older grades I was worried about. At least now I will know I did all I could for her by giving her an extra year to mature. When she graduates high school, I think because she's a whole year older, she will be more prepared to move on with life instead of that scared feeling that lots of kids want to "take a year off" to deal with. Well, those are my thoughts on it all and how I came to the decision to start her later.

I took a photo of the kids room at the camper. It's tight quarters with four of them but we seem to manage pretty well. They just love being there and those first few nights when we sleep up there, Makenna can't wait to get her jammies on and go to bed! Its really cute to see them all snug in that little room. The boys sleep on the bunks and the girls sleep on the bed (that converts to a table) on the left.

We may have to rearrange the sleeping because Makenna is a bed hog and pretty much booted Marleigh out in the middle of the night. We took her in our bed (considerably smaller than the king we are used to at home) so it felt like we all slept with one eye open. I mentioned to Jean in the morning that we need to make other arrangements and he commented "either she goes...or I go". I guess he didn't sleep much at all :) I always think to myself - well, you never had to get up with them when they were infants so this still counts towards that!

I personally love having the kids in my bed (not all night...but for a few hours) they are cuddly and I know it makes them feel secure and loved when we accept them. It doesnt happen often anymore with the older kids (Christmas morning its a ritual to come to our bed) so I embrace it with Marleigh.

Update on Marleigh: Thank you to everyone who has asked about her! She has a sore in her mouth from the pole incident and its not really bothering her at all. She bounced right back from it. It was a scary thing for me to see. It reminded me of the time I found Branden (about age 4) hanging by his neck from his bunk bed. I was baking and heard a strange noise in his room (him choking), went to check on him and found him hanging there...feet dangling and all. Makes me emotional thinking about it. He was trying to rock climb on the bunk - tied the rope to the top bunk and around his neck instead of his waist for climbing. I do have photos of his neck in his album with the entire story. I swear my heart stopped that day. He didn't lose consciousness and he didnt turn blue - just a rope burn and a huge scare!

I guess I will wrap this post up and get on with my day. Marleigh is bugging me to get her dressed and threatens to go pick out her own clothes.....NOOOOOO.....I'll be right there!!! Getting her out of something she has picked out is a battle I don't wish to have today!

Welcome to Monday!

~kel~