Oh such mixed feelings...

Yesterday was the kids last day of preschool for the year (as posted previously they attend Tues/Thurs mornings and will go Mon/Wed/Fri next year).

I'm feeling sad because it REALLY seems like just YESTERDAY that we were meeting their new teachers for the 1st time.  Like yesterday that we dropped them off to start a new year.  HOW THE HECK can the year be over already????  It makes me sad that time is going by sooooo quickly.

I'm feeling ugh... because now I have them 24/7 without time to grocery shop, run errands, go to the doctor, or any number of things....  Their entertainment falls on my shoulders for the next three months...

I'm feeling some relief... now I don't have to make school lunches and drag little bodies out of bed.  I feel like we are always running somewhere.  It's been Jadon's therapy on Mondays, school Tuesday, swim lessons Wednesday, and School Thursday.  By the time Friday rolls around, I'm just soooo glad not to be trying to rush out the door.

Three months really sounds sooooo overwhelming, but each year it goes by pretty quickly.  The kids will have 4 days of summer fun camp in June and one week of Vacation Bible School in July.  Then we have another beach vacation planned in August.... so the time will pass...

but then I look back at their 1st day of school and realize the time is passing all too quickly.


Ok, on the photography front, I've been trying to get back to flash.  I have an off camera flash (the SB600) which I used to use quite a bit mounted on my camera with the Gary Fong light diffuser (great product).  But, over time as I began shooting 100% manual I started moving away from flash.  Well, I recently read a post at I Heart Faces "Don't Be Afraid of Flash" that inspired me to pull the flash back out.  I purchased a stand and umbrella and have been trying to practice.  The two shots below were both taken with flash....  what do you think???  It really is a lot of trial and error as I work to understand how to manipulate the flash power and it's relationship to shutter speed and aperture...  When I post photos taken with flash, I'll try to make note of it on the blog!!