Finally, I know!

Well, I know it has been far longer than is excusable since I've posted on this blog. I have a lot of reasons, but no really good ones! One is that I'm just ridiculously busy. Between my work (crazy since it's the end of school), church, and, you know, Elena, I haven't had much time to update. And the time I have had, I've updated the Baby Blog (because, let's face it, that's what you all want to see anyway! :) Also, things have not been great with my job, so I haven't really been in the mood to blog. Not that I don't like my job, I actually love it. I get to do something a little different every day, I get to work with teachers and students all over the district, and I get to learn something new almost every day. That part I love. The part that isn't going so well is the politics behind working for a school system. If you live in Columbia, you're probably well aware of the situation (tax levy failed, much talk of cutting people, positions, and programs, rampant dissatisfaction with the administration, low morale and lack of community support for the schools). Well, my position was one of the "70 new positions" everyone is upset about, and it is now the middle of May, and I don't know what I'll be doing next year because the Board of Ed. hasn't voted on the budget yet because they're having disagreements with the administration on where to make the cuts. SOOO, with all that up in the air, plus being busy, I've been a little too cranky to post!

Like I said, lots of reasons, but no good ones! So, to compensate, here are some of the things we've been up to lately, in pretty much random order...

The Digital Camera Scavenger Hunt: One of my favorite youth events, we moved it from downtown Columbia to Rock Bridge Memorial State Park. Since the adults weren't allowed to help, Mom, Ruth and I tried really hard to keep from cheating... and failed miserably! But there were only two girls, so we felt sorry for them. The girls did dominate the guys, though- we won by like 30 points!!

Taking a picture with "roots"

Hugging a tree!

Laney hanging out on a vine

With the weather so nice, we've been taking lots of walks with Elena and Isabelle... clearly, everybody loves it!

Our church had a 30th anniversary celebration. I thought the centerpieces were really neat... and I had just gotten my new camera, so I had to play with it! :)

The flowers my wonderful husband got me for my birthday... along with a box of chocolate covered strawberries from Elena (what a smart little girl she is!) and, of course, my new camera!

Celebrating my birthday with my family... lemon cake, what else? I'll have lots more cute pictures from this party on the baby blog... whenever I get a chance to post there! Probably tomorrow... but I make no promises! :)

That's a lot of candles...

Well, I can't promise to not ever go that long without posting again... but I'm going to do my best! I am only going to do the Baby Blog until September, so then I will have lots more time! I'm sure my schedule will really free up then... or at least that's what I'm telling myself!