I am Starting to Think it is This Summer

So I am starting to think that THIS SUMMER will be THE SUMMER for SuperStar. Yesterday I was laying on my bed with tummy pains from what I guessed was the hamburger in our spaghetti (I don't do well with beef) and heard SuperStar come into the house with Spidey and BigGuy. He had gone out to look for them - it was 8pmish and they had still been gallivanting outside with Mr.I and Mr.W. SuperStar was in the throes of a very loud sobbing spree. She ran up the stairs in a most dramatic style (I couldn't even see it and I could envision it with the noises, sighs and thundering followed by the sweeping wind that rushed behind her into her room and a slammed door - which now has Glittery hand cut pink sticky foam that spells out "Anti-Pink".......meaning she doesn't like PINK.......she does however LOVE PINK the singer - all angry girl music is in these days.

Spidey followed up the stairs - straight to her room and he looked upset and longingly into her door. Then turned, looked at me and walked into his own room. BigGuy came next. He looked at her door, turned to me, rolled his eyes and started to walk away. I called out to stop him asking what had happened - figuring he gave them some reading of the rules for being out after 8pmish (which is not yet a rule). He said he didn't know what she was going on about and then walked away.

Spidey came into my room then and explained that Mr.I, Mr.W, himself and SuperStar were dragging each other about on the wagon - they had reached a far street and the older boys decided to run back thinking their parents would be looking for them or something (this was Spidey's interpretation remember - so it was a bit foggy). Regardless of intent they left SuperStar and Spidey behind to drag the wagon back - Spidey's first reaction was to chase after the older boys and SuperStar was left alone far off from the house in the dark. She freaked out a bit and became upset. Spidey realized the mistake and double backed to walk with her and the wagon. Apparently even offering to drag the wagon and hold hands. Once home SuperStar turned on him and I suppose with relief of safety caved into crazy emotions and ran into her room crying..............for about 20 minutes. Spidey was very upset about it. He wrote her a note saying he was Very Very Sorry and stuck it under her door. She picked it up (we could see that) and then wept even louder near the door for a bit. Then pushed the note back out. Spidey didn't see that part - it took long enough that his 8 year old attention span was off onto something else by that point.

After no one picked the note up SuperStar wandered out in dramatic style and tossed herself onto my bed next to me. She explained the same thing Spidey did. She was scared when the boys left her in the dark. She was glad Spidey came back, but that due to the late return she couldn't take a shower and that upset her even more - then she began weeping again. Things clicked for me. I asked her to go downstairs and grab my Family Planning Calendar (we keep all the schedules on a calendar). She did. BigGuy followed her back upstairs wanting to see what we were doing with the calendar (he is trying to be better about knowing the schedule - for his own sanity). I looked at the last month when my cycle started - counted forward 4 weeks and backward 2 days from that (I am pretty regular) and found - yep - I will be starting my period in about 2 days from today (perfect time to take 16 Girl Scouts out of town!). Most likely my tummy pains were not from the beef then. And most likely the drama ensuing in front of me was not due to darkness and lack of a shower. SuperStar is cycling emotionally with me now. I have charted her tantrums for 4 months now and they are always out of control the week before my period starts.

They have had the talk in school. We have had the talk with her too. So BigGuy and I talked with her again about the Emotional Roller Coaster that is the Female Monthly Gift. Since I didn't care for the fact that the older boys left SuperStar in the dark farish away from home (if that was true) I left that alone - I might have cried about that myself - and we started our talk with, "Do you really think not taking a shower is worth all this dramatic crying?"............she agreed it wasn't. So we talked about how some woman respond to the flux of hormones when they have their Monthly Gift. We pointed out how you chart it - 4 weeks, blah blah.......and we explained that most likely this will happen over and over and KNOWING when it will happen can help a woman better understand how to respond to things in order to keep themselves a little less crazy those few days before. SuperStar calmed down. She actually said, "Well that makes a lot more sense.....now I feel normal again." Then she wandered into her room. The fact was no one ever told her she could not take a shower - she created that in her head to cry about. So she took a shower and then fell asleep. Sometimes crying is better then a good workout.

I think she may be celebrating a new chapter opening up in her life by the end of this summer though.

You Might As Well Laugh........

The Redhead
A man is dining in a fancy restaurant and there's a gorgeous redhead sitting at the next table. He's been checking her out since he sat down, but lacks the nerve to talk with her.

Suddenly she sneezes, and her glass eye comes flying out of its socket toward the man.. He reflexively reaches out, grabs it out of the air, and hands it back.

"Oh my, I am so sorry," the woman says as she pops her eye back in place.

"Let me buy your dinner to make it up to you," she says.

They enjoy a wonderful dinner together, and afterwards they go to the theatre followed by drinks. They talk, they laugh, she shares her deepest dreams and he shares his. She listens.

After paying for everything, she asks him if he would like to come to her place for a nightcap. They have a wonderful time.

The next day, she cooks a gourmet meal with all the trimmings. The guy is amazed. Everything had been SO incredible!
"You know," he said, "you are the perfect woman, are you this nice to every guy you meet?"

"No," she replies. . .

"You just happened to catch my eye."

First Bike Ride

Dang!! I forgot to get a picture......dang dang dang dang dang!! oh well.....let's just imagine the picture - it was Saturday - GORGEOUS weather - sun in the clear blue sky GORGEOUS. Kinda windy.....I had spent part of the earlier day out in the front yard dragging the kite we have around trying to get it up into the air to fly away and make TheKing's face twinkle with happiness. Of course that didn't actually ever happen. What did happen was he demanded a turn, refused to let me throw the kite up as he ran, so his kite fell plummeting to the ground and he crabbed about it and drug it through the grass. BigGuy kept calling me into the garage to "pump the air pump really fast - really fast - no, I mean really fast" so that he could get a seal on the tire that fell flat through the winter months. While doing this TheKing would run into the garage crabbing....."help me Maudy I need the kite to fly". Did I mention we had borrowed 2 extra kids to entertain the olders? Yeah, only they had all either had too little sleep - or the 24 hours they had been spending together was just enough time to make them all start to bitch at each other (my apologies, but the word "crabby" just was not enough to describe how they were acting). So in between BigGuy wanting me to "pump the tire pump really fast - no, really fast", TheKing crabbing about the kite not getting high enough (at one point I had it as high as the house and honestly - I was personally impressed with myself THANK YOU), and running interference with the pouty, bitchy older kids who kept peeling off and then seeking me out to "fix" the other kids..........I was ready for a bike ride. I even thought about a bike ride. But again, BigGuy was busy "pumping really fast" (clean your brain out please) and I couldn't reach my bike which was hanging upside down still from the ceiling of our garage. Sigh.

So instead I went to vacuum the windows. Yes I said vacuum the windows - don't you do that? I take the screens out in the fall and clean the ones in rooms where there is a lot of dirt or the pollen hits them heavy. Then in the spring I vacuum the screens of dust they got through the winter months and put them back in place. Don't tell me you don't do that! Don't tell me I am a freak cleaning person who makes my own stuff up to create more work and less rest.......Don't tell me - seriously - because my house always is a mess so I know it is not true - right? Right?

Anyway...windows done I made a coffee and decided to go downstairs to my CRAFT LAIR (everyone should have a Craft Lair) and make the First Communion cards for friends whose children are having one (we know 7 this year) and some other gift card sets that need finishing....and I probably would have started cleaning that room too (yes, I admit I have a problem......SS aren't you glad you are not me now?). Coffee in hand I went downstairs - closed the door to my lair - started up my laptop (you need a laptop in a lair - TV too for mindless noise that drowns out your children's noise so you can pretend you are in a sound proof lair that no one can find you in) - and then I heard the phone ring. Ignoring it and trying to make myself smaller so if someone came to find me they couldn't......I began to hear BigGuy walking around - which meant he was looking for me - so I put my head in my hands and sat really still and pretended to be invisible (the kids do it - I knew it didn't work, but thought I would try). Door to my lair opened and BigGuy smiled and said into the phone, "Oh here she is, I found her." I gave him an evil look and he handed me the phone and whispered that it was CB. Which caused me to relax because CB is always nice to talk to. She relieves stress for me.

She was having 26 hours to herself. Lucky girl. Jealousy overwhelmed me. But then ..... she asked me to go for a bike ride. At first I felt my responsibilities....BigGuy was headed for gas for the mower, but all kids were still here - SuperStar could watch TheKing who was watching Veggie Tales (we hope that works - I will explain later) - gas is close, my biking would be close - I was going biking.

BigGuy pulled the bike off the ceiling - pumped up my tires (and yes, you know for a fact that I stood next to him and said "pump the tire really fast, no I mean REALLY fast!" the whole time (you do that right? needle the man you love so dearly?). While he did that I put my hair in two ponytails (my hair is getting long - might have to cut it), found my helmet, did some of BigGuy's bidding (Spidey left his bike in the driveway path of the truck and BigGuy has already run over it once and replaced a tire - so I had to get him to move that) - and then I saw CB in the horizon. I was off like a prom dress!! Spidey was calling after why I was leaving and who would take care of them while BigGuy was gone getting gas. I didn't care (sue me).....I just shouted "you'll be fine - stay safe in the basement and out of my lair".

Gorgeous Blue Skies....Bike mildly prepped for the season....Hair in ponies....Helmet on....and CB to bike with....what a treat!!!

Usually I bike alone - so it really was nice to casually bike and talk about stuff - you sweat less that way. We went the 5 mile loop. I tried to talk CB into turning around and doing the loop in the opposite direction, but she said 5 miles was a good start. So I tried talking her into the 2 mile loop instead....no takers....she basically said I was trying to trick her by saying it was all "flat" and she didn't want to be too sore the next day - she was kinda right - I did make it sound flatter then it is....and the wind we are having makes everything harder. So I gave up and we sat at her house and drank water and gossiped about everyone (okay so that part is just me trying to make CB look like a gossip - not true - we talked politics and school stuff and made fun of our kids and hubbies).

Once it was dark enough I thought BigGuy might have put the children to bed I rode my bike home. Yard was all mown. Kids were still up (I knew they would be it was only 7:45). BigGuy says, "Oh good you are alive, I thought you might be dead after all this time." Course I had my cell phone and he could have called at any time to see if I was dead and he didn't. So that proves that Needling goes Both Ways. And then he kissed me ...... and I had no need for my Lair.

What a nice First Bike Ride.

Reaching Upper Limits again.........

For Spring Break SuperStar and Spidey did another round of Rock Climbing camp at Upper Limits - they LOVE this camp!!

I love that they are overcoming any fears they have of anything. And this go round Spidey made it up the wall.........which was a big deal for him because last year he wouldn't go very high - they he used his "cover up" skills to make it look like he was cool with where he got (although he did admit that he really jumped off at the lower point because he was afraid to go higher). This year he made it higher. Plus he can now do all his own hooking up.....unhooking was a little more difficult, but in a pinch I bet he can unhook too.



















































































SuperStar made it all the way to the top of the Silo this year.....the tallest one!! Although she would never admit it - as she got closer to the top her voice changed a bit and I think she became a little nervous - or - maybe she was just winded from all the climbing - since I have never done it I would not be a good judge.

I Keep Watching......She Keeps Changing

She is right there on the edge. Still a little girl..........so close to being a woman physically......... she is terribly bright.....she is annoyingly funny.........she is tremendously caring.

I keep watching. She keeps changing.

She has begun putting things together for herself..........she has figured out when it is best to be helpful......she knows when to step up and take the lead.....she knows when to be a follower.

I keep watching. She keeps changing.

She doesn't need me as much anymore............she doesn't share all her secrets anymore......she has them to listen to her woes - silly - serious - ridiculous.......she has another life separate from mine now.

I keep watching. She keeps changing.

She still climbs trees..........she still makes crafts......she jumps on the trampoline and plays make believe.......only now she reads books that have an involved plot.....only now she has adult like goals.....only now she also listens to the radio and sings the songs with meaning.....like she relates.....and she probably does...only I don't know those thoughts anymore....because they are hers.....

I keep watching. She keeps changing.

She walks by and if I am not paying attention I can mistake her body for a woman's body......curves starting.......almost as tall as me......she is wearing my clothes and not drowning in them.....she is blooming.

I keep watching. She keeps changing.

She said to me the other day....."Mom I wish you had had my life when you were little because it is great and you would love it."

She makes me cry because she is my life.......and I am so lucky to have it......and I'll keep watching......and She'll keep changing.

No Really I am a Total Dork

So the other day my friend CB brought her sister, B, over to my house. B reads my blog (I am sure when CB makes her) and that technically means that she is one of my "Readers". Although to even type that out loud makes me feel like a Total Dork because that means that in some way I find that Really Really Cool!! To think that someone would actually choose to spend any of their personal time reading the goofy things that I put up on my blog!! And to think that the person might come back a SECOND TIME to do it again.........it is just beyond me.

But it is enough to tickle me completely Pink. She isn't even related to me. Although I talk to CB enough and follow her around enough that CB may as well be family.....which means that B is kinda like extended family I never met - until last Friday when CB brought her by. And then I introduced my family to her with our Blog Names..........which is kinda another indicator of how I am a Total Dork. Don't want to disappoint my readers and show up looking like a normal person in the flesh ya know.

Anyway....Thank you B! Thank you CB! That was super fun. And the next time you come into town B I want to go for the walk with you all. I would have barged into that walk if I hadn't felt like such a goof.

So any other "Readers" coming to town soon?

My Kids Might have thought it was a Training Exercise

The other night we kept an extra 4 year old for the night. His mom had an out patient operation on her foot and due to medication and her hubby working 2nd shift she would have been alone with MrK - unable to walk about and most likely unable to focus due to the meds. So we volunteered to have him stay.

TheKing was sooooooooooo excited!! MrK was too - at first - and then he got kinda tired - and I think (being an only child) that he might have become tired of all the other kiddo's treating him like "just another kid". Closer to the end of the evening MrK began to melt down a bit. This honor is generally reserved for TheKing - he melts down the closer we get to bedtime. That particular night MrK beat him to the melt down and TheKing could only sit and watch. Personally I think he was watching for any weakness BigGuy and I might show. Kinda like athletes watching an instructional tape over and over again to figure out where the other team might be infiltrated at a weak point. He was looking for our weak point I am certain!

At one point TheKing and MrK were sitting on the couch watching Scooby Doo. SuperStar was with them but sitting in a chair. The Little Boys were sharing a blanket. Apparently TheKing tugged on his end, MrK became upset and tugged back and then hit TheKing - TheKing hit back. MrK cried foul and began shouting to me, "TheKing has done something terrible to me" ..........did I mention he has the cutest little British Man accent? Yeah, he is just here from London. So he is yelling the injustice in his British accent. Imagine that. Cute right? At first at least.

"TheKing has done a terrible thing. Help Me." SuperStar is not moving ..... so MrK shouts it louder to attract me. TheKing is not even moving out of fear he would be punished - which is why I figured there were two sides to this story. SuperStar explained that MrK hit TheKing and TheKing hit back. Okay, Simple. I knew what to do.

"TheKing you have to apologize for hitting. Even when you are angry it is not right to hit. Always use your words." TheKing turned to MrK, reached out his arms and said, "I am sorry MrK." Done. One down.

I turned to MrK. "MrK you have to apologize for hitting. Even when you are angry it is not right to hit. Always use your words." MrK looked at me like I had grown an extra head and said, "No, he hit me. I won't say I am sorry." Sigh. "You must apologize or leave the room MrK." Burying his head into the couch so I can't get him I guess (although his body was rather right there) he screamed back, "I will not say I am sorry (remember this is a British accent). I am too tired to say I am sorry." Sigh. "Fine if you are too tired then it is time for a rest and I will take you upstairs." "No!" he shouted back popping his head up, "I won't take a rest." "Then say you are sorry." "No, I am too tired!" This is where TheKing tried to help, "You can sleep in my bed then." he offered up. "No!" shrieked MrK, "I am not sleeping." So I added, "Then all you need to do is say you are sorry to TheKing."

Silence for a moment. TheKing was watching very closely to all the action. SuperStar was watching ScoobyDoo with a snicker look on her face. MrK was seething at me with snot trickling out of his nose.

He whispered, "I am sorry." TheKing said, "I can't hear him." and without prompting MrK looked at him and said louder, "I am sorry TheKing and I am not taking a rest."

Honestly I think he only said it to appease the situation. I don't think he was at all sorry for hitting TheKing - which is only fair as I think TheKing only said he was sorry because he has already had to take a rest for losing his temper earlier - plus TheKing is conditioned to our rules - he knew we would pick him up and send him to bed.......MrK wasn't used to the rules - he probably thought he could break me. Which leads me to wonder - do you think the kids only say "sorry" for things we tell them to because they know it is the quicker way to end it all? Or do they really feel it? Do I really care as long as it is done? Probably a little, but not enough to keep this going.

As I left the room I heard SuperStar say to MrK, "Next time just say you are sorry at the beginning and it won't take so long."

Sigh.

Don't You Love to be the First?

This is one of my Most Favorite Ever things in the world. A Brand New Jar of Untouched Peanut Butter. I am not exactly sure what the draw is - the smoothness maybe? The fact that no one has bothered it at all. The fact that I get to mess it up myself.......no child or large man has gone before me?

















I really, honestly, do not know why I love to be the first to use a jar of Peanut Butter. But I do. Love it!

Happy Easter.....Passover....

Well this year the weeks before Easter became a little more confusing. And to all those Christians who are spending weeks before Christmas saying "Let's Put Christ Back Into Christmas" I am considering saying....."Let's Put Less Confusion into my Holidays".

So to make a long story short - because I am certain you are either preparing for your Wonderful Easter Feast or your Wonderful Seder - this spring holiday was very interesting due to Facebook and a family member. First it was explained to me by someone deeply subscribed to their Christian faith (I poke no fun) that they would not be celebrating Easter and that their one difficulty with the Catholic faith was the ties to the Pagan holidays. We will leave the obvious argument aside that all religious holidays can in many ways be brought back to Pagan celebrations. Remember we are keeping a long story short. We will also leave behind the argument that the Catholic church did their bestest to crush and destroy all Pagan related celebrations (yes I am Catholic - no I don't hate Pagan ties). The fact still remains that almost all Christian religions are celebrating holidays that are related to the Pagan celebrations of old - Catholics included.

Anyway....it was explained to me that the Pagan ties of Easter to the celebration of Eostra, Eostre, etc. as seen here.......
Eostre was the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, the east, fertility, and rebirth, and she is still celebrated by pagans today. Sometimes, Eostre is called Ostara, Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Estre, Eostre, Eoster, Eostra, Eastre, Eostur, Eastra, Eastur, Austron, Aurora, or Ausos. Her name honors the sun rising in the east, and the month of April was dedicated to her. One of the biggest festivals of the Saxons of second century Europe was the spring equinox celebration in honor of Eostre. Eostre's sacred animal was a hare, and she was said to be able to take the form of a hare. The hare is often associated with moon goddesses; the egg representing the god, and the hare the goddess. Some Neo-pagans believe that she was sometimes depicted with a hare's head, though it is not possible to substantiate this belief as no known animal-headed deities appear in Germanic cult objects. Eggs and rabbits are sacred to her, as is the full moon, since the ancients saw in its markings the image of a rabbit or hare. Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of colored eggs to her at the Vernal Equinox. They placed them at graves especially, probably as a charm of rebirth. The Goddess of Fertility was also the Goddess of Grain, so offerings of bread and cakes were also made to her.

Uh oh this is getting longer........but I found that explanation of Eostre and thought I would share it - plus it explains where the Bunny and Easter Eggs came from - too cute.

So anyway....no pagan rituals are being allowed in some Christian religions it appears and Passover is instead being celebrated. Okay. To each their own. A smidge confusing to me because the three years I celebrated Passover it was a Jewish celebration and all my Christian friends were still riding the Easter holiday - and the synagogue we attended service at didn't talk about how Jesus was risen......or actually that Jesus was a son of God or any of the things that I associated Easter to signify. Still....if my Christian family member and her church want to forgo Easter and celebrate only Passover it is not for me to say. They may know more then me. Then I started noticing that a few of my Christian friends on Facebook were requesting directions as to how to serve a Seder Meal. Huh? My first thought was - wait they aren't Jewish. My second thought was......oh, I bet this is related to the "no Easter" thing. So I asked.

Not exactly as it turned out though.

They were celebrating Passover......the pass over when God instructed them to slay the pure lamb and take its blood and mark the doorways of those who believed and then God would pass over their homes when he came through to kill the first born son of those who did not believe. Passover for the Jewish religion it turns out is somewhat different from the Christian Passover. Christian Passover does not include all the rest of the Exodus....but I may not be completely clear on that (meaning don't quote me I am still trying to figure this all out). This is where I get confused though - because the people on Facebook who were preparing a Seder meal were still intending to celebrate Easter. The Seder meal was being prepared on Holy Thursday. I never knew that anyone not Jewish prepared a Seder meal - and honestly I personally love this idea. I looked the meal up and it is similar to a Jewish Seder meal, but there are small differences. But back to Easter. So these Facebook friends were preparing Seder for Holy Thursday - then there would be Good Friday and then Easter. All that aligns with my understanding of Easter. But the family member was letting go of Easter.........so when does Jesus rise for them? And that is where I get confused. Over the past week I have shared emails with my brother-in-law who is in seminary trying to figure it out, and while I admit I have a much clearer understanding of all these elements that are the celebration..........I still don't understand the part where some religions are letting go of Easter due to pagan ties. It seems to me they all belong together. Plus - each one of the celebrations has a boiled egg included - tying it back to the Pagan ritual celebrations.

So I am hanging up the hand towel in understanding this right now.....pass me a chocolate bunny, let's hide some matzoh for the kids to find and who wants a Deviled Egg?

So Much Easier To Take Them Myself

Some days I feel bad for TheKing..........he doesn't have as many "posed" studio photos as SuperStar and Spidey do. There are still Just As Many photo's of him - but they were not done in a studio. SuperStar and Spidey had 3 photos taken each year......Christmas family done in November......a photo done at their Birthday.....and then a photo done together at Easter looking goofy in Bunny Ears. Now part of this picture love was that I knew the girls at the photo studio and they let me do whatever I wanted. Plus since they developed a relationship with me they had more patience for my kids non-sense. TheKing had this the first year and then we moved. I never developed a relationship with any photographers here and I had extra time to take pictures myself - and I kinda got good at it - good enough to take pictures to share at least - and put in frames on my walls and be asked "who took those pictures". So I quit taking kids to studios.
Well I also quit taking kids to studios because even though I knew the women who were taking the pictures the entire process was painful. Getting there on time is a pain. Sitting there waiting for the people who are still having their portraits done is a pain. Shoot if I am honest simply getting all three of my kids clean at the same time is a pain. So it ended when we moved. My moving incentive was a nice camera. BigGuy also purchased me a few computer programs so that the pictures I take can be "touched up" here at home. He believes in my photography ability enough that he spent a good chunk of money on Adobe Photoshop. I had seen this on the Pioneer Woman blog. She does TONS of fabulously cool things - and does individual tutorials on the skills with pictures on her blog. The photos are gorgeous and her followers have started uploading theirs .....very impressive.
So BigGuy bought it for me and installed it for me and then I started uploading pictures.....and it came to my attention that apparently I am an idiot. I am not able to figure out how to do any of the things that Pioneer Woman does with Photoshop. A good friend also has the program - installed it just a bit before mine was. She was very excited I had it too. She called one day and wanted to know how it was going using it.....and I told her it wasn't going anywhere - that I totally sucked at the ease of Photoshop. She was surprised because usually I can catch onto this stuff pretty quickly - then she admitted that she was also disappointed because she couldn't figure it out either and hoped I would teach her. So she bought the book Photoshop for Dummies. Last I heard the book wasn't helping either and she was getting ready to enroll in a class at the community college. Wonder if Pioneer Woman started that way?
I should really learn to use that expensive program BigGuy was so sweet to buy for me. If only the children would go away for enough time that I could think uninterrupted for 30 minutes. In the mean time I am learning lighting and figuring out the various control features on my camera. This would be easier if I could find the manual (yes I know I could seek it out on the internet.....but then I have to sit in front of my computer....yes I know I sit in front of my computer, but not to read). But really taking pictures is fun. And instead of a manual I have made a good friend from someone who is a professional photographer. Of course she has no patience to teach me anything.....she just says, "let me take the picture". Instead I watch her and then copy. Watch how she sets the lighting and figure it out. Really that is the best way to learn....trial and error.

Now I can take a decent shot when I need to. These pics were for Spidey's First Communion invite. He didn't want one that was "stamped" - apparently those are too "eck not so cool" in his words - he wanted a picture of himself (hmmm.....should we worry about his ego?) on his invite. So when he came home I stuck him in the entry way against the wall - where the lighting was perfect at that time of day. Turned my flash off and took a few pics. As you can see he is a Cheese - but a very cute Cheese.

I am doing okay so far - and I am also saving money. And totally honestly....I love the more natural photos far far far better then any of the completely adorable ones of SuperStar and Spidey when they were little.