An open letter to friends and family

As we have discussed with many of you, the current plan for our family is to relocate to the Portland, Oregon area. This relocation will be happening ASAP - but realistically that ASAP will have to wait until we get jobs and can feasibly move the kids. This means the earliest we will be in Portland is the summer.

Now, with this impending move, Jeff and I have spent a great deal of time "cleaning out the closet" - in the most literal of forms. The school year has been (almost unbearably) hard, and I've not really had the time for anything that I have really enjoyed in the past. I am finding myself trying to desperately remove all those "extra" time suckers I have on my plate. Even my beloved scrapbooking, which most of you know is something I have always adored. I'm also eliminating unnecessary clutter and belongings. Partially because I don't want to move them, and partially because I don't need the excess anymore.

Enter, also, social networking and the easy nature of posting pictures for all to see. Facebook has allowed me to connect to so many friends that I have ago lost touch with. The uploader and captioning tools are also easier to work with. Sometimes a blogger post would take me HOURS to complete (if google is slow, and there are a lot of pictures). It's easier to share the family's comings and goings on Facebook. Not to mention you get a daily impression of how the family is doing through my status updates.

Those close to me also know that I have recently discovered a love for photography. Which means I am taking a LOT of pictures. Pictures I would love to share (and do, on the aforementioned Facebook). But when I have to upload to Facebook, doing it here seems repetative. Most people who log into this blog ALSO log into Facebook. I was using this site as a "diary" that I could download into book format. But I can create the same sort of "book" MUCH more quickly by doing it directly. Not creating a blog format, downloading it into book format, only to have to completely edit the layout and content to fit the change in context.

So, this means that this will (likely) be my last blog entry for the family. If we are not already "friends" on Facebook, please add me! You get lots of updates there. I've also started up a Flickr account under TeacherMomHollee. If you are on flickr, you can link to ALL my photos there. In fact, now that I have unlimited uploads and storage, I'm seriously considering putting up all my old photos. What I love about flickr is that it's connected to snapfish, which makes it WAY easy to print your own photos. Since I now do most of the portrait sittings on my own, it makes it easy for people to get their own copies of whatever photo floats your boat.

As time allows in the future, I will also be continuing my foodie blog. I really miss cooking, developing recipes, and writing about it. So as this school year wraps up, and I'm able to re-discover the bounty of the Pacific Northwest, I think you'll be hearing from me LOTS there.

I will leave this up for a while, until I can get this blog published into book format and figure out a way to back it up on a harddrive somewhere. I just didn't want friends and family continuing to watch for an update when I determine I would likely be "updating" elsewhere.

Love to all,

The McNamee Family

Early June in Florida and Big Boys with their Big Toys!

Well...another school year comes to a close which means I am free to focus all my energies on my OTHER full time job - wife and mom. Years and years ago, when I chose teaching, I did so with the explicit belief that I would be taking "summers off" to spend them with my kids. I have SO learned to love those breaks, and the "finality" of the school year. No matter what happened in those previous nine months, I get to close the books, take a deep breath, and start again in the fall. Beautiful.

In perhaps what is very ill-timed - Jeff is starting the summer with some facial hair. He went an extra day without shaving, and I personally LOVED the scruff, so I encouraged him to keep going. A good two weeks later, the itching has died down. I think he's learned to appreciate it - he looks several years older with it and (I think) more distinguished. We'll see if he keeps it. Just some pictures from a local beach I was at for a staff dinner.





During the drive home I stopped to get a few storm pictures.

The most notable thing about the start to my summer is that we are diaper free! JR is doing the potty thing, even at night, which means Mommy doesn't have to change any more diapers. Instead, I just have to manage potty breaks.

Those of you following the blog might know that we have a bit of a tradition - a celebratory "big kid" trip when the child is all done with diapers. Here was Janna's to Sea World. JR elected to go see the "real racecars" followed by Go Karts and cheeseburgers with french fries.

In the car before...ready and excited to go!
"Um, okay Mom, enough with the pictures. Lets GO!"
At the "Daytona 500 Experience," which is the Museum attached to the International Speedway. For those of you who aren't race fans - the International Speedway hosts the Daytona 500, which is the biggest race event all year. Moreover, Daytona Beach is considered the "birthplace" of speed and NASCAR racing. A racefan's trip to Daytona is pretty much the pilgrimage to beat all pilgrimages.



Always the model. I am SO in trouble with this one.
The fan shop, with Jeff in the backgroun. JR was allowed to pick a toy out (shocker, a race car) and we got him a cute little racecar cup with his name on it.
Janna (who did EXCEPTIONALLY WELL on this trip so obviously not about her) really wanted to take a picture with this guy. No idea who he is.
Waiting for the IMAX movie. JR could only make it through the first 15 minutes.
The tour after the movie.






The winner's circle.
Back inside the museum.


Ever the engineer, trying to figure out how things work.
GoKart racing.

"Mom, please, no more pictures."


Can I just say...PRICELESS?


Again, the engineer.
At dinner...we went to "Our Deck Down Under" which was a favorite of Jeff's and mine when we lived in Daytona.
mmmm...lemonade...
Faces of an actress.



A few pictures snapped around the restaraunt.



And one super tuckered 3 year old "big boy.."

All Aboard!

So, one day..I showed the kids how they could turn the small tables my Dad made upside down, put chairs in them, and pretend that they are cars. Pretty smart, eh?


Smart, that is, until two "cars" made a "train" and that "train" led from the family room to the bedroom!