I Heart Faces - Self-Portrait

The challenge this week at I Heart Faces is "Self-Portrait. I thought this captured the spirit of the season well.

Head over to I Heart Faces to see all the wonderful photographers in their self-portraits!

"Pets" Photo Challenge

The challenge this week at I Heart Faces is "Pets." I am submitting this photo of our precious girl, Skippie Lulu. She is slowing down at 11 years old, but she romped around like a puppy in these fields of alfalfa (i *think* it is alfalfa) when we were passing through Utah.

Romp on over to the I Heart Faces site to see all the fabulous pet photos!

Halloween 2009

This year we did not have much time to contemplate what Oliver would be for Halloween. His whirlwind of a birthday, combined with his preschool class having their party a week before Halloween, forced us to get moving on finding a costume. This was also the year where Halloween became what Oliver wanted it to be. No more loooking for cute Halloween costumes of my choice for my sweet son. Nope, Oliver was now FIVE, and he had his own mind. The ideas for costumes changed everyday. Transformer Optimus Prime. Darth Vader. Super Mario. Transformer BumbleBee. I was not about to go buy a costume (that I didn't care for, much less), only to have Oliver change his mind. But when we came across the Swamp Creature outfit he had to have it. It fit right into his love of creatures and monsters. And it wasn't a gory costume, so I let him have his choice. So much for the cute koala bear and Baby Draculas of the past...

Here's a picture of Oliver the Swamp monster and Maddie the Fairy Princess in their Preschool Class the day of their Halloween Party. Yep. Beauty and The Beast all over.

The parents were told to arrive 30 minutes before class was over to watch the kids enjoy their Halloween Festivities. The best part is ALWAYS the eating. They had a plateful of snacks that made all the Mothers cringe, no doubt.

Oliver shovels it in and licks his fingers clean.

Maddie follows suit.

Oliver shows me all the candy treats filling his Halloween folder.

Oh, yes, the excitement. Let the sugar buzzing begin.

So in the few days before Halloween we did a couple photoshoots to capture Oliver's personality within his costume. We headed for more watery parts of Las Vegas to bring the Swamp Creature feeling to life. Oliver refused to wear his Swamp Creature Mask because "it smelled funny." The mask is what made the costume what it was...but, oh, well. So much for scariness. We had to rely on Oliver's moaning sounds and dripping seaweed to bring our Creature of the Deep some character. Can't you just hear the moans here...?

Just like Creature from the Black Lagoon

Oooooohhh, scary.

Haunting the Swamp.

I managed to talk Oliver into slipping on his mask for a few moments to capture a snapshot of the Swamp Creature of Halloween 2009. A frightening vision. Notice that no Oliver eyeballs are in sight :)

This year I waited until the last minute to get a pumpkin to carve. I had seen pumpkins at Sam's Club ealy in October and decided to wait until Halloween was a bit closer. I did not want a pumpkin sitting in our foyer for a month. I refused to buy a pumpkin from the (fake) pumpkin patch since the prices were outrageous. So the day before Halloween I went out to get one, only to find that every place in the whole city had long since been sold out. I called place after place, and found a store that had 4 measly pumpkins left. I raced there to choose, and brought our pathetic, teeny pumpkin home. At least he was only $2.50. However, he was not large enough to carve the image I wanted. So I decided we'd go back to the (fake) pumpkin patch after all to buy an overpriced pumpkin. We chose one with lots of character, lots of warts. A fair bargain at $11. When we got home and started trying to carve, we found out it was not suitable for carving. Apparently it was a type of gourd, which are extremely hard, so hard I could not even breach the outer layer of skin! No big carving, and no seeds to roast, either! Lesson learned teh hard way...I will NOT wait to get a pumpkin next year! And so, we made do with what we had. We chose a different design, and this is what we ended up with this Halloween. Mr. Skull Head.

The Clines and DeSousas came over for a white bean chili dinner before trick-or-treating. After eating, the kidlets all got dressed out in their finest attire, and we headed out to raid our own neighborhood. The pack...

My deprived child still is ecstatic about all the candy (the candy that will slowly disappear into the back room closet until next year). Check out the excitement over a big piece of licorice. Gotta love the joy!

This simple picture is my favorite from the day. It speaks of childhood innocence...even in the swamp costume, Oliver's little puckered mouth, the sweet happiness in his eyes as he looks back at me, along with the simple pumpkin candy container, will always remind be of the preciousness of childhood and the excitement of Halloween.

After we load up on pounds of candy in our own neighborhood, we all regrouped then drove over to the Cline neighborhood for more fun. Why stop at 2 pounds of candy when you can have, say...4 pounds?! The decorations and lighting at this particular house created a photo that for me captures perfectly the feeling of Trick-or-Treat night.

Shadows...blur...grain...lights...all make for an interesting photo of us all heading back to the Cline's house for the night.

Back in the warmth, the kids all take to the floor and dump out their loot to survey. I seriously have never seen so much candy!

The next morning we get a picture of Oliver with all of his own treats. No tricks here.

A full-size Crunch bar makes Oliver an (extra) happy boy.

Halloween wouldn't be right if we didn't get a photo of our little ballerina pup all decked out. Skippie Lulu was not very happy about this. Oh, the humanity!

And in the end, heaps of candy will lurked on the kitchen table for days. You know those smells? Very certain ones that elicit memories? This plastic pumpkin, overflowing with candy is one of my smells. You know the one...a fabulously sweet mixture of chocolates, fruits, chews, bubblegum, lollipops, caramels, all the things candies are made of. I can take one deep whiff of this aroma and all the thrills and happiness of my childhood trick-or-treating years comes racing back, just like it was yesterday. This brings a smile to my face, as well as hopes that Oliver will remember these years with fondness just as I do!

To see more photos from Halloween 2009, click here.

See you next Halloween!

A Day on the Mount

Although it has been relatively cool here in Las Vegas for this time of year, we drove up to Mt. Charleston for a breath of fresher, cooler air. It was soooo nice! There were very few people there, so we had our pick of tables to set up a little picnic lunch of PB&J's to give us energy. We wanted to try and take a tiny walk to get Oliver used to hiking. The air was almost chilly...in the low 60s.

Mr. Happy

Taking advantage of the cute rental car...and kid :)

Peeper-in-the-Woods

Before we even got onto the trail, Oliver had already collected a walking stick. Little did we know this would be our downfall within the hour...

A bit of scenery on the way.

Blowing the scenery away...(and probably wishing for a pile of sticks)

Me? A troublemaker? nahhh...

Uh Oh. And so it begins. Apparently Oliver did not grasp exactly what hiking is, or means. It does NOT mean ignoring that we have a path to follow. It does NOT mean collecting every stick you see, then asking Mommy to hold them for you. I tried to explain that we need our hands for balance, and that in reality, Mommy only has 2 hands (I know, you thought it was 12). Well, this explanation did not sit too well with Oliver. The next series of pictures shows the Oliver frustration when I told him he could not carry a wad of sticks and branches with him on a hike. And that I couldn't carry them. First, the pouty downturned mouth forms...oh, the sadness.

Reality sinks in.

Then, the whinies begin...

At last, the sobs to the sky. Oliver cried out "I hate it when you and Daddy won't let me do my FANG!! (kidspeak-THING).


Yes--Oliver gets over the tantrum. Here's my boys-in-the-wood.

A bit blurry, but a family pic nonetheless :)

Lots of beauty and fun stuff.

Ah...the great outdoors. It is so nice that Oliver is getting to the age where we can again get out and enjoy these simple things that we sometimes take for granted.

Some other pictures from the week:

Poor Skippie-Lu, we torture her so...

Some good jostlin' around and giggling with Daddy

I love sleeping pictures, and this is no exception. I wish i could fall asleep in any manner or form. Must be nice to end a busy day's activities so easily...

Click here for more pictures from the week.
Thanks for visiting!