The Anticipation

I just wanted to share this picture. I have been working with how to take photographs of silhouettes. I love this one. I think I am having way to much fun. I can't wait to take pictures of Selah's party on Saturday.

Spiders and Pumpkins Oh My!

A few weeks ago when Matt and I visited the Buffalo farm we were given a huge pumpkin. Finally, after weeks of begging we carved it. OK, to try and attempt to be like Jenny.... First off this thing must weigh about 150 1bs. Second...it is seriously 4 inches thick. Third...little boys are soon distracted and prefer to carve chunks of 4 inch pumpkin and could care less about the gigantic mound of orange. With the exception of looking up once in a while to see Mike lower me down inside by my ankles with a shovel an a pail. He was happy to carve his own little scrap. However, our pumpkin turned out incredible! Matthew did help cut out the spiders too. I love it. This first picture is the reflections of the spiders on the ceiling when the candles were inside it. We carved three spiders and when we added three candles they reflected 9 spiders on the ceiling. It was pretty cool. Even better was that I could catch it with my camera.

Mike has a glow about him. He was trying to convince me that we should use a spot light inside the pumpkin. I had visions of cooking pumpkin on the front step. Wow is that bright though. Maybe we could use that to call Spiderman to our house on Halloween....I bet the candles and chocolate will work just fine.

Speaking of Spiderman...

When you have a pumpkin as big as your car, you get a lot of pumpkin guts. There were hardly any seeds though and the ones that were in it were freaky looking. Very plump.

How many ways can I take pictures of Matthew through the pumpkin????

Its the final pumpkin....da na na....da naw na na .. Sorry, Jenny is much more funny when she blogs. I should just stick to the facts:-)

Matthew the Artist

Matthew brought this home from school yesterday. They created four legged creatures in art. Can you guess what this is??? If you guessed a Chocolate Lab then you are correct. I think he is pretty cute. I also like that I get to photograph his art:-)

Costumes on Parade

Superman.. How cute would this be with hair all slicked back

Rockman, Matthew loved ths one. I am not sure why?

Motocross. This had a plastic helmet and shin guards. It looks better with a real one if you can find one. It was a cute costume.

The always popular Power Rangers. These are cute costumes though.

Blue from Blues clues. The clues are removable too! Anyone have a child that actually likes BC anymore??

Way cute alligator with waggy tail. Jenny has asked to use this but I want to make sure to let everyone else know I have it.

Matthew is going to be Indiana Jones after all. I am pulling the costume together with things I have. We did buy the whip(seriously....that much for a something that makes noise like a McDonalds toy)

If I forgot any I will try to get them added.

Charlie

Charlie does not normally take a good picture. Mike and I always laugh at how Matthew thinks he is so darn cute. Mike and I think Charlie has grown into an old chubby lab with lumps. He is however, a very good dog. He and Portis have also been my targets the past few months and I have managed to get some rather cute shots of Chuck and I wanted to post this one.

Last nice day?

I took my camera out in the backyard for a few more test shots the other day...It is looking like it might be our last nice day. It was so cold here today. Mike loved this picture I took of Matthew and myself. I love my camera so much. It has been so fun to play around with.

Don't Blink

Do you ever have those days when you look at your child and think.....how did you ever get that big. This picture makes me think that. It is funny how I see other 6 and 7 year olds and think wow, they look so much older than Matthew. Then I see a picture like this and I realize he is getting pretty big too. Ug! It really is too bad that we can't freeze them at this size for a little longer. I don't know though, maybe that is a bad idea. Matthew used his own money to but the whip from Indiana Jones that makes the noises today and if I hear it one more time I may just......At least Halloween is taken care of.

Costume Exchange

To all my mom friends...that live in Rochester:

Shana and I talked about making a list of costumes we had and seeing if we wanted to exchange any for Halloween instead of buying anything new. I thought I would post a list of the ones I have and see if anyone is interested in borrowing any. Shana let me know if you want any and I will hold it out for you. I will try to take pictures later and post so you can see the actual costumes. I might have more too. This is just from my memory.

Blues Clues dog
Cute and warm dragon/alligator(depends on what kid you ask)
chili Pepper for an infant
two (red/blue) Power rangers ...muscles included
the rock looking guy from Fantastic 4
Nascar driver
Fireman

I know I have a few more but those are the ones to get started.
Matthew really wants to be a storm trooper from Star Wars if anyone can help me out with that. If you have ideas of what you kids want to be let me know and I can see if I can help. Matthew at one time said he wanted to be Indiana Jones! I was so excited. I was going to give him Grey hair like his dad a cool hat and a whip. Then he changed his mind for the 12th time.

Oh what a day!

Thank you Jenny, for being there always. I can't tell you how much that means.
Thank you Shana, you are a huge blessing in my life.
Thank you Missy, for coming to my rescue and bringing cookies. What will I do without you.
I love you all. You made today a whole lot better.

Missed by Portis

Mike and I decided at the last minute to take a family trip this past weekend. We had a neighbor boy feed Charlie and Portis. When we are gone they do not sleep much. They lay by the front door and anxiously wait our return. When we do return they are always hungry and and exhausted. Today as I work Portis sleeps on his chair looking most uncomfortable. I wish I could play the snoring that is going on too. He has totally crashed in his chair. He did not even move an inch when the UPS guy drove by.

One more picture from camp

Here is one more photo from PR-18. This is looking out over the pond at the camp site. Mike wants me to get this framed so he can see it all the time.

A peek into a man's dreams

Anyone who knows my husband knows that he spends 360 days thinking about these 5. Every year we set in stone his mini vacation to his only other love, Montana. His love for Montana will be in his heart forever. This is amplified with the fun of hunting and great pals. When he jokes about why he married me I always remind him that without me he would have never been invited to PR-18. That has been the name of the camp for years...however, next year they might change camp sites. It seems the boys are growing up and they don't think being hard on trucks is a good idea anymore.

This is the sign marking PR-18. They always make sure to put a new flag up.
Mark Ketchum with his antelope. Sorry PETA! Nice job Mark. I bet that is going to be jerky.
It seems Mike and I have the worst luck when it comes to snow in Montana. Every time we visit we get the first snow storm of the season. This is actually the first time it has snowed during camp in all the years Mike has been going. This was his ninth year. Camp was a little chilly. It did not help that the airlines lost his bag and he had no warm clothes of his own or his amazing new shotgun that he was so excited to use. He finally got his bag and gun the day before camp ended. Thank Goodness my cookies were OK!
OK, this picture just cracks me up. We have Brian on the left and the giant on the right is Kelly Ketchum.
The funniest man alive....Craig Rogers!

I love this dog. Women are not allowed at camp(why would we want to? Smelly men, wet dogs and dead things?) but dogs can out number the men. This one is Yukon. He is one of the biggest and most cuddly Retrievers you could ever meet. His mom Sage also gets to go.
Ducks on the pond! Wet smelly dogs and men who do not shower for days.
PR-18's newest member. This little guy is Badge. He is 9 months old and Mike said that he also served as a good heater. He kept Mike warm in his sleeping bag at night. Mike said that he was an awesome hunting dog.
Walking up to the dike to jump shoot ducks.

One of the only girls allowed. This is Kate.
PR-18 was started over 20 years ago by Clayton. He has missed getting an Antelope tag the last few years and he wonders why he ever invited anyone.
The birthday cake above was actually for Brian and Adam. Both who are lucky enough to celebrate birthdays at camp. Too bad Mike's birthday is not during camp...I would always know what to get him:-)
I just wanted to show you that they do not go without anything. They have a satellite dish outside the tent and a flat screen TV in the tent. It is hardly ruffing it. Mike always gains a few pounds from the way they eat.
Another new young member of PR-18. One of the guys that goes is moving and he will be away from his family for a few months. He brought his son for a few days of bonding before he leaves. Mike said that he was an unbelievably well behaved little boy. I am guessing that this was the best time of his life. Pretty soon the camp with be filled with many new members as all the boys reach this age.

OK...now the count down continues. What is it now 360 days until next year?

A really good day!

Jenny and I are both without our husbands this weekend. She invited Matthew and I to join her and the crew to visit a Buffalo farm. You bet! What would be better than being with his friends and seeing baby Buffalo up close. Well..... Maybe feeding chickens, riding in a wagon behind a 4 wheeler, picking out a really big pumpkin and telling all your friends that it cost you 0$$$ as well as jumping for ever on giant hay bales. A really great day! Matthew has really crashed beside me, he is exhausted! Thank you Jenny for thinking of us. The Buffalo here is Leah. She was very sweet. There was one Mama that was a lot like Portis when it came to the apples. She grunted and pushed all the other ones away.
Jenny and I were both madly in love with this barn. It was built in the 1920s and it was chatty. Everywhere you looked it had something to say. I am sure it had seen a lot.
Can't talk mom...I have to chase a chicken!
Um....don't look now Jenny but you have a Buffalo tongue wrapped around your wrist! Just an FYI, Buffalo tongue is basically a giant cat tongue with lots more slobber.

An apple a day keeps the Buffalo happy.
When the kids were picking apples Hannah found one that held a Lady Bug home. She placed it under a tree where it would be safe until the Lady Bug had moved on. I thought it was really cute that she did not evict the poor thing...it is hard to find a new home with the market the way it is. Nice job Hannah:-)

Matthew and Hannah tried hay bale surfing! How cute are they. Matthew is pointing at the farmer who is rocking the bale for them.

Here he is rolling his giant pumpkin up the hill.
Wow! If winter was not coming I think Minnesota could be enjoyable. How pretty is this farm!


I love seeing this Buffalo stick his tongue out at Gracie! This picture cracks me up.

OK, I am finally figuring out my camera. I love this picture. I have not even edited it yet. I am sure I can make it look even better. But I wanted to share it.
This is my favorite picture from the day. I love the sky and the movement of the two of them. Who knew hay bales could be so much fun. They called them shredded wheat cereal that swelled by the way.

Thanks to Connie and Jim for having us out today. You made 5 children very happy.

Pictures from Essex Park

I was itching to use my camera before Mike left for AC (that is Antelope Camp for all of you who do not know my husband's yearly testosterone festival). I talked him into going to a park by our house for a photo op. I think he and Matt are getting pretty annoyed with me. You should see all the pictures of wrinkled eyebrows I have from them. However, I do manage to get a few good ones too. This is such a pretty time of year.
I LOVE this one of Mike! It really makes me miss him. He is so handsome...just ask his Grandma Dot! I bet she loves this picture too. No one makes me laugh like you do hunny!
Ants on a log. I thought this log was so cool. Hiking down to it was a joy...hearing both my guys gripe about "Beggars lice" that plant that sticks little Velcro things to you, and mud. Too funny! My poor little practice targets!