Yay...Halloween! And now onto November

Feet are up after a great evening of tricks and treats.  I don't know what was up with me this season...we didn't pull the costumes together until days ago.  But we did pull it off.  Bottom line...THEY were happy with their costumes and the kiddos had fun!  My girl and her best friend wanted to be Slink from Toy Story...had no idea how to do that one.  A search on Google doesn't pull up much of anything other than the professional Disneyland costumes.  And my boy was hoping to get a ghillie suit (think swamp thing).  Don't think I've mentioned yet how much he loves most everything regarding the military.  (Hmmm, future post?)  Anyway, too much moola for that one.  We were able to agree on "Survivor of     (plane crash, fight over a taco, etc.)"  after I found some costume bandages.

After church today we got busy carving the last of our pumpkins (saving the seeds of course), getting some last minute spider web up and putting some finishing touches on the costumes.  Then...we were off!  Always better with friends!

Wishing I took my tripod out to take this one.  But we had to get trick or treating!!

I think he turned out pretty good.  Check out his friend Gene!

Alright, so I did the best I could!  Again...THEY were happy.  I had flashbacks from some of my costumes as a kid..."and who are you suppose to be???".  haha.  And so what if the parents didn't know who they were suppose to be...their kids did! 

Even the dogs got into the fun.  I never thought I'd put a costume on my dog.  BUT...never say never!  She did look stinkin' cute!  She's the pumpkin on the left.  Marley's the skeleton on the right.  And little Riley in the back is a cute little ghost.


And can I be the first to say...Happy November!

Check it out

So I just joined another photography project called 365.  I have the link to the right....under my profile.  But I'll also put it right here, just in case!

http://capturingeverydaymomentsfor365.blogspot.com/

All that and a bag of chips

Just got back from an amazing time away...just Mike and I.  My parents came down and watched the kiddos (they had SO much fun...wish I had photos of their adventures) and Mike and I hit the big NYC.  This was my first time there so I had a long list of very touristy-type things that I hoped to do in the quick three days we were there.  I didn't want it to be a crazy rushed time, but this girl did have some goals.  It ended up being...simply...wonderful.  It really was all that I thought it would be and more.  I have tons of photos.  I'm having a hard time picking out just a few to share.  Looking at all of them, they tell a story so to leave out so many is hard, but alas here are a few.  Um, yah...just a few.

Like this one, because it shows Central Park

Seeing this smile, made me smile

Grand Central Station was so beautiful

Horse drawn carriage, lovers on a bench, and joggers, oh my!

There were so many amazing buildings!  They looked like they should be on a movie set.

Just walking around downtown and then, bam!  A community garden....LOVE it!

Thought it was awesome that musicians really do play in the subway stations!  *Huge smile*

Yum!  Frozen hot chocolate!

Some favorite moments....

Cultural diversity.  LOVED all the variety of people.  All different nationalities.  All different colors.  All different styles and personalities.  Wish I lived in an area with a lot more of that.

Paper wrapped flowers.  There were flower stands pretty regularly at different corners.  Really beautiful wild flowers.  Loved seeing people walking around with their paper-wrapped flowers.

Walking (a lot!) and taking the subway.  Something about being active while exploring in the crisp cool air.  The subway is such an ingenious way for transportation in a big city...and cheap.  Made me wonder why these aren't everywhere.

Central Park.  Pretty sure I could have walked, sat and people watched there all day. Seriously...ALL DAY!

Empire State Building.  I loved being at a place that I've seen in movies!  We did this the first day and I loved that it gave me perspective of where everything was. 

Being there with Mike.  He's my best friend and husband of 15 years!  *still can't believe it's been 15*  Anyway, so much fun to explore with him.

Alright so now I'm wanting to go on and on!  I'm going to stop there, but seriously there was not one bad thing about this trip.  Now it's just sparked a desire to go back.  This time I'm thinking more like two weeks.  Hit some more NY spots (ones a little less touristy) and then head on over to Vermont, Boston...you get the picture.

Finding inspiration

Last week a friend and I went to check out a local craft fair.  'Tis the season for craft fairs and I've got them all on my calendar!  For me, this one turned out to be a bust...no purchases, no real excitement for any new discoveries.  BUT AFTER  the craft fair we headed out to lunch and THERE I discovered inspiration and creativity.  It started right from the parking lot and it seemed everywhere I looked I couldn't help but snap photos.  It's a place that I'll need to go back to and play with my camera settings, maybe even bring my in-house models (my kiddos!).  I'm still flipping from auto to manual to aperture, etc.  My goal is to get to manual full time.  What a great place to practice, practice, practice!

Can I just tell you....I was inspired by my boy last week too.  He went out for student council, Publicity to be specific.  And man....my whole insides were so full of love for that guy.  I was inspired, impressed, encouraged, excited.  On his own, he decided he wanted to go for it, made up posters, wrote up a speech, and that guy SPOKE!  He was awesome.  He didn't end up getting the role, but I know he gave it his all, and more importantly HE knows he gave it his all.  He wanted something and he went for it.  'Nough said.

And guess what else I did???  

*****

*****

*****

Uh, huh...bought 2 NEW pumpkins on my way to buy stuff for this....

Love that they're perfectly imperfect

That's it...no more seeds until Halloween.  A promise to myself and to blogland!  How many seeds does a girl need anyway??

Ugh

bad morning

mama yelling

one kiddo crying

one refusing to walk to school

arguing on walk to school

other one crying because now they're tardy

off to school for the next 6 and something hours

have a good day

wish i could say just kidding

we're going to the beach instead

i want a do-over 

Ten on Ten :: October

Ten on Ten Photo Project:  Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments.

::8 ish     Sunday morning cartoons

::9 ish     Breakfast Goodness

::10 ish     At church sneaking a shot of the time...it's 10:10 on 10/10/10 y'all

::11 ish     Took a ride with a big orange pumpkin!!

::12 ish     A SUPER healthy lunch *wink*  *wink*

::1 ish     Attempting to put a 50% off coupon to good use

::2 ish     Keeping us safe

::3 ish     Bouncing with friends

::4 ish     There's no way it's not happening...might as well join him

::5 ish     Getting ready for some dinner