anticipation...

'On Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin rises from his pumpkin patch and flies

through the air with his bag of toys to all the children.'

~ Linus

'When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam,

May luck be yours on halloween!'

~ unknown

Well, we're almost there.

 Every day for the last 6 weeks or so I've been asked, "Is it Halloween yet?"

We've had a dress rehearsal this week with

 class parties, a Halloween parade and Grace wore her witch

costume to her dance classes.

Will pretty much wears his costume 24/7 lately.

Sunday afternoon we'll be celebrating by attending an annual neighborhood party

 and then going trick or treating afterwards.

Happy Halloween from our cute witch and little Batman!

(more pictures to follow next week)



black and white Wednesday - vintage

Vintage: 

~  Having a quality of aging, enduring or improving over time.

~  Belonging to, made in, or typical of an earlier

time period.

I am a lover and collector of old things.

Things loved, worn and used in earlier days.

Some of them by my own relatives or my husband's, but also those

found at flea markets, yard sales and antique stores.

About a month ago while out running errands on a weekend,

 I spotted this little beauty at a yard sale.

A trunk.

I heard it call my name, (well not really but I'll pretend it did)

and made a reasonable offer to the seller and he accepted.

It's made of wood and leather and has beautiful paper lining the lid.

I try and imagine who owned it years ago.

These were taken Sunday after the rain had stopped,

when I had an idea to take the trunk and Grace outside. 

My patient husband carried it across the road to the tracks,

 as I held hands with both Grace and Will, we followed behind.

Grace in her ornate headband, velvet dress and boots and Will in his Halloween (Batman) costume

 and sporting Harry Potter glasses (his choice of course).

Someone should have snapped a picture of us,
it was pretty funny. ;)
Grace is usually great about these undertakings, and her mom's 'ideas.'
At least for now.

I heart faces - pink

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the weekly theme at I Heart Faces

is 'pink.'

Breast cancer has touched my extended family in many ways

and I urge everyone to please take care of themselves and get yearly mammograms.
Early detection is so important.

The above picture was taken a few months ago of my 8 year old daughter Grace.

I hope and pray by the time she's an adult,

 breast cancer will be a thing of the past.

Please check out many more pink themed pictures

at I Heart Faces. :)

Harvest

'Corn wind in the Fall,

come off the black lands,

come off the whisper of the silk hangers,

the lap of the flat spear leaves.'

~ Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg is probably my favorite poet (his poems about Chicago and the Midwest),

 and he just happens to have been born in the state of Illinois

and is of Swedish ancestry (both like me).

I found the above poem and thought it was fitting for these 2 pictures.

These were captured last weekend of Grace and Will walking in a nearby field.

Both are candids.

The first one of Grace surveying her surroundings.

The second one I shot East into the sun (it was about 8:00 am). I'm liking the haze

and sunflare very much. I have this little fear of shooting into the sun and I'm trying to overcome that.

Will picked up the corn stalk on his own to walk with, and I especially love how

he was looking at his sister.

Field Trip

I've been on a little break from blogging, mostly due to the fact that this is

the busy season for my little photography business.

I've been taking pictures on weekends of families.

Everyone is getting ready for the upcoming holidays and planning

ahead with pictures for cards and gifts.

I've been swamped with post processing and have been catching up on that lately for clients.

But this morning I took a break and went along on a field trip with

Will's preschool (there were about 3 classes).

We traveled about half an hour away to a local pumpkin farm.

October is my favorite month and this year has been an outstanding one.

Some years our Falls can be rainy and cold, but ours has been lovely.
We've had many days with azure blue skies and crisp air to enjoy.

Today the kids (and moms and dads that went along) had a great time.

Will and his friends slid down a giant slide, climbed up hay bales, rode trikes

and had yummy warm doughnuts with apple cider.

We took hay wagons out to the pumpkin fields (and there were quite a few).

They each got to pick one but had to be able to carry it themselves. 

Will told me, "I don't want a pumpkin with dirt on it, I'd like a clean one please."

I explained that all the pumpkins in the field had dirt on them,

 because they've been growing in the field and we could wash it when we got home.
And he did end up finding the 'perfect' pumpkin. :)

The little girl in the pink jacket is Emma, who is Will's very good friend (AKA his girlfriend).

They're adorable together!

Hard to believe that October is more than halfway over, we are almost to Halloween.
I love that I could spend part of the day with Will and his class.

black and white Wednesday - 2 portraits

(Post processed to black and white with Rebecca Lily's 'Linen' Lightroom preset).


For this Black and White Wednesday,
 I decided to submit two of my favorite portraits.
I figured everyone might need a little break from my own cuties,
and frankly haven't had much free time
to get out and take pictures lately of my own family.

I got to thinking what kind of images do I love to capture the most?
It's a tie between candids of my own children playing or just being themselves and
taking portraits of children.

These lovely little girls are not related in anyway but are about the same age.

I recently had sessions with their families.

(Processed with Florabella's 'Chestnut' black and white action).

Maybe I love portraits so much because I can't get enough of looking

at the human face.

Particularly eyes.

 I've been trying to think where that comes from, possibly my nursing

background caring for babies, and gazing at those faces.

 I've held and loved on a whole lot of them! :)

Photographing children is fun for me

and it's wonderful to get to know each and every child.
Unique and special,
all of them.

Please hop on over and say 'bon voyage' to Lisa at The Long Road to China,

 she's getting

ready to board a plane to China very soon. :)

October's party

October gave a party;

The leaves by hundreds came -

The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,

And leaves of every name.

The Sunshine spread a carpet,

And everything was grand,

Miss Weather led the dancing,

Professor Wind the band.

~George Cooper

The party seems to have started.

Everyday we wake up it's even more glorious.

I've heard Autumn's peak for us will be around Oct. 21.

Leaves are changing and starting to fall.

And my kids are collecting them by the handful.

I did the same thing as a little girl.

All of these Fall 'treasures' as I call them, that won't be around too much longer.

Saturday we went to a park we hadn't been to in about a year.

We did a little nature walk and as they collected valuable acorn caps and clover.

I was looking up at the trees and particularly noticing the colors of the leaves.

And how the sun shines through and makes them glow.

It's all God's artistry at it's best, every bit of it.

black and white Wednesday - October morning

"Bittersweet October.

The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of Summer and Winter."

- Carol Bishop Hipps



A good word (at least to me) that describes the month of October is 'mellow.'

There's something calm about it in a way.

Kids are in school, and we are back to a routine.
We can enjoy the beautiful Fall 'show' that's now beginning outdoors.

I have lived in the Midwestern part of the United States for most of my life.

(4 states -  Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin).

I also lived in California and southeastern North Carolina for a fair amount of time.

They're incredibly beautiful states and I loved my time there,
 but unfortunately they don't experience a Fall like we do.

 When I lived out West or in the South I missed our Midwestern Autumns very much.

I suppose the trade off is their warmer Winters without snow and cold.

These were taken at one of the beautiful farms that are abundant in Southern Wisconsin.

It's getting colder here now, we've been wearing our sweaters and jackets in the mornings.

You can tell Grace and Will's hands were a little bit chilly in the picture.

Right after I took this, Will leaned forward off the back of the truck and did a perfect

forward roll in the grass. (And said ta-da! with a huge smile on his face)

That's our Will. ;)

Please hop on over to The Long Road to China to see more black and whites. :)

a boy's life

This boy's life is characterized by having fun.

And by playing super hero of some variety whether it's Batman, Superman or Spiderman.
(The current fave is Superman).

He asks me every single day, several times a day,

 "When is it Halloween, Mom?"

It's not so much about the candy, it's the wearing of the costume and having a party at school.

Will takes gymnastics on Saturday mornings.

 He's had just 3 classes and has the most perfect teacher for him.

Will's been determined 'gifted' (already) and will be moved up 2 levels.
Self taught, the boy can do an awesome cartwheel.
And he has no fear of trying anything new.

I think it will be great for him with his sensory processing issues, since he's a sensory seeker.

Will is so happy in that class!

I cannot believe this boy will be 5 years old in 3 months.