it's all about the treats...

'I got a rock.' ~Charlie Brown

'Nothing on Earth is so beautiful as the final haul on Halloween night.' ~ Steve Almond


Well it was another cold Halloween in Wisconsin requiring Winter coats over costumes or wearing several layers of clothing underneath the costume. At least it didn't rain. An excellent time was had by all as shown by the pictures and I'll let them speak for themselves. I added our cat Jack (as he sits on our front porch) in the collage below because he followed Dan and the kids down the sidewalk as they stopped at different houses. Guess he wanted to be included too...
Hope your Halloween was extra special. :)

Happy Halloween!

'When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours on Halloween!

~unknown

Well they have celebrated Halloween a little early with parties at school and last night we carved pumpkins. Grace designed her own on paper and Daddy carved hers just like she drew. Will was interested in the cleaning process but had no interest in touching the innards of the pumpkin. We have one ginormous pumpkin(truly the largest we've ever had, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it after it was carved and lit). In the below pic Grace's is the mad pumpkin on the right and Will's is on the left.

We have lots of weekend fun ahead starting with Dan and I going to the Wisconsin-Purdue football game Saturday. GO Purdue! In the afternoon we'll all be attending a neighborhood Halloween party for kids and adults and going trick or treating tomorrow night. We're hoping the weather cooperates. Buzz Lightyear (Will) and our mermaid(Grace) can't wait for the festivities to start. Have a very safe and fun weekend!!!

busy...busy!

Been crazy busy around here as we ramp up for Halloween already....
These are a few from our China travel group party on Sunday. The kids dressed up in their Halloween finery, and they all participated in a little talent show. There was a piano player, gymnasts and dancers...Will did a spontaneous break dance that was hilarious and he got tons of applause. He even bowed at the end...he was so funny! We ate lots of yummy food and the kids played in the leaves, roasted marshmallows and made leaf crowns.

Tomorrow Grace and Will have their Halloween parties at school with a parade and there's no school here on Thursday and Friday. We still have to carve our pumpkins and get ready for Halloween on Saturday. We'll be attending a big neighborhood party. Will's been practicing saying 'trick or treat'...I think he's ready. ;)

a boy named Will

Recently Will said to me, "Mommy is Daddy your boyfriend?" (I'm not quite sure where he got that from...) I had to think about it for a minute and replied, "Well...yes he was my boyfriend and now he's my husband." He said, "oh..you are married!" I said, "yes, we are married."
Like I said, I'm not sure where he gets this from but this little guy is always thinking and processing stuff. He's a bright boy and may be reading very soon. He's got such an interest in learning and picks up new things easily...he loves to be read to. School for him is going extremely well. He has many friends and is quite the social little man.

Monday evening I had my hair cut and colored. I went back to my natural hair color(for a change) and it's dark brown. It hasn't been this color in years and it is very different from what I've had...I didn't tell Grace and William before I left for the appointment that my hair would be changed so much, and when I returned at 9pm they were asleep for the night. In the morning when Will saw me, he immediately ran up, got close to my face and said, "WOW!!!!"...."WOW Mom!" He had a big smile on his face. I took my glasses off and asked him what was different about me...he said, "Your hair looks like mine Mommy!" I loved his response... and I thought it was so cute he liked it. I love this boy so much. He and I have lots of fun in the afternoons when he's home from school.

I'll be gone for several days as I have a girls weekend away in downtown Chicago with friends(Christmas shopping and maybe a little photography on the side), a travel group get together on Sunday in the Chicago area and Monday I have an adoption conference I'll be attending...busy and fun next 4 days. Have a wonderful weekend!

a mother's art

So what exactly have I been doing on my weekends lately? Besides the regular activities with my own family I've been asked to take pictures of quite a few other families and children. (The above ones are some of my favorites). My weekends have been pretty busy especially as the holidays are approaching and everyone wants to have Christmas cards to send and gifts to give. Taking pictures has been incredibly rewarding for me and MOST of the time it's been extremely fun! I've had 9 different sessions with either children or families and I have more scheduled. I never dreamed a year ago I'd be doing this and for now I'll continue to practice and learn as much as I can... :)

a Fall tradition

"Bittersweet October. The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter." - Carol Bishop Hipps This is our 5th Fall living in southern Wisconsin and 5th time making the trek just north of us to a tiny town called Lodi.

Going to the Treinen Farm has become one of our traditions. It's a working family farm that opens to the public in the Fall and fortunately has retained it's charm and not gotten too terribly commercial.


Grace and Will played in corn, had apple cider and doughnuts, fed goats, played on the tractor tires and went down a tube slide(Will's absolute fav!)



The highlight for us all was taking a horse drawn hayride down to the pumpkin patch where Grace and Will carefully chose their pumpkins.

It was a perfect crisp Fall day and the leaves here are almost at their peak. They both played hard and took a long nap after we got home...playing is hard work you know! Can you tell something's different about Grace? (2 things)...hair cut(it was her idea and I think she looks adorable!) and she's lost another tooth. Big gap now in the top front teeth...
if you look at the top collage you can see.

it's Friday!

• Another week has gone by and I'm happy to say Friday is finally here.
• Will asks me no less than 3 times a day, "Is it Halloween yet Mom?" He is so excited about Halloween and all that goes with it with dressing up in his costume and of course getting candy! This boy LOVES candy. I mean I feel a little bad, it's a bit confusing with our Halloween decorations up in the house and he sees it everywhere.
• I think we may have skipped Autumn in southern Wisconsin and gone promptly to Winter...what is the deal with this?
• My weekends have been full with taking pictures of families and I'm thoroughly enjoying it and getting great experience. This weekend I have 2 families on Sunday. Next week I'll post a few favorite pics from my sessions (with their permission of course).
• I did make the apple cake and most of it has disappeared...it is yummy and maybe even more so the next day after you bake it.
• Have a wonderful weekend!

wordless Wednesday