After we sent Daddy off to Austin for his college roommate's wedding, we headed to Gigi's for a few photos.  I wanted to get a few Halloween shots and I'm starting to learn how hard it's going to be now that I have two smiles to coordinate.  These kids can sure wear a mommy-photographer out!

 But then...even though Alaina isn't looking, I'll capture a shot like this one with Joseph's sweet expression and it's all right.

I fell in love with Josh's eyes when he smiles back when we started dating.  I can tell he is going to smile before his mouth even curves into one.  That little puffy wrinkle under his eyes starts to form it's own smile first and is so endearing to me.  Joseph inherited that same little puffy eye-wrinkle smile and this picture totally captured it.

Gigi's backyard is always such a fun place to wander around, with her love of gardening.  We like to scope out all the flower beds and see what there is to see.  And the colorful jingling suncatchers and chimes are fun too.

 I can never pass up a good profile shot.  It's one of my favorite photos to capture.

But then Joseph gets tried of having the camera in his face and starts giving me photos like this.  I can't tell you how many pictures I have through the years of him holding a berry, or flower, or stick, or some other found object right in the lens.  Thank goodness he's as tolerant as he is...and I have a great collection of fun little treasure pictures!

Jack-O-Lantern'ing!

I love a good crafty project and pumpkin carving is no exception.  I haven't mastered those crazy, intricate 'Martha Stewart' type designs...haven't even attempted them to be able to master them as a matter of fact...I like a good ol smiling jack-o-lantern!

 Joseph didn't really remember our previous carvings so he was really into it.  He was really curious about what was inside the pumpkin and stared at the inside of the top "hat" really checking it out. 

We were sending Josh off after this to a wedding in Austin and he would be back Monday, just in time for some trick or treating.  Joseph was a bundle of excitement getting ready for it!

 

This was about the point where Joseph started to lose interest in the carving process and asked me...again...for the 100th time...if we could put the candle in it yet. 

Then I had an idea and decided to put the biggest candle I had in our guy so you could REALLY see him from the street.  That's when I figured out that  I didn't cut the top quite large enough and it was really hard to light the candle from the inside.  I tried the light it first and drop it in real gently method with no luck.   But once I got it lit....

 

...boy was it an awesome jack-o-lantern!  Hey those other melon heads look just like me and Joseph!

Halloween at School

Halloween was a big deal this year!  Joseph was old enough to go Trick or Treating in our neighborhood so we started hunting for a costume early enough to allow for any set backs.  

Ha...famous last words.   

Joseph has been wanting to be a tiger since an event this summer where he had his face painted like one.  But oddly enough, no one sells tiger costumes!  I hit store after store and nary a tiger was found.  I took my search online and only ebay came through, so some place sold tigers at one point!  I ordered one and even though the the size was for his age, it was so small I couldn't even come up with some way to rig it to fit.  

I dragged my feet all the way to two different fabric stores, determined (as you can well tell) to make my baby his first choice Halloween costume.  I only found one suitable (suitable = no sequins or glitter and not silk) choice of material and it was ug-ly.  I dragged my feet back home and Josh and I fomed a game plan  to tell Joseph he had to pick another costume.  We were fully prepared for WWIII since the little guy has been dreaming about this since July.  When we told him, he looked at us for a minute kinda puzzled, then said "ok".  

What?!  No flopping around on the floor?  No crying and pouting?  I offered to buy him tiger ears and a tail and a "cool" set of orange sweats for a really-really-really home made style costume, or take him shopping for a second runner up.  He voted for hitting the stores.   

   

When we came across the winner, a fabulously brave policeman, there were swords right next to it.  Alas, our Brave Policeman has handcuffs, a shiny badge, and a wields a sword.  Don't mess with him, he'll get medieval on you.

(And how CUTE is the pumpkin patch on the wall in his class room.  We love his pre-school! The owner is super creative and constructed a HUGE (fiberglass or drywall?) 3-D tree in the corner of his room which they decorated with bats for this time of the year.)

 A few of Joseph's buds let me snap some shots of them all dressed up.

It was really really hard.

Everyone was looking everywhere and being crazy and I think I should win an award for this one by the way.

This is more par for the course - I think it's a rule among pre-schoolers that for every five pictures, in only one can they all being looking at the camera.  It's a small way they can maintain a little control over their parents.

Looks like Captain Jack Sparrow found himself a pearl necklace treasure!

I made the kids Halloween shaped cookies and took icing for everyone to decorate one.  But I had the easy part of that project because I dropped them off his teacher's hands and took off.  She was the one who had to coordinate the execution of the decorating!

I think this is just a precursor to the fun weekend ahead!