Halloween

This was our first Halloween after our move out west. Everyone looked great in their costumes and were very excited.

After getting all the kids dressed up, I tried to get a group shot but I didn't have the right lens.

And the cutest pumpkin ever wouldn't stop running around. I think he liked his costume.

Of course I couldn't get everyone to look at me at the same time.

My little bunny had to throw at least one screaming fit before she went trick-or-treating.

Granny was told (s)he had a nice figure by a stranger passing out candy - he had to ask dad what a figure was. :)

Birthday Girl went as a Special Policeman. Her mustache reminds me of her Uncle Bobby's for some reason. :)

See, she turns the tears on and off real quick. Here she is only a few moments later smiling and showing me her tail.

Ghost/Skeleton Pirate - ALWAYS has to be something spooky for Halloween.

Again - CUTEST Pumpkin EVER, dancing and running around (before sugar).

Arrrrrrrgh! Enough with the pictures already! I want to go trick-or-treating!

Granny's Profile

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween like we did!

8

Happy birthday to my little pumpkin! xoxo

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday while Ryan was sleeping, I decided to get the kids out of the house for a bit. After searching the internet for a while for holiday events in town, I found the shops and businesses in the downtown area were doing trick-or-treating. (And also, quite a few other holiday events going on all over from now until Christmas that I plan on taking the kids to.) They were super excited to go trick-or-treating "even though it's not Halloween yet". I was excited too because even though we've lived here for about 9 months now, I've never actually been walking around the downtown area. It was fun. Really crowded. A little overwhelming. I was afraid of losing one of the kids. Emily had to tell me what direction I parked the van in. Alex's "butt" (pillow) started to fall out from under his dress. Matt was  ready to leave after about an hour because "too many people kept getting in his way" - I think he was afraid of me losing him too. I only managed to get a few pics of the kids in their costumes in because I didn't want to take my eyes off any of them. Next year we're bringing dad with us. :-)

Happy Halloween to everyone!

Memories of Summer

On this gloomy, rainy day, I'm looking at all of the pictures I've taken over the summer and playing with textures and thinking of making my own...

And now I must go work out because next summer I plan on taking the kids to the waterslide park. And I'm going swimming too. I am actually starting to love Shaun T's workouts. If you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them. You can get them here: http://www.amazon.com/INSANITY-60-Day-Conditioning-Workout-Program/dp/B002QZ1RS6/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1319222781&sr=8-10

Fall and Soccer

I know everyone's probably done it, but not me. This is my attempt at (leaf) shaped bokeh. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I think I'll try again. Maybe I'll dig out the Christmas lights later and play some more.

"Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."

Last Saturday we had 5 soccer games. Now that's ALOT of soccer in one morning/afternoon! The last 2 weeks, it has been super foggy out. I think it looks pretty neat 1st thing in the morning. Standing in a big cloud. I like it.

 I think it was sometime around the 3rd game, when I started to get a migraine and feel somewhat distracted. And so I started taking pictures of the birds flying overhead.

And so as I'm posting this, I'm looking forward to 5 more soccer games this Saturday (without the migraine). Hopefully it won't rain.

Little Cuties and Old Tires

I've seen it before all over the internet and have been wanting some of my own painted tires for a long time now. So when Ryan got me some new tires for the van, that's just what we (the kids and I) did.

...Now I just want a green one and a melon colored one. :)

Christine's Fresh Salsa

First of all if anyone's actually reading this, thank you. Also, sorry, but there will be no Deep Thoughts by Christine today. Nope, today I'm just sharing a basic recipe for salsa I made the other day that even my pickiest eater in the house enjoyed. There's nothing better than fresh, ripe tomatoes out of the garden! They are one of my most favorite summer foods! :)

- 5 or 6 or 7 (I can't remember) medium tomatoes from the garden
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 jalapeno peppers (seeds removed from only 1)
- 1 sweet, yellow banana pepper from the garden
- limejuice ( I used 1/2 lime)
- cilantro (about a handful - stems removed)
- course sea salt and black pepper to taste

Wash and trim stems off tomatoes and peppers. Clean seeds out of 1 jalapeno pepper only (unless you like spicier). I have a bunch of kids that don't like that spicy pepper taste so we got rid of some seeds. Peel off skins and cut ends off garlic and onion.Cut into pieces and place in a food chopper. I used http://www.amazon.com/Proctor-Silex-72500RY-2-Cup-Chopper/dp/B00006IUX0, but you can use whatever you have. Since it's not a real big chopper I went in batches and then dumped all the chopped veggies into a bigger bowl. I also chopped my cilantro up in the chopper with some salt to get it to grind up better. Mix into bowl with lime juice and black pepper and chill in fridge until ready to eat. We had it on top of our chicken fajitas/tacos. And the only reason I have any left is because we were saving some for dad for when he got home from work.