Pumpkins!

I got totally lazy this year and did not want to do the whole pumpkin carving thing. I usually end up doing most of the work, including cleaning out the yucky insides of the pumpkin. Instead I had the kids pick out little pumpkins and they painted them. It was a lot less messy...and very little work for me! I do miss the glowing pumpkins on our front step though.

Trick or Treat!!

We had trick or treat on Saturday. The weather was yucky all day - grey, cold, and wet. Fortunately it cleared up right before trick or treat started and ended up being pretty decent weather. This year Jenna wanted to be Tinkerbell and Jacob wanted to be a vampire. It was my first attempt at face painting. It's a lot harder than it the package makes it look! Our trick or treat tradition is for the Chiles' boys to join us around our neighborhood and then we pile into the van and visit grandparents, great grandparents, and whoever else might be on our list. We always have the kids pose for a yearly trick or treat photo, too. Jacob and Cade have been trick or treating together since Jacob was 3 and Cade was 2 (or maybe even the year before that - I can't remember) We decided that this was the smoothest that the group photo has ever gone. I think we finally have it figured out!!


HAPPY TRICK OR TREAT!!

Same location...different kids...

While we are at the Sancturetum, I also took photos of Jacob and Jenna. I've been wanting to take them there for photos since last Thanksgiving when I took photos for Brenda and Jill. Our photo time had to be short and sweet since it was getting hot (90s!!) and we had places to go and things to do. I was hoping to get a GREAT photo for our Christmas card, but that didn't happen. I still did manage to get some fun photos of them....along with my new all time favorite photo of Jacob. The time we spent taking photos was worth it for this one (it's at the bottom!).








Here it is! There's just something about it - he looks relaxed, his eyes sparkle, the background is blurred. I'm lovin' it (and I'm getting it printed BIG!). I just can't decide if it should be color or black and white....

The {P} Family

Two weeks ago when we were visiting my parents, I had the privilege of taking family photos for one of Jill's best friends from high school. (Who just happens to be Chris' favorite Jill friend. Remember when he used to call her that Jill?) Anyhow...I met Vickie and her husband John and their 2 little boys at the Sancturetum in Stow. I had taken photos of Luke, Carsyn and Payton there last Thanksgiving and was so excited to be able to take photos there again. It's a neat little nature park with all kinds of fun places for photos. It's quickly become a favorite photo spot for me!

We spent over an hour taking photos of the whole family as well as photos of just the boys. They were so well behaved and cooperated so well for their photos!

THANKS again for letting me take photos for you, Vickie! I'd love to do it again sometime soon.

Here are just a few of my favorites....

Twenty four???

Twenty four. That is the number of people that have visited my blog in the past 24 hours. Last night when I checked it, the counter said "12510" and when I checked it this evening it said "12534". That means twenty four people have stopped by my blog to check things out today. The sad thing is that of those twenty four people, only ONE left me a comment (Thanks Lisa!!). Being the curious person that I am...it's going to drive me nuts wondering who the other twenty three people might have been...and why they never comment. So next time, leave a comment so I don't drive myself crazy trying to figure out who you might be. :)

PS Check back tomorrow for pictures! I tried to upload some tonite, but blogger wasn't cooperating.

Northwest Ohio Fun!

Last weekend Dad and Mom D. came to visit. Dad had a judging job near Van Wert, so they spent the weekend with us. After church on Sunday, we all went to the corn maze near our house. We've been there every year, but it was Dad and Mom's first time. The shape of the maze changes every year - and this year it was a train. (You can click HERE to see an aerial view of the whole maze.) We didn't have time (or the energy) to do the entire maze, so we did one section. Chris and Dad were are official map readers, but somehow we still managed to get lost a few times (they blamed it on the fact that some of the corn had been knocked down and the trails weren't exactly like the map showed.). We eventually made it to all our "checkpoints" and back to the start.

Following our leaders....

A quick stop to read the map....
Jenna with her treasures : some corn and a "tickle weed" (at least that's what she called it....she's tickling herself in the photo)...

Fog Day!!

We woke up to heavy fog this morning, which meant a 2 hour school delay. Eventually the 2 hour delay turned into a 3 hour delay/extended day....which then turned into a cancellation....and then the sun came out and the fog went away. It happens every time! I won't complain though....I really needed a catch up day at home! I've gotten lots done, the kids played, and Chris golfed. Later I have my 2nd senior photo session! I'll be sure to post photos from it (and the first session) soon.

While everyone was off playing, I went outside and played with my camera. It sure looks like a fog day, doesn't it?!?!

Stan Hywet - part 2

Stan Hywet is having a treehouse exhibit through the end of the month. Scattered around the grounds of Stan Hywet are 11 treehouses for kids to explore. The treehouses were built by NE Ohio Architects, so some of them were pretty elaborate. We saw 8 treehouses...and we covered most of the grounds. The other 3 houses must be well hidden because we never saw them!

Pirate ship:

Musical treehouse- lots of things to bang on and play!
"Pan pipe" treehouse...our guess is that it makes noise when the wind blows across the tops of the pipes
Jacob and Jenna loved this one...AND it was for sale!!

Funky geometric shapes and bright colors...
This wasn't technically a treehouse, but it was counted as a treehouse when I looked up the info online. This was a giant spider web strung between two trees. It's kind of hard to tell, but it was made of bottle caps, beads, and pull tabs from cans. There was also a giant spider made of crushed cans.
The "Hobbit" house
They loved this house! You entered on the top level and then it had a ladder so you could climb all the way down to the bottom!

A Trip to Stan Hywet

Last weekend we made a trip to Stow to visit my parents. On Saturday, Mom, the kids, and I headed to Stan Hywet in Akron for Ohio Mart. Stan Hywet is a mansion built by the Seiberling family , the founders of Goodyear. I remember going there once when I was younger with my family and Grandpa and Grandma Lehman, but I haven't been back since. Ohio Mart is a big craft/artisan's fair on the grounds of Stan Hywet there is held every year in October. We spent the afternoon looking through the craft tents, sampling food, and walking around the grounds of Stan Hywet. They also had a treehouse exhibit with treehouses scattered around the grounds for the kids to explore (tree house photos coming soon!).