Countdown...

Things have been crazy busy in our household this last week!  I have been quite productive (which is great!) which makes time fly by WAY too fast (which is not great when you have deadlines fast approaching!)

Here, Mommy demonstrates taking out all
of her worldly frustrations on  this helpless pumpkin  ;)
Watch closely children...

     We have been preparing for my THREE year old's Super Spooktackular Costume Party this Saturday (What?  He IS technically still three for a few more days...don't want to rush things!  *tear*  They really do grow up way too fast.).  

Rio quite enjoyed investigating the "guts."  Though she was a little leary at first,
she soon grew accustomed to the effect of  pounding them with her fists,
which exploded the seeds around the room.
Way to go my little scientist!

     We have been going all batty (...see what I did there?) trying to get things ready for our event.  We have carved pumpkins, carved and shriveled  apple heads, built a most gnarly life-sized zombie hand cake topper, worked on, not one, but two sets of Halloween costumes for the whole family (We couldn't  be caught dead...er, no pun intended, wearing the same costume twice!), baked and prepped an entire "Birthday Boo-fet" and decorated all around the house...

       Jude approved of course!   

Artfully designing our Jack-O-Lanterns!

          I am also cutting things quite close (Ha!  Imagine that!) in terms of Jude's homemade birthday present from Mama!  My little Robin Hood is getting a homemade Target, Recurve Bow and 6 Arrows (with a Quiver to boot...it's the thing that holds the arrows).  Bear in mind, I know 0.5% about bows and arrows, so all of my credit goes to the YouTube dude BackyardBowyer, Nick!  He is a great teacher and knows his stuff!  Let's just say this gal now knows how to tie a fully served Flemish twist bowstring from B50 Dacron like nobodies business!  (Pictures to come)

So if things seem slow around here, know that it means things seem FAST for me, which in turn will provide you with plenty of reading material and eye candy later!  

Happy Carving!  Rio's fine specimen is in the center, while Jude's is on the right.
Disclaimer:  We, the parents, did our best to hold true to the artist's original design!

Instead of doing Laundry...

With the very prettiest parts of Autumn coming to a close, I made an executive decision for my family today that we get out and enjoy it...TODAY!  We have plans to visit some pumpkin patches and apple orchards this weekend, but with the weather reporting threats of rain, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get out and play in the gorgeous sunshine.  So, play we did!

Our first stop was a little, local apple orchard and pumpkin patch called "Helene's Hilltop Orchard" that Shane and I came across in 2008 (when I was HUGELY pregnant with Jude!).  We never planned to make it a tradition, but low and behold, it has become one of my most anticipated times of the year.  We always go early in October, which usually starts off the "Holidays" for us (as Jude's birthday is end of October...and we count Halloween as a holiday!) 

October 2008:  Our first year visiting Helene's Apple Orchard

We look forward to "The Big Apple Barn" as soon as Fall is nearing!  Clearly this first year we did not deem it important enough to get a photo of us with the barn.  It may have had something to do with the fact that I looked like I was smuggling a pumpkin into the pumpkin patch under my shirt!

October 2009:  Jude's first visit to Helene's!

October 2010 Orchard Visit

October 2011:  Rio's first visit to Helene's!

October 2012:  Helene's Hilltop Orchard :)

Helene's Hilltop Orchard never disappoints, and this year was no exception!  We walked around the pumpkin patches, tripping over vines and laughing about the weird misshapen pumpkins, played some bean bag and ring toss, petted (and in some cases, when no one was looking KISSED) the farm animals, sipped hot cider and ate delicious apple-y goodness in the form of millions of calories, I'm sure!

We make a point to order most of the menu of goodies.  The idea is to share it all...some of us are still learning!

Rio digging into her first Caramel Apple.  

 

We have found it to be true that our little Rio is quite the animal lover.  She goes to great lengths to be near them.    We have noticed this about her for some time, as she squeals with delight at the sight of just about any animal.  Today was no exception.  After running straight at the fence and sticking her little mittened hand inside to be slobbered by the pigs, she rummaged the nearby corn maze and returned with "stolen" cobbs for them!  Such a smart girl!

  

Much to my surprise, she was soon after smooching any animal that she could get to!  She is turning out to be quite the lover!

Jude loved sitting by the roaring falls!

Grandfather Dam

Our next stop on this gorgeous afternoon was the place I had mentioned in a previous post!  I just would not forgive myself if I had passed up the opportunity (let's face it, it could very well be the last day before snow!) to take my family to see Grandfather Dam!  My family responded to the sights just as I imagined they would.  It is absolutely beautiful there, though I didn't take much notice as my gaze was locked upon the sparkling, wondrous eyes of my family as they took in the beauty of it!

We spotted a double rainbow in the spray <3

All that new beauty around him
and he still couldn't take his eyes off of her <3

So, after an amazing day out on the town, we had to snap back to reality and get our wild rumpus' home!  We couldn't, however, let that last bit of sunshine go to waste, so we decided to get some much needed yard work done.  So naturally, we put the kids to work ;)

Ugh!  That is a lot of lawn...and a lot of leaves!

But, then again...it is a perfect day for a leaf pile now, isn't it?

          Why not just dive right in?  Or fall in (face first, mind you!) and become the cutest ever Leaf Monster?

 I guess it goes without saying that we capitalized on that last bit of sunlight and made excellent use of this day!  I wouldn't have had it any other way!

I wish all days could be like this...instead of doing laundry!

If you want to see more photos of our day click here! 

Jude & Rio

One of my favorite things about being a photographer is capturing those moments that make memories happen instantaneously.  For this very reason, I strive to make a photo session "actually" memorable and not just a time where one is awkwardly posing in front of a camera.  My photography style is very organic to a situation.  I stalk my subjects, hoping to become unseen.  I want to make photographing these moments MY job!  

I had the pleasure of photographing a brother and sister today that just happen to be the most amazing subjects ever!  They do not notice the click of a camera, have no interest in "saying CHEESE!" and never once let this big photographer lady interrupt their running, chasing, playing and endless laughter.  

This is exactly what this big photographer lady WANTS from her clients!  Now, admittedly, these particular clients have been trained from a very early age to never let a camera stop them from what they are doing, because they just so happen to be my favorite subjects...and my minions (for those of you that are less nerdy than me, I do of course mean that these are my children!)

Jude is my *almost* FOUR year old!  He is incredible in so many ways.  Today, just like most other days, he blew my mind with his inquisitive nature and ability to enjoy his surroundings in such a way that one can't help but enjoy right along with him.  He, to date, is my most photographed subject and with dimples like those, fat chance he will ever get me to stop clicking!

Rio is my rough and tumbler.  At almost 16 months, she is keeping up just fine with her brother.  She is very much aware of her brothers whereabouts at all times, and for the most part, spends her time tailing him (and sometimes, even beating him to the punch!)  She hasn't a care in the world for the camera and gives her mother/photographer quite the workout keeping up with her!

It's not all fun and games being the child of a photographer...

Ok...well, most of the time it is (I have the pictures to prove it!)  However, there have been plenty of times when mama doles out the camera and hears a collective sigh.  It's terribly difficult sometimes to see such potential for a great photo op and pass it up, but if that means I have my hands free to tickle my monsters of not miss my turn at Wii Sports Resort (which is an awesome opportunity to hear my children laugh at laugh WITH me!) then that's that!  I have learned (and am still learning) that I must learn to balance my work and home life, but man is it ever hard to do with such great subjects.  

FYI:  It is NOT "always" fun and games to be the photographers child.

I have the pictures to prove that, too!

 "Time Out"

If you would like to see more of these cuties at their mini-session today, click here!

Crisp Autumn Photo Shoot

I had the pleasure of photographing a lovely family on Sunday.  They braved the crisp, chilly Autumn air and let me boss them around into configurations that will hopefully never end up on Awkward Family Photos!  They brought me to a "new-to-me" location that is just breathtakingly amazing!  I will be returning there to explore new potential for creative photography.  If you book a photo session with me, I can show you too!

To see more of this families session, go to my Gallery Page!

Blue Wool Mitties!

It's that time of year when I get incredibly ambitious!  I managed to knit these babies up in one 24 hour period, start to finish.  Just in time to keep some cute little fingers from freezing during our evening walk.  

Find the pattern here:
  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Acinom0lefty/mrs-murdocks-mittens

My hand model was very pleased with his new mittens.  More to come!

In the meantime, I have several other projects up my sleeves.  Stay tuned for more projects, with a Spooktacular Costume Party on the horizon, Halloween on the way and all the other fun Holidays around the corner, OhLefty Studios will be jam packed with fun crafts, tutorials and pictures...because as you may have figured out by now, this mama NEVER sleeps!