24 Days, 16 Hours

That's how many days and hours left until Christmas. I'm always at a loss as to what to title my blog posts, so I just picked something random. Maybe it's useful, maybe it makes you panic realizing all there is left to do (oh wait, that's me, nevermind). That's the annoying nature of time though. The days of wanting it to go by quickly ended right around my 25th birthday, when State Farm granted me lower insurance rates.

This month my Dad turned 70. He's always been kind of a jokester. He's pictured in his high school yearbook climbing out one of the school windows, winning the accolade for being the funniest guy in his class. I need to get a scan of that picture. My conversation with Evan the morning of my Dad's birthday made me realize he might have some of his grandpa's wit.

Evan: How old is Papaw?
Me: He's 70 today.
Evan: Wow! Now he's the same age as Daddy!

There's enough material in that to last a month.

Dad is pretty reserved and specifically said he didn't want a party like my mom had a couple of months ago. So my aunt and uncle came over and we had cake.



One night last week I pulled into the driveway with Evan in the back seat and mentioned we really needed to rake the leaves. I should realize by now that when I mention something that's even remotely fun to my preschooler, he will not be delayed. It was too dark to get any pictures of him jumping in the pile of leaves, but it's a nice reward at the end of this "chore."

Improvisation

Last weekend Evan decided he wanted to go outside and play baseball. I could hear the choirs singing in Dan's head. Evan has a Nerf baseball and bat, but no tee, so Dan quickly improvised with a broken umbrella and empty juice bottle. Voila!



I have no idea what prompted this pose, but I love it.



McFly was enjoying the sunshine so I took a few shots of him too.



Photo note: this right here is why I shoot RAW 99% of the time. I can recover those blown white spots on his fur from the direct sun. I was shooting JPG though which isn't nearly as versatile.

Evan has been such an awesome kid lately. I'm hoping we have finally, finally turned the tide on the Torrential Threes (I won't tell you what adjective I use for the fours). There are still tantrums and pouting, but not as much or as drawn out. Maybe I'm just adapting to better techniques, but whatever it is, I like it. Knock on wood.

So when he asked if he could have the whirlpool jets in his bubble bath after a really good behavior day, I agreed. And look what I got - a happy, smiling dude.



In other news, the cat clan is also doing much better after a summer of illnesses. Scout had a bladder infection, cleared up with antibiotics. Is there anything more fun than pilling a cat? Jack, who suffers from chronic asthma, is breathing normally again without steroids. During the last acute bout, we let him camp out in our closet where he could escape the chaos. He has since declared it his own room and taken up residence on a shelf on top of Dan's clothes.



Photo note: Photographing black cats is tough, especially Jack who only has one good eye to start with, which makes it hard for my camera to lock focus. So this image is a bit fuzzy, but I still love it.

Halloween Season Finale

I'm having post-Halloween withdrawal. Between the decoration, costumes, candy, parties, and pumpkin carving, when it's all said and done, it's a little sad. Then I remember how I haven't done ANY Christmas shopping. ::stress::

Evan started the day by deciding on last year's costume to wear to school. My sour-faced dude is really not a morning person.



But by the end of the day he had perked up a bit. He was very excited to be going trick-or-treating with his pal, Teddy, and his big sister, Jill. Evan and Teddy together are a whirlwind. But they entertain each other, get VERY loud (ok, the loud is 99% MY child), fight, reconcile, rinse, repeat. I have nothing but the utmost respect (and heartfelt prayers) for the parents of twins.

My photographer friends will appreciate this one. Yes, our children truly ARE more difficult than other people's children when it comes to sitting still for a picture. Teddy even tried to help me out by hanging on to Evan. No suck luck.





I got one shot, then they took off.



Teddy and Jill's parents get cool points for getting into the spirit of the holiday and dressing up in complementary costumes to their kids. Amy was Glenda to Jill's Dorothy.



Brian was Robin to Teddy's Batman, but he was pretty clear on no public photographs, so I'm going to comply seeing as how he's an attorney! Dan said he wished he'd have worn his old Army uniform to go with our Top Gun. He tried it on recently. He's not an attorney, so ...



Happy Halloween!

Trick or (Pre) Treat

We actually dropped two Halloween events this year from last year but Evan's social calendar more than made up for the gap! Evan got an invitation to his friends', Jill and Teddy, Halloween party. It was great because it served as incentive to be (mostly) good the week leading up to it. I have to say, this was an awesome kids' party. I can't imagine coordinating games and activities for 27 (yes, 27) 4-6 year olds.



Love this yard decoration!







Such fun! It *almost* makes me want to throw a party. Maybe I'll just stick to taking pictures.

My parents came over the next day and helped Evan to carve his first pumpkin. Ok, mostly my Dad and I did the carving, but Evan was great at scooping the "brains" as he called the seeds.



I think Evan might have inherited my love for funny+spooky Halloween designs.