Happy Halloween!

These are from Zach's character parade at school yesterday, he was Merlin. Tonight he will be the Emperor of Evil, and Owen a pirate. Cross your fingers that I actually get photos of them.

Another one of THOSE days

...where I get to showcase how awesome I am NOT. I guess there was a very, VERY good reason we weren't allowed to have Owen for several years, there is no way I could handle him and another small-ish child. I don't know what other words to use besides FAST and destructive and FAST. I'm so glad he hasn't injured himself horribly, I can only pray that his guardian angel doesn't get worn out.

The lock to the refrigerator just broke yesterday. I should have gotten it replaced, but it hasn't been more than a nuisance with his opening the door frequently, never a danger issue. Until today. I even made sure his sippy cup was on a low shelf in case he decided to go looking for it.

Keep in mind that shelf was over his head. He escaped unscathed, although perhaps a little startled.

Do you like calamari?

I don't. There's no really good reason, other than the thought of a squid in my mouth makes me want to puke. It is a bit fishy tasting, and fairly tough and chewy. But overall, it's pretty much the mental image of a squid in my mouth that turns me off. Most of the time, you order calamari and it's just deep fried fishy chewy rings of stuff. Tonight, Zach wanted calamari. So I ordered it. And further deepened my distaste.

Yeah, he ate it. I think he was an alien pod that I gestated. Certainly not my son.

With time comes change...

Do you remember the adventures in self feeding? Well, I do. And look how much he's grown up!

October 22

I actually took this photo several days ago but only just now went through and actually zoomed in...it wasn't very impressive as a shrunken preview to fit the whole image on the screen, but I think Zach's face is just lovely, now that I've seen it. Even sweaty and with splotchy sunlight coming through the tree branches.

In the words of Kevin #2, "he is a beautiful boy". My handsome dude, growing up on me.

And another one, just because I'm a slacker

And I've gotten a lot done today. This is Owen again, in the sandbox, attempting to empty it. Apparently. I don't try to understand him. It's too exhausting, and just when I think I've got it figured out, he proves me wrong.

Having too much fun

...with all these texture possibilities. But at least it's distracting me from Owen's latest...he fell off the couch last night and got a huge blue lump on his forehead immediately. It freaked me out, he has hit hard so many times and NEVER has he had a bump like this. I don't even really know how it happened...he kept getting up and down from the couch and wanting to get between me and the arm of it, and ON the arm of it...one minute he was sitting there and the next he was headfirst hitting the floor. I almost took him to the ER but then calmed down a little and decided to watch him closely, and he's fine. I did keep him in my bed so I could keep close tabs on him (and make sure he was able to wake up now and then) and he slept great. Today the lump is mostly gone, it's down to a typical swelling and purple/brown coloring. Ay, dios mio. My heart can't take much more of his antics and injuries.

So here's an altered pic of my little stinker, I think it's from May? Can't remember. Back in the spring sometime, the original is on here somewhere.

Texturize your life!

Or not...I thought that just sounded cool. Still spending way too much time playing around with programs. Today I was trying to learn texture, so here are 3 repeat photos, with some texture and effects applies.

Just messing around

Having a little fun. Although he doesn't appear to be having any fun.

*yawn*

I am trying hard to get back into this thing, believe it or not. I just suck suck SUCK at organization, and trying to get things done around here ends up with me running in circles as each task puts me in range of another task, which distracts me from the first task....doing the dishes, I need to clean off the counter. Grab the old dish cloth and take it to the laundry room. Pass the dining room table on the way, see Zach's Transformer on the table. Drape the dish towel over my shoulder, grab the Transformer and drop it off in his room. Bathroom door is open, I peek inside and see that there's toothpaste glopped all over the sink. Big sigh, go in, wipe it up. Bath toys lying all over the floor...they MUST be picked up, they are dripping water everywhere. While doing that, the dog runs in and grabs one, I take off chasing her, get the toy and the chase has led to the family room where OF COURSE the cushions have been removed from the couch by Owen. Bend over to pick up cushions, dish towel falls off my shoulder. Oh yeah, I need to put that in the laundry room! Set it aside for a second to finish putting the couch back together....

Now this semi-fictitious scenario hasn't even accounted for the fact that as I'm doing these random things, none of which contribute to my goal of CLEAN KITCHEN! Owen would be running around wreaking havoc throughout the house, or worse, injuring himself. And that's just if it all takes place while Zach is in school. While a good kid, and quite helpful, there is a different energy in the house when he's home and things just go even crazier. Especially the dog.

Speaking of Owen, he fell out of the computer chair today. I knew it was going to happen. It has almost happened several times and I have had my heart stop on many many occasions just watching him regain composure at the last split second, or be grabbed by dh or myself. But today, it was full on over the side, head on the floor, face against the desk...I think my heart literally made it's way up past my epiglottis. He was climbing from one chair to the other (which I was in) and they have WHEELS! and as I felt him coming over the arm of his chair to mine, about to grab him, I sensed him fall and watched it all happen in slow motion. And if that wasn't good enough, he tried again later to climb up into my chair, over the arm, slipped and busted his mouth on the arm rest. And I haven't been in this chair much today! ARRGGHHH.

Zach, not to be outdone, took off after Holly after she had nabbed a toy that didn't belong to her and took off in a flash out of the room. Do NOT chase the dog! But no, he had to save the day, and the toy, apparently. I think it was just the principle of the matter, Holly is in full fledged doggie adolescence and she's been harder to handle lately. Anyway, he zipped around a corner and his knee collided with the corner of a small chest I have. The knee already had a nice sized scab on it from something, I don't even know what, and all I heard was a banshee scream...as I rounded the corner I saw him writhing on the floor, legs up to his chest. There was mucho blood...he managed to rip off the whole scab and extend the injured area as a cut reached down further out of it. As I got him propped up on the bathroom sink, got ice and water, etc etc, I had to keep running out of the room to remove my cup of tea, Zach's cup of tea (herbal, no caffeine!) check the computer chairs, etc, just to make sure that Owen didn't take advantage of this brief lack of supervision to find yet another way to hurt HIMself again.

Zach thinks he should get to stay home from school tomorrow because he REALLY hurt his knee and he may not even be able to walk.

So I haven't taken any pics since the last ones I posted. I have, however, been spending a lot of time browsing actions for Photoshop, trying to find ways to tweak the pics to make them look more interesting, artsy, anything really. And if you are reading this and feel benevolent, I'm accepting donations to buy Lightroom and Imagenomic's Portraiture.

These actions have quite a learning curve. Sigh. It takes so much time, time that lets Owen hurt himself. At least he didn't find the honey from our tea. I can only imagine how THAT would be all in the couch.

Anyway, here are a few I've played with. Not suggesting that they look better, but they DO look different. Which is cool.

Two posts in one day?

Say it ain't so! And with fresh photos to boot! It's like photo sushi!

Zach had a play date today, after school, and I'm so happy he's found a good friend to hang out with. She and he are two peas in a pod, they like the same toys, are just as rough as each other and have a blast playing together. And her parents are pretty cool, too ;) After quite a bit of play time outside with the hose (and the dog!) they spent a while on the Wii being Indiana Jones (of a lego sort) and didn't even want to leave when we were ready to head out for dinner. I was actually all prepared (and excited!) to cook a roast...tangent...our a/c hasn't been working well at all and it seems like it is FINALLY functional and really cooling off the place, so I thought I could may try using the oven again. It's been a long time. However, the roast never fully defrosted so it's in the fridge waiting until tomorrow.

So we pried the kids off the wii and headed to Squid Lips, a local restaurant set on the water. River, not ocean. They have an outside area set up like a beach, and although it's a small strip of sand and lots of rocks, Zach and Kirra were excited to go...more water play!

It was one of the best dinners we've had in a while. Not sure about the food, even though it was good...I had my appetite somewhat diverted by Zach and Kirra's exciting motherload of worms they'd found in the sand. Owen had a great time kicking around in the sand in and around the tables and chairs, getting complimented left and right by all the folks there, Kirra and Zach were splashing, swimming, digging in the sand...I'm sure we'll be headed back before too long.

An 'abandoned' boat lay on the sand, Kirra wanted to be George Washington and I think she nailed it. The nearby boardwalk was great for a quick bit of running and letting the wind dry off the wet clothes before we had to head home and deliver Kirra back to her parents. All in all a wonderful time, peaceful, no sibling fussing or fighting...ahhhhhhh. Thank-you for coming over, Kirra!

Chasing out all the piglets...

I think we are finally over it all...the all encompassing 'we' meaning mostly 'me' of course. Zach had a bout with the swine flu and I caught something, probably also swine, but so different in nature. Just a few straggling coughing spells and stuffiness left, I feel almost normal today. Been sleeping a lot, whenever the opportunity arises (and dh has helped that opportunity pop up a bit more frequently, THANKS!) so today I feel like DOING things. Cooking, cleaning, whatever. So it makes perfect sense that I'd sit here instead and try to get caught up on a few pics.

I braved the heat (briefly!) to finally meet up with Kelly and her friend and their kids at the park before Kindermusik. Owen wasn't overly thrilled with the socializing aspect of it, I guess he was hot, too, he kept saying "Home!" and trying to leave. But I took my camera along and I got a few pics of him playing on the boardwalk area. He is very familiar with this park, it's where they run the dog, and Owen apparently prefers the walk over the playground. Sorry, Ainsley! Maybe he'll play better next time :)






























































Here are some older pics...I really like the one of the boys playing with the hose. That one involved a flash mishap...it didn't fire (old batteries, apparently) but it came out really cool. And the other flash mishap...overflash in the tub, also cool. And Sharon, just for you...Owen does spend time working hard on Mr. Potato Head LOL. Do you think he has a future as a tattoo artist? I need to get more photos of Zach. I always think about doing it, and put it off b/c I know he'll comply whereas w/Owen I have to move fast, and I put it off too long before I realize another day has gone by :( Soon, though.

Just posting a pic...I'll be back...