Happy Halloween!

I can't believe Oct is coming to a close. I wish it would last longer since I know the only thing coming now is snow. The kids had a good time trick-or-treating around town. We ended up at the school for the costume contest afterwards. Ayden won first place in his age group, Ayla won second, and Ayvarie didn't place, but it didn't seem to bother her. She knows how cute she is. Levi made Ayden's costume out of this and that from around the house and a bit of red and silver tape. I made Ayv's tutu...does that matter? I'm with Ayv this year...I'm willing to step down in the creativity dept of our family and hand the tiara over to Levi (but, don't tell him it's a tiara...it's head gear...much like Barbies are really action figures). Anyway, here are some pics to share.

Ayla playing the role of center of attention, as usual - above; enjoying her winnings - below.

CuTutu

Levi built Ayden a queen sized loft bed and I made the girls some new tutus this week. So, that means pictures! The girls think it's pretty neat to be high up on that bed. I managed to get a couple of cute shots of them...but here are a couple of Ayv to get you by until I get the others posted. Isn't she getting to be such a big girl?

Cool Bday Gift - pics to prove it!

My friend, Christy, bought tickets for us to go to Switchfoot for my birthday, and the concert was last night in Cedar Falls. I was impressed! It wasn't a large crowd, but was full of people that seemed to be polite (even though we had to stand up many times to let people through our row), nondestructive, dry (as in there was not liquor to stir up some destructiveness), etc.... We parked it in the stands while most of the crowd was on the ground. I liked being at eye level to the stage. We could see everything that was going on.

Anyway, Ruth opened, and I am now a fan. I had never heard of them, but they performed very well. The drummer in particular, had interesting facials (which you will see in one of the pictures below). Relient K also performed...another one I had not heard before, but I guess is big in the Christian Rock Band genre. Another one that I will listen to again and again. Then, Switchfoot came out, and I knew going in what they sounded like - love them! The lead singer walked through the audience, and ended up a handful of seats down from us and stopped for part of a song. After the concert, Christy & I stuck around long enough to get a picture with Ruth along with their autographs as well as Switchfoot's. Thanks for a great evening, Christy!!!!

RUTH:

RELIENT K:

SWITCHFOOT:

The next picture is the one where the lead singer was in our row. Of course, I wasn't expecting it and didn't have my camera ready...so this is the less than mediocre shot I managed to get.
The next picture shows Christy standing at the autograph table letting the second guy from the left know what an awesome job he did...playing the tambourine, other instruments, singing, making pancakes... Her statement went something like that. It looks like he was entertained by that comment. Just wish I controlled my shutter to prevent Christy from being such a blur.

My girls are another year older.

We didn't get to the zoo as we had hoped on Sunday. It rained all day in central IA. Blech! So, we opted to take the girls to Hickory Park for lunch so they could get birthday sundaes and a song sang to them. Ayv is pretty proud to be five now. Ayla could likely care less that she's one. She is enjoying her mobility, though! Here are some pics I snapped on Sunday.

(Ayv's new Baby Born doll that swims in water.)

(Ayla chewing on the starfish that came with the Baby Born.)

(Ayla's new hair bow.)

(A bit uncertain that she should stay awake to open gifts.)

(I just love those squishy cheeks!)

(Ayv unwrapping her gift from Ayden - I added a texture to the background.)

(Ayv with her Ariel and Prince Eric figures.)

(A girl who turns five can't have a birthday without some jewelry!)

Below is a picture of a bird that was stalking me outside my back door the other day. I was a bit startled when I walked up the sidewalk and turned to see it there. It didn't move for the longest time, but just watched me. I haven't taken the time to figure out what kind it is. If you know, leave me a comment!

Here are some pics I could consider Ayv's 5-year poses. She is a natural!

(more background texture above)

I'm sure most will like the color shot of the image above better, but I really like the vintage look a lot!

It's Fall!

Ayv had her annual Virginia Grove field trip for Preschool today. I manged to make it out there towards the end to snap a few pics. I have taken some really neat shots in years past. Here are a few from today...

Of course she had to stick her head out to smile for the camera.You'd think the leaves had all changed and fallen with as many as were covering the ground. We're just starting to get some color around here, but it's still not much.I've been working on catch-up with my photography tasks and trying to prep for two little girls' birthdays. This month is filled, but I am really enjoying what we have been busy with. And if you want to see what I've been up to in the photography department...check out my imaging Rox blog.