Pumpkin field trip (10.15)

Brayden had his first school field trip today, to a pumpkin festival at a local nursery. Jack was supposed to have school while we went, but he woke up this morning with a fever, so Grandma came over to babysit. Brayden and I had a great time, it was our first ever fun outing together with Jack - hard to believe. He played in the bouncy castle, went through the hay bale mazes, played with the tractors in a corn sandbox, played bean bag toss, picked out (and cleaned) a pumpkin, and went on two hay rides. The hay ride was tractor-pulled, and Brayden said the hay ride was his favorite part. My favorite part was hanging out with Brayden. When he heard that, he changed his favorite part to hanging out with me. Love that little dude.

Video playback (10.14)

We recently learned that the boys both say the Pledge of Allegiance at school every day. We also learned that they both already have it memorized. Brayden’s recitation is especially cute, so tonight Rob caught it on video. (Jack’s too). Of course having the video camera out meant they wanted to see back their Pledge videos, as well as other old vidoes. Jack thoroughly enjoyed watching the video from his last baseball game of the summer, and Brayden wasn’t nearly as entertained as we expected by the video of him tripping over the Geotrax.

Protege (10.13)

Having a photographer as a mom is wearing off on the boys. They, now, want to take their own pictures. One of their friends has a play kids camera, which they have both enjoyed playing with. A few weeks ago, I finally got out my super old Kodak Easy Share point and shoot camera, charged the batteries, and let them play. It’s become a new fun toy for them to play with now and then. Mostly they just take pictures of random things like toys, furniture, or the TV, but sometimes they actually take some good ones! Here, Rob is taking a picture of Brayden taking a picture of Jack and I cuddling on the couch. Brayden’s didn’t turn out too bad, either!

Rockies vs. Phillies (10.12)

The Rockies are playing in the wildcard playoff round right now. Last night the game was late and Jack was very upset that he didn’t get to watch. Today’s game was at 4pm so we let him watch. He’s so cute and gets so into the games now - yelling at the TV and everything, just like his Daddy. Unfortunately, the Rockies lost tonight’s must-win game and that’s the end of baseball season for this year.

Broncos vs. Patriots (10.11)

Today, Rob and I went to the Bronco’s game! I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a chance at tickets this season as a surprise for Rob, and yesterday we got our pair. It was a great game - quite cold - but close the whole time and ultimately the Bronco’s won! At home, the boys had a great day with Grandma Jeanne, even though Brayden was sick.

Chili's (10.10)

Randomly, Jack really wanted to go to Chili’s for lunch today. Well we didn’t go for lunch, but decided to take the boys out to dinner. We had enough food for twice as many people, but still ordered a yummy brownie sundae to bring home. The boys loved it. Rob and I, too. :)

Telephoto (10.09)

New camera take two! And today I got to try it with my new telephoto lens! Both the lens and the new camera body seem to work great! Here’s the little monkey making a silly face at 70mm. I think we are all going to be very happy together!

Dyson (10.08)

Our vacuum over 4 years is on its last leg so we decided to take the plunge and get a Dyson! Only instead of saving up for years, we found a sweet deal on Craigs List and got this one cheap! And it works perfectly! Maybe even Rob will vacuum now! HA HA!

And with that.......... I'm caught up again! (Sept. 25-Oct. 8!)

Out Of Focus! (10.07)

Day two with the new camera revealed the problem with the focus seemed more than just user error. Instead of taking tons of great photos today, I spent the day researching and taking test shots to figure out the focus problem. Is it the new camera, or is it my trusty lens. The jury is still out. This photo should be a no brainer to focus, but it was blurry using my usual lens, and on BOTH cameras. Very suspcious. I ultimately decided to exchange the camera body in case that was the problem. I’m also probably sending the lens in for maintenance. What should have been a very exciting day with a new toy ended up being very, very stressful.

New camera (10.06)

After much deliberation, I got a new camera! It arrived today in all its glory! Sadly, I only managed to get a handful of pictures in focus today. The ones that focused though - wow! Look how amazing my little monkey looks! LOVE!

The couch (10.05)

The boys are frequently fighting over this spot on the couch to watch TV - usually it’s Brayden’s spot. Jack got their first this morning before school, and Brayden was upset, so Jack shared the spot with him. Well, at least for a minute... then he decided to move.

Roe Cousins (10.04)

Rob’s Aunt and Uncle who live in California were in town for the weekend for a wedding, along with their four kids, Rob’s cousins. The family had a get together at his grandparents’ house to see the out-of-town family, as well as celebrated Rob’s grandmother’s birthday. The kids mostly played outside and had a great time together (mostly - there’s always SOME drama!) as usual! I went outside for a few minutes and asked if I could take a picture of the cousins together, and they cooperated so nicely! So here’s all the Roe cousins, minus little PK, who was inside. Maybe next time!

Soccer and the telephoto (10.03)

I finally had a chance to play with Kerry’s telephoto zoom lens at Jack’s soccer practice and game this week. Needless to say, I fell in love fast. It was great getting up so close to the action with my camera compared to what I’m used to with my mid-range zoom! I started shopping for one of my own almost as soon as we got home! More importantly, Jack had fun at his 2nd to last soccer practice. He scored a goal during the scrimage and everything! Here he’s congratulating himself on kicking the ball into the goal during a drill. (For the sake of perspective, we were in the middle of the field on the sidelines, and he’s at one of the ends!)

Rio (10.02)

Rob and I had a date night tonight, and despite deciding not long ago that we should expand our horizons as far as restaurants go, each of us just really wanted to go to The Rio. And as always, it did not disappoint. Rob thoroughly enjoyed his regular chicken burrito with green chili, and I my grilled steak quesadillas. My mouth waters just thinking about them! And of course, the margaritas were great, too.

Nature walk (10.01)

I’ve started helping out in Jack’s classroom once in awhile on Thursdays. Today, his class took a nature walk on the paths behind the school (and our neighborhood) looking for signs of the changing seasons, and collecting leaves of different colors to make a leaf picture. I thoroughly enjoyed hanging with Jack and getting to know some of his classmates a little better. Here Mrs. Dougherty is showing the kids some brown leaves that had fallen off a tree. (That’s Jack in the gray hoodie!)

Photoshop (09.30)

One of my recent projects has been working on my photo-editing skills. Are working on a recent batch of photos from one of the downtown shoots of the boys, I found my ability to fix some color problems was very limited. I finally requested some books from the library - the photoshop books are always in high demand! - and two came in this week. Looking forward to diving into them... and wishing I had more than 4 weeks with them!

Halloween costume (09.29)

With halloween a month away, it’s been time to start thinking about costumes! With Bradyen’s nickname being “Monkey,” I’ve always wanted him to have a monkey costume, and this year he agreed after seeing this cute one from Old Navy, complete with banana! Jack has worn the same costume for 2 years now, and was excited about the idea of being Woody - so glad Toy Story 3 is coming soon and we were able to find a Woody costume! They are both so excited and enjoy dress-up with their new costumes already!

Sleepy boy (09.28)

After a playdate at the Gumm’s and no nap because it went long, the boys were both tuckered out. Despite claiming they weren’t tired, they both dozed off (Jack for a minute, Brayden for more like an hour) watching a show later in the day. Brayden was sooo cute, drool running down his cheek, sleeping sitting up on the couch! Sadly, the catnaps resulted in serious crankiness for the rest of the afternoon and evening!

Telephoto (09.27)

Last night Kerry and I went to Scrap Mania, and I picked up her 55-200mm lens to borrow. Believe it or not, I never used it today, didn’t take a single picture. Couldn’t let the new toy go to waste, so I at least took a picture of IT. Isn’t it pretty???

Birthday Party (09.26)

Jack’s friend Jaxon turns 6 next week, and today was his birthday party. There were a ton of kids! Here the kids are in line for a game... I love how Brayden is spontaneously hugging Jack, who is so not into it. The kids all had a great time!

Doggies (09.25)

Tonight was movie night. Afterwards the boys started running around crazy. Eventually they both started playing like they were dogs. The light made it hard to get good action shots, but I did get them to stop and “pant” long enough for a picture!