Week 44 of 52 - Super Heroes to the Rescue!

We bought the costumes weeks ago. At the time, I thought, wow, he will wear it one time, I could have bought an outfit for that price.  Then I recalled last year, when he wouldn't wear his mask, and wondered, did I make a mistake splurging for the "deluxe" version with cape and mask? Little did I know, he would wear it almost daily - costume, mask, and cape.

He wore it while watching a 1968 Batman episode on Youtube, literally dozens of times.

He wore it while eating a popsicle - he even let me put a towel over him to catch the drips.

And he wore it while playing with his little brother.  "Mom, dress Samuel up, make him be Wobin."  They ran and chased each other, finding something they could play together.

The costume is picked and grass-stained for tomorrow, but I will never forget this season of Batman.  It was worth every penny.

This last photo is one of my favorites of the year.  George was posing on the ramp, and without any warning, Samuel slides down the ramp, right into George's legs as the shutter clicks.

It symbolizes much of their relationship - George careful and deliberate in his actions, even at play, and Samuel crashing right through his days.  I believe their differences will help shape them each into better people.  It's our job to make sure they don't wipe each other out in the process.

Week 43 of 52 - Children's Photography Workshop

Tiring week with a teething toddler and a ghost TV turning itself on and off in the middle of the night.  We're keeping the toddler of course, but the malfunctioning TV ended up on the curb. 

My image for this week is from a children's photography workshop I attended last week.  Can you believe this beautiful model is only 12?  I enjoyed having subjects who didn't run from the camera for a change.

Week 42 of 52 - Pumpkins!

We visited a pumpkin patch at a local church over the weekend.  I attempted to capture the season while we picked out pumpkins.

Most of our moments went something like this:  Here comes mom with the camera – RUN!

Other mothers see their child stumble and pick them up.  Moms with cameras see a non-moving toddler on the ground, do a quick visual sweep for absence of blood or tears, and hit that shutter button FAST!

So yeah, maybe I did say, "Mommy won't buy you a pumpkin unless you look at me for 2 seconds."

After we bought the pumpkins, we compared notes on our previous pumpkin carving skills and finding none between us, we did the only thing left to do  – head to Wal-Mart.   

We bought stuff we thought we needed but didn't, so learn from our mistakes: 

• Electric pumpkin carving knife - $5.87  USELESS.
  Would barely move through the pumpkin. George also had a sixth sense for finding it on every counter so we tossed it before the $5.87 knife could yield a $150 emergency room visit.

• Pumpkin Carving Kit ~ $3.87  A BIT USEFUL. 
  We used the little serrated knives and scoops.  All of the picks to trace the stencils broke off. So he used a tiny flathead screwdriver to tap out the pattern which worked well. 

• Stencil Book $1.47 USELESS. 
  We bought an extra book to have enough non-ghoulish stencils.  I ended up googling "funny pumpkin carving patterns" and finding these patterns!   This link gives printing instructions too.

What this sweet moment doesn't capture:  Walt trying to hear the Georgia game on the radio while saying 982 times, “No George, you can’t use the knife to carve the pumpkin. George, don’t cry, just let Daddy carve the pumpkin.  Yes George, when you are older, you can carve the pumpkin.  Get out of the floor and let your mother take a picture . ”

If we had it to do over, we would've bought him a little pumpkin to decorate with markers so he could participate more in that aspect.

Turns out Walt is quite the pumpkin carver.  He was disappointed he lost a tooth on Big Tooth Magee, but he did much better than I could have done.  (Sadly, I suffer from “I can't cut straight lines without left-handed scissors” craft-time baggage from childhood.)  We had fun and hopefully started a new tradition for our little guys.

Weeks 40 and 41: Toes in the Sand

We just returned from vacation.  As you may recall, we had bypassed an earlier beach vacation for our debt-free goal.  So now past Baby Step 2, we were very grateful for the time and opportunity to celebrate and take a break from our daily lives.

We visited Panama City.  Walt would have preferred to visit a remote barrier island with no signs of life, but alas, we chose a kid-focused vacation spot.  Needless to say, we were among the thousands of families who hit PCB for Fall break, but we really enjoyed ourselves.

I spent more time playing with my kids than taking photos, but here’s what I want to remember…in random order.

1.  The fabulous motorcycles and their riders.  Much to our excitement, PC was hosting a Thunder Beach motorcycle rally while we were there.

We watched them until dusk.

2.  My mom, our conversations, her laughter, and her delight in the Harleys.  No need to guess where I got my love for shiny chrome and loud engines.  Nor did I need to guess where George gets his ability to avert his eyes at the last second from my camera!

3. George’s delight in "the jumpy thing".  He asked to go to the jumpy thing at least 500 times.  We went twice.  He reminded me of myself when I get obsessed with something.

4. Samuel racing into the surf, too young to yet feel any fear.

5. The crystal-clear waters and the dozens of hermit crabs we found and tossed back.

6.  The duct-tape sign to claim our rented beach chairs in the most redneck fashion.

I made the sign after a confrontation with a guy who took our chairs.  When I asked him to move, he refused, and between drags on his cigarette, he used a certain 4-letter word as a noun, verb, and adjective.  I smiled,  prayed I wouldn't be the first victim of beach chair rage, and continued to stand over the chairs.

At one point, I told his girlfriend my mom had a bad hip (a half-truth) and we couldn't just go steal someone else's chairs as he suggested, we needed the ones on the end.  We got the chairs back, I marked them, and my mom limped every time we saw him.  We laughed the rest of the week about these folks and the conflict.

 7. Good budgeting pays off – we came back with $35 in our pockets.  And that's after several over-priced meals and giving into George's incessant pleas to "go back to Targets (sic) and get the Big Buzz and Big Woody" after discovering little Woody only said 3 different things and caused much frustration.  "Mom, do you remember the Big Woody?  Do you think we could get it?  Mom, do you like the Big Woody?  Samuel can have the Little Woody." 

8.  Our Creator greets and ends each day with His signature.  

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1: 20

9.  And at the end of the day, His love, care, and direction for our family is what matters - I'm thankful to have this time with them.